Michael Burry and Jeremy Grantham are bracing for plunging stocks, stubborn inflation, and a painful recession. Here's what 10 elite investors are saying about the market outlook.

Michael Burry warned in late May that falling stocks and slowing house sales reminded him of the housing bubble bursting and an aviation disaster.As I said about 2008, it is like watching a plane crash, he tweeted.The investor of The Big Short fame also pounded the inflation alarm, noting rising costs are eroding the purchasing power of the US dollar.We all see it every single day in prices of everything, he tweeted.The Scion Asset Management boss also emphasized that Americans are saving less, borrowing more, and spending the cash they stashed during the pandemic. He asserted the US economy is on borrowed time as a result, and consumer spending and corporate earnings are poised to tumble.Looming: a consumer recession and more earnings trouble, he tweeted.Burry diagnosed the greatest speculative bubble of all time in all things in June 2021, and warned buyers of meme stocks and cryptocurrencies were headed for the mother of all crashes.Jeremy Grantham predicted stocks would tumble further, the US economy would suffer a near-term recession, and inflation would linger during a recent CNBC interview.The GMO cofounder and market historian has also flagged labor shortfalls, shortages of resources such as food and metals, and the ongoing transition from fossil fuels to clean energy as inflationary drivers.All in all, we face some very intractable inflationary problems, he said during a recent episode of the Straight Talk with Hank Paulson podcast.Grantham has repeatedly warned a superbubble in financial markets will end in a devastating crash and historic loss of wealth.David Einhorn argued the Federal Reserve lacks the tools to curb inflation during the 2022 Sohn Investment Conference this week, according to CNBC.The Fed is bluffing, the Greenlight Capital boss said. Inflation ain't going away so fast.Einhorn said the Fed's gradual interest-rate hikes were insufficient to stop prices rising. He compared the approach to trying to clear your snow-covered driveway with an ice-cream scooper.The hedge-fund manager added that it might be wise to own some gold, in case raging inflation erodes the buying power of currencies and weighs on other assets.Stanley Druckenmiller said it was highly probable the bear market would continue for a while, and predicted there would be a recession next year, during the 2022 Sohn Investment Conference this week.The Duquesne Family Office boss pointed out that inflation above 5% has never been reined in without causing a recession, according to CNBC. He argued the scale of the asset bubble, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and China's zero-covid policy raised the odds of an economic downturn.Druckenmiller also bemoaned the hype and speculation in financial markets during the pandemic, adding that many people were set to lose a lot of money on the risky assets they purchased.However, the billionaire investor advised against betting heavily on further declines.I've lived through enough bear markets that if you get aggressive in a bear market on the short side, you can get your head ripped off in rallies, he said.David Rubenstein asserted during a recent Bloomberg interview that after a period of enormous ebullience in markets, rising interest rates would drive the US economy into a recession.However, the billionaire cofounder of The Carlyle Group underscored the opportunity for investors to scoop up bargains following the stock-market decline.People are going to make a lot of money buying at these prices, he said.Tom Siebel predicted markets would be a little rocky for the next couple of years during a Robert W Baird conference this week, according to a transcript on Sentieo, a financial-research site.The technology billionaire and C3.ai CEO described the market backdrop as a perfect storm.The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse all happened at the same time, he said. Pestilence, famine, war, and death, we got them all, he added, referring to the pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and signs of recessions in the US and Europe.The enterprise-software pioneer also described estimated US inflation of 8% as laughable given how much food, fuel, and rent costs have soared. Moreover, he said recent hiring freezes among Big Tech companies reminded him of the months before the dot-com crash and the financial crisis.Siebel also made a prediction about the new wave of crypto workers during the pandemic, who he described as people who went home to work in their PJs and get paid in bitcoin.He suggested the plunging value of their stock options and investments, coupled with surging rent and grocery costs, would force them back into conventional jobs.George Soros' money manager predicted an economic slump during a recent episode of Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein.The bottom line is a recession is inevitable, Dawn Fitzpatrick, the CEO and CIO of Soros Fund Management, told Rubenstein. It's a matter of when, and markets are pricing it fairly soon.Fitzpatrick asserted that US consumers are in good shape, so the recession could arrive later than the market expects. She also said that cryptocurrencies have gone mainstream and are here to stay, and touted the potential of blockchain applications.Howard Marks underlined the extraordinary nature of the current confluence of market events in a recent Bloomberg Surveillance interview.These conditions are not reminiscent of any that I've lived through, he said, pointing to the pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, America's economic rivalry with China, and historically low interest rates.The billionaire investor and Oaktree Capital Management boss warned an economic downturn would reveal which investors overextended themselves or racked up too much debt during the market boom.Buffett always puts it best: When the tide goes out, we find out who was swimming without a bathing suit, Marks said. When economic and financial conditions become more difficult, we find out who made good credit decisions, and who made bad ones. We'll see.Marks also trumpeted the market downturn as an enticing opportunity for bargain hunters such as himself.We're happier today than we were six months ago, he said.Robert Herjavec warned stocks would fall further during a recent Fox Business interview.The Shark Tank investor and Cyderes CEO suggested the S&P 500 and Nasdaq could fall as much as 30% to their lowest levels since the pandemic crash in the spring of 2020.There's a lot of FUD in the market, Herjavec explained, using an acronym for fear, uncertainty, and doubt.The cybersecurity executive also noted that small businesses are facing not only higher interest rates, but an ongoing struggle to hire people and get them to show up.Unlike other top investors, Kevin O'Leary downplayed the risk of a recession during a recent CNBC interview.The Shark Tank investor and O'Leary Funds boss said the 30-odd private companies in his portfolio were enjoying a sales boom and unprecedented cash flows, and struggling to hire people.O'Leary added that he expects an inoculated recession because consumers still have stimulus money they haven't been able to spend due to supply-chain disruptions.The TV star, whose nickname is Mr. Wonderful, also advised investors to pounce on the bargains available.Take advantage of this correction, he said, pointing to Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Alphabet, and Meta as examples of discounted stocks. That's a gift the market's giving you right now.