Hedge fund manager Mark Spitznagel is issuing a dire warning about the state of the economy.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Spitznagel, dubbed the “Black Swan” investor, is predicting a short-term economic rally turned into a market crash akin to one of the most famous stock market slumps in history.
“I’m the crash guy — I remain the crash guy,” Spitznagel, the founder of Universa Investments, told the outlet.
Spitznagel appeared to reference how he is typically poised to profit from severe market events. He secured $1 billion in one day during 2015’s “Flash Crash,” and has reported skyrocketing earnings for his clients when Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008 and after COVID fueled an economic meltdown.
According to the Journal, Spitznagel said the economy is in the early part of 1929 — when stocks added to their gains from the Roaring ‘20s. But he views current economic conditions as similar to the major Wall Street crash, pointing to the federal rescues of the market and economy. The Dow did not recover to its pre-crash heights for 25 years, according to the Federal Reserve’s website.
Spitznagel compared the U.S. economic outlook to extinguishing forest fires, only to have dry tinder accumulate. He believes a “firebomb” could emerge amid near-record stock valuations.
Spitznagel also said that Federal Reserve rates cuts would be ideal in pushing the market higher, adding that the S&P 500 could hit 8,000 points quickly, which would be a 20% gain from its current level.
“The markets are perverse,” Spitznagel said. “They exist to screw people.”
The Journal acknowledged that Spitznagel has previously predicted “something really, really bad,” with gains in stocks seen beforehand. Since then, the S&P 500 has risen 23%.
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