Bank of America Bull & Bear Gauge Drops Below Sell-Signal Threshold

The Bank of America Bull & Bear Indicator fell to 7.4 from 8.1, ending a contrarian sell signal that had remained in place since May 26.

The gauge runs from 0 to 10. Readings above 8 mark a contrarian sell signal, while readings below 2 signal a buy. At 7.4, the indicator is in the neutral range.

The decline reflected weaker breadth in global stock markets, bearish hedge fund positioning in oil and S&P 500 futures, less bullish positioning in gold futures, and softer flows into high-yield and emerging-market debt. Inflows into technology funds partly offset those pressures.

For the week through Oct. 14, global stock funds received $64.5 billion, including $39.1 billion for U.S. equities. Crypto funds saw $600 million in outflows during the same week.

Bank of America strategists led by Michael Hartnett wrote that they would “continue to lean risk-off” over the next three to four weeks. They cited real yields, geopolitical risks, U.S. midterm uncertainty and weak performance among AI-linked stocks.

A separate, older version of the indicator stood at 5.1, down from 5.6 the prior week and 8.0 on Sept. 1. That figure refers to a different series from the 7.4 reading.