Hedge Funds Are Selling Stocks As Mom-And-Pop Investors Plunge In
Stocks have headed higher without respite to start 2013.
Many strategists are warning that a sell-off is in order (see here and here), especially given a wide range of indicators that suggest investor sentiment is at historical highs.
Today, we get an indication from BofA equity strategist Savita Subramanian that hedge funds are now selling stocks – and they're selling them to private investors, who are picking up their pace of buying.
Below is a chart showing that BofA "private clients," or individual investors, have been buying stocks since mid-January:
Meanwhile, hedge funds are doing the exact opposite:
Subramanian writes (emphasis added):
Net buys were $1.22bn, the largest since November, and continued to be led by private clients. Private clients have now been net buyers for four consecutive weeks, a sharp reversal from their large net sales ahead of the Fiscal Cliff late last year.
Institutional clients were also net buyers last week after two weeks of net sales, while hedge funds were the sole net sellers. Pension funds, a subset of institutional clients, were net sellers for the fourth consecutive week.
Just so you know.