Bill Ackman Exits Market Hedges, Uses $2 Billion He Made to Buy More Stocks Including Hilton (CNBC)
Pershing Square manager Bill Ackman exited his market hedge positions earlier this week and used the more than $2 billion in proceeds to bulk up on his fund’s existing stakes as well as reinvest in coffee chain Starbucks. In a letter to Pershing stakeholders dated Wednesday, Ackman said the fund completed the exit from his bets against the market on March 23 and generated $2.6 billion compared with premiums paid and commissions totaling $27 million. He first announced his market hedges on March 3.
Hudson Bay Plans to Raise Funds Amid ‘Outstanding Opportunities’ (Bloomberg)
The $5 billion hedge fund Hudson Bay Capital Management is seeking to raise capital for a new share class designed to take advantage of the market sell-off. “The dislocations to come will provide amongst the most outstanding opportunities of my career,” Sander Gerber, who oversees the New York-based firm, said Tuesday in a letter to investors. “To take full advantage of these opportunities, we will be setting up new share classes within our multistrategy fund to supplement investments in the main portfolio.” A Hudson Bay representative declined to comment.
Plunging Conditions Drag Down Hohn’s TCI (HFAlert.com)
Plummeting stock prices have sent TCI Fund Management’s returns deep into negative territory. Sources said the London firm recently was running a year-to-date loss of more than 20% through its flagship vehicle, The Children’s Investment Fund. The situation worsened late last week, with industry participants pegging the entity’s slide at about 30%. TCI’s losses illustrate a trouncing that value-oriented equity managers have experienced as the financial market craters in response to the coronavirus pandemic, with many suffering their worst losses since the 2008 market crash. The flagship fund from Ricky Sandler’s Eminence Capital, for example, was posting a month-to-date loss around 15% in mid-March, a source said.
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Telecom Italia’s CEO Says Network Solid as Elliott Cuts Stake (Reuters)
MILAN/ROME (Reuters) – Telecom Italia’s (TIM) network can cope with the surge in traffic driven by the coronavirus crisis, CEO Luigi Gubitosi was quoted as saying on Wednesday, as U.S. activist hedge fund Elliott Management cut its stake in the group. The strategic role of TIM’s telecoms network – as well as the need for an upgrade – has taken center stage in the healthcare emergency, which has confined Italians to their homes and forced millions to embrace remote working and online learning.
Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Scales Down European Short Bets After €4bn Windfall (FNLondon.com)
Bridgewater Associates, the world’s biggest hedge fund, has retreated from shorting European stocks after making an estimated €4bn, as its founder and co-chairman Ray Dalio contends with recent performance struggles. According to analysis from Breakout Point, the data analytics firm, $160bn US-based Bridgewater disclosed more than 70 reductions in net short positions in European companies in the week ending 20 March. European companies in which Bridgewater has cut its short positions include financial institutions BBVA , Banco Santander and Old Mutual, travel technology company Amadeus IT Group and CRH, the building company.
Preqin Special Report: Top Performing Hedge Funds in 2019 (Preqin.com)
Hedge fund managers across a wide variety of strategies and trading styles were able to generate considerable gains in 2019, a year that provided positive market conditions for many. This report showcases the top performing hedge funds and most consistent top performing hedge funds in the industry. Categorized by strategy, trading style, geography, and assets under management, we present the top performers in 2019 and on a three-year basis, and look at the most consistent top performing funds over both three and five years. The report also lists the top performing CTAs, liquid alternative funds, and funds of hedge funds.
Korean Hedge Fund Joins Michael Burry to Bet on U.S. Game Seller (Bloomberg)
A Seoul-based hedge fund has joined hedge fund investor Michael Burry in betting U.S. game retailer GameStop Corp. is oversold. The stock has already lost 32% this quarter after sinking in each of the past six years on multiple disappointing earnings reports and an aborted effort to sell itself. And yet, Must Asset Management, which oversees $400 million, raised its stake in the Grapevine, Texas-based company to 5% over the past six months, according to a regulatory filing last week and Kim Doo-yong, the firm’s chief executive officer.
