Scaramucci Says the GameStop Saga Is Positive for Bitcoin (Bloomberg)
The growing number of retail traders sidestepping Wall Street to power rallies in stocks like GameStop Inc. points to a positive backdrop for Bitcoin, according to SkyBridge Capital’s Anthony Scaramucci. That’s because the phenomenon exemplifies financial decentralization, the guiding idea behind Bitcoin, he said. Smartphones and low-cost trading are “democratizing” the formerly insular and highly concentrated business of money management, he added. SkyBridge has an overall Bitcoin exposure of around $385 million.
Steve Cohen: Involvement in GameStop Stock Situation Won’t Affect Mets (CBS Sports)
GameStop has been a major player in the financial world of late after several Reddit users bought stock and increased the price of the video game store giant. While the stock world doesn’t usually have a ton to do with sports, it just so happens to on this occasion. New York Mets billionaire owner Steve Cohen is reportedly involved in this GameStop scenario. According to the Financial Times, Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management provided $750 million and joined with Citadel, a hedge fund, to funnel money into Melvin Capital, a firm that has been negatively affected by the skyrocketing GameStop stock prices.
Investors Redeemed $58bn from Hedge Funds in 2020 (Opalesque)
Investors removed an estimated $9.74 billion from hedge funds in the final month of 2020, said eVestment. YTD redemptions are estimated to be $58.76 billion. The total estimated industry AUM sits at $3.360 trillion. Since 2008, only once have net flows been positive in the final month of the year (2010, $2.4 billion). Since 2009, the average of December net flows has been $16.5 billion making the redemption in December 2020 a decent figure for the industry. The report said that while the net flow figure was muted for December, the volume of asset movement during the month was relatively high compared to a six-year average, though still below the average of past Decembers.
Phongphan/Shutterstock.com
Evotec Ahares Rise Amid Speculation Melvin Capital Closing Short Positions (Reuters)
MILAN (Reuters) – Evotec rose sharply on Tuesday amid market speculation that Melvin Capital Management was unwinding its positions in the German drugmaker after some of its investments turned sour. Evotec’s shares jumped 10% at one point on Tuesday with three traders saying the move was likely linked to Melvin Capital closing out its shorts following losses on GameStop and other investments.
Marathon Asset Management Closes USD900m Asset-Based Lending Fund (Hedge Week)
Marathon Asset Management (Marathon), a global credit investment manager, has held the final close for its Marathon Secured Private Strategies Fund, which was oversubscribed with approximately USD900 million in commitments. The fund will invest in a diversified portfolio of asset-based loans across the healthcare, real estate, equipment and transportation, and corporate sectors backed by secure, contractual cash-flows.
BlackRock has likely made $1.2 billion on GameStop as day traders buy the stock to stick it to Wall Street (Business Insider)
The GameStop saga is being framed as the little guys sticking it to Wall Street. However, the world’s biggest fund manager has probably made $1.2 billion this month thanks to those amateur investors pumping up the video-game retailer’s stock. BlackRock disclosed in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it owned 9.2 million shares in GameStop at the end of December. GameStop’s stock price has skyrocketed from about $19 to $148 since then.
