Burry, famous for ‘Big Short,’ bought bearish options against S&P, Nasdaq 100
by Reuters
2023-08-14
NEW YORK, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Michael Burry, the money manager made famous in the book and film "The Big Short," held bearish options against the broad S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 Index at the end of the second quarter, according to securities fillings released on Monday.
Burry's Scion Asset Management bought put options with a notional value of $739 million against the popular Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ.O) during the quarter, and separate put options with a notional value of $886 million against the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY.P).
Put options convey the right to sell shares at a fixed price in the future and are typically bought to express a bearish or defensive view.
Burry rose to fame with his bets against the U.S. housing market before the 2008 financial crisis. Michael Lewis' nonfiction book "The Big Short" was released in 2010 and the movie version came out in 2015.
It was not clear how Burry's recent options bets had fared, given that regulatory filings do not require the disclosure of options strikes, purchase prices and expiration dates. Since the filings disclose only long positions it was also not clear whether the puts were held outright or against other contracts that were held short.
Scion Asset Management did not respond to a request for comment.
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