Cooperman: Investing in Treasuries ’Makes No Sense’
Leon Cooperman, founder of equity hedge fund Omega Advisors Inc., said buying U.S. Treasuries is the least attractive investment in a world of “financial repression.”
Bonds will be the worst place for investors to put their money for the next three years, Cooperman, 68, said in an interview today on Bloomberg Television’s “InsideTrack” with Erik Schatzker.
“With a 2 percent government bond, if we’re talking about marginal tax rates, you’re keeping 60 percent of your 2 percent -- you’re keeping 1.2 percent,” he said. “The rate of inflation is somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 percent, so your capital is being confiscated. It makes no sense.”
Gold and Standard & Poor’s 500 shares will be attractive investments, Cooperman said. His target at the start of the year for the equity benchmark was 1,400 to 1,450. Cooperman’s New York-based fund invests in technology stocks including Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), financial companies including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. and health care stocks including WellPoint Inc. and Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX)
Omega invested in Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM), the Waterloo, Ontario-based manufacturer of BlackBerry smartphones, late last year and has since sold that position because it triggered stop- loss orders, Cooperman said. He has been a long-term investor in Apple and said he believes it is worth over $600 a share with “a couple more years of very good runway” growth ahead. Cupertino, California-based Apple gained 2.5 percent to close yesterday at $514.85 in New York trading.
Cooperman spent 25 years at Goldman Sachs & Co., including as CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, before founding Omega in 1991.
To contact the reporters on this story: Devin Banerjee in New York at dbanerjee2@bloomberg.net; Erik Schatzker in New York at eschatzker@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net
Leon Cooperman
Peter Foley/Bloomberg
Leon Cooperman, chairman of hedge fund Omega Advisors Inc., at the Value Investing Congress in New York on Oct. 18, 2011.
Leon Cooperman, chairman of hedge fund Omega Advisors Inc., at the Value Investing Congress in New York on Oct. 18, 2011. Photographer: Peter Foley/Bloomberg
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Leon G. Cooperman, chief executive officer of Omega Advisors Inc., talks about the outlook for the U.S. economy and investment strategy. Cooperman speaks with Erik Schatzker on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (This report includes excerpts of the full interview. Source: Bloomberg)
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Leon Cooperman, chief executive officer of Omega Advisors Inc., talks about investment strategy and President Barack Obama's policies. Cooperman spoke with Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker yesterday. (Source: Bloomberg)
Rate this Page
Bloomberg moderates all comments. Comments that are abusive or off-topic will not be posted to the site. Excessively long comments may be moderated as well. Bloomberg cannot facilitate requests to remove comments or explain individual moderation decisions.