Nearly half the stocks in the S&P 500 are at cross purposes with the rest of the market

Nearly half of the stocks in the S&P 500 are moving against the index with a negative beta, an unusual divergence that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. About 45% of S&P 500 stocks have a negative three-month beta, according to a recent note from Goldman Sachs. The data closely aligns with CNBC's finding that nearly 40% of S&P 500 stocks had a negative three-month beta versus the index, while 17% have a negative one-year beta, based on weekly returns. Beta measures how a stock moves relative to the rest of the market. A negative beta means an individual stock's returns moved in the opposite direction of the S&P 500 over the measured period. The surge in stocks with a negative beta dovetails with other unusual market signals.