After A Record Stretch Of Selling, Hedge Fund Buyers Are Finally Back

One of the most remarkable aspects of the 2023 year-end Santa rally, is just how powerful and stubborn the resistance against the meltup was among the hedge fund community, which as readers may recall, were selling and selling and selling, hitting a record 17 consecutive weeks of sales within single-name stocks, a liquidation frenzy that fizzled out in the last week of the year, only to restart anew in the first week of 2024 as we reported in "Largest Selling Since Mid-October": Hedge Funds, Long-Onlies Resume Dumping Tech Stocks At Furious Pace.

However, in a surprising reversal - considering the stronger than expected payrolls report (even if the Household Survey numbers were an unmitigated disaster) and the hotter than expected CPI report - last week, when the S&P rose 1.8% as market participants digested the start of 4Q earnings season, hedge funds finally reversed course and were net buyers of US equities week as long buys outpaced short sales ~6 to 1, as flows pointed to re-grossing in Single Stocks which saw the largest long buying in ~10 months (9 of 11 sectors were net bought led again by Health Care) according to the latest (and always must read) Equities Weekly Rundown note by Goldman Prime. 

Below we summarize what we have dubbed Goldman's weekly "must-read" report that aims to consolidate the latest positioning and flows intelligence, market themes, and actionable ideas from thought leaders and traders across the GS franchise, and is an indispensable piece for every serious trader. Below we excerpt from the latest full report for the benefit of our premium and professional readers  (full analysis available to our pro subscribers in the usual place).