(Nov 1): The US dollar’s winning streak looks to be running out of steam.

Strategists at Barclays plc, Morgan Stanley and National Australia Bank Ltd caution that bets on the greenback are getting increasingly stretched. Options positioning shows the weakest appetite for new dollar positions in two months. And gauges of volatility show expected moves in currencies at the lowest in 18 months.

A Bloomberg index of the dollar has traded sideways since hitting its year-to-date peak earlier this month, and even US Treasury yields spiking to their highest in more than a decade last week failed to ignite enough momentum for the currency to push higher.

“Here comes the big dollar let-down,” said Themistoklis Fiotakis, the head of foreign exchange research at Barclays plc in London. “At this point, big dollar theories can bite.”

It’s not the first time that Wall Street has called the demise of the dollar, only for the currency to rip higher. A slide in July that some saw as marking the end of the greenback’s gains quickly transformed into a roaring rally. More recently, appetite for safe havens from the geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East has fueled sporadic demand for the dollar. The currency also climbed on Tuesday despite the Bank of Japan’s decision to ease curbs on domestic bond yields.

Still, a recent MLIV Pulse survey suggests enthusiasm for the dollar may have peaked in September, with other analysts joining Fiotakis in seeing dollar bets as now too crowded. Combined long positions on the ICE dollar index by leveraged funds — the most speculative type among investors — rose to almost 4,600 contracts on the week ending Oct 10, the highest since July, CFTC data showed.