Free Republic

Michael Burry, the “Big Short” investor who became famous for correctly predicting the epic collapse of the housing market in 2008, has bet more than $1.6 billion on a Wall Street crash. Burry is making his bearish bets against the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, according to Security Exchange Commission filings released Monday. Burry’s fund, Scion Asset Management, bought $866 million in put options (that’s the right to sell an asset at a particular price) against a fund that tracks the S&P 500 and $739 million in put options against a fund that tracks the Nasdaq 100. Burry is using...

This is what the bears don’t get about oil stocks: These are no longer the reckless, wasteful, binge years of the shale boom. The smart companies have adapted to a new reality. close [x] Pause Unmute Remaining Time -1:33 Fullscreen Now, it’s about dramatic new offshore discoveries that are being brought online in record speed. It’s about brilliant new well-completion designs that enhance productivity. It’s about integrated giants who win, either way. It’s about extremely ambitious small-caps that slip into new venues and scoop up massive basins when no one’s looking. It’s about ingenuity on multiple levels that translates into...

Stocks rose on Wednesday after President Donald Trump spoke about an attack by Iran on an Iraqi airbase that houses American troops, which had led to a massive sell-off in overnight trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 213 points, or 0.8%. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7% and hit an all-time high. The S&P 500 also climbed 0.7% and hit a record high as well. Trump said Iran appeared to be “standing down” after that nation attacked the Ain al-Asad airbase overnight. However, he added the U.S. will “immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions on the Iranian regime.” “Now, as...

Stocks rose slightly on Monday, recovering losses from earlier in the session as oil dipped despite rising geopolitical worries following last week’s U.S. killing of Iran’s top general. Monday’s marginal gains were in contrast to Friday’s sharp decline. The Dow and S&P 500 had their worst trading day in a month on Friday, the morning after President Donald Trump approved a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad that killed top Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani. “If you were looking for a reason to sell, you got one,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities. “But the fundamental backdrop hasn’t changed in...

U.S. stocks are rising again Tuesday as strong company earnings lift the market. The benchmark S&P 500 index is up for the fourth day in a row and fifth out of the last six. Technology companies and banks are making some of the largest gains. Overseas markets are also higher. The S&P 500 index jumped 10 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,860 as of 10 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 146 points, or 0.6 percent, to 25,648. The Nasdaq composite rose 26 points, or 0.3 percent, to 7,886. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks climbed...

Stocks in the U.S. are rising Thursday and major indexes in Europe are surging as global markets continue a rally that began late the previous day. Wall Street is getting more optimistic that a trade dispute between the U.S. and China, the two largest economies in the world, will be resolved without too much pain. Some of the biggest gains are going to technology companies, retailers and banks. The S&P 500 index climbed 18 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,662 as of 12:45 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 237 points, or 1 percent, to 24,501. It...

Billionaire Warren Buffett says he remains confident in his company’s prospects even though he recommended in his will that most of his wife’s inheritance be invested in an S&P 500 index fund. […] Buffett says his plan for his wife’s inheritance is designed to provide peace of mind, not generate growth. …

A curious finding emerged in the latest 13F by Soros Fund Management, the family office investment vehicle managing the personal wealth of George Soros. Actually, two curious findings: the first was that the disclosed Assets Under Management as of December 31, 2013 rose to a record $11.8 billion (this excludes netting and margin, and whatever one-time positions Soros may have gotten an SEC exemption to not disclose: for a recent instance of this, see Greenlight Capital's Micron fiasco, and the subsequent lawsuit of Seeking Alpha which led to the breach of David Einhorn's holdings confidentiality). The second one is that...