Ray Dalio Tries to Silence Tell-All that Pierces Veil of ‘Benevolent Business Titan’ (New York Post)
Hedge fund titan Ray Dalio — who has famously promoted “radical transparency” as a management mantra — hired a team of high-priced lawyers to threaten the publication of a new book that claims to reveal some ugly truths about the investment firm he started. The new book by reporter Rob Copeland, “The Fund: Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, and the Unraveling of a Wall Street Legend,” is slated for release by Macmillan Nov. 7. But earlier this year, Dalio and Bridgewater – the behemoth fund he founded – threatened the publisher with multibillion-dollar lawsuit, according to letters obtained by On The Money.
Apple’s Stock is the Biggest Short for Investor Dan Niles Amid Worries About China’s iPhone Ban (Business Insider)
Hedge fund investor Dan Niles says he’s betting hard against iPhone maker Apple, which is now his largest single-stock short position. “Sold $AAPL & now our largest single stock short,” the Satori Fund founder and senior portfolio manager said in a post on X Thursday. Niles cited three reasons for his bearishness toward the Big Tech giant – including worries about China’s iPhone ban.
Event Driven and Equity Hedge Strategies Lead Hedge Fund Gains in August (Hedge Week)
Hedge funds posted gains in August led by event driven and equity hedge strategies, with the HFRX Event Driven Index gaining +1.10%, and the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index gaining +0.33% for the month, according to the latest data from HFR. Merger arbitrage managers and special situations equity strategies drove event driven gains as activity in global M&A deals continued through the month. The HFRX Special Situations Index gained +1.08% for the month from exposures to global catalyst-driven, fundamental value equities.
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2 FAANG Stocks Have Brilliant Wall Street Billionaires Betting Big Ahead of the Next Bull Market (The Motley Fool)
Hedge fund managers David Tepper and Karthik Sarma are heavily invested in Amazon and Netflix, respectively. Amazon has significant growth prospects in multiple markets, and the stock looks cheap at its current valuation. Netflix is the streaming market leader by almost any metric, but the stock looks somewhat expensive. Some of the smartest, wealthiest hedge fund managers have built sizable positions in these FAANG stocks. Some investors define the beginning of a bull market as the point when the S&P 500 rebounds 20% from a bear market low. But other investors reserve the term for when the index reaches a new record high. The S&P 500 has already entered a bull market based on the former definition, and it sits just 6% from bull market territory based on the latter.
Hedge Funds Show Increased Interest in Crane (Clayton County Register)
HRT Financial LP, a hedge fund, recently purchased over 19,000 shares of conglomerate company Crane in the 1st quarter. The total value of the shares is estimated to be over $2 million. Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their holdings of Crane. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its position in the company by 30.8%, while Independent Advisor Alliance acquired a new stake in the company worth $545,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC and UBS Group AG also increased their holdings in Crane. WINTON GROUP Ltd, another hedge fund, also purchased shares of Crane in the 1st quarter.
Alphabet: Bill Ackman’s Bet Could Signify Deep Undervaluation (Guru Focus)
Billionaire activist investor and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman had another helping to Class A shares of Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) in the second quarter, boosting his stake by a reported $1.5 billion. Indeed, the guru has been a major buyer of the big tech dip. As a concentrated investor with far fewer holdings than your average hedge fund, he has been quite an aggressive buyer. Undoubtedly, Ackman’s move into Alphabet may have been a surprise to some given his firm’s portfolio — Pershing Square Holdings — does not tend to be a big buyer of technology stocks. Apart from the short-lived, money-losing move into and out of Netflix Inc. (NFLX), the investor has not been too active when it comes to the tech scene.
Brevan Howard Business Development Head Departs (Hedge Week)
Peter Hornick, Head of Business development at $33m global macro hedge fund manager Brevan Howard, and the man responsible for luring top talent to the firm, is leaving the business as part of a corporate rejig, according to a report by Business Insider. Hornick joined Brevan Howard in 2020 having spent the majority of the previous two years in a similar role at ExodusPoint. He also previously spent five years as the Global Head of Business Development at Izzy Englander‘s Millennium Management.
Go Ahead for State’s First Insider Trading Trial (The Irish Times)
A businessman charged in the State’s first insider trading case has been sent forward for trial. Declan Service, 62, of Sunnyvale Avenue, Portrush, Co Antrim, was arrested following a market abuse investigation by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB). He was charged with two counts of engaging in insider dealing in that he possessed information allegedly used in acquiring and disposing of financial instruments to which that information relates.
Thursday 9/7 Insider Buying Report: LKFN, ASPN (Nasdaq.com)
On Wednesday, Lakeland Financial’s Director, M. Scott Welch, made a $508,695 purchase of LKFN, buying 10,000 shares at a cost of $50.87 a piece. Bargain hunters can pick up LKFN at a price even lower than Welch did, with shares trading as low as $49.19 at last check today which is 3.3% below Welch’s purchase price. Lakeland Financial is trading up about 1.1% on the day Thursday. Before this latest buy, Welch bought LKFN at 4 other times during the past twelve months, for a total cost of $2.69M at an average of $57.66 per share. And at Aspen Aerogels, there was insider buying on Tuesday, by Director Steven R. Mitchell who bought 50,000 shares for a cost of $6.17 each, for a trade totaling $308,455. This purchase marks the first one filed by Mitchell in the past year. Aspen Aerogels is trading up about 3.5% on the day Thursday. Mitchell was up about 6.7% on the purchase at the high point of today’s trading session, with ASPN trading as high as $6.58 in trading on Thursday.
$1M Bet On Axalta Coating Systems? Check Out These 3 Stocks Insiders Are Buying (Benzinga)
Axalta Coating Systems: The Trade: Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (AXTA) Director Kevin Stein acquired a total of 36,600 shares an average price of $27.38. To acquire these shares, it cost around $1 million. Donegal Group: The Trade: Donegal Group Inc. (DGICA) 10% owner Donegal Mutual Insurance Co bought a total of 4,689 shares at an average price of $14.65. To acquire these shares, it cost around $68,675.
