Barton Biggs big on U.S. stocks

Barton Biggs, who increased bets on U.S. equities before the S&P 500 rallied last month, said that he remains bullish even amid concerns over progress in solving Europe's debt crisis. “I'm terrified I'm not long enough if we're going to have a strong rally here, which we could,” he said during an interview on Bloomberg Television last week. Mr. Biggs said his net-long position in equities is 65%. At the same time, “I'm terrified I'm too long if the apocalypse is coming in Europe,” he said. The founder of Traxis Partners LP said Dec. 12 that he was investing in Asian and U.S. stocks. Mr. Biggs said at the time that stocks might rise or fall 20% because of concern about budget negotiations and Europe. The S&P 500 had risen 6.4% since then, through Jan. 20. Mr. Biggs' optimism on stocks has fluctuated along with the market. He reduced the net-long position, a gauge of bullish versus bearish investments, in the Traxis Global Equity Macro Fund to about 40% at the end of September before increasing it to 65% on Oct. 17 and 80% on Oct. 31, he said in interviews with Bloomberg. Mr. Biggs said Nov. 21 that he had cut the level to less than 40%. On Dec. 2, he said that he had boosted it to about 60%. U.S. stocks have been rising as better-than-estimated economic data and company earnings boosted confidence in American growth. The S&P 500 had gained 4.6% in 2012 through Jan. 20, the best start to a year since 1997.