Why Dallas’ Kyle Bass is Buying Thousands of Acres of undeveloped Texas land (The Dallas Morning News)
Kyle Bass likes to bet big. So it’s fitting that the Dallas-based hedge fund manager, who shot to fame shorting mortgage debt in the lead up to the global financial crisis, is now fixated on the most abundant commodity in his home state: land. The market for Texas dirt, Bass said, “is big, and it’s real.” Bass, 53, is no stranger to bold macro wagers. In the past decade and a half, he’s taken on Europe’s sovereign-debt market, China’s economy and the Hong Kong dollar, typically using esoteric financial instruments to make his high-risk investments.
Legendary Investor Stanley Druckenmiller Warns There is a ‘High Probability’ the Stock Market will be ‘Flat’ for an Entire Decade (Fortune)
That same day, Stanley Druckenmiller, one of Wall Street’s most respected minds, argued that the pain won’t be temporary – and that stocks face an entire decade of sideways trading as the global economy goes through a tectonic shift. “There’s a high probability in my mind that the market, at best, is going to be kind of flat for 10 years, sort of like this ’66 to ’82 time period,” he said in an interview with Alex Karp, CEO of software and A.I. firm Palantir.
Hedge fund AQR in joint legal Action Against LME (Reuters)
LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Hedge fund AQR Capital Management and four other parties have filed a legal action against the London Metal Exchange (LME), court filings showed, after the exchange halted nickel trading and cancelled deals in March. The LME is already facing legal action from U.S. hedge fund Elliott Associates and Jane Street Global Trading, which are suing for $456 million and $15.3 million respectively for the cancelled nickel trades.
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Hedge Fund Millennium’s €126m Porsche Short Signals Bearish Bet on IPO (Financial News)
Ahead of Volkswagen’s IPO of Porsche AG in a few weeks, hedge fund Millennium International Management has built a large short position in Porsche SE. According to data from research firm Breakout Point, Millennium disclosed a position representing 0.6% of the company’s shares on 14 September. A rough estimate based on current market capitalisation would see the hedge fund’s short position at around €126m.
Whale Rock Extends Losses (Institutional Investor)
The once high-flying fund headed by Alex Sacerdote has been struggling to find the right stocks for its portfolio. Whale Rock Capital Management is poised to post the biggest loss in its 16-year history. The hedge fund firm headed by Alex Sacerdote is the latest TMT fund to surge and build a huge amount of assets during the FAANG boom, only to surrender a chunk of its gains in less…
Armistice Capital Sued for ‘Looting,’ Insider Trades at Aytu Bio (Bloomberg Law)
An Aytu BioPharma Inc. investor filed suit in Delaware against its former financial backer, Armistice Capital LLC, claiming the hedge fund engaged in a “dump and dump” scheme aimed at unloading unprofitable affiliates on the drug company before exiting its own stake through insider trades. The lawsuit filed in the state’s Chancery Court also targets members of the Aytu board. It accuses them of rubberstamping the “systematic looting,” standing aside while Armistice liquidated its entire investment position just after the company’s stock price spiked in March 2020 on news about a distribution deal for its Covid-19 test kits.
London Hedge Fund Trader Hiding in Dubai Told to Pay Staggering £1.1bn to Danish Taxman (CityA.M.)
The man, accused by Denmark of masterminding a massive tax fraud, has been ordered by a Dubai court to pay Copenhagen’s tax authority £1.1bn, court filings show. The order by the Dubai Court of Appeal against Sanjay Shah comes as part of a civil case filed four years ago by Denmark’s tax authority, which has been pursuing him as part of their investigation into one of the country’s largest tax fraud cases.
The Rate Hike That Ray Dalio Predicts Will Send Stocks Plunging 20% (InvestorPlace)
While legendary investor Warren Buffett warned market participants to not bet against America, another major player in the field, billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio suggests that every patriotic aphorism has a price. In the case of the Bridgewater Associates founder, the magic number is an interest rate of approximately 4.5%. Naturally, this bit of Ray Dalio news prompted concern on Wall Street. According to Reuters, the hedge fund manager’s comments on Tuesday coincided with data demonstrating that U.S. consumer prices unexpectedly rose in August.
Ex-Citadel Execs raise $50M for High-Frequency Crypto Trading Platform (Coin Telegraph)
Cryptocurrency startup Portofino Technologies has officially launched its high-frequency trading platform for digital assets, securing major funding from venture capital firms in the process. In launching its platform, Portofino disclosed that it had raised $50 million in equity funding from Valar Ventures, Global Founders Capital and Coatue. Although Portofino didn’t disclose how the funding will be used, the company has been active on the hiring front, having recruited over 35 employees across 5 global locations. Portofino was founded in 2021 by former Citadel Securities employees Alex Casimo and Leonard Lancia. The company is building crypto-focused high-frequency trading technology, which is mainly used by hedge funds.
Hedge Fund Star Fuchs Fights to Recover From Soured China Bets (Bloomberg)
Benjamin Fuchs was an Asia hedge fund star, managing $5 billion at his company’s peak. Now, the former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. trader is one of the highest-profile casualties of China’s property crisis and battling to turn his firm around. BFAM Partners (Hong Kong) Ltd.’s hedge fund lost almost 11% last year and a further 20% in the first seven months of 2022 as a series of bets on Chinese real estate developer bonds turned sour, after the firm mistakenly assumed the authorities would support the sector. While the losses aren’t existential or unique to BFAM, the company is bracing for possible redemptions and under pressure to retain staff.
Friday 9/16 Insider Buying Report: RKT, COHR (Nasdaq.com)
On Wednesday, Rocket Companies’ Chief Executive Officer, Jay Farner, made a $598,187 buy of RKT, purchasing 77,700 shares at a cost of $7.70 a piece. Investors can buy RKT even cheaper than Farner did, with shares changing hands as low as $7.19 in trading on Friday — that’s 6.6% under Farner’s purchase price. Rocket Companies is trading off about 1.7% on the day Friday. Before this latest buy, Farner purchased RKT at 48 other times during the past year, for a total investment of $22.1M at an average of $8.74 per share. And at Coherent, there was insider buying on Tuesday, by Director Joseph J. Corasanti who bought 10,000 shares at a cost of $43.84 each, for a total investment of $438,440. This purchase marks the first one filed by Corasanti in the past year. Coherent is trading down about 2.3% on the day Friday. Investors have the opportunity to buy COHR at a price even lower than Corasanti did, with the stock changing hands as low as $40.91 at last check today which is 6.7% under Corasanti’s purchase price.
President Of Costco Wholesale Sold $2.41M In Stock (Benzinga)
Roland Michael Vachris, President at Costco Wholesale (COST), reported a large insider sell on September 14, according to a new SEC filing. What Happened: A Form 4 filing from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday showed that Vachris sold 4,461 shares of Costco Wholesale. The total transaction amounted to $2,406,798.
