Mixed signals for the stock market's future performance.

Fundstrat's Tom Lee has said that the stock market has flashed another signal that suggests a new bull market has begun, with the S&P 500's near-20% rise since its mid-October low trapping bearish investors that expect a hawkish Fed. Lee believes that if inflation falls as quickly as expected, the Fed will tolerate easing financial conditions, meaning that bears are trapped. Hedge funds have built the largest short exposure against the S&P 500 since 2011, and those bears could be the fuel that drives a sustainable bull market as they slowly capitulate and flip their exposure from bearish to bullish.