, Columnist
Hedge Funds’ Big Short Could Be Fool’s Gold
Investors haven’t been this bearish for years. Are they wrong?
Don’t count it out.
Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Investors have never been so down on gold.
Managed money funds’ position in Comex gold futures and options last week crashed to a net short of 27,156 contracts. That amount — equivalent to 2.7 million troy ounces, or 14 million-odd wedding bands — represents the most bearish position for hedge fund investors in data going back to 2006, outstripping even the major wobble at the end of 2015 as the U.S. Federal Reserve started edging away from its zero-interest-rate policy.