Key Words: Wall Street billionaire to President Trump: ‘Send everyone home now’

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Earlier this month, Bill Ackman made moves to protect his hedge fund’s $6.6 billion portfolio against what he predicted to be a rough stretch for markets in the face of the coronavirus spread.

The moves proved to be prescient, considering the volatility that has slammed into stocks as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to explode across the country.

Now, the Wall Street billionaire boss at Pershing Square is urging President Donald Trump to take drastic measures to tackle the outbreak head on:

He went on to tweet that there should be no defaults, no foreclosures. In fact, he says he wants to see “a 30-day rent, interest and tax holiday for all” immediately.

“The shutdown is inevitable as it is already happening, but not in a controlled fashion which is extending the economic pain and amplifying the spread of the virus,” Ackman wrote in his Twitter thread. “Please send everyone home now. With your leadership, we can end this now. The rest of the world will follow your lead. A global Spring Break will save us all.”

Without it, he warns that every day we postpone a complete shutdown “costs thousands, and soon hundreds of thousands, and then millions of lives, and destroys the economy.”

Pershing Square had a big year in 2019, rallying 58.1% to out pace the broader bull market. At the end of December, Ackman was managing some $7.5 billion in assets. That number, Reuters reported, dropped by almost a billion dollars at one point earlier this year.

His hedging efforts looked to be paying off on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -4.08% again down more than 1,000. The S&P 500 SPX, -3.40% and Nasdaq Composite COMP, -2.49% were also deep in the red.

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