Ray Dalio takes big short positions in European stocks.
Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater, the world’s largest hedge fund is betting that European stocks will continue to collapse in value in the wake of COVID-19, which has effectively put three major European economies in lock-down. In these unprecedented times, France, Italy and Spain have declared a state of emergency, their economies are in lock-down, a curfew is already in place and it is martial law all but in name. “We are not ruling closing the airspace” said Spain’s interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska. Spain’s death toll jumps by over 30%, exceeding China’s as its make-ship ice-rink morgue starts taking deliveries.
“We are not ruling closing the airspace”
FERNANDO GRANDE-MARLASKA
COVID-19, the hand of the devil, a stealth killer continues to go to work silently killing people, the old, the sick and some young too.
Meanwhile, Bridgewater with $160 billion of assets under management has quietly drawn up a list of European stocks to short.
Ray Dalio takes big short positions which includes a $1 billion bet against software company SAP SE and a $715 million wager against semiconductor equipment maker ASML Holding, according to filings between March 9 and 12 compiled by Bloomberg.
Ray Dalio takes big short positions by country including France at the top of the list with 16 stocks valued at $5.2 billion
Next comes Germany with 12 stocks being short to the tune of $4.9 billion.
The Netherlands is third on Ray Dalio’s take on big short positions with 5 stocks being shorted to the value of $1.7 billion. Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater also has big shorts in the countries worse affected by COVID-19 in Europe. Bridgewater is betting against 5 companies in Spain valued at $1.1 billion, and Italy with 3 companies with the value of the short position being $855 million.
“Ray Dalio takes big short positions including a $1 billion bet against software company SAP SE ”
THE WEALTH TRAINING COMPANY
Ray Dalio takes big short positions in European companies amounting to a total of $14 billion
See the full list, note that the data doesn’t include a short bet against one UK company from 2018.
“Ray Dalio takes big short positions in European stocks as his firm seeks to replicate profits earned similar to the 2018 Bridgewater’s Italian Job” – The Wealth Training Company
Ray Dalio takes big short positions in European stocks and they are no doubt paying off with the Euro STOXX 50 index slumping by more than a third this year
But is the firm’s latest move part of a major bet against a sharp decline in European stocks or just a part of its hedging strategies?
Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater has been actively taking a short position back in November 2019 with his firm’s $1.5 billion bearish wagers which consisted of put options.
Moreover, as we reported back in 2018 in a piece entitled, Bridgewater’s Italian Job, which entailed betting against (short selling) Italian firms to the tune of $3 billion paid off handsomely. As we noted back then the Italian banking sector was increasingly looking more like the leaning tower of Pisa.
Bridgewater’s Italian job entailed short-selling Italian banks which at the time was sitting on Europe’s largest pile of non-performing loans (NPL,) also known as bad loans.
So Ray Dalio takes big short positions in European stocks as his firm seeks to replicate profits earned similar to the 2018 Bridgewater’s Italian Job.
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