Conviction Collapse: Hedge Fund Leverage Hits "Liberation Day" Lows As Everything But The VIX Screams Fear

Last week we described a hedge fund community that was "increasing exposure without conviction": gross leverage was climbing, while net was going nowhere. One week later, the conviction that already wasn't there has managed to shrink further.

That's the message from Goldman derivatives strategist Cullen Morgan, whose latest US Vol Color note (available to pro subs) opens with a paradox that would make any market historian squint:

From "Without Conviction" To Without Much Of Anything