Hedge Funds Dump U.S. Energy Stocks to Buy Crude Options

Following a rally in energy stocks this year, hedge funds have been selling off U.S. oil company shares to pile into crude oil options, expecting a price rally in oil if the Middle East conflict escalates and a short-term pullback in energy shares, according to Goldman Sachs data reported by Bloomberg. Money managers have sold U.S. energy stocks for three consecutive weeks, per Goldman Sachs’s prime brokerage data. Shares in energy firms have outperformed the top tech stocks this year as the market has grown more bullish on…