Hedge funds massive bet on stock market crash raises alarm for 401k's updated

Update: several have fairly questioned the Daily Mail as a source, so here is one this morning from Reuters with a similar message: “Tariff hikes unnerve Wall Street as trade war seen jolting markets”

Tariff wars jolt markets

"I do think the markets are going to react to this," said Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Siebert Financial in New York. "Until now the market has really been on Trump's side, but that could change and the market could challenge him for the first time."

A story in the Daily Mail by James Gordon is suggesting that the insanity of the Trump admin may becoming apparent to the financial guys.  Here is a link: Hedge funds pull back

Excerpts:

Hedge funds are making a multi-billion-dollar gamble against the US economy, betting Donald Trump's presidency will result in a massive market crash that could devastate 401(k)s, pensions, and household savings across America.

Data from Goldman Sachs has sent shockwaves through financial circles, revealing a dramatic surge in 'short' positions against US stocks - a move that signals a belief the market is headed for a precipitous crash.

Throughout January, investors placed 10 times more bets on American stocks falling than on their continued rise, a staggering shift that reflects growing unease over Wall Street's future under Trump's leadership.

And:

Fund managers were riding high, convinced Trump's return to power would usher in a stock market boom.

But now in a shocking twist, those same hedge funds are now betting against the very economy they once championed.  

And while hedge fund billionaires stand to make hundreds of millions from a stock market collapse, the real victims of this financial gamble could be everyday American investors.

Look out below?  War on Panama?  Tariffs, tariffs everywhere?  President Musk running amok with the US financial data?  What could possible go wrong?