Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: Israel Englander, Omega Advisors, Jabre Capital, Red Lion Hotels Co. (RLH), Amkor Technology, Inc. (AMKR), and More

Omega, Jabre Capital Among Hedge Fund Casualties in Dismal 2018 (Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg) — It has been yet another year to forget in the world of hedge funds. Hardly a month went by without news of the high-fee money managers — young and old, running large and small shops, big and little-known names — shutting down. Many struggled to navigate markets marked by violent stock swings and slumping oil prices, others decided to restructure their firms to make riskier or longer-term bets, while some said they simply had enough of trading. Now as the year comes to a close, the $3.2 trillion industry is headed for its worst annual performance since 2011. Despite the slew of high-profile managers from T. Boone Pickens to Leon Cooperman throwing in the towel, hedge funds are closing at the slowest pace since 2007, when 563 shut down, according to Hedge Fund Research.

Billionaire Israel Englander Throws in the Towel on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Stock, Pours More Money Into Intel (INTC) (SmarterAnalyst.com)
Israel Englander is the chairman and CEO of Millennium Management LLC, a hedge fund that manages more than $35 billion. Englander – whose father’s side of the family was killed in the Holocaust – began his career as an intern at Oppenheimer & Co. and worked in multiple Wall Street firms after college before launching Millennium in 1989. Englander is worth $6 billion and is also active in philanthropy, including his Englander Foundation, which he launched with his wife in 2006. Millennium is among the world’s largest hedge funds, and Englander is one the most successful fund managers today.

Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com

Up 70% In 2018, Is Herbalife a Buy? (The Motley Fool)
Shares of Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) have raced 70% higher this year, smashing the broader stock market’s 8% decline as of this writing. Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said he exited his bet against Herbalife early in 2018; paired with rebounding sales and share repurchases, investors who believed in the nutritional supplements company should be quite pleased. After a banner year, though, a repeat performance might be a tall order to ask. 2018 by the numbers: Ackman bet against Herbalife years ago because, as he said at the time, the company was a “pyramid scheme” whose stock would “go to zero.”