Opalesque Roundup: Hedge Funds See January Gains as HFRI 500 Surges 2.5 Percent: Hedge Fund News, Week 06 (Opalesque.com)
In the week ending February 10th 2023, a report by HFR revealed that hedge funds surged to begin 2023 as risk-on sentiment dominated financial markets and investors positioned for a moderation of inflationary pressures and interest rate increases through mid-2023, despite continued uncertainty over weakening economic growth. The investable HFRI 500 Fund Weighted Composite Index jumped +2.5 percent in January, led by directional Equity Hedge and Event Driven strategies. Meanwhile, hedge funds saw performance turn negative overall in 2022 as shifts in the macroeconomic backdrop impacted investment markets.
What Layoffs? Top Wall Street Traders Score Giant Paydays (The New York Times)
Some large hedge funds that profited off the recent market volatility are wooing traders with tens of millions of dollars in guaranteed payouts. As workers around the country frantically negotiate severance packages amid tens of thousands of layoffs, employees in a tiny, influential and often secretive corner of Wall Street are being promised some of their biggest paydays ever. Welcome to the world of elite hedge funds, where risky bets using esoteric number-crunching and cutthroat strategies, applied to the same economic and market uncertainties that have roiled corporate America and led to job cuts, have produced gigantic profits.
Monday 2/13 Insider Buying Report: RBOT, VBTX (Nasdaq.com)
At Vicarious Surgical, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Wednesday, Director Philip Liang purchased 79,009 shares of RBOT, at a cost of $3.05 each, for a total investment of $240,740. So far Liang is in the green, up about 5.0% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $3.20. Vicarious Surgical is trading up about 1% on the day Monday. Before this latest buy, Liang purchased RBOT on 2 other occasions during the past year, for a total investment of $163,547 at an average of $3.05 per share. And at Veritex Holdings, there was insider buying on Friday, by Director John Sughrue who purchased 3,652 shares at a cost of $27.36 each, for a trade totaling $99,919.
$5M Bet On Minerva Surgical? Check Out These 4 Penny Stocks Insiders Are Buying (Benzinga)
Minerva Surgical: The Trade: Minerva Surgical, Inc. (UTRS) 10% owner Scott Sandell bought a total of 24,437,927 shares at an average price of $0.20. To acquire these shares, it cost around $5 million. Vicarious Surgical: The Trade: Vicarious Surgical Inc. (RBOT) Director Philip Liang acquired a total 79,009 shares at an average price of $3.05. The insider spent around $240.74 thousand to buy those shares.
New SEC Rules Target Corporate Insider Trading (The Wall Street Journal)
For the last two decades, officers and directors at U.S. public companies seeking to trade illicitly on inside information had an almost infallible get-out-of-jail-free card. All they had to do was use prearranged trading plans when they bought and sold their companies’ shares. The odds the government would target them for enforcement actions were slim. It was an unintended consequence of a regulation adopted in 2000 called Rule 10b5-1 that academic research shows was abused by some executives.
