Barclays: Commodity investors’ retreat is turning into a stampede

Barclays Capital said retail and institutional investors pulled out $8.2 billion from commodity investments in May, the most in eight months, reports Reuters:

“A ‘perfect storm’ of downgrades, lackluster macroeconomic data and the ongoing eurozone debt crisis transformed a retreat by investors into something approaching a stampede during May, evoking memories of 2008,” Barclays said in a research report.

“The speed and extent of recent commodity price falls suggest market participants are anticipating a severe deterioration in the macroeconomic outlook,” the bank said.