March 8, 2017,3:45pm EST Invest Alongside Billionaires For $297/Qtr
One of the best investors on the planet, David Tepper, was on CNBC this morning. Let’s talk about how he sees the world and how he is positioned.
What I appreciate about Tepper: He’s a common sense guy.
And his common sense view of the world happens to be in alignment with the view and themes we discuss here every day. So he agrees with me – another thing I appreciate about him.
As you know, Wall Street and the media are always good at overcomplicating the investment environment with their day-to-day hyper analysis. Because of that, they tend to forge a path that moves further and further away from the simple realities of the big picture. That’s actually good. Because it creates opportunity for those that can avoid those distractions.
Right now, as we’ve discussed, the big picture is straight forward. We have a President that wants deregulation, tax cuts and a big infrastructure spend. And we have a Congress in place that can approve it. And this all comes at a time when the world has been in a decade long economic slog following the global financial crisis – in desperate need of growth. With that, we have a Fed that still has rates at very, very low levels. And the ECB and BOJ are still priming the pump with QE.
Are there risks? Yes. But the probability of growth, with the above in mind, well outweighs the probable downside scenarios. What about execution risk? Even if tax reform and infrastructure are slow to come, Tepper says deregulation is a done deal. It drives earnings and “animal spirits.”
He likes stocks. He likes European stocks. And I think he really likes Japanese stocks, but he stopped short of talking about it (my deduction).
Among the risks: Inflation picking up too fast, which would require the Fed to move faster, which could choke off growth (undo or neutralize fiscal stimulus).
This is why, among other reasons, Tepper’s favorite trade is short bonds. – i.e. higher interest rates. If he’s right and economic growth has a big pop, he wins. If the risk of hotter inflation materializes and rates move faster, he wins.
For context, this is the guy that literally changed global investing sentiment in late 2010 when he sat in front of a camera on CNBC, in a rare high profile TV interview (maybe first), when investing sentiment was all but destroyed by the global financial crisis and the various landmines that kept popping up. Tepper said in a very confident voice that the Fed, by telegraphing a second round of QE, had just given us all a free put on stocks (i.e. the Fed is protected the downside, it’s a greenlight to buy stocks). For all of the market jockeys that were constantly focusing on the many problems in the world, that commentary from Tepper, for some reason, woke them up.
For perspective on Tepper: Here’s a guy that is probably the best investor in the modern era. He’s returned between 35%-40% annualized (before fees) for more than 20 years. He made $7.5 billion in 2009 betting on financial stocks that most people thought were going bankrupt. And he was telling everyone that what the Fed is doing will make ‘everything’ go up. It sparked, in 2010, what is known as the “Tepper rally” in stocks.
When Tepper speaks it’s often smart to listen. And he likes the Trump effect!
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