Latest news with #MichaelBurry
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Famous investor's huge move sparks fears for the economy
A prominent investor and multi-millionaire has made a huge move amid growing concerns about the global economy. Michael Burry – one of the first investors to predict and profit from the subprime mortgage crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 – has turned sceptical on stocks, dramatically slashing the portfolio of his Scion Asset Management company. As revealed by recent SEC filings, Burry's Scion Asset Management has liquidated most of its equity holdings in a sign that the investor is bracing for a hard market crash. The company cut the size of its portfolio to just seven stocks in the first quarter, according to a regulatory filing in May. This is down from 13 stocks in the previous quarter. Shares sold by Scion include Alibaba (BABA), Baidu (BIDU), (JD), and PDD Holdings (PDD). Meanwhile, the company's position in beauty giant Estée Lauder doubled, to 200,000 shares. Burry, who was portrayed by Christian Bale in the 2015 movie The Big Shor t is well known for spotting market bubbles, and has issued a string of warnings over recent years – some of which haven't come true. Burry has also slashed shares before – raising eyebrows in 2023 when he cut most of his holdings. Later, he discovered that it wasn't the greatest move. The investor's move comes amid uncertainty on Wall Street over US President Donald Trump's trade war and the Big Beautiful Bill, which could saddle America with a staggering $4 trillion in debt over the next decade. Currently, America's national debt stands at $USD36 ($AUD56) trillion, a figure that dwarfs defence spending as a proportion of the country's GDP. What's more, US Treasuries are on track for their first monthly loss this year due to Trump's abrupt policy shifts, which have shaken the confidence of investors. Those investors include Burry and JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon, with Dimon declaring at an economic forum on Friday that a 'crack' was about to appear in the bond market, which happens when investors no longer have confidence in the government and its ability to service its debt. He also stated that government 'mismanagement' could potentially 'kill us'. 'I just don't know if it's going to be a crisis in six months or six years, and I'm hoping that we change both the trajectory of the debt and the ability of market makers to make markets,' the JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief executive officer said Friday at the Reagan National Economic Forum. 'Unfortunately, it may be that we need that to wake us up.' Dimon had a bleak prediction for most investors. 'I'm telling you it's going to happen, and you're going to panic. I'm not going to panic. We'll be fine. We'll probably make more money,' he said. When it comes to Australia's economic future, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in May that managing the risk from the global economic uncertainty is a priority. He said the 'spectrum of scenarios' posed by the global outlook was 'much broader' following the impact of Donald Trump's trade war. The spotlight is well and truly on the increasingly volatile US and China relationship. The Treasurer has also stated that boosting productivity will be the focus of the Albanese government's second term, while still reining in inflation.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Big Short investor Michael Burry liquidates entire portfolio - except for one stock
Michael Burry, the investor who famously bet against the US housing market before the 2008 crash, has once again sounded the alarm and dumped all of his stock - except one. In a dramatic move revealed by recent SEC filings, Burry's Scion Asset Management has slashed its portfolio to just seven positions. Six of them are aggressive short bets: bearish put options against some of the biggest names in tech and Chinese equities, including Nvidia, Alibaba, and Baidu. Only one company appears to have managed to retain Burry's faith: Estee Lauder, where Burry has doubled down, boosting his holdings to 200,000 shares valued at $13.2 million. While cosmetics may be an unusual choice ahead of a potential financial meltdown, it's not without logic. In times of economic distress, consumers often indulge in small luxuries even as they forego big-ticket items - a phenomenon known as the 'lipstick index.' When wallets tighten, lipsticks replace dresses; with small indulgences offer a balm for economic wounds. Under new CEO Stephane de La Faverie, Estee Lauder is trying to reassert itself in a struggling global beauty market, particularly in North America and China. Bearish has taken out aggressive short bets: bearish put options against some of the biggest names in tech and Chinese equities, including Alibaba and Baidu Only one company appears to have managed to retain Burry's faith: Estee Lauder, where Burry has doubled down, boosting his holdings to 200,000 shares valued at $13.2 million. Product launches have accelerated. Luxury price tiers have been introduced. Still, Estee's stock is down 15% year-to-date, although it did gain 2% on Friday amid broader market turmoil. 