Leon Cooperman calls crypto ‘crap’ and predicts 40% drop for S&P 500

Shares nonetheless have additional to fall, billionaire investor Leon Cooperman warned on Tuesday — including that speculative property comparable to SPAC offers, cryptocurrencies and NFTs are “crap” and aren’t prone to get better anytime quickly.

Cooperman, the chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors, mentioned he sees the US economic system falling right into a recession in 2023 and a tumultuous interval to come back for traders — even after the S&P 500 entered bear market territory.

“I’m assuming by the point that is over, if we fall right into a recession, that the market might have declined 40% of its peak,” Cooperman informed CNBC. “That’s my primary modus operandi.”

The S&P 500 closed in bear market territory on Monday and is down about 22% because the begin of the yr. Cooperman is predicting a decline of as much as 40% from the S&P 500’s all-time excessive of roughly 4,800, which was established in January.

Cooperman additionally took purpose at some property, comparable to cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which have proven essentially the most volatility in the course of the market’s latest downturn.

“I imagine we’ve gone by one of the vital speculative durations I’m conscious of – , SPACs, all that type of crap that was occurring. Crypto and non-fungible tokens and stuff like that. I feel it could be unlikely to return right into a bull market anytime quickly,” Cooperman added.

Main cryptocurrencies plummeted this week, with the value of bitcoin briefly plunging beneath $21,000 for the primary time since December 2020. The SPAC market has additionally cratered in latest months as traders draw back from riskier offers.

Cooper famous surging oil costs, which topped $122 per barrel on Tuesday, in addition to the Federal Reserve’s transfer to tighten financial coverage in response to inflation as probably triggers for the recession.

The hedge fund legend mentioned there was “an excessive amount of liquidity” within the economic system for a recession to happen this yr.

“My primary viewpoint is the 4,800 of the S&P is prone to be the excessive for fairly a while,” Cooperman mentioned.

Traders are bracing for a possible recession by dumping riskier property, together with shares and cryptocurrencies, because the Fed strikes ahead with rate of interest hikes.

The central financial institution is anticipated to hike its benchmark fee by as a lot as 1% at a gathering this week attributable to persistent inflation hammering American family budgets.

Cooperman has an estimated fortune of $2.5 billion, in line with Forbes.

He’s the most recent Wall Road fixture to foretell main bother forward for the US economic system. JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon warned earlier this month of a looming financial “hurricane” for traders.