JPMorgan's Delta One Desk Lays Out The Top Market Drivers

Below we summarize the latest observations on flows and positioning metrics across markets, from JPMorgan's Positioning Intelligence and Delta One teams (full note available to pro subs).

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SUMMARY:  While equities continued to grind higher last week, turnover has been subdued, and HF performance has further improved since mid-month (now +1.1% MTD vs. flat MTD as of 8/15) though HF alpha has been mixed.  Futures were likely part of the driver of increased positioning last week, which is starting to reverse from when futures were arguably a big driver of the sell-off in late July to early Aug.  In contrast, HFs continued to sell stocks in N. America into the market strength and retail investor flows in single-stocks turned negative last week as well (5d retail flows in single-stocks were in line with the weakest we’ve seen YTD).