by predictany007
Famed short-seller Michael Burry loaded up on regional banks during the first quarter, including First Republic before it was bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
His hedge fund, Scion Asset Management, snapped up 150,000 shares of the failed lender, worth about $2 million at the end of the first quarter, according to regulatory filings. First Republic’s shares had fallen more than 97% this year before it was seized by regulators and sold to JPMorgan in a government-brokered deal on May 1.
Scion also bought 250,000 shares in PacWest Bancorp, whose stock has slumped almost 79% this year amid the broader turmoil in the sector. The fund acquired 125,000 shares of Western Alliance Bancorp during the quarter. The bank’s stock is down about 48% this year.
Burry also added 850,000 shares of New York Community Bancorp, which has climbed about 20% in 2023 after hitting a year-to-date high earlier this month. Other banks Scion scooped up during the quarter were Capital One Financial Corp. (75,000 shares), Wells Fargo & Co. (125,000 shares) and Huntington Bancshares Inc. (184,900 shares).
Full article: finance.yahoo.com/news/michael-burry-loaded-bank-stocks-175147923.html
Michael Burry, the money manager made famous in The Big Short, now has a Big Long when it comes to China. He boosted his bullish bets on e-commerce giants JD.com Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., even as other hedge funds cooled on the nation’s reopening trades.
The two stocks have become the largest holdings of his Scion Asset Management, accounting for 20% of his stock portfolio. His success relies not only on the companies recovering their mojo but also surviving the geopolitical risks that drove many of his peers away.
Burry, who rose to fame after predicting the 2008 housing crash, made headlines Monday after revealing in a 13F filing that he scooped up regional lenders during the banking turmoil in the first quarter.
That wasn’t his only contrarian bet. After purchasing Alibaba and JD.com in the final months of 2022 as China ended the Covid Zero policy, Burry boosted the holdings of the two last quarter. His stake in JD.com more than tripled to 250,000 shares, worth $11 million, or 11% of his portfolio. He also doubled holdings of Alibaba to $10 million.
Full article: fortune.com/2023/05/16/big-short-investor-michael-burry-betting-big-china-tech-other-hedge-funds-have-cooled-beijing/