<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11931680" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hedge-funds" source="Orion">Hedge funds</keyword> are turning more bearish as <keyword id="11893878" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="stocks" source="Orion">stocks</keyword> have sold off in 2022.</li><li>Despite hopes for a market bottom, fund managers aren't betting on a big rebound.</li></ul>Top hedge funds have stepped up bearish bets in their portfolios amid a sharp market sell-off in 2022, the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/5b50ffb2-4310-4c88-80c9-f2db7420e733?campaign_id=4&amp;emc=edit_dk_20220602&amp;instance_id=62967&amp;nl=dealbook&amp;regi_id=173748099&amp;segment_id=93985&amp;te=1&amp;user_id=dcf815b3a022cdd80b6675667f276576">Financial Times said</a>.Despite hopes for a market bottom that would signal a green light for bullish bets on stocks, some fund managers remain cautious.Alister Hibbert, who runs <keyword id="11965073" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="blackrock" source="Orion">BlackRock</keyword>'s $9 billion Strategic Equity hedge fund, recently reshuffled its portfolio to put more bets on falling stock prices than rising prices, sources told the FT.BlackRock did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Meanwhile, Landsowne Partners believes tech stocks are still in the early stages of a sell-off, according to the FT, despite the tech-heavy Nasdaq shedding 23% so far this year to hit bear-market territory.And Odey Asset Management said in a note to clients seen by the FT that it has sharply increased its cash positions.Such bearishness is unusual for hedge funds, which typically maintain a bias toward the market climbing higher over the long-term.But global unease over <keyword id="11894337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword>'s invasion of <keyword id="11985141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ukraine" source="Orion">Ukraine</keyword> and rising interest rates could be changing their stances.The US Federal Reserve is raising rates to combat 40-year high <keyword id="11894140" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="inflation" source="Orion">inflation</keyword>, meaning growth stocks can no longer benefit from cheap borrowing costs to prop up their valuations.

A top BlackRock hedge fund has shifted its portfolio to put more bets on falling stock prices

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Former <keyword id="35191" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="nyse">NYSE</keyword> President <keyword id="4652830" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="tom-farley">Tom Farley</keyword> said <keyword id="4675570" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="SPACs">SPACs</keyword> have become a "mania" in a recent interview.</li><li>Farley argued SPAC sponsors should be more tethered to their growth projections.</li><li>The former NYSE President added that he believes there will be a "pullback" for SPACs going forward.</li></ul>Tom Farley, former president of the New York Stock Exchange, says SPACs have become a "mania," and he believes sponsors should be more tethered to their lofty growth projections.In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRJY0U9up-k">an interview</a> with CNBC on Tuesday, Farley said that he was "very nervous" about excessive liquidity adding to the <keyword id="10592172" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="spac-boom">SPAC boom</keyword> and what might happen if that liquidity gets pulled out from under the <keyword id="34412" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="economy">economy</keyword>."Ultimately, we're going to have to stop spending. Ultimately, we're going to have to raise rates. The party is going to have to slow down for a bit. I suspect it will be coming sooner rather than later," Farley said.When asked about the rise of SPACS, Farley said, "it's become a mania," and added, "there are some really great people out there running SPACs, but there's also a lot of knuckleheads."Farley said he believes there will be a "pullback" going forward as the SPAC market has overheated."So I suspect there will be a pullback. Right now, there's something like 400 open SPACs. There's no way there will be 400 really good deals for investors for those 400 SPACs. I think it will be a good kind of culling or washing out," Farley said.The former NYSE president added that he is "concerned about is seeing investors get hurt" because there have been some deals where the "valuation is completely untethered from financial reality."Farley said it is critical for sponsors to be more tethered to the growth projections they release to the public."I'd like to see sponsors be a little more tethered to those projections, hold onto their stock holdings for those projections," Farley said.He said he tied up his sponsor shares in his first SPAC deal for three years and that he believes other sponsors should make similar commitments.When asked if regulation may end up playing a role in SPAC mania, Farley said he would rather see the <keyword id="31671" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="markets">markets</keyword> take care of it and mentioned a recent article that showed short-sellers are moving into SPACs.To Farley's point, short-sellers have <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/short-sellers-tripled-bets-against-spacs-this-year-bubble-fears-2021-3-1030205372">tripled their bets against SPACs</a> to $2.7 billion since the beginning of the year. Still, that pales in comparison to the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/spac-market-q1-statistics-volume-166-billion-growing-adoption-2021-3-1030194528">$166 billion in SPAC-led deals</a> that were announced in the first quarter of 2021.

The SPAC boom has become a 'mania' and sponsors should be more tethered to growth projections, former NYSE President Tom Farley says

<ul><li>Billionaire investor <keyword id="2059399" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sam-Zell">Sam Zell</keyword> told CNBC there will be "significant opportunities" to invest in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of next year. </li><li>Zell said there will soon be a "clearing process" where he will be able to identify potential investments. </li><li>The distressed-asset investor called the <keyword id="188491" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="retail-industry">retail industry</keyword> a "falling knife" and said he wouldn't buy a retail portfolio just yet.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Billionaire investor Sam Zell <a href="https://twitter.com/SquawkCNBC/status/1298602474874507267?s=20">told CNBC on Wednesday</a> that he expects there to be "significant" investment opportunities in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of next year. The pandemic has led to low transaction levels, but as activity picks up it will be easier to identify potential investments, the investor famous for buying distressed assets said. "We are for sure active although it's really too early for what I would call the normal clearing process, and that clearing process usually leads to opportunities," Zell said. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-investing-strategies-wholesale-flip-wholetail-brrrr-chris-naugle-2020-8">Hundreds of flips and dozens of rentals: Here are the 4 real-estate investing strategies HGTV veteran Chris Naugle is leveraging to make sure every deal is a winner</a>The founder of <keyword id="9349311" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Equity-Group-Investments">Equity Group Investments</keyword> said that the coronavirus pandemic has slowed down and deferred decision making, and that "everybody is still a little bit shaken."One industry containing this uncertainty is retail. Zell said he used to be one of the largest retail owners in the US, but called the industry a "falling knife" that hasn't reached its bottom yet. The industry hasn't fully felt the impacts of ecommerce yet, and Zell is hesitant to invest in it right away. When CNBC asked him if he has considered the trade that retail debt will go into default, he said: "I don't think in terms of trades, I think in terms of would I buy a retail portfolio today? Maybe not today, but maybe tomorrow."

Billionaire investor Sam Zell says there will be 'significant opportunities' for investors as early as the end of this year

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5a71a828af61d820008b476a-1695/rts1luj0.jpg" alt="Trump SOTU" data-mce-source="Reuters/Win McNamee/Pool" data-mce-caption="President Donald Trump delivers his first State of the Union address." />Reuters/Win McNamee/PoolPresident Donald Trump delivers his first State of the Union address.</div></div></div>Here is what you need to know. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-stock-market-lower-amid-healthcare-bonds-inflation-concerns-2018-1">Stocks get crushed in one of their worst days since Brexit</a>. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 362 points on Tuesday as a selloff in healthcare stocks and rising Treasury yields weighed, making for the third biggest point drop since Brexit. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-optimism-among-consumers-highest-since-2000-2018-1">Americans haven't been this excited about stocks since the dotcom bubble</a>. The Conference Board's most recent survey of consumers released Tuesday shows that Americans haven't been as bullish on stocks since January 2000.Yellen holds her last meeting as Fed Chair. The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold its key interest rate in a range between 1.25% and 1.50% as Fed Chair Janet Yellen gets set to hand the reins to imcoming chairman Jerome Powell. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/china-economy-pmi-january-2018-1">China's economy slows down a bit</a>. The official manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) fell to 51.3 in January, down from 51.6 in December.<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nintendo-results/steered-by-switch-nintendo-posts-best-third-quarter-in-eight-years-ups-outlook-idUSKBN1FK0PW">Nintendo posts its best third quarter in 8 years and boosts its oulook</a>. The videogame maker announced an operating profit of 116.50 billion yen ($1.07 billion), its highest since 2009, and raised its profit forecast for the year ending March, to 160 billion yen from 120 billion yen, thanks to strong sales of its Switch gaming console. <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/amd-earnings-fourth-quarter-spectre-meltdown-2018-1-1014595916">AMD beats across the board</a>. The chip maker earned $0.08 a share on revenue of $1.48 billion, boosted by a 60% explosion in computing and graphics sales. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/harley-davidson-to-launch-electric-motorcycle-in-2019-2018-1">Harley-Davidson is working on an electric motorcycle in 2019</a>. The announcement came alongside the company's dissappointing fourth-quarter earnings.<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/indices">Stock markets around the world trade mixed</a>. China's Shanghai Composite (-0.99%) lagged in Asia and France's CAC (+0.23%) leads in Europe. The S&amp;P 500 is set to open up 0.34% near 2,832.<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/earnings-calendar">Earnings reporting is heavy</a>. Boeing, DR Horton, and Xerox report ahead of the opening bell while AT&amp;T, Facebook, Microsoft, and PayPal release their quarterly results after markets close.<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/economic-calendar#date=01/31/2018&amp;name=&amp;countries=us&amp;eventtypes=&amp;tab=1,2,3">US economic data keeps coming</a>. ADP Employment Change will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET before Chicago PMI and pending home sales cross the wires at 9:45 a.m. ET and 10 a.m. ET respectively. The US 10-year yield is down 2 basis points at 2.70%.

