Goldman Sachs: CTAs to Net Sell Across the Board Next Week, Downside Could Trigger $185B in Selling Pressure
Alina Collins
Goldman's latest positioning report shows CTA funds will be net sellers next week under every scenario. If equities fall over the next month, global selling pressure could reach roughly $184.3 billion — and Big Tech earnings are the likeliest trigger.
Why are CTAs selling no matter what happens?
CTAs — trend-following quant funds that use algorithms to chase momentum — are net sellers globally next week whether the market rises, falls, or stays flat.
Flat scenario: ~$7.48 bn global net selling (~$5.96 bn in US equities). Up scenario: still ~$275 mn global net selling (~$2.03 bn in US stocks). Down scenario: ~$31.46 bn global (~$15.1 bn US).
This means → even a rally won't trigger fresh buying. The prior run-up has pushed positioning to levels that must be trimmed — direction no longer matters; the unwind itself is the certainty.
How large is the $184.3 billion worst-case selling wave?
Goldman's one-month downside scenario: global CTA net selling surges to ~$184.3 billion, with US equities accounting for ~$71.1 billion.
Goldman labels this a "2-standard-deviation decline" trigger. In plain terms = a statistically uncommon but not rare event — roughly a sustained, moderately deep selloff over a month.
For contrast, the one-month upside scenario flips to global net buying of ~$34.39 billion (US ~$8.31 bn). The gap between bull and bear exceeds $210 billion, showing how directionally sensitive current positioning is.
Where are the key support levels for the S&P 500?
Goldman flags three support thresholds: short-term 7,455, medium-term 7,204, long-term 6,765.
The report adds that once this week passes, trend signals still lean positive overall — short-term bearish signals have not spread to the medium or long term.
This means → current selling pressure looks more like short-term position adjustment than a trend reversal — but only if the market holds above the medium-term support.
What unusual signals is JPMorgan flagging?
JPMorgan equity trader Taylor Barry characterizes recent price action as "machines / quant / multi-strat fund deleveraging" — not fundamentals-driven, but positioning structures unwinding themselves.
Low-touch volume (algorithmic matching) is running 25–30% above the 20-day average, while high-touch volume (human-directed) is ~10% below. In plain terms = the selling is mostly machines; humans haven't followed yet.
The momentum factor is seeing its largest two-day drawdown since July, reflecting early signs of crowded trend strategies unwinding at once.
What could actually trigger the full $184.3 billion sell wave?
Goldman states explicitly: any "less-than-perfect" language in Big Tech earnings could become the catalyst for a large-scale CTA selloff.
This means → the threshold is not a blowup — it's "not quite good enough." The market's tolerance for anything short of perfection is already razor-thin.
Whether ~$184.3 billion in potential selling can be absorbed will be the defining stress test for this rally's resilience.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.