Bill Ackman Rules Out a US Stock Bubble, Blames Leveraged Bets for Wild Swings

Bill Ackman, founder of Pershing Square, told CNBC on Tuesday that he does not see a bubble in U.S. stocks and instead blamed short-term trading with borrowed money, or leverage, for sharp price swings. He pointed to one-day options, which bet on a stock’s closing price that day, and perpetual futures, contracts with no expiry, as signs of casino-like speculation. Ackman said the volatility is harmful to the country but useful to Pershing Square, which bought Microsoft in this year’s software sell-off and Amazon after a tariff-related slump. He said AI infrastructure excitement has made other durable-growth companies cheap, and Pershing expects about 20% annual earnings growth over three to five years from its holdings, versus 13% for the S&P 500.