Disclosure: These are personal views and market commentary. These are not investment recommendations. For investment guidance seek professional help.
‘Contrarian’ Trades
80% of investors surveyed (500) by Bloomberg think we are going into a recession next year.
While 80% of investors expect a recession Goldman is predicting above consensus global growth (2.6%) for 2024 (The Hard Part is Over), ie, not a recession.
This is a highly important discrepancy!
According to the survey the best ‘contrarian’ trade for the 2024 recession is to buy high yield debt.
Buying high yield into a recession….I guess the thinking is the Fed cuts aggressively, so the drop in rates offsets any spread widening. Basically, implies a recession with no real fear.
The best ‘contrarian’ equity trade is to short tech.
For me this is another confirmation of my suspicion that long tech is the real contrarian trade.
Positioning
CTA’s are still very short bonds.
Equity positioning is neutral
Tech positioning also neutral. Investors used to be consistently overweight tech (2010-2013). Now it is more sporadic.
7 Charts on the global fund industry
Index funds still taking share from active management. Maybe more ‘actively managed ETF’s’ will reverse the trend.