Stock Investors Are Hedging a Drop. Strategists See a Buy Signal

The change in mood among investors, particularly the retail crowd, arrives as the S&P 500 has churned below 7,000 for most of the year, defying predictions that a breakout is imminent. Artificial intelligence tools have led to big selloffs in a variety of sectors, trade policies remain opaque and geopolitical tensions are high. The swirl of negative inputs prompted investors to pile into derivatives that pay out if the S&P 500 suffers a steep loss.