Paul Tudor Jones, the billionaire hedge fund manager and founder of Tudor Investment Corporation, has voiced significant concerns about the current state of the stock market.
In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Jones drew attention to escalating geopolitical risks and a deteriorating US fiscal position:
“It’s a really challenging time to want to be an equity investor and in U.S. stocks right now. You’ve got the geopolitical uncertainty… the United States is probably in its weakest fiscal position since certainly World War II with debt-to-GDP at 122%.”
Best known for predicting the 1987 stock market crash and profiting from it, Jones said that the Israel-Hamas war has created a “challenging” geopolitical environment. This, in turn, could create a significant risk-off environment that has the potential to drastically change the market landscape in the U.S.
He noted that he would personally wait for a resolution of the ongoing conflict before jumping into risk assets again.
“From a personal standpoint, would I be investing in risk assets now and stocks until I saw what the resolution was with Israel, Iran?” Jones said. “Israel is going to respond in some way, shape or form. The determination of whether Iran was actually responsible is enormous because again, it has the possibility to really escalate into something terrible.”
Jones also noted that the rising interest rates in the U.S. have created a “vicious circle” where higher rates cause higher funding costs, which in turn causes higher debt issuance. This goes on to cause further bond liquidations, which causes higher rates, which then puts the U.S. in an “untenable fiscal position,” he said in the interview.
While not directly referencing cryptocurrencies, Jones’ stance hints at the potential shift of institutional investors toward diversified portfolios that might include digital assets.
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