Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn said that while the market has gotten ahead of itself, he wishes he had placed a bigger bet on the postelection rally.
"Sometimes you get these situations where it's almost a no-brainer where the odds are in your favor tremendously. There's absolutely no reason that everybody was saying 'if Trump wins everything is going to fall apart' — which is nonsense," Icahn said Thursday on CNBC's "Power Lunch."
Icahn, who supported and advised Donald Trump during the campaign, explained that the president-elect had consistently said he would slash corporate taxes and roll back regulations.
But after Donald Trump's electoral college win, Dow futures initially tumbled more than 800 points. The brief post-election plunge in the Dow was "completely, totally insane," Icahn said, adding that it made sense to "play the market."
The closely followed investor left the president-elect's victory party early to take advantage of the dip and bet about $1 billion on equities. Since then, the major indexes have continued to set many new highs.
While the rally may be a little "exuberant," Icahn said it makes sense because "all the things Donald's doing really point to a much, much better economy."
"I did buy a fair amount, I guess in perspective, but not nearly what I should have," Icahn said.