Carl Icahn Had An Atrocious Third Quarter (Forbes)
Activist investor Carl Icahn had an abysmal third quarter. Icahn Enterprises IEP 0.0% reported a net loss of $714 million or $3.14 per LP unit, compared to a net loss of $49 million or 24 cents per LP unit in the third quarter of last year. The firm’s adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $550 million, compared to a loss of $121 million in last year’s third quarter and a gain of $695 million in the second quarter. Hedge fund takes a bite out of Icahn Enterprises: In a recent report, Jefferies analysts attributed the vast majority of the year-over-year decline to losses sustained in the the investment firm, which detracted $520 million from the firm’s adjusted EBITDA. That’s compared to a detraction of $328 million in the year-ago quarter.
Billionaire Investor Dan Loeb’s Firm Made Almost $400 Million Betting on a Post-Election Stock Surge, Report Says (Business Insider)
One hedge fund that raked in big profits during a historic post-election rally in stocks was Daniel Loeb‘s Third Point, according to the Financial Times. Citing regulatory filings and an investor letter from the $13.5 billion hedge fund, the FT estimates that Third Point gained almost $400 million via a bullish positioning in stocks prior to the election, even as other investors were bracing for potential chaos.
Anchorage Capital Did Not Disclose CEO’s Sexual Battery Suit to Investors, Sources Say (Institutional Investor)
Well before the news broke publicly this week, Albourne Partners – a respected consulting firm known to be as in the loop on alternatives as any in the business – quietly alerted clients: The CEO of Anchorage Capital, a major hedge fund in many large institutional portfolios, had been accused of committing sexual battery in a Manhattan hotel. Anchorage had decided not to tell its investors and industry consultants, per knowledgeable sources, unless those stakeholders brought it up first.
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Ackman Bets on a Pandemic Bond Wipeout—Again (AI-CIO.com)
Bill Ackman was right before. Maybe the hedge fund impresario will be right again in his latest pessimistic bet on how the economy and the markets will handle the new explosion in coronavirus infections. Ackman’s latest move is reminiscent of his lucrative maneuver in March. To safeguard his portfolio against the epidemic’s economic impact, his firm Pershing Square paid some $27 million for credit protection on investment-grade and high-yield indexes. The hedges, in the form of credit default swaps, netted him a $2.6 billion bonanza.
A Legendary Hedge Fund Billionaire Just Flipped To Bitcoin—Calling It ‘Better’ Than Gold (Forbes)
Bitcoin’s reputation as digital gold has grown this year, with a number of high-profile investors naming it as an emerging inflation hedge. The bitcoin price has more than doubled so far through 2020, climbing to almost $16,000 per bitcoin this week and sparking celebration among long-suffering bitcoin bulls. Now, after Wall Street legend Bill Miller said he “strongly” recommends bitcoin last week, billionaire U.S. investor Stanley Druckenmiller has revealed he now owns some bitcoin – saying he’s “warmed up to” the cryptocurrency as a store of value.
Month in Review – October 2020 (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Nordic hedge funds lost 0.9 percent on average in October (90 percent reported), ending a six-month streak of positive returns. The Nordic hedge fund industry, as reflected by the Nordic Hedge Index, is up 1.8 percent year-to-date through the end of October. All five strategy categories in the Nordic Hedge Index posted losses for the month of October. CTAs, equity and multi-strategy hedge funds led the losses, whereas fixed-income hedge funds edged down by an estimated 0.1 percent last month. Fixed-income vehicles, one of the two strategy groups in positive territory for the year, advanced 2.4 percent on average in the first ten months of 2020.
Hedge Funds See Second Consecutive Month of Average Performance Decline (Hedge Week)
Hedge funds continued to face a difficult market environment in October as for a second consecutive month the majority of funds saw performance declines. The average return in the hedge fund industry came in at -0.21 per cent in October. The tough first quarter of the year leading up to the global pandemic and the past two months have left the industry at a just-barely-positive +0.74 per cent return year to date (YTD). This is a stark contrast to the +10.05 per cent return the industry put up for all of 2019.
The Estee Lauder Inc (EL) President and CEO Fabrizio Freda Sold $19.3 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
President and CEO of The Estee Lauder Inc., Fabrizio Freda, sold 77,530 shares of EL on 11/11/2020 at an average price of $248.85 a share. The total sale was $19.3 million. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc is a beauty products manufacturer providing Skin care, Makeup, Fragrance and Hair care services. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc has a market cap of $89.91 billion; its shares were traded at around $248.65 with a P/E ratio of 151.63 and P/S ratio of 6.50.
Thursday 11/12 Insider Buying Report: VRTX, VRAY (Nasdaq.com)
On Tuesday, Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Director, Bruce I. Sachs, made a $3.26M purchase of VRTX, buying 15,000 shares at a cost of $217.36 a piece. Vertex Pharmaceuticals is trading up about 1.9% on the day Thursday. This buy marks the first one filed by Sachs in the past year. And at ViewRay, there was insider buying on Tuesday, by CEO Scott William Drake who purchased 155,000 shares at a cost of $3.23 each, for a total investment of $499,906. ViewRay is trading up about 8.5% on the day Thursday. So far Drake is in the green, up about 14.4% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $3.69.
What Did This CEO Just Do with Personal Shares of CorVel (NASDAQ: CRVL)? (Analyst Ratings)
On November 9, the CEO & President of CorVel (CRVL), Michael Combs, sold shares of CRVL for $273.1K. Following Michael Combs’ last CRVL Sell transaction on August 25, 2020, the stock climbed by 10.9%. In addition to Michael Combs, 4 other CRVL executives reported Sell trades in the last month. The company has a one-year high of $96.45 and a one-year low of $44.67. CRVL’s market cap is $1.68 billion and the company has a P/E ratio of 39.90. Currently, CorVel has an average volume of 26.51K.
Pfizer CEO Sold Shares on Same Day as the Company’s Coronavirus Vaccine News: Should You Be Outraged? (The Motley Fool)
This seems like another story of the greed of corporate executives, at least at first glance. On Monday, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) announced exciting news. Their coronavirus vaccine candidate BNT162b2 achieved efficacy of at least 90% — a lot better than expected. This revelation was so good that it sparked a major stock-market rally. Then came more news: Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla sold some of his shares in the company on the same day of the big announcement about BNT162b2. Should you be outraged? Or are objections to the timing of Bourla’s stock sale much ado about nothing?
Linde Plc (LIN) CEO Stephen F Angel Sold $14.7 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO of Linde Plc, Stephen F Angel, sold 56,000 shares of LIN on 11/09/2020 at an average price of $262.91 a share. The total sale was $14.7 million. Praxair Inc is a supplier of gas in the United States. It produces, distributes and sells atmospheric and process gases and surface coatings in North America, Europe, South America, and Asia. Its products are oxygen, helium, nitrogen and specialty gases.
