Michael Burry is no stranger to making controversial bets
The Big Short film follows the story of Michael Burry and a handful of other investors who made one of the largest contrarian financial bets in history. In the lead-up to 2008, they purchased securities that would increase in value if U.S. homeowners failed to pay their mortgages, based on the idea that the housing market was flooded with fraudulent behavior and unsustainable excess.
Burry made his bet through his hedge fund, Scion Capital. His investors thought the play was reckless, and he endured vicious criticism -- up until it eventually paid off when the housing market crashed in 2008. Burry took home an estimated $100 million, and Scion's investors pocketed a whopping $700 million.
After cashing out in 2008, Burry shut down his hedge fund to focus on other ventures. He decided to operate under a new firm called Scion Asset Management a short time later, which is the vehicle he now uses to make many of his own personal investments. He has used social media actively over the last few years to express his opinions on everything from the economy to the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decisions -- and he typically makes investments to back up his views.
But the position he just took against the stock market came without any commentary. According to Scion's second-quarter 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm bought put options against the tech-focused QQQ ETF worth $739 million and put options against the SPY ETF worth $886 million.
Those figures represent the notional value of each position -- options are leveraged securities, so Scion would have paid significantly less than that (the amount wasn't disclosed). Put options express a bearish view of a given market, so if the QQQ and SPY ETFs decline in value, the premium Scion paid for its options will increase in value -- which will deliver a profit for the firm.
Michael Burry is no stranger to making controversial bets The Big Short film follows the story of Michael Burry and a handful of other investors who made one of the largest contrarian financial bets in history. In the lead-up to 2008, they purchased securities that would increase in value if U.S. homeowners failed to pay their mortgages, based on the idea that the housing market was flooded with fraudulent behavior and unsustainable excess.
Burry made his bet through his hedge fund, Scion Capital. His investors thought the play was reckless, and he endured vicious criticism -- up until it eventually paid off when the housing market crashed in 2008. Burry took home an estimated $100 million, and Scion's investors pocketed a whopping $700 million.
After cashing out in 2008, Burry shut down his hedge fund to focus on other ventures. He decided to operate under a new firm called Scion Asset Management a short time later, which is the vehicle he now uses to make many of his own personal investments. He has used social media actively over the last few years to express his opinions on everything from the economy to the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decisions -- and he typically makes investments to back up his views.
But the position he just took against the stock market came without any commentary. According to Scion's second-quarter 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm bought put options against the tech-focused QQQ ETF worth $739 million and put options against the SPY ETF worth $886 million.
Those figures represent the notional value of each position -- options are leveraged securities, so Scion would have paid significantly less than that (the amount wasn't disclosed). Put options express a bearish view of a given market, so if the QQQ and SPY ETFs decline in value, the premium Scion paid for its options will increase in value -- which will deliver a profit for the firm.