Short sellers have abandoned the stock market after massive losses in GameStop shares, among others:
According to data from Goldman Sachs, median short interest as a percentage of float across the S&P 500 has fallen to 1.6%, near the lowest reading since 2004.
More here (see the April 19 post.)
But that’s not all. As downward pressure on stocks from short sellers has all but disappeared, upward pressure via margin buying is exploding. Margin buying lets traders borrow money to buy more stock than they could otherwise afford. All those buy orders push up prices:
While the bears head for the hills, the bulls double down. Data from FINRA released today (thank you, Kevin Duffy) show that margin debt among member firms reached a record $822.5 billion in March. That’s up 35% from the average for March across 2018 and 2019 and 82% above last year’s virus-influenced figure.
These are worrying signs for stocks. True believers mortgaging themselves to the hilt along with a lack of skeptics looks like an excessively frothy market to me. I cut back my allocation to stocks several weeks ago, buying beaten-down Treasury securities instead. Especially if your portfolio is out of balance, with stocks accounting for a share that’s above your target due to recent gains, it may be time to take some profits.
Especially if your portfolio is out of balance, with stocks accounting for a share that’s above your target due to recent gains, it may be time to take some profits.
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