Leon Cooperman, the billionaire investor and big US hedge fund, said on Thursday that he did not expect the US stock market to fall sharply in the near future, but that a 10 per cent correction could happen at any time.
The s & p 500 has not experienced a 10 per cent correction since the outbreak in March 2020. Since bottoming out on march 23 last year, the index has almost doubled, falling 1 per cent to close at 4313 on Thursday.
So what would plunge the market into serious chaos? "the market will derail only if there is a recession, a sharp shift from the Fed, increased hostility to interest rates, a weaker dollar or some major geopolitical event," Cooperman said. I don't think these things. It seems possible. "
But in the short term, he said, "the market could fall by 10% or 15% at any time, and I don't think it will be more than 10%."
Mr Cooperman said he was "pessimistic about the long-term outlook". His concerns include $29 trillion in government debt, persistent and high inflation, and low interest rates.