Two Sigma Starts Impact-Investing Business Focusing on Workers (Bloomberg)
Two Sigma, the $60 billion quant firm whose co-founder has warned of the threat automation poses to the global workforce, is starting a group to back companies that develop their employees’ potential. The new unit will make private “workforce impact” investments, with a goal to find consumer, business-services, education and health-care companies that “unlock human potential,” Two Sigma said on its website Thursday.
Billionaire Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Fund Poured Almost Half a Billion Dollars into Gold in Q2 (Business Insider)
Billionaire investor Ray Dalio‘s hedge fund poured more than $400 million into gold in the second quarter of this year, as the price rallied towards record highs, luring in high-profile and amateur investors alike. Bridgewater Associates, which Dalio founded in 1975, increased its investment in gold through the world’s largest largest exchange-traded funds, (ETFs), according to a 13-F regulatory filing the company made late on Wednesday.
Validea Joel Greenblatt Strategy Daily Upgrade Report – 8/13/2020 (Nasdaq.com)
The following are today’s upgrades for Validea’s Earnings Yield Investor model based on the published strategy of Joel Greenblatt. This value model looks for companies with high return on capital and earnings yields. SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY PLC (STX) is a large-cap value stock in the Computer Storage Devices industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joel Greenblatt changed from 70% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
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Hedge Funds Make $1 bln from Bets Against Travel Companies (Reuters)
LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) – Hedge funds betting against travel stocks this year made profits of $1.01 billion to end-July, and have $2.98 billion in short positions outstanding in the industry, regulatory filings and investment bank stock lending data shows. The coronavirus pandemic has inflicted huge losses and share price falls on airlines, hotels and cruise ship companies as lockdowns, travel bans and quarantines disrupted summer holiday plans for millions across the world.
Keystone Capital Partners Appoints Hedge Fund Veteran to Lead New Investment Platform (Hedge Week)
Keystone Capital Partners has formed a new investment platform led by hedge fund veteran Fred Zaino, which will provide capital solutions for small and midsize public and private companies. During a successful 15-year career at multi-billion-dollar global investment management firm Millennium, Zaino successfully identified and invested in hundreds of companies through bottom-up, fundamental analysis with a focus on the Biotech/MedTech sector. Keystone aims to help overlooked and underfunded companies reach their goals by providing a stable and equitable source of capital through creative investment structures,” says Zaino, Chief Investment Officer at Keystone. “I’ve learned throughout my career that the best returns are often generated from the strongest partnerships, and Keystone will invest in building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with strong management teams to help them meet and exceed their business objectives.”
Short Activist Hedge Fund Says Buy This Japan-Listed Cybersecurity Stock (Forbes)
Gabriel Grego, managing partner at Quintessential Capital, is best known for his short-selling campaigns that have seen average returns of 83% over the last five years. He has now turned his attention to a stock that he thinks has been overlooked and poised to rally. The company, Sun Corporation, is an Israeli cybersecurity business that trades on Japan’s JASDAQ Securities Exchange under ticker symbol 6736. Grego introduced the investment thesis at yesterday’s Contrarian Investor Virtual Conference in a presentation titled “A Hidden Gem in the Rising Sun.”
The President of ASGN (NYSE: ASGN) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
On August 11, the President of ASGN (ASGN), Randolph Blazer, sold shares of ASGN for $705.6K. In addition to Randolph Blazer, 2 other ASGN executives reported Sell trades in the last month. The company has a one-year high of $74.78 and a one-year low of $29.04. ASGN’s market cap is $3.82 billion and the company has a P/E ratio of 20.40. Currently, ASGN has an average volume of 197.77K.
Thursday 8/13 Insider Buying Report: BHVN, PMBC (Nasdaq.com)
On Tuesday, Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding’s , John W. Childs, made a $1.54M purchase of BHVN, buying 25,000 shares at a cost of $61.54 each. Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding is trading up about 3.9% on the day Thursday. And at Pacific Mercantile Bancorp, there was insider buying on Tuesday, by James F. Deutsch who purchased 292,500 shares at a cost of $3.50 each, for a total investment of $1.02M. Before this latest buy, Deutsch purchased PMBC on 2 other occasions during the past year, for a total investment of $232,102 at an average of $4.33 per share. Pacific Mercantile Bancorp is trading up about 5.6% on the day Thursday. Deutsch was up about 14.6% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with PMBC trading as high as $4.01 in trading on Thursday.
Ex-Apple Lawyer Stuck With ‘Classical’ Inside Trading Indictment (Bloomberg Law)
A former Apple Inc. attorney’s alleged conduct represents “a ‘classical’ case of insider trading,” so his indictment for trading on non-public information stands, a New Jersey federal judge said. Gene Levoff, who worked for Apple from 2008 to 2018, argued that the indictment should be tossed because there’s “no statute that explicitly criminalizes insider trading,” the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey said. But the Securities and Exchange Commission “did promulgate a rule barring classical insider trading,” and Levoff’s “alleged conduct fits squarely within” it, Judge William J. Martini said Wednesday.
The EVP, TTEC Engage of TTEC Holdings (NASDAQ: TTEC) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
On August 11, the EVP, TTEC Engage of TTEC Holdings (TTEC), Martin Deghetto, sold shares of TTEC for $1.15M. Following Martin Deghetto’s last TTEC Sell transaction on August 20, 2019, the stock climbed by 8.4%. Based on TTEC Holdings’ latest earnings report for the quarter ending March 31, the company posted quarterly revenue of $432 million and quarterly net profit of $21.53 million. In comparison, last year the company earned revenue of $393 million and had a net profit of $11.8 million. The company has a one-year high of $59.84 and a one-year low of $26.28. The Company has a Price to Book ratio of 128.47.
