Cooperman warned that the longer the economy remains shut, the greater the risk of a depression.
Other marquee investors also have taken more defensive stances recently. Tudor Jones, who runs Tudor Investment Corp., told clients in early May he was investing in gold and had even put a small percentage of his firm’s assets in Bitcoin as he looked for havens. Meanwhile, Carl Icahn said in late April that he wasn’t buying stocks. Instead, he was hoarding cash and shorting commercial real estate.
Stock-picker Miller said in an email he’s changed his mind about the market’s prospects for the near future.
“The buying opportunity I talked about on CNBC on March 18 did not last as long as I thought it would,” Miller said. “After being up about 30% from the low on March 23, I would think a pause and some consolidation is in order.” He predicted the S&P 500 could fall 4% or 5% from its current level.
A few of the more bearish hedge fund managers already sounded the alarm earlier this year. Crispin Odey told clients in a March update that “nothing is immune from the slowdown.”
“By all means buy your favourite shares, I am not going to put you off,” he wrote. “But know that from here on you are now on the wrong side of history.”
Singer, the founder of Elliott Management, who on Feb. 1 told his staff to prepare for quarantines, told clients in mid-April -- while stocks were soaring -- that the outlook for equities was dire. Global stock markets could fall 50% or more from their February top, he said.
It’s not just fund managers. Billionaire Mark Cuban, who is part of a group chosen by Trump last month to help advise on reopening the economy, said he agreed with Druckenmiller about equities.
“Stocks are overvalued and the risk-reward isn’t there till we see a cohesive plan for testing from the government,” Cuban said in an email.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.