Anthony Scaramucci to Trump: CEOs Holding Back Spending Because China Tariffs are Too Unpredictable (CNBC)
American CEOs want more clarity from President Donald Trump on China so they can better plan their business spending needs, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci told CNBC on Thursday. He also said China is doing a better job than the U.S. in laying out its longer economic goals as the world’s two largest economies engage in a trade war. “Preparation and planning are the hallmarks of winning a war,” Scaramucci said in a “Squawk Box” interview.
Meet the Hedge Fund Manager Rooting for Elizabeth Warren in 2020 (CNN Business)
New York (CNN Business) Hedge fund manager Kyle Bass is no fan of Elizabeth Warren’s populist platform. He calls her proposed wealth tax unconstitutional. Still, he’s hoping she is the Democrats’ presidential nominee and wins the White House in 2020. Bass, founder of Hayman Capital Management, told CNN Business in an interview this week that he would “immediately” vote for Warren because of her tough stance on China’s human rights and trade record. “Warren would be a problem for China,” said Bass, who is a longtime vocal critic of China.
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Assured Guaranty to Buy BlueMountain Capital for $160 Million (The Wall Street Journal)
Assured Guaranty Ltd.’s U.S. subsidiary has agreed to pay $160 million for credit-focused alternative asset manager BlueMountain Capital Management, the companies said late Wednesday. The deal will consist of at least $114.8 million in cash with the remainder as a mix of cash and Assured stock, according to a news release.
Hedge Funds Turn Most Bearish Since 2016, Hone Stock Bets (Bloomberg)
As stocks whipsawed over the past week, hedge funds took a stance that’s hard to frame as bullish, intensifying bets against the market and limited long positions to a shrinking group of companies. The ratio of hedge funds’ long to short positions, known as net leverage, sank to the lowest level since February 2016, data compiled by Morgan Stanley’s prime brokerage unit showed. At the same time, gross leverage, a gauge of risk appetite that adds up both long and short positions, remained above the 75th percentile since 2010.
Deloitte Sues Hedge Fund Manager Jeremy Leach Over Life Settlements Fund Liquidation (Opalesque.com)
Deloitte & Touche is suing hedge fund manager Jeremy Leach, associate William McClintock, and several other entities for $17.8 million in damages over allegedly fraudulent fees and other transactions related to Leach’s Traded Life Policies Fund. Deloitte was tasked with managing the voluntary liquidation of the fund in 2017. The case is before the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. News of the lawsuit first was reported by OffshoreAlert. This isn’t the first time Leach has been in the news for failed life settlement funds. Leach was previously involved with Shepards Select, a life settlements investment firm that collapsed after its sole broker of insurance policies was suspended by regulators in 2004.
Almost Half of Large Hedge Fund Managers See AUM Decline in 2018 – Report (Pensions&Investments)
Close to half – 46% – of the 200 largest hedge fund managers experienced a material decline in regulatory assets under management in 2018 compared to the prior year, research from law firm Seward & Kissel showed. Analysis of the managers’ 2017 and 2018 Form ADV submissions to the Securities and Exchange Commission found 74% of equity managers experienced declines in regulatory AUM in 2018, 14% did not see a large change in assets, while 12% had significant gains from 2017.
Pilgrims Pride Corp (PPC) CEO Jayson Penn Sold $1.4 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO of Pilgrims Pride Corp, Jayson Penn, sold 51,222 shares of PPC on 08/06/2019 at an average price of $28.29 a share. The total sale was $1.4 million. Pilgrims Pride Corp engages in processing, marketing, and distribution fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products to retailers, grocers, distributors and food service operators. It offers chickens as a whole and different cuts. Pilgrims Pride Corp has a market cap of $7.23 billion; its shares were traded at around $29.01 with a P/E ratio of 26.11 and P/S ratio of 0.67. GuruFocus has detected 3 severe warning signs with Pilgrims Pride Corp.
Thursday 8/8 Insider Buying Report: PBF, GHL (Nasdaq.com)
On Tuesday, PBF Energy (PBF)’s , Carso, S.A. de C.V. Inversora, made a $12.47M purchase of PBF, buying 538,300 shares at a cost of $23.16 a piece. Investors can buy PBF at a price even lower than Inversora did, with shares trading as low as $22.42 in trading on Thursday – that’s 3.2% below Inversora’s purchase price. PBF Energy is trading up about 0.3% on the day Thursday. Before this latest buy, Inversora made one other purchase in the past year, buying $46.61M shares for a cost of $28.95 each. And at Greenhill & Co (GHL), there was insider buying on Tuesday, by Chief Executive Officer Scott L. Bok who purchased 139,220 shares for a cost of $14.36 each, for a trade totaling $2M. Before this latest buy, Bok made one other purchase in the past year, buying $4.99M shares for a cost of $22.60 each. Greenhill & Co is trading up about 8.5% on the day Thursday. Bok was up about 8.2% on the purchase at the high point of today’s trading session, with GHL trading as high as $15.53 in trading on Thursday.
CSRC Imposes $56mn Penalty on Individual for Insider Trading (RegulationAsia.com)
The individual learned of a gaming company’s acquisition plans months in advance and used 14 stock accounts set up by acquaintances to profit from the information. The CSRC (China Securities Regulatory Commission) has issued a CNY 394 million (USD 56 million) penalty – one of the largest ever imposed on an individual – in an insider trading case. According to a Caixin report, the case involved trading in the shares of online game developer Shenzhen Zqgame Co Ltd in 2013, when it was among only a handful of companies listed on the SZSE (Shenzhen Stock Exchange) Growth Enterprise Market.
Ex KPMG Partner Banned Over Insider Trading (Economia.ICAEW.com)
A former KPMG US partner accused of insider trading is to pay the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) $125,000 (£102,771) in a final judgment that will also see him banned for life from practising as a listed company accountant or auditor. Thomas Avent Jr agreed to the final judgment without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations. He had been accused of passing on highly confidential, non-public information to his stockbroker about three potential acquisitions of publicly-traded companies.
A Director at Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (NYSE: CLF) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, a Director at Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (CLF), Robert P. Fisher, bought shares of CLF for $26.52K. This recent transaction increases Robert P. Fisher’s holding in the company by 2.63% to a total of $1.01 million. In addition to Robert P. Fisher, 2 other CLF executives reported Buy trades in the last month.
Tyson Foods Inc (TSN) EVP & Chief HR Officer Mary Oleksiuk Sold $3.6 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
EVP & Chief HR Officer of Tyson Foods Inc, Mary Oleksiuk, sold 43,592 shares of TSN on 08/06/2019 at an average price of $82.6 a share. The total sale was $3.6 million. Tyson Foods Inc processes and distributes value-added beef, chicken pork, prepared foods and related allied products, including animal and pet food ingredients. Its product brands are Wright, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park and Sara Lee. Tyson Foods Inc has a market cap of $31.44 billion; its shares were traded at around $86.21 with a P/E ratio of 15.37 and P/S ratio of 0.78. The dividend yield of Tyson Foods Inc stocks is 1.65%.
