A snippet from Nomura, this note prior to May cancelling the Brexit vote

  • we infer that investors are heavily sidelined, taking a "wait-and-see" approach to the parliamentary vote on the Brexit agreement this week (11 December)

(note, as you know by now, this has been deferred: UK PM May is said to pull vote on her Brexit deal)

  • the aggregate exposure to the US equity market of hedge funds has fallen further, deviating from the average pattern in December.
  • Speculative investors may have strengthened their cautious attitude towards equity market risk - with fast-money investor holdings of US stocks approaching year lows. Although there seems little positive to encourage buying equities right now, we do believe that hedge funds' cautious stance to US stocks is close to its peak.

(bolding mine … a great observation from Nomura)