The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday edition that a combination of elevated oil prices and surging bond yields has derailed a broadening in the rally that was supposed to propel stocks to new records. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post says bulls are confronting a harsh reality: Adding major positioning doesn't appear to be worth it right now. The bond sell-off is capping the appeal of equities, a strengthening U.S. dollar is hampering liquidity and the threat of Iran war re-escalation has kept U.S. crude oil prices around $90 (U.S.) a barrel. The deteriorating picture leaves investors, reluctant to cash out more than they have already, wondering what's next. After reducing risk during the summer, investors seem to have little appetite to pull back further. Take hedge funds: they spent most of September adding hedges and short positions rather than cutting their long exposure, according to Goldman Sachs. It's evidence that investors are far from complacent and are evaluating threats. They seem willing to maintain fairly concentrated exposure to a narrow number of themes or stocks, especially trades related to artificial intelligence, while selling anything that may suffer from the crumbling macroeconomic backdrop.