As the financial press reported, U.S. stocks continue to inch forward or hold steady. Stock market indices opened with trading in positive territory, even as Hurricane Harvey affected refineries and other energy facilities. But while the market showed positive trends, it was a report, published last week by Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML), which caught the eye of many.
On Thursday, August 24, BoAML reported investors have been fleeing stocks in a frenzy that hadn’t been seen for years. According to Evelyn Cheng with CNBC, investors had pulled an estimated $30 billion from U.S. stock funds over the past 10 weeks. That added up to the longest stock outflow streak since 2004.
The 10-week strain of withdrawals occurred despite market highlights, including a 1% gain by the S&P 500 for the quarter. Contrastingly, Cheng noted that foreign markets posted strong inflow gains. European stocks, Japanese stocks, and emerging markets saw inflows of $36 billion over the last 10 weeks.
