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.
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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.
Kreditfonden Steps Into Listed Debt (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Credit spreads in the Nordic high-yield market widened significantly in March after the onset of the coronavirus crisis. The spread widening stemmed from higher economic uncertainty and default risk among riskier issuers, but also idiosyncratic factors such as massive outflows from credit funds and the resulting temporary suspension of redemptions by some of these funds. Stockholm-based Kreditfonden has launched a closed-ended alternative investment fund – the High Yield Opportunity Fund – to benefit from the indiscriminate selling of lower-rated loans during liquidity crunches in the Nordic bond markets.
Direct Lending Funds Ready as Europe’s Banks Tighten Lending (Preqin)
Dry powder for direct lending far outstrips other private debt strategies. More conservative policies from other lenders should provide a much-needed boost to deal flow. Direct lending funds targeting Europe stand to benefit from tighter lending criteria at eurozone banks. Over the past eight years, direct lending has emerged as the dominant strategy of Europe-focused private debt, with assets under management (AUM) surging from $9.0bn as of December 2012 to $138bn as of June 2020. Growth in AUM at direct lending funds outstripped that of distressed debt funds (up from $13bn to $53bn) and special situations (up from $14bn to $35bn) in the same period.
CFTC Charges New York Man in Multi-Million Dollar Digital Asset Ponzi Scheme Involving Bitcoin and Ether (HedgeCo.net)
(HedgeCo.Net) The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has filed a federal civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York charging Jeremy Spence of New York, with fraud for operating a Ponzi scheme involving digital assets such as bitcoin and ether in which he fraudulently solicited more than $5 million of investments from individuals. The Division of Enforcement’s Digital Assets Task Force was involved in this case. “Fraudulent schemes, like that alleged in this case, undermine the integrity and development of digital asset markets and cheat customers out of their hard-earned money,” said Acting Director of Enforcement Vincent McGonagle. “We will continue to work to protect participants in our markets from fraudulent practices and hold fraudsters accountable.”
Bridgewater’s Prince Sees Rebalancing of Wealth That Favors Asia (Bloomberg)
Bob Prince, who helps oversee the world’s biggest hedge fund at Bridgewater Associates, said the world was seeing a rebalancing of wealth that was largely favoring Asia. “There’s a massive wealth rebalancing going on in the world,” Prince, co-chief investment officer at Bridgewater, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “There’s a rebalancing between the western hemisphere and the eastern hemisphere in Asia, and there is a rebalancing between asset holders and debtors.”
Guardant Health Inc (GH) CEO Helmy Eltoukhy Sold $25.6 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO of Guardant Health Inc, Helmy Eltoukhy, sold 160,886 shares of GH on 01/25/2021 at an average price of $158.94 a share. The total sale was $25.6 million. Guardant Health Inc has a market cap of $14.99 billion; its shares were traded at around $149.910000 with and P/S ratio of 53.09. GuruFocus has detected 1 severe warning sign with Guardant Health Inc.
The Non-Executive of Sayona Mining (Other OTC: DMNXF) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, the Non-Executive of Sayona Mining (DMNXF), Allan Charles Buckler, sold shares of DMNXF for $1.62M. This is Buckler’s first Sell trade following 5 Buy transactions. In addition to Allan Charles Buckler, 2 other DMNXF executives reported Sell trades in the last month. Currently, Sayona Mining has an average volume of 31.45M. DMNXF’s market cap is $132 million and the company has a P/E ratio of -17.80.
Medallia Inc (MDLA) President & CEO Leslie Stretch Sold $17.5 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
President & CEO of Medallia Inc, Leslie Stretch, sold 412,341 shares of MDLA on 01/26/2021 at an average price of $42.48 a share. The total sale was $17.5 million. Medallia Inc has a market cap of $6.79 billion; its shares were traded at around $45.150000 with and P/S ratio of 13.71.
