The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition that the powerful central bankers have vowed in unison to keep interest rates higher for longer if necessary to tame inflation, and that in turn fuelled a $5.5-trillion (U.S.) stock sell-off on Wall Street. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post says that after rallying on bets that the United States Federal Reserve is on the cusp of easing policy, a slew of interest-rate-sensitive investing strategies are taking a beating this August. Blame benign economic data that suggest the age of elevated borrowing costs will endure and rich valuations across risky assets after a stunning first-half rally. Jonestrading International analyst Michael O'Rourke said, "There is a very strong likelihood risk assets have registered their highs for this year." From buying meme stocks and dumping the dollar to betting against swings in stock prices, many popular trades have become losers. Among the winners: hedge funds betting that bond yields will rise anew. Investors recently amassed the biggest overweight bond positions in years, according to a JPMorgan survey, only to be hit with fresh losses this month. Traders are abandoning their dip-buying call as market losses deepen.