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MARKET PLACE WRAP-UP

Interest Rates

Hedge Funds’ Biggest Short in Bonds Faces Make-or-Break Moment

(Bloomberg) — Hedge funds and other large speculators are more convinced than ever that the 2018 bond-market rout will resume in the days ahead.

The group, known for trading on momentum, boosted short bets in 10-year Treasury futures to a record 939,351 contracts, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data through Feb. 6. That means the violent market moves on Feb. 5, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered an unprecedented drop and 10-year yields fell almost 14 basis points, weren’t enough to dissuade wagers that rates are headed higher. The next gut-check comes Wednesday, with the latest read on consumer prices.

Speculators’ positioning matters because it can push momentum to extremes, and can serve as a contrarian indicator since these traders are among the quickest to switch directions when prices turn against them. By contrast, longer-term holders like asset managers are seen as more likely to stay the course. Their net long in 10-year futures is the highest since October 2015.

The question facing Treasuries traders throughout the 2018 selloff is whether something is truly different this time that will push yields ever higher. After all, asset managers have been adding to long positions for months, and 10-year yields just keep setting multi-year highs. At the very least, investors may be recalibrating to a higher yield range.

The speculators’ stance “signals people think the 10-year has more value at 3-plus percent than at 2.85 percent,” said Ben Emons, head of credit portfolio management at Intellectus Partners LLC. “Anecdotal evidence suggests more pent-up demand for duration at 3 percent, especially by long-only players.”

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