Texas billionaire speaks in front of audience

That seems to be the advice coming from the moneyed set these days. Not just one or two cranky billionaires, but many of them; Warren Buffett seems to be a notable exception.

In a commentary sent to clients last week, Nick Colas, chief strategist at Convergex, pointed out that “many of the smartest investors out there hate stocks.” Specifically, he notes the following billionaire market calls:

Stan Druckenmiller (May 4, Sohn Investment Conference): “Get out of the stock market.” George Soros (June 9, Wall Street Journal): “The billionaire hedge-fund founder and philanthropist recently directed a series of big, bearish investments, according to people close to the matter.” Carl Icahn (June 9, CNBC): “I don’t think you can have (near) zero interest rates for much longer without having these bubbles explode on you”; he also said it’s difficult to assess when exactly that might occur. Jeff Gundlach (July 29 interview with Reuters): “Sell everything. Nothing here looks good.” Bill Gross (in his monthly investment outlook for August): “I don’t like bonds; I don’t like most stocks; I don’t like private equity.” Generally, you probably don’t want members of this group on the opposite side of your trades. Colas reminds us of that old Wall Street saw: “You should never argue about markets with a guy who is much richer than you.”