'Big Short' investor Michael Burry, who predicted the 2008 housing collapse, dumped these 5 stocks from his portfolio in the 3rd quarter
- Michael Burry, one of the people whose bets against the housing market in 2008 were depicted in the book and movie "The Big Short," dumped all, or some, of his holdings in five stocks from his portfolio in the third quarter this year.
- Burry's largest holding is still the Google parent Alphabet, but he ditched 50% of his call position in the company, according to a 13F filing.
- He also sold 50% of his Facebook position, 38% of his position in GameStop, and all of his positions in Booking Holdings and Bed Bath & Beyond.
- Burry's Scion Asset Management has $336 million worth of assets under management.
The "Big Short" money manager Michael Burry ditched about 50% of his bullish options positions in Alphabet and Facebook in the third quarter, according to a 13F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week.
The investor, who made millions by betting against subprime-mortgage bonds ahead of the 2008 US housing meltdown, also sold 38% of his fund's position in video game retailer GameStop.
Even though he let go of a significant amount in Google's parent firm, Alphabet remains the largest call position in his fund at $58 million, making up 17.8% of his $330 million portfolio. He spent $113 million to buy 80,000 call options on Google.
Call contracts give the holder the option to buy a stock at a given price, rather than buying it outright. An advantage to holding calls is that the owner can choose whether to exercise that right to buy if the stock is trading more cheaply than the one predetermined in the options contract.
Some of Burry's biggest call positions remain Alphabet, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, and Western Digital.
His hedge fund completely sold its position in the online travel agent Booking Holdings as the industry took a beating this year. He ditched all his shares in the homeware retailer Bed Bath & Beyond.
Burry's bet against the housing market was among those featured in Michael Lewis' best-selling book "The Big Short" and the movie of the same name, in which he was portrayed by Christian Bale. His California hedge fund, Scion Asset Management, managed $336 million worth of assets as of March 27.