Investor positioning in defensive sectors of the S&P 500, including health care, consumer staples, and utilities, has fallen to its lowest level since 2000, according to Bank of America and market data. This decline marks the lowest defensive allocation in 25 years. Professional and institutional investors remain bearish, with hedge fund short positions surging by $25 billion over the last three Commitments of Traders reports, the largest increase in a decade. Short interest on the median S&P 500 stock reached 2.3%, a seven-year high, while hedge fund shorts on Nasdaq stocks hit 41% of open interest, the highest in four years. Hedge funds have notably increased bearish bets on Brent crude oil, with short positions reaching an eight-month high amid signals of increased supply from OPEC+ and potential Iranian market re-entry. Despite this bearish stance among professionals, retail investors have been buying at record levels.