n addition to shorting five banks and one insurer, public filings disclosed that the $160 billion hedge fund was also betting on a decline in the stock price of Milan-based Prysmian SpA, the world's largest cable maker, as well as shorting Italian mega banks Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit as well as insurer Assicurazioni Generali, all names very familiar to anyone who covered the endless European crisis from 2010 until the launch of QE by the ECB, and which were constantly on the verge of collapse.

Fast forward to today when just one month before Italy's elections - which the broader market stubbornly refuses to acknowledge are a risk factor - Bridgewater has tripled down on its bearish bets against Italian banks and insurers, making the position the largest short carried by the world's biggest hedge fund in years, if not ever.