Hedge funds bet big against US Treasuries, Janet Yellen urges Congress to raise the debt ceiling and Binance halts Bitcoin withdrawals twice in less than a day. — Sofia Horta e Costa
Leveraged funds supercharged their bearish Treasury bets to record levels in the week ending May 2, according to the latest available data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. That was just days before the US banking turmoil took a turn for the worse, spurring a rally in Treasuries amid bets the Federal Reserve would soon pause its tightening cycle. Sentiment flipped again after Friday’s better-than-expected jobs data, however. Some of the positions may not be due to the rising popularity of the so-called basis trade, a strategy where investors buy cash Treasuries and short the underlying futures — pocketing any difference in pricing.
