DC Lite #204

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1. New York manufacturing. The Empire State Manufacturing Index unexpectedly jumped to 11.5 in September, the best reading since April 2022. Strength was seen in new orders and shipments while prices were flat and labor market conditions remained soft.

2. Yen futures positioning. "Futures traders have gone from massive short positions on the Japanese yen to the biggest long bet since 2016."

3. Global sector positioning. "Traders have increased their positioning to above average levels in defensive corners of the market including utilities, consumer staples and real estate ... exposure in technology has declined significantly from above ... to now just modestly above average."

4. HFs vs. Financials. "Global Financials saw the largest net buying since Jun ’23. The Prime book is still under-weight Financials vs. the MSCI World Index by -4.4%, which is well below historical averages, in the 30th percentile vs. the past year and in the 19th percentile vs. the past five years."

5. Highs vs. lows. "As long as more stocks are making new highs than new lows, odds favor above average returns and below average risk."

See: Hi Mount Research