Column: With a $300-Million Donation to Harvard, a Hedge Fund Billionaire Shows Why We Need a Wealth Tax (The Los Angeles Times)
Harvard University wants us to bow down to the exceptional generosity of Kenneth C. Griffin, a hedge fund billionaire who just made a $300-million gift to the school’s graduate program. Griffin’s donation to his alma mater “underscores the power of education to transform lives and to expand the reach of our research in every field imaginable,” Harvard President Larry Bacow said in the announcement press release. “It has been a great pleasure to get to know Ken throughout my presidency.”
King Street’s Brian Higgins and O. Francis Biondi Jr. to Receive Lifetime Achievement Awards (Institutional Investor)
The King Street Capital Management co-founders will be honored at Institutional Investor’s Hedge Fund Industry Awards in May. Institutional Investor will honor Brian Higgins and O. Francis Biondi Jr., co-founders of hedge fund firm King Street Capital Management, with Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 20th annual Hedge Fund Industry Awards on May 11. Since Higgins and Biondi launched New York-based King Street Capital in 1995, the hedge fund has become one of the top in the world, best known for its ability to spy credit opportunities across asset classes.
Hedge Fund 101: You Always Buy Liquidation Events (Forbes)
Overnight the Hang Seng Index and the Hang Seng Tech closed at +0.17% and -0.17% after US-listed China ADRs fell more than -4% yesterday! Let’s compare how Hong Kong’s most heavily traded closed in Hong Kong today versus their US-listed ADRs yesterday: Tencent gained +1.68% versus a -5.42% drop, Alibaba HK fell -1.98% versus a -5.93% drop, and Meituan closed flat at -0.08% versus a -5.61% drop. Other Hong Kong internet stocks versus their US ADRs were JD.com HK -2.03% versus -7.65%, Baidu HK +0.07% versus -0.21%, NetEase HK +0.71% versus -1.08%, and Trip.com HK -1.53% versus -4.91%. Asian investors agreed that removing Softbank as an Alibaba shareholder is a positive as it eliminates the specter of further selling.
everything possible/Shutterstock.com
Bank Turmoil Hits Most Nordic CTAs (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – After a successful 2022, the first quarter of 2023 and the month of March, in particular, offered a challenging market environment for both Nordic and global trend-following CTAs. Nordic CTAs were down an estimated 4.7 percent on average in March, with many trend-followers wrong-footed during the week of wild gyrations in the bond market caused by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Some funds, however, managed to avoid the turmoil.
Light Street Scores Double-Digit Q1 Returns Following ’22 Tumble (Hedge Week)
Light Street Capital Management has generated double-digit gains in the first quarter of 2023, having earlier suffered a 54% annual loss in 2022, according to a report by Bloomberg. Glen Kacher’s Menlo Park, California-headquartered firm has seen its Mercury hedge fund advance 19.2% in the first three months of this year. Meanwhile, its Tungsten strategy, which takes a long-only investment approach, also added 28.7% in the first quarter, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Hedge Funds Signal Tough Times Ahead (Institutional Investor)
Hedge funds have rarely been so bearish about the market. Funds’ net short position in S&P 500 futures contracts is now at the second-highest level since October 2015, according to a report from NDR, a sister company of Institutional Investor. And according to data from PivotalPath, managed futures, which are the most active trader of S&P 500 futures, now have the lowest exposure to the index since June 2017.
Wall Street Is Finally Getting Its Jeffrey Epstein Reckoning (NYMag.com)
There aren’t that many ways left to get a fuller understanding of the life of Jeffrey Epstein. The man died in 2019. His enabler, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been convicted for facilitating his sex-trafficking enterprise and is serving 20 years in prison. Prince Andrew privately settled abuse claims made against him by Virginia Giuffre. Even the fund created to compensate Epstein’s victims puts strings on the money, reportedly curbing their ability to sue some of his associates, including Maxwell.
5 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy According to Hedge Funds (Insider Monkey)
In this piece, we will take a look at the five best Warren Buffett stocks to buy according to hedge funds. For more stocks, head on over to 12 Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy According to Hedge Funds. 5. Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC): Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q4 2022: 100. Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) is one of the largest banks in America. It is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. By the end of last year’s fourth quarter, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had owned one billion shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) for a $33 billion stake – the second largest in its portfolio and the largest investment in the bank in our database.
Thursday 4/13 Insider Buying Report: BTTX, VRDN (Nasdaq.com)
On Monday, Better Therapeutics (BTTX)’s Frank Karbe, made a $200,000 purchase of BTTX, buying 242,424 shares at a cost of $0.82 a piece. Karbe was up about 81.8% on the purchase at the high point of today’s trading session, with BTTX trading as high as $1.50 at last check today. Better Therapeutics is trading up about 4.8% on the day Thursday. Before this latest buy, Karbe made one other buy in the past year, purchasing $104,695 shares for a cost of $2.09 each. And on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Scott Dunseth Myers bought $101,479 worth of Viridian Therapeutics (VRDN), buying 4,000 shares at a cost of $25.37 a piece. Before this latest buy, Myers made one other buy in the past year, purchasing $160,324 shares for a cost of $29.15 each. Viridian Therapeutics is trading up about 6.1% on the day Thursday. So far Myers is in the green, up about 6.1% on their buy based on today’s trading high of $26.91.
More Than $3M Bet On Nogin? Check Out These 3 Penny Stocks Insiders Are Aggressively Buying (Benzinga)
Nogin: The Trade: Nogin, Inc. (NOGN) CEO and President Jonathan Huberman acquired a total 1,011,828 shares an average price of $3.00. To acquire these shares, it cost around $3.04 million. The company’s CFO, Director and Chief Technology Officer also bought the company’s shares. Heliogen: The Trade: Heliogen, Inc. (HLGN) 10% owner Patrick Soonshiong acquired a total of 1,026,051 shares at an average price of $0.25. To acquire these shares, it cost around $253.28 thousand.
