Michael Burry cryptically compared current conditions to the 2008 financial crisis in a Tweet on Tuesday.
“As I said about 2008, it is like watching a plane crash. It hurts, it is not fun, and I’m not smiling,” Burry tweeted.
Burry, who runs Scion Asset Management, was a central character in the book The Big Short and was played by Christian Bale in the film version. He bet against the U.S. housing market, buying credit default swaps on securities linked to subprime mortgages from Wall Street firms. Burry existed his positions in the second quarter of 2008 and closed his fund. It was reopened in 2013.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been down for eight weeks in a row, the longest losing streak since 1932. The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 indexes have been down for seven weeks in a row.
On Tuesday, the Commerce Department released data showing that the housing market had slowed by much more than expected. The housing market has been one of the sources of strength for the economy and prolonged weakness there would increase the chance of a recession.
Burry did not specify what he was comparing to 2008, although many Twitter users asked for clarification. Burry, who often deletes his tweets, deleted this tweet after just a few hours.
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