Market Dynamics Have Reversed: CTA Selling Impulse Is Gone, Gamma Has Flipped Short, And Buybacks Are Coming Out Of Blackout: Goldman Prime

It was another week when the bears initially thought they finally had regained control of market direction, and would successfully push the S&P below 5,000 thanks to the hotter than expected Employment Cost Index number, only to watch their modest gains evaporate first after the dovish FOMC, in which Powell announced a bigger QT taper than expected, and then after the one-two punch of a record buyback from AAPL and a weaker jobs report sent stocks broadly higher on Friday with the S&P 500 gaining +0.5% on the week, as investors digested a plethora of macro and micro catalysts and awaited further evidence on the path of US inflation. As Goldman writes in its weekly must read Equities Rundown report which summarizes the most salient observations from various trading desks, Most Short, China ADRs, and Renewables outperformed on the week, while Bitcoin Sensitive, Commodity Sensitive, and Expensive Software stocks underperformed.

Below is a summary of the key highlights from every key Goldman trading group: