Finance1 min read

Bill Ackman warns of 'casino' stock market as speculative trading grows

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Ackman cautioned that excessive leverage, one-day leveraged vehicles, and sports betting culture are fueling nonsensical valuations across equity markets. Despite viewing the trend as harmful to the country, he emphasized that severe market dislocations allow Pershing Square to purchase discounted assets. The hedge fund previously capitalized on major pullbacks to build stakes in Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet. Amid this volatility, Ackman also reiterated his bullish stance on core holdings like Netflix, Visa, and Mastercard.

Key points

  • Extreme market swings driven by speculative trading offer patient institutional funds luc…: Extreme market swings driven by speculative trading offer patient institutional funds lucrative opportunities to buy mispriced equities.
  • Viewing financial markets as a quick-profit scheme creates broader societal and economic…: Viewing financial markets as a quick-profit scheme creates broader societal and economic risks due to overleveraged positions.
  • Ackman continues to favor established, resilient franchises, specifically citing Visa, Ma…: Ackman continues to favor established, resilient franchises, specifically citing Visa, Mastercard, and streaming provider Netflix as attractive long-term holdings.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Bill Ackman worries that the stock market is broken, saying the rise of speculative trading is leading to wild price swings thanks to the amount of leverage in the system.

"Every number of days, I feel like markets are broken," Ackman told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday. "Stocks trade at prices that make no sense to me. Yes, it's good if you're a long-term investor and you can buy at a stupid price. I don't think it's good for the country generally."

"We're back to the casino type markets when there was 95% leverage," he added. "I don't think that's inherently good for the economy, for society, and it's leading to these massive moves in stocks."

The founder of Pershing Square Capital Management said those same dislocations in the market have given the hedge fund the opportunity to snag big bargains.

Pershing bought Microsoft, for example, when it was pummeled during the "SaaSpocalypse" earlier this year, and Amazon when it fell following President Donald Trump's tariffs. It also bought Alphabet when the stock moved "massively" following ChatGPT's launch, he said.

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