Julian Robertson lost a large bundle from 1998 to 2000, in the same way that Warren Buffet did in an unleveraged manner, and as John Hussman (See "True Confessions" below) has been doing on a much smaller and unleveraged scale for the last few years: Robertson was buying "quality" stocks and shorting "crap" stocks against them.
Robertson's problem was that everyone else was doing the exact opposite from 1998 to 2000: they were selling the good stuff and buying internet and tech crap. After massive losses in 1999, Robertson liquidated Tiger and his other hedge funds right into the 2000 top. To do that, Robertson had to buy back his shorted and now bloated crap stocks and sell his good stocks on their lows and exactly when everyone else was suddenly doing the opposite. O my!
Had Robertson not been leveraged and been able to hold on another six months in 2000, he would have triumphed and prospered as "value" trumped junk in the new century. Not being leveraged, at least in the usual sense, Buffet survived to win again. Hussman's timing was perfect for value versus junk from 2000 through 2003.
Also look at a monthly chart of Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A from 1998 to March 2003. Many forget how much he lost from 1998-2003.
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