'Stock market has become a casino,' warns hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman

Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager and chairman of Pershing Square Capital, has sharply criticized the current stock market, saying excessive speculative trading and leverage have turned it into a casino.

Appearing on CNBC Tuesday (local time), Ackman pointed to extreme price volatility and said, "Every few days it feels like the market is broken." He added that shares "are trading at prices that make no sense," saying that while long-term investors could benefit from buying at absurd prices, "I don't think it's good for the country as a whole."

Ackman said the market had reverted to "a casino-like environment where leverage was 95 percent," calling the situation socially and economically undesirable and a driver of extreme volatility.

He said such volatility could offer long-term investors like Pershing Square opportunities to buy at low prices. But he warned that the market had become dangerous for those chasing quick fortunes through short-term leveraged products, perpetual futures and sports betting, and could ultimately produce catastrophic results.