Hedge Funds Long Spanish, Italian Sovereigns; Short Treasuries

Positioning is still almost unanimously short in the U.S. but less so than previously, point out Citi analysts in their recent report.

Robert Crossley and David Bieber of Citi Research, in their research report dated March 20, 2014 also point out positioning is long in Germany, while it is longer in France.

Hedge funds: Plenty of room to increase shorts in US

The Citi analysts note the overwhelmingly short positioning in the U.S. would translate to reduced short-covering risk and lower sensitivity to very weak data. The following table highlights the short positioning in the U.S.

By combining the above information together with the Citi USD Economic Surprise Index...