‘Big Short’ sage Michael Burry ticks off market ‘crash’ checklist as meme stocks, crypto struggle
“Big Short” sage Michael Burry reiterated his view Wednesday that the stock market is in the middle of a major crash.
Burry, who became famous for his bet against subprime mortgages during the Great Recession, likened current market conditions to previous crashes that occurred in 2008 and 2000.
“Crypto crash. Check,” Burry tweeted. “Meme crash. Check. SPAC crash. Check. Inflation. Check. 2000. Check. 2008. Check. 2022. Check.”
Burry’s latest warning came during a period of prolonged pain for investors. The broad-based S&P 500 is down about 18% since January, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has plummeted about 15% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq has fallen about 9% over the same period.
Popular “meme stocks” have struggled during the broader downturn. Bed Bath & Beyond shares are down more than 51%, AMC shares have plunged nearly 70% and GameStop shares have fallen about 37% this year.
The Scion Capital Management chief also called out weakness in SPACS, or special purpose acquisition companies, which boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic-era stock market surge but have cooled considerably over the last year.
Meanwhile, bitcoin is down more than 60% this year and has plunged below the $19,000 threshold.
Burry first cautioned that US stocks were heading toward “the mother of all crashes” in June 2021. At the time, he cited irrational “fear of missing out” trading activity related to cryptocurrencies and meme stocks as a sign of the volatility.
“All hype/speculation is doing is drawing in retail before the mother of all crashes,” Burry tweeted. “When crypto falls from trillions, or meme stocks fall from tens of billions, #MainStreet losses will approach the size of countries.”
The hedge fund wizard followed up on that prediction in a tweet last week while sharing a chart showing the S&P 500’s decline so far this year.
“And yet I keep getting asked ‘wen crash?’” Burry said in the tweet captured by the @BurryArchive Twitter account.
Burry has a built an audience of more than 1 million followers on Twitter, where he frequently shares his views on the economy and politics. He generally deletes his tweets shortly after they are posted.
Burry raised eyebrows this summer after his hedge fund sold off its entire stock portfolio, including several Big Tech firms, while adding a small stake in private prison operator Geo Group.
In June, Burry tweeted that the market downturn was “maybe halfway” over.
For all the latest Business News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
