Businessweek.com – There is a reason hedge fund managers are paid so handsomely. They are considered to be smarter than everybody else when it comes to investing. But that has not been the case recently.<\/p>\n
Last year was a terrible one for hedge fund managers, who were clobbered by market volatility. This year isn\u2019t off to a promising start either. The U.S. stock market has been on an upward tear. However, hedge funds have trailed S&P 500 since the rally began in November. These people have missed it again, says Philip Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors. They\u2019ve been unduly bearish in their outlook. That\u2019s certainly come back to hurt them.<\/p>\n
Now hedge funds are piling into stocks. According to the International Strategy & Investment Group, the percentage of long bets on stocks by hedge funds last week rose to 48.6, from 42 percent five months ago. This could mean two things:<\/p>\n