Dr. Michael Burry's Commencement Speech: UCLA Economics 2012

Dr. Michael Burry of Scion Capital and subprime shorting fame gave the UCLA Economics commencement speech this year and the video is embedded below.  Burry was an undergraduate there himself.

This was emailed to us over a dozen times and marks another rare appearance by the famous investor profiled in Michael Lewis' book, The Big Short.

One of the best quotes from Burry's speech is: "As it turns out, information is not perfect, volatility does not define risk, markets are not efficient, the individual is adaptable."

Embedded below is Michael Burry's commencement speech at UCLA:




We've posted a ton of resources on the Scion Capital man, so definitely check out:

- Michael Burry on Bloomberg's risk takers

- Burry's primer on credit default swaps & the subprime short

- Michael Burry buys agricultural land and gold

- Burry's subprime speech at Vanderbilt

Michael Burry of Scion Capital on Bloomberg's Risk Takers

Last night on Bloomberg TV's "Risk Takers", Michael Burry was profiled for his extraordinary subprime short. The former Scion Capital hedge fund manager is featured in Michael Lewis' excellent book, The Big Short.

While Burry is a value investor by nature, when he saw the warning signs of the impending housing bubble, he had to act. Bloomberg takes us through Burry's thinking and the pushback he received from investors upon straying from his equity value investing ways.

Embedded below is the profile on Burry from Risk Takers:



The video showcases blurbs from some of the letters Burry sent to clients before the crisis. We've posted up Burry's primer on credit default swaps & the subprime mortgage short for those interested.

At the end of the video, he mentions he's investing his own money now and doesn't have to deal with investors. Where exactly is he investing? We've posted up before that he's been buying farmland and gold.

For more great resources on Burry, we've posted up his recent subprime speech at Vanderbilt: Inside the Doomsday Machine.

Michael Burry's Subprime Speech at Vanderbilt: Inside the Doomsday Machine

We wanted to post up a recent speech by subprime short-selling legend Michael Burry. His now defunct Scion Capital saw outsized returns as the value investor turned subprime expert saw the housing crisis coming and profited handsomely. His story is chronicled in Michael Lewis' bestselling book, The Big Short.

His speech is entitled, "Missteps to Mayhem: Inside the Doomsday Machine with the Outsider who Predicted and Profited from America's Financial Armageddon."

While the investor walks us through his past line of thinking, he is curiously hesitant to answer questions about his current investment portfolio. In late 2010, we learned that Burry bought farmland and gold.

Embedded below is Michael Burry's speech (email readers come to the site to view it):




For more on Burry's amazing trade, definitely read Michael Lewis' chronicle in The Big Short. Additionally, we'd recommend reading Burry's primer on credit default swaps & the subprime mortgage short which he originally penned back in 2006.

Michael Burry Buys Agricultural Land & Gold

Michael Burry, the hedge fund manager made famous in Michael Lewis' book The Big Short, was recently interviewed by Bloomberg on a myriad of topics. Burry, a value investor by nature, bet against subprime right before its peak. Given his prescient call, many other investors are eager to find out what his next big play is. Well, his next investment seems to be land.

In particular, Burry believes, "that agricultural land, productive agricultural land with water on site, will be very valuable in the future. And I've put a good amount of money into that. So I'm investing in alternative investments as well as stocks." This stance plants him in the same camp as legendary investor Jim Rogers. The former Quantum Fund co-manager has been a vocal bull on agriculture claiming that people should trade in their Lamborghini's for tractors.

Given his past bet against the housing market, it was interesting to hear Burry's thoughts on real estate this time around. He thinks it's an "artificial market" and that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are essentially withholding properties from sale and not forcing foreclosures. He feels it would be best if the government exited the mortgage market. On the topic of investing in real estate, he says:

"I think there is some value in real estate. You have to buy it right. It's not in general, that's the problem. I think that there are an awful lot of people out there looking to buy these distressed properties out there and so you need to find special situations. That is how i've invested from the beginning. I'm looking for these special situations, these unique ideas and that's true in real estate too ... In my situation I'd rather go long on housing itself, real estate itself. Depending on how you structure it, in the real market, in the physical market, you can get some pretty good deals and I've done some of that too."

Finally, Burry has also caught the gold bug and likes the precious metal as well. Embedded below are two videos from Burry's interview (email readers will need to come to the site to watch them):

Video 1 on Accountability



Video 2 on Investing



To learn about Burry's fascinating past, check out his story in the book The Big Short. For more on his past wager, head to his primer on credit default swaps & the subprime mortgage short which he penned back in 2006.