BofA warns of volatility-shock risk as markets get more fragile

Bloomberg reports that investors need to guard against violent price swings as markets become increasingly fragile, according to Bank of America Corp.

Fragility has increased due to high-frequency traders shutting down machines as stress rises, which hurts liquidity, as well as by trend-chasing among investors reaching for better returns "against their better judgment in a world addicted to the central bank put," BofA strategists led by Nitin Saksena wrote in a note. That's also created "a massive log-jam for liquidity" when things go sour, as players with little conviction rush for the exits, they said.

"With most institutional investors believing this is a bear rally, but at risk of being forced to chase the trend if it continues (having been conditioned as such in the last 10 years), the risk is of bigger bubbles leading to larger shocks," the strategists wrote. "There will be plenty of opportunity (and time) for negative surprises to arise, given the sheer size of this economic crisis, even with a vaccine on fast-track."

Asset prices have certainly moved with speed as Covid-19 wreaked havoc on economies and markets worldwide. The S&P 500 suffered its quickest-ever downdraft from a record into a correction. And as markets recovered amid waves of central-bank pledges and fiscal measures, the rebound was quick, too. Both the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, and Europe's VStoxx have fallen near their fastest paces in history, BofA said.