Bank of Ameri2026-08-12 15:39:12BofA says hedge fund clients kept buying U.S. stocks, hitting the biggest weekly level since 2008Bank of America said its hedge fund clients raised their buying of U.S. equities to the highest level since 2008 in the week ended Aug. 7, after purchasing shares at a near-record pace the previous week. In a research note led by strategist Jill Carey Hall, the bank said clients were net buyers of U.S. stocks for a sixth straight week. The flows showed a split between vehicles: clients put $4.1 billion into ETFs while pulling $2.4 billion from single stocks. Over the same period, institutional and retail clients were both net sellers, while corporate clients stepped up buybacks. Sector positioning was also uneven. Clients sold seven of the 11 sectors, with industrials posting the largest outflows. Technology, by contrast, logged the second-largest weekly inflow on record. The figures were cited by Bloomberg and reflect a market where broad equity exposure through ETFs continued to attract demand even as stock-specific exposure was reduced.1930
JPMorgan2026-08-04 06:22:36JPMorgan Keeps Favoring Tech and Cyclicals, Adds Healthcare as a Risk BufferJPMorgan said in its latest report that it still favors a “technology plus cyclicals” equity allocation, while recommending healthcare as a third pillar to reduce a portfolio’s correlation with macro factors. The bank said the technology sector now offers a rebound opportunity after a sharp pullback. According to the report, the forward price-to-earnings ratio of the U.S. “Magnificent Seven,” excluding semiconductor companies, has fallen to two standard deviations below its average since 2018. A move back to the historical mean could imply roughly 56% upside. The report also argued that concerns over returns on AI investment have become excessive. JPMorgan said backlog growth at hyperscale cloud companies is about 150%, ahead of capital expenditure growth of around 80%, and it continues to favor mean reversion trades tied to AI assets, with particular attention on AI names in Asia-Pacific markets such as South Korea. In cyclicals, the bank recommended shifting from financials and consumer stocks into industrials, saying industrial companies stand to benefit from improving global growth, earnings recovery, and AI-driven valuation re-rating. It also took a tactical bullish stance on Hong Kong stocks in China, while advising investors to take some profits on crowded AI supply chain names that have already posted large gains.1900
