As Most Crowded Trades Turn Sour, Fund Managers Brace for Pain
- FAANG-BAT complex tumbles as Google earnings spark latest rout
- Dollar surge suprises speculators who piled into short wagers
Two of the world’s most crowded trades are headed south at precisely the same time, resulting in a double-dose of pain for global fund managers.
Shares of the FAANG-BAT complex -- which includes U.S. tech giants Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google parent Alphabet, as well as China’s Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent -- have lost more than $200 billion in market value since late last week. Money managers in a Bank of America survey earlier this month labeled being long the companies the most crowded bet in markets. Meanwhile, the dollar resumed its best run since 2016 Wednesday. That’s after hedge funds and other large speculators amassed the biggest net-short position in more than five years, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show.