Barton Biggs places bullish bets

Barton Biggs, a hedge fund manager who bought stocks when the market bottomed in March 2009, recently boosted bullish bets on equities in his Traxis Global Equity Macro Fund, citing improving U.S. economic data. The fund's net-long position rose to 65%, from 40%, last month, Mr. Biggs, founder of Traxis Partners LP, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. He said Sept. 22 that bullish bets at all Traxis funds had fallen to 20%. U.S. stocks have recovered from the brink of a bear market amid optimism that European leaders will take action this month to solve the region's debt crisis. The S&P 500 surged 6% between Oct. 7 and Oct. 14, the biggest weekly rally since July 2009. “I'm inclined to stay where I am, which is moderately, cowardly bullish,” Mr. Biggs said.

'GOTTEN PRETTY GOOD'

“The thing that makes me want to hang in there is that the high-frequency economic news from the U.S. has definitely improved,” he said. “It's gotten pretty good.” The Citigroup Economic Surprise Index for the U.S. turned positive this month for the first time since April 29, the day the S&P 500 peaked at an almost three-year high. It climbed to 2.2 on Oct. 14, from -117.20 on June 3. The reading four months ago showed that reports were missing the median economist projection in Bloomberg surveys by the most since January 2009. Mr. Biggs predicted Aug. 18 that the S&P 500 may be bottoming after an 18% drop April 29 to Aug. 8. Last month, he said that bets that stocks will gain made up 20% of holdings at Traxis, down from as much as 85% six months prior, as the threat of a recession makes equities too risky. “I wish I was minus 20,” Mr. Biggs said during the Bloomberg Television interview.