Famed investor Michael Burry, known for calling out the subprime mortgage crisis, sold all of his existing holdings at the end of the second quarter, according to a new regulatory filing. Investor “The Big Short” sold all of its 11 stock positions including Meta, Alphabet, Warner Bros. Discovery, Global Payments and Bristol-Myers Squibb last quarter, the filing showed. He also ended his short bet against Apple by the end of June. Burry added a stock — GEO Group — worth $3.3 million last quarter, the filing showed. The investor had been in and out of this private prison operator over the past two years. Shares of GEO rose more than 8% on Monday, cutting its 2022 losses to about 5%. Still, perhaps the big selling in Burry’s portfolio conveys just how bearish he is in the market. The investor, who now runs hedge fund Scion Asset Management, has expressed his pessimistic views on the markets and the economy on Twitter. Most recently, Burry warned that “addictive” consumer spending portends more trouble, even as economic data showed signs of improvement. He pointed out that consumers were still spending heavily on goods and services at a time when inflation remained at a decade-high. In May, he drew parallels between today’s market environment and that of 2008, saying it was like “watching a plane crash.” Burry had also sounded the alarm about massive profit compression. Burry became famous for betting against mortgage securities before the 2008 crisis. Burry was portrayed in Michael Lewis’ book The Big Short and subsequent Oscar-winning film of the same name. Since the filings reflect only one holding, it’s unclear if Burry is taking bearish bets in other ways that don’t show up in these earnings reports. Burry could go short or use sophisticated derivatives.