10 things you need to know before the opening bell

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/52b8a4446da811be10759576-922-691/santa-claus-climbing.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="santa claus climbing" width="480" />REUTERS/William GularteHector Chacon, a Guatemalan firefighter dressed as Santa Claus, rappels down from the Belize bridge to give toys to children living under the bridge, in Guatemala City, December 22, 2013.</div></div>Yes, the markets were open today. And yes, they rallied again to new all-time highs.
First, the scoreboard:
<ul>
<li>Dow: 16,299.8 (+78.7, +0.4%) </li>
<li>S&amp;P 500: 1,828.4 (+10.0, +0.5%)</li>
<li>Nasdaq: 4,145.8 (+41.1, +1.0%)</li>
</ul>
And now the top stories:
<ul>
<li>Yes, there were some important economic reports released today, and they were important. First we learned that personal income climbed by 0.2% in November while <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/personal-income-and-spending-november-2013-12">personal spending jumped by 0.5%</a>. October's spending growth figure was revised up to 0.4% from a previous estimate of 0.3%. Meanwhile, core PCE - the Federal Reserve's favorite inflation gauge - was up just 1.1% year-over-year. Overall, economists were pretty psyched about these numbers.</li>
<li>Here's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/consumer-spending-accelerates-2013-12">Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi's Chris Rupkey</a> on the report: "Today's personal income data shows consumers bought a proverbial ton of services from companies in October and November. This means, hang on to your hats, and please check my math, real consumer spending is running 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2013. It has not run this fast since way back in 2010. Consumers are spending more now than they did in 2011 and 2012 when Obama and the Republicans gave them a payroll tax holiday, cutting the tax rate from 6.2 to 4.2% for two years"</li>
<li>The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/umich-consumer-confidence-december-final-2013-12">University of Michigan's consumer confidence index</a> jumped to 82.5 in December from . The economic conditions sub-index and oulook sub-index both advanced. However, long-term inflation expectations fell slighly.</li>
<li>Here's Barclays' Michael Gapen on the report: "Altogether, we read the improvement in consumer sentiment since October as reflecting the end of the government shutdown and debt ceiling debate. The rapid improvement in sentiment is consistent with past episodes of brinkmanship, whereby such episodes pass through the consumer confidence surveys relatively quickly. We expect improvement in housing and labor markets to keep confidence on a broadly upward trend in the medium term despite the risks from further negative policy shocks."</li>
<li>The yields on the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/markets-testing-feds-forward-guidance-2013-12">3-month eurodollar futures contract</a> continued to rise today. Basically, that means traders are betting that the Federal Reserve will begin raising interest rates sooner than later. One of the reasons why this is happening is because the data continues to show that the economy is in better shape than forecasted.</li>
<li>Don't Miss: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/most-important-charts-2013-12">Wall Street's Brightest Minds Reveal The Most Important Charts Of The Year »</a></li>
</ul>

You Searched For "Market Oulook" and got 5 results

A top BlackRock hedge fund has shifted its portfolio to put more bets on falling stock prices

Brian Evans

The SPAC boom has become a 'mania' and sponsors should be more tethered to growth projections, former NYSE President Tom Farley says

Will Daniel

Billionaire investor Sam Zell says there will be 'significant opportunities' for investors as early as the end of this year

Emily Graffeo

10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Jonathan Garber

STOCKS RALLY: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro