Bill Ackman is the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management.
Bill Ackman said the new omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus could give US stocks a boost if symptoms are less severe.
Ackman said in a Sunday evening post that early data suggests that the Omicron virus causes less severe symptoms and is more transmissible. If this is true, this is bullish for markets.
The founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management said that they would be bullish for the equity market and bearish for the bond market.
The new Covid strain has been found in more than a dozen countries, causing many to restrict travel from southern Africa. The omicron strain was labeled a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization on Friday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 900 points.
The South African doctor who first raised the alarm over the new strain described the symptoms as mild.
The WHO said it will take weeks to understand how the variant may affect diagnostics.
The health crisis and the market's turbulent ride over the past two years have been watched by Ackman. During the Covid-19 crisis in March 2020, Ackman urged President Donald Trump and corporate America to shut down the country for 30 days to contain the outbreak, calling it the only option to save the economy.
After the interview, Ackman revealed his firm exited the short positions just as the S&P 500 bottomed, pocketing more than $2 billion in bets against markets that month.
In July, when Wall Street was grappling with the delta Covid variant, Ackman said it doesn't pose a significant threat to the economic reopening and he sees interest rates rising on the back of the big comeback.
At the end of October, a hedge fund manager called for the Federal Reserve to begin to rein in its support for the economy. He said the central bank should raise rates as soon as possible.
Through October, the hedge fund has grown by 27.2% and net of fees, it has increased by 21.6%. The fund returned 70.2% on net in 2020.
Ackman has bet big on a rebound in the restaurant, retail and hotel industries. He picked up Domino's Pizza shares earlier this year following a pullback.
