NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
These are good times for those who profit from falling stocks. But few have done better than David Tice, who runs the Prudent Bear Fund.
The fund, up 50 percent in 2002, tops all other mutual funds by year-to-date performance, according to Lipper Analytics.
And Tice expects that out-performance to continue -- a trend sure to frustrate investors already suffering through two money-losing years.
"This market is going lower," said Tice, who credits his strong first-half to holding gold stocks and shorting telecommunications shares and energy stocks like including Dynegy.
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| David Tice |
Able to bet on market declines, Tice has advantages few fund manager possess. For the Prudent Bear Fund, Tice shorts stocks -- selling borrowed shares and hoping to buy them back at lower prices once they fall. He then returns the borrowed shares and pockets the difference.
With the Standard & Poor's 500 down 13.8 percent this year, short-selling success has abounded.
"We plan on staying the course," said Tice, who is betting that the excesses of the 1990s bull market have yet to be wrung out.
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More from the first-half round-up
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"The market remains extraordinary expensive and we don't believe 2002's earnings estimates will be met," he said.
If he's right, his fund will continue to shine. But just like buying a technology mutual fund in early 2000, moving too late into a short fund could also be costly.
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