Pacific Fund Merger Complete (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Multi-asset, multi-strategy fund Pacific Multi Asset merged into Pacific Precious on March 23. The merger was announced in December after hedge fund house Atlant Fonder acquired fellow asset manager Pacific Fonder to strengthen its management organization, marketing organization and fund offering. Pacific Precious is a multi-strategy fund that provides exposure to the price development of precious metals. Managed by portfolio manager Mattias Gromark (pictured), the precious metals-focused fund currently allocates one half of its portfolio to exchange-traded commodities backed by precious metals and the other half to high-quality companies active in the mining, exploration or funding of exploration projects in precious metals.
Wednesday 3/25 Insider Buying Report: CLR, FDX (Nasdaq.com)
On Monday, Continental Resources’ Director, Shelly Lambertz, made a $951,594 buy of CLR, purchasing 108,771 shares at a cost of $8.75 a piece. Lambertz was up about 22.5% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with CLR trading as high as $10.72 in trading on Wednesday. Continental Resources is trading down about 8.2% on the day Wednesday. And at FedEx, there was insider buying on Friday, by Director John A. Edwardson who purchased 5,000 shares for a cost of $112.04 each, for a trade totaling $560,200. Before this latest buy, Edwardson bought FDX on 2 other occasions during the past twelve months, for a total investment of $3.02M at an average of $151.17 per share. FedEx Corp is trading down about 2.8% on the day Wednesday. Edwardson was up about 10.5% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with FDX trading as high as $123.78 in trading on Wednesday.
The CFO & Treasurer of Pennantpark Investment (NASDAQ: PNNT) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, the CFO & Treasurer of Pennantpark Investment (PNNT), Aviv Efrat, bought shares of PNNT for $58.2K. This recent transaction increases Aviv Efrat’s holding in the company by 21.86% to a total of $356.8K. In addition to Aviv Efrat, 3 other PNNT executives reported Buy trades in the last month. Based on Pennantpark Investment’s latest earnings report for the quarter ending December 31, the company posted quarterly revenue of $20.67 million and quarterly net profit of $19.2 million.
Zoom Video Stock Has Surged, and Insiders Sold a Slew of It (Barron’s)
Zoom Video Communications stock has nearly doubled year to date and insiders and an early investor are selling a slew of shares of the videoconferencing firm. The gains are in sharp contrast to the recent stock selloff that has taken the S&P 500 index, a measure of the broader market, down 24% year to date. As millions of people, barred from their offices because of the coronavirus pandemic, now work from home, Zoom (ticker: ZM) has seen a “very big jump” in its service, according to founder and CEO Eric Yuan. Zoom has…
Congress Moves to End its Crisis Over Insider Trading on Outbreak (The Hill)
Members of Congress are moving with speed and determination to meet an existential crisis on a bipartisan basis. This is not about the coronavirus. The public has learned, once again, that lawmakers may be profiteering in the stock market. Members from both parties have worked for decades to prevent the closing of this obvious avenue of corruption. I know because I have been advocating for two decades that members of Congress should agree to the mandatory use of blind trusts for any stock ownership. But members of Congress know voters will soon move on, distracted by the outbreak of a deadly disease or redirecting their political rage against the opposing party. The past incubation period for ethics outbreaks is only a couple of weeks and, with some political distancing, the curve is already flattening out. Lawmakers can rest easy because normalcy is simply one news cycle away and, until then, they are tax sheltering in place.
SEC Awards Over $570,000 to Two Whistleblowers (HedgeCo.net)
(HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced awards totaling over $570,000 to two whistleblowers who provided significant information and assistance that helped the Commission bring multiple successful enforcement actions. The first whistleblower received an award of approximately $478,000 and the second whistleblower received an award of approximately $94,000. “The whistleblowers in this matter played a critical role in the investigation and helped the agency bring antifraud charges that halted ongoing conduct,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. “The substantially higher award granted to the first whistleblower demonstrates the importance of providing information early in the investigation and the benefit to whistleblowers where the information leads to multiple enforcement actions.”
The Executive Chairman and CEO of SEACOR Holdings (NYSE: CKH) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the Executive Chairman and CEO of SEACOR Holdings (CKH), Charles Fabrikant, bought shares of CKH for $47.07K. The company has a one-year high of $51.42 and a one-year low of $22.23. CKH’s market cap is $540 million and the company has a P/E ratio of 17.20. Currently, SEACOR Holdings has an average volume of 112.60K.
