The market had a Tepper Tantrum last week. We all know what a taper tantrum is after the Fed backtracked on tapering its bond buying program last year. But what is a Tepper Tantrum?
David Tepper, aside from being a fellow Carnegie Mellon alumnus, is one of the most well-known money managers in the world. His firm, Appaloosa Management, manages more than $20 billion. More importantly, Mr. Tepper has been right about equity markets.
Since the financial crisis, few investors have matched Tepper’s track record. His ability to read the tea leaves of Fed policy has made him a market sage. So when David Tepper speaks, the market listens. It didn’t like what it heard last week, namely, that it’s time to take some chips off the table. Mr. Tepper didn’t really say anything new; many market observers (ourselves included) have been highlighting the elevated risk at these equity market levels, but investors like winners, and Tepper’s winning calls have made him the highest paid hedge fund manager over the last two years.