World Trade Source

10/03/2010

The U.S. dollar is the favorite currency of hedge-fund managers, with the Brazilian real a “distant second,” according to a survey by TrimTabs Investment Research and BarclayHedge.

Fifty-nine percent of hedge fund managers say Greece’s sovereign debt crisis may spread to other European countries, though they don’t expect it to endanger the unity of the euro- region, the TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Currency Survey of Hedge Fund Managers also showed. Almost 15 percent see a “full breakup” of the zone.

“Hedge fund managers overwhelmingly favor the U.S. dollar in the short term,” the report said. “This confirms other sentiment surveys and is consistent with aggressive buying of U.S. dollar index futures by speculative traders.”

Fifty-seven percent of survey respondents were bullish on the greenback over the next three months, while 11.5 percent favored the real, the survey said. The yen and an “other” category led by the Australian dollar were each preferred by 8.2 percent, and the Canadian dollar was favored by 6.6 percent. The euro was preferred by 4.9 percent.

The TrimTabs/BarclayHedge currency survey was completed between Feb. 11 and Feb. 22. Sixty-one managers, with average assets under management of $113 million, responded. TrimTabs is based in Sausalito, California. BarclayHedge is a research firm based in Fairfield, Iowa. Source - Bloomberg