Bill Ackman’s $500 Million Bet on Himself Pays Off After Losing Streak (Bloomberg)
Bill Ackman made a big bet on himself even as some investors were second-guessing the future of his hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management. So far, it’s paying off. The billionaire plowed about $500 million into the publicly traded arm of his fund last year, arguing it was significantly undervalued. At the time, Pershing Square Holdings Ltd. was trading at roughly $15 a share.
David Tepper Broke The NFL (Deal Breaker)
You might think there isn’t much of a downside to owning something worth an average of $2.9 billion. And clearly, there is not. After all, David Tepper gave up both his lifetime fandom for the Pittsburgh Steelers and his exceptionally lucrative career as a hedge fund manager to be one of the 32 members of the most exclusive club in all the land, owners of National Football League teams and demanders of public money for their toys. The thing about owning something worth very nearly $3 billion, however, is that it’s only worth $3 billion if someone has $3 billion to pay for it. And it is hard for it to become worth more than $3 billion under those circumstances, too.
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Founder of World’s Largest Hedge Fund Sees 25% Chance of US Recession (FX Street)
Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, sees 25% chance of a US recession this year and in 2020 and believes the response by the major central banks would be limited, according to Bloomberg. Dalio said: “The Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan have to face the fact that when the next downturn comes there will not be the power to reverse it in the same way that existed before.”
Indian Hedge Funds Underperform in July, China Funds Fare Better (DFS Caller)
Indian hedge funds lagged others during the budget-month, suggesting that they may have been caught on the wrong foot on how they were positioned for the first Union Budget of the new government. The fall in July was amid Budget disappointments, and selling by foreign portfolio investors after the introduction of higher taxes on their returns in Indian markets. The Eurekahedge India Hedge Fund Index was down 3.42 per cent, its worst performance in ten months. The last time the index did worse was in September 2018. The index showed a 7.7 per cent decline amidst headwinds including…
A Hedge Fund Reportedly Lost $1 billion in August Betting on Argentina’s Economy Recovering (CNBC)
One of the better-performing hedge funds reportedly took a heavy loss last month, as a big bet on Argentina’s economy went sour. Autonomy Capital lost about $1 billion, or about 23%, in August after taking a large position in Argentina’s 100-year bonds, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The hedge fund began betting on Argentina’s recovery last year, the report said.
Hedge Funds could Cash in on Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac Change (Pensions&Investment)
The Trump Administration’s plan to release Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from their government shackles laid out a vision that could eventually lead to hedge fund managers minting riches on their investments in the mortgage giants. But the Treasury Department’s proposal left much to be ironed out, signaling there might not be a windfall unless President Donald Trump wins re-election in 2020. That sentiment was palpable in early Wall Street trading Friday with Fannie and Freddie seeing their biggest one-day drops since January.
Silicon Laboratories Inc (SLAB) Sr VP and CFO John C Hollister Sold $1.1 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
Sr VP and CFO of Silicon Laboratories Inc, John C Hollister, sold 10,000 shares of SLAB on 09/05/2019 at an average price of $110 a share. The total sale was $1.1 million. Silicon Laboratories Inc is a provider of silicon, software and system solutions for the Internet of Things, Internet infrastructure, industrial control, consumer and automotive markets generating, a majority of its revenue from the Internet of Things. Silicon Laboratories Inc has a market cap of $4.87 billion; its shares were traded at around $112.45 with a P/E ratio of 154.03 and P/S ratio of 5.81.
Ex-VTB Banker Charged for Deleting WhatsApp in Trading Probe (1) (Bloomberg Law)
U.K. prosecutors charged a former VTB Capital PLC banker with destroying documents after he deleted WhatsApp from his mobile phone, knowing that information on the app was relevant to an insider-trading investigation. Konstantin Vishnyak, who pleaded not guilty Sept. 6, will appear Oct. 4 in a London court, the Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement. This is the FCA’s first prosecution in connection with the alleged destruction of documents under Financial Services and Markets Act of 2000, the agency said. Vishnyak was under investigation for suspected insider-dealing offenses, the FCA said. The agency alleges that he deleted the WhatsApp…
Friday 9/6 Insider Buying Report: ORGO, PFLT (Nasdaq.com)
At Organogenesis Holdings (ORGO), a filing with the SEC revealed that on Wednesday, Director Wayne D. Mackie purchased 82,000 shares of ORGO, at a cost of $4.47 each, for a total investment of $366,211. So far Mackie is in the green, up about 8.6% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $4.85. Organogenesis Holdings is trading up about 1.5% on the day Friday. And at Pennantpark Floating Rate Capital (PFLT), there was insider buying on Wednesday, by Director Samuel L. Katz who bought 25,000 shares at a cost of $11.42 each, for a total investment of $285,408. Before this latest buy, Katz made one other purchase in the past year, buying $242,240 shares for a cost of $12.11 a piece. Pennantpark Floating Rate Capital is trading down about 0.4% on the day Friday. Katz was up about 2.2% on the purchase at the high point of today’s trading session, with PFLT trading as high as $11.66 at last check today.
The CEO of BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: TCPC) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the CEO of BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. (TCPC), Howard Levkowitz, bought shares of TCPC for $132.9K. This recent transaction increases Howard Levkowitz’s holding in the company by 5.75% to a total of $2.45 million. Following Howard Levkowitz’s last TCPC Buy transaction on December 21, 2018, the stock climbed by 1.1%.
Vapotherm Inc (VAPO) President & CEO Joseph Army Bought $100,000 of Shares (Guru Focus)
President & CEO of Vapotherm Inc, Joseph Army, bought 10,000 shares of VAPO on 09/04/2019 at an average price of $10 a share. The total cost of this purchase was $100,000. Vapotherm Inc has a market cap of $200.560 million; its shares were traded at around $11.46 with and P/S ratio of 4.28. GuruFocus has detected 1 severe warning sign with Vapotherm Inc.
Galleon’s Rajaratnam Free From Prison After Almost 8 Years (2) (Bloomberg Law)
Raj Rajaratnam, the mastermind of what prosecutors said was one of the largest hedge-fund insider-trading rings in U.S. history, is out of prison — almost two years early. Rajaratnam, whose Galleon Group LLC once managed more than $7 billion, is back with his family on a quiet block of Manhattan’s East Side, where he’s mostly confined to his apartment for the remainder of his sentence. He’s free to work outside his home during the day. Sentenced to 11 years behind bars after his 2011 conviction, he served his time at the Federal Medical Center Devens, a prison outside Boston…
