Michael Burry, known for calling the subprime mortgage crisis, just unveiled potential massive bets against the stock market, according to a new regulatory filing released Monday. Burry’s hedge fund, Scion Asset Management, owned put options against 2,000,000 shares of the SPDR S & P 500 ETF Trust , the popular ETF that tracks the S & P 500. These 20,000 put contracts, with unknown value, strike price, or expiry, were against shares with a value of $886.6 million at the end of June. Scion also held puts against 2,000,000 shares of the Invesco QQQ ETF , which tracks the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index. These 20,000 options contracts were against shares worth $738.8 million at the end of the second quarter. Put options increase in value as the underlying asset falls in price. These bets were particularly outsized in his portfolio as the rest of his holdings were all under $11 million. To be sure, the filing reveals his holdings at the end of the second quarter, so the investor could have already exited the bearish position by now, or he could have added more to it. Also the trades could be some sort of hedge. CNBC emailed the famously reclusive Burry for comment. He didn’t respond immediately. The stock market enjoyed a big rally last quarter as fears of a recession eased on the back of softer inflation data. The SPY rallied 8.3% last quarter, while QQQ jumped 15.1%. But that momentum has stalled as of late. The S & P 500 is off the last two weeks as investors debate whether the U.S. can skirt a recession and whether the Federal Reserve is done raising rates. Burry shot to fame by betting against mortgage securities before the 2008 crisis. Burry was depicted in Michael Lewis’ book “The Big Short” and the subsequent Oscar-winning movie of the same name. Other than those put contracts, Burry added small stakes in travel names Expedia and MGM Resorts , as well as health care plays Cigna and CVS Health.