'Burry's bet suggests belief in Estee Lauder's ability to reclaim its status as a beauty powerhouse in an increasingly competitive global market,' said Angeli Gianchandani, a global brand marketing expert at New York University. Burry appears to be bracing for a hard crash when it comes to the market and there are warning signs that have not been seen since the depths of the 2008 crisis. Burry rose to fame with his bets against the US housing market before the 2008 financial crisis. Michael Lewis' nonfiction book The Big Short was released in 2010 and the movie version came out in 2015. He also profited in the early 2000s by shorting high-flying tech stocks during the peak of the Dot Com bubble. However, his bets have sometime appeared to misfire. In late 2020, he initiated short positions against Tesla stock, but later said it was just 'a trade' and he'd exited the position after Tesla's stock continued to soar. This also isn't the first time Burry has gutted his portfolio. In 2023, he famously dumped most of his holdings only to later admit he was wrong. Markets are also seeing a flight to alternative assets. Gold has surged 24% year-to-date, outperforming Bitcoin's 12% gain, as investors hedge against a weakening U.S. dollar down 8% this year. Bitcoin has caught a second wind as well, bolstered by adoption from both corporations and state governments. Arizona and New Hampshire have passed legislation establishing strategic Bitcoin reserves and wwo dozen more states are considering similar measures. Not everyone is convinced, however, and JPMorgan's analysts recently noted that while Bitcoin may offer high returns, gold remains the safer bet for risk-averse investors seeking protection against geopolitical risks and currency debasement. 'We are skeptical that Bitcoin and other crypto assets offer the potential to improve portfolio resilience. Despite their low correlations to traditional assets, crypto assets have historically made portfolios more fragile,' JPMorgan analysts wrote. In the bond market, yields on the 10-year Treasury note have surged to 4.54%, while 30-year bonds are touching pre-2008 crisis levels above 5%. The moves can be seen unsettling because of their cause - the fear that Washington is about to unleash a new wave of new debt. With Moody's recently downgrading America's credit rating, concerns about fiscal instability have only deepened, reinforcing investor skepticism about the sustainability of Washington's approach. House Republicans, steered by Speaker Mike Johnson and under the watchful eye of Donald Trump, muscled through the so-called 'One Big Beautiful Bill' - a sprawling package of tax cuts and spending increases that could, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, add $3.8 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. Christian Bale portrayed Burry in the 2015 film The Big Short. Burry rose to fame with his bets against the US housing market before the 2008 financial crisis but has not always been right With yields rising, equities look increasingly vulnerable as a place to park cash. The S&P 500 has clawed back most of the losses incurred when Donald Trump introduced his tariffs back in April. Mortgage rates are at highs not seen since the Great Recession with the average contract interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage close to 6.92%. Credit card and auto loan rates are surging. Households and businesses are feeling the squeeze. And while politicians in Washington plays games with tax breaks and entitlement cuts, real Americans are bracing for impact. Cuts to Medicaid and food stamps loom on the horizon. Healthcare for millions could be stripped away. SNAP benefits could shrink hitting low-income Americans the hardest. 'This bill is a debt bomb ticking,' warned Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). 'I'd love to stand here and tell the American people, "We can cut your taxes and increase spending and everything's going to be just fine." But I can't do that because I'm here to deliver a dose of reality. This bill dramatically increases deficits in the near term but promises our government will be fiscally responsible five years from now. Where have we heard that before? How do you bind a future Congress to these promises? This bill is a debt bomb ticking.'
