Hedge funds are turning cautious with stocks at record highs

Stock-picking hedge funds climbed modestly in July, in line with the broader market, but their positioning has turned more cautious with the S & P 500 sitting near a record high. Global fundamental long-short hedge funds returned 1.5% in July on an asset-weighted basis, bringing their year-to-date gains to 7.8%, according to data from Goldman Sachs prime brokerage. Managers piled into individual stocks for a third straight month to ride the market's resilient bull run, the data showed. Still, hedge funds were net sellers of technology stocks in July and bought defensive companies for the third month in a row, indicating more measured positioning heading into August, according to Goldman's prime book. The stock market has chugged along, reaching multiple record highs in late July, as invest