Top investors on the market outlook

Bill Ackman doesn’t think it’s worth making a long-term bet on the U.S. government, at least not on its debt.

The head of Pershing Square Capital Management said Thursday at CNBC’s Delivering Alpha that buying the 30-year Treasury bond isn’t worth it with inflation — and uncertainty surrounding the government —running high.

“We have an economy that is still strong and inflation at 3.5, 4%, persistent,” Ackman said during the conference’s closing panel. “Our view is basically you’re not being paid enough to enter into a 30-year contract with this government at a fixed price of 4.7%.”

The long bond’s yield has been soaring, up about half a percentage point in September alone. As yields and prices move in opposite direction, the jump reflects fear from investors about going long in duration. Ackman said he could see the 30-year yield hit 5%.

“People reflexively buy it because they’ve made money doing it in advance of a recession,” Ackman said. “But it’s really not an instrument you should use to speculate on the short-term economy.”

—Jeff Cox

Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman wouldn’t be surprised to see the 10-year treasury yield push even higher.

“I would not be shocked to see 30-year rates through the 5% barrier and you could see the 10-year approach 5,” he told CNBC’s Scott Wapner at the Delivering Alpha conference Thursday.

These movers, he added could happen in the short-term, or within weeks.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury yield last traded at around 4.577%, pulling back from a 15-year high touched as markets ponder a potential higher-for-longer rate environment.

— Samantha Subin