By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
BOSTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) – Investor David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital is betting that prices will rise and told investors on Tuesday that Einhorn has added new positions in inflation swaps, a gold miners ETF, as well as in Teck Resources and Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings to be well-positioned for an eventual uptick.
“We believe that market groupthink that profitless growth stocks that trade at astronomical valuations, in part on the basis that interest rates are low, will be disrupted by rising inflation expectations,” Einhorn wrote in a letter seen by Reuters.
Einhorn is coming off a relatively strong July when a 4.1% gain helped trim his loss for the year to down 17.5%.
In May, the New York-based hedge fund created a new, large macro position in 2-, 5-, and 10-year inflation swaps, after inflation expectations had already begun to rebound, Einhorn wrote. Similarly, the firm, which has long invested in gold, widely considered an inflation hedge, added the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF to its portfolio. It also made a new bet on Teck Resources, which the firm feels should benefit from base-metal price increases.
Holding company Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, which provides outsourced aircraft and aviation operating services, was also added to the portfolio. The stock price has jumped 93% this year, fueled largely by a 67% surge in the last three months.
Einhorn bet German company Wirecard’s stock would fall and felt vindicated when shares tumbled about 99% in a week amid allegations of fraud after Wirecard had earlier been a market darling with a booming stock price.
Einhorn, who has long bet that Tesla Inc’s share price would drop, in his letter questioned the automaker’s accounting practices and referred to claims that certain vehicles suffer a defect that can cause sudden unintended acceleration – a claim that Tesla has denied.
Tesla stock has surged 255% since January.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston Editing by Matthew Lewis)
