Chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors Leon Cooperman said he would take some profits on his holdings if stocks gained from here because the market is right where it should be based on profits and the state of the economy.

“I’m sympathetic to the idea that sometime in the next 12 to 24 months there will be events that will catch the market. In order words, I believe that … I think that inflation and interest rates will catch up to the market as we normalize,” Cooperman said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Wednesday.

Cooperman — renowned on Wall Street for his value investing and fundamental analysis — argued that with the Federal Reserve tightening monetary conditions in the economy and inflation looking stronger, 2019 could wind up being a turbulent year for equities.

“I would be a reducer on strength, not a buyer on strength,” the investor added. “I think if we get the 10-year [yield] over 3.5 percent that could be very competitive to the stock market. We’re not there yet.”

But between President Trump’s tax cut stimulus, a healthy labor market and the end of the Fed’s historic quantitative easing policy, Cooperman said he wouldn’t be surprised to see those issues “come to the fore.”

Omega Advisors, which the hedge fund manager founded in 1991, has approximately $3.4 billion in assets under management, according to its website.

To be sure, the investor cautioned that while trouble could be ahead for late next year, he isn’t ready to head to the exits just yet, saying “the conditions normally associated with a big decline are not yet present.”

Source: Investment Cnbc
Billionaire investor Cooperman says he would sell stocks on strength because market is fairly valued