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Ackman, Druckenmiller-Tracking ETFs Are Latest Industry Gambit
In a crowded ETF market obsessed with attention-grabbing pitches, one idea keeps coming back: Track the trades of star investors and sell them to the masses. The latest entrant comes from VistaShares, which filed this week for a suite of ETFs designed to replicate the holdings of famed money managers like Bill Ackman, Stanley Druckenmiller and Michael Burry. By combing through regulatory disclosures, the firm aims to build funds that echo the moves of these high-profile investors — a fresh spin on the long-running effort to bottle hedge-fund mystique for retail buyers.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
New ETFs Offer Exposure to Top Picks of Elite Investors
On Wednesday, Tidal Trust filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer seven exchange-traded funds that may look familiar if you invest in funds from successful investors. The preliminary prospectus shows that VistaShares plans to launch the following new ETFs: VistaShares Pershing Square Select ETF VistaShares Target 15 Pershing Square Select Income ETF VistaShares Scion Asset Management Select ETF VistaShares Target 15 Scion Asset Management Select Income ETF VistaShares Duquesne Select ETF VistaShares Target 15 Duquesne Select Income ETF VistaShares Berkshire Select ETF The funds are based on other firms' 13F filings. Tidal Investments LLC is listed as the investment adviser of the funds while VistaShares Advisors LLC is listed as the subadviser. The management fees and tickers were not included in the filing, and the effective date would be August 11, 2025. The various funds would offer investors access to investment picks of some of the most famous and successful investors, such as Michael Burry of Scion Asset Management—best known for his part in predicting the 2008 stock market crash that went on to be portrayed in the film "The Big Short"—and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who runs Pershing Square Holdings. The VistaShares Pershing Square Select ETF, for example, invests in a portfolio of stocks based on the BITA VistaShares Pershing Square Capital Management Portfolio Top Picks Index, which includes up to 20 equities selected by Pershing Square. The other firms whose picks VistaShares includes in the new offerings are the Duquesne Family Office, run by Stanley Druckenmiller, and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. This isn't a new move for VistaShares. In March, the firm launched the VistaShares Target 15 Berkshire Select Income ETF (OMAH), which provides investors with exposure to some of Berkshire Hathaway's most representative equity holdings. Smaller ETF issuers are looking for ways to offer innovative solutions for the "alternatives" sleeve of investor portfolios because there are already many low-cost, core ETFs available from large ETF issuers like Blackrock and Vanguard, who have the scale to sustain very low fees, Aniket Ullal, senior vice president and head of ETF research and analytics with CFRA, told 'Targeting more niche strategies allows issuers to stay profitable by charging higher fees for more specialized solutions,' Ullal | © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Here's Sands Capital Technology Innovators Fund's Select Engagement Report on Roblox (RBLX)
Sands Capital, an investment management company, released its 'Sands Capital Technology Innovators Fund' Q1 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Technology Innovators focus on pioneering businesses worldwide that serve as key drivers or beneficiaries of significant long-term changes driven by technology. The fund returned -10.4% (net) in the first quarter compared to a 9.4% return for the benchmark, MSCI ACWI Info Tech and Communication Services Index. The choice of securities in the software sector was the primary factor negatively impacting relative performance. You can check the fund's top 5 holdings to know more about its best picks for 2025. In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Sands Capital Technology Innovators Fund highlighted stocks such as Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX). Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX) develops and operates an immersive platform for connection and communication. The one-month return of Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX) was 22.67%, and its shares have appreciated by 155.32% over the past 52 weeks. On May 28, 2025, Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX) closed at $84.64 per share, with a market capitalization of $57.41 billion. Sands Capital Technology Innovators Fund stated the following regarding Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX) in its Q1 2025 investor letter: "Business: Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX) is a leading gaming development and distribution platform. Key issues: Product safety and impact and health and safety. A person taking lessons through Roblox Education, expanding their knowledge and skills. Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 68 hedge fund portfolios held Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX) at the end of the first quarter, which was 61 in the previous quarter. In Q1 2025, Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX) reported revenue of $1.035 billion, that was up 29% year-on-year. While we acknowledge the potential of Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the undervalued AI stock set for massive gains. In another article, we covered Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX) and shared billionaire Mason Morfit's stock picks with highest upside potential. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors. READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
