Hedge fund managers have turned bearish on US equities according to the TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Survey of Hedge Fund Managers for February, which found that about 40 per cent of those hedge fund managers surveyed were bearish on the S&P 500, up from 26 per cent in January. The survey polled 89 hedge fund managers.

And just 26 per cent are bullish, down from 37 per cent in January.

“Bullish sentiment less bearish sentiment is negative for the first time since November,” said Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.

Meanwhile about 37 per cent of hedge fund managers are bearish on the 10-year treasury note and 15 per cent are bullish. Bullish and bearish sentiment on the US dollar index are balanced at 31 per cent and while 18 per cent of managers aim to increase leverage in the near term, 15 per cent plan to lever down.

Managers are concerned about oil prices, as shown by the 24 per cent of those surveyed who believe oil is more likely to hit $150 per barrel than the S&P 500 is likely to ascend to 1,600.

“We’ll take the other side of that action. We did see a similar surge to $150 from $100 in 2008, and tension in the Middle East is obviously higher now.  But oil spiking to $150 from here represents a move of nearly seven standard deviations, while the S&P 500 climbing to 1,600 represents a move of less than three standard deviations,” said Vincent Deluard, executive vice president at TrimTabs.