A regulatory filing revealed that Michael Burry, “The Big Short”, investor had placed a wager against Apple tech giant in the first quarter. According to the filing, Burry was one of the original investors to profit from subprime mortgage crises. He owned 2,060 Apple put contracts at the close of the quarter. Every options contract has 100 shares of stock. Burry’s wager was therefore tied to 206,000 Apple shares, with a nominal value of $36million at March 31. The owner of a put option contract has the ability to sell the security at a specified price. It increases in value when the stock drops below the strike price. These put options could be held by Burry through the current quarter. Apple is down 15% during the first quarter. Burry is an active trader. He could have resigned this position sooner. CNBC learned that the investor previously held put options for Tesla. He said it was “just an trade.” CNBC asked Burry to comment, but Burry did not immediately reply. The Apple bet aside, Scion Asset Management’s founder also added long positions across different sector sectors in the first quarter, such as Booking Holdings, Alphabet, Cigna, Ovintiv, and Nexstar Media.
