Billionaire Alan Howard Joins Latest $20M Bet on Decentralized Video Network Livepeer (Coin Desk)
Livepeer, an Ethereum-based network that helps startups add live and on-demand video to their products, has raised $20 million in a Series B extension funding round with backing from new investors Alan Howard and Tiger Global, as well as participation from existing investors. The funding comes five months after Livepeer’s initial Series B round, which also raised $20 million and was led by Digital Currency Group, which is the parent company of CoinDesk.
Hedge Fund King Ken Griffin Loses Millions on British Airways Bet (The Telegraph)
One of the world’s wealthiest hedge fund managers has lost millions of pounds after shares in the owner of British Airways took off. Ken Griffin, a Chicago-based financier worth more than $21bn (£15.6bn), placed a multimillion-pound bet against IAG just hours before new data revealed the omicron variant had not dented airline bookings. Two of his funds hold a 1.66pc short position, a bet of about £130m, against the BA owner.
Billionaire Investor Ray Dalio Says Cash, Bonds ‘Stupid to Own’ Amid Money Printing (LiveMint.com)
The billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates Ray Dalio renewed his warning about holding cash and bonds on Tuesday amid the ongoing, pandemic-fueled increase in debt creation and monetization in the U.S. “This printing of money and buying of debt assets has driven interest rates so low that cash and bonds are stupid to own,” he wrote in a post on LinkedIn. “I think one should consider minimizing one’s ownership of cash and bonds in dollars, euros, and yen.”
Germany-Based Hedge Fund Deeds SW DAO Products (Hedge Week)
SW Capital, a USD50 million AUM Germany-based hedge fund, has seeded its decentralised spin-off SW DAO with USD750,000 in capital for its tokenised investment portfolios. Some USD500,000 of capital has been deployed into SW DAO’s tokenised Yield Farming fund, SW Yield Fund (SWYF), while an additional USD250,000 of capital has also been deployed into SW DAOs flagship product the SW Alpha Portfolio (SWAP). Both these products are tokenised variants of SW DAO’s public investment strategies which have shown alpha-generating results since their launch in mid-2020.
$13 Billion Hedge Fund Whale Rock Capital Suffered Big Losses in 2021 After Getting Slammed in December (Business Insider)
Whale Rock lost 9% in 2021 in its blended public-private fund, documents show. The firm’s public-only fund fell 19.2% for the year after losing 11% in December. Whale Rock has increased its bets on private stocks, similar to other tech-focused hedge funds. Alex Sacerdote‘s long-running Whale Rock Capital, which reported banner returns in 2020, wrapped up a challenging year with a loss after getting slammed at the end of 2021.
New Digital Assets Hedge Fund Advisor Corinthian Hires Head of Research (Opalesque)
Denis Vinokourov has joined Corinthian Digital Asset Management Ltd as a principal and head of research from Synergia Capital, a DeFi fund where he was head of research and part of the team tasked with identifying early-stage investment opportunities. Before Synergia, he was head of research for Bequant, where he published thematic, tactical and market structure research on key trends and developments in the crypto markets. He started his crypto adventure with BlockEx where he was an ICO analyst and has also worked in real-time news businesses and at Fidessa, where he was a market structure analyst focusing on data and communications.
High-Net-Worth Individuals Including Ray Dalio and Thomas Peterffy Who Have Previously Criticised BTC Have Recently Invested in the Digital Asset. (Finder.com.au)
Bitcoin’s market dominance has slipped to a relative low of 37% over the past week. Chinese BTC mining hardware manufacturer Canaan Inc. has expanded its business footprint into Kazakhstan by deploying over 10,000 miners across the region. The total BTC accrued by publicly listed companies grew quite significantly over the course of 2021, as per reports.
Billionaire Investor Jeff Gundlach Says China is No Place to Invest Because Assets are at Risk of Being Confiscated (Business Insider)
Jeff Gundlach said China is “uninvestable” because there’s a risk that assets could be confiscated. China’s data and relationship with the US can’t be trusted, the “Bond King” billionaire said. The DoubleLine Capital boss predicted the US dollar as a reserve currency is “getting more near an end game.” Billionaire “Bond King” Jeff Gundlach thinks investing in China isn’t a great idea right now, as tensions with the US persist and Beijing’s crackdown on the countries tech giants continues.
The SVP, Administration of Ansys (NASDAQ: ANSS) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the SVP, Administration of Ansys (ANSS), Maria Shields, sold shares of ANSS for $7.09M. Following Maria Shields’ last ANSS Sell transaction on June 18, 2013, the stock climbed by 314.6%. Based on Ansys’ latest earnings report for the quarter ending September 30, the company posted quarterly revenue of $441 million and quarterly net profit of $85.34 million.
Tuesday 1/4 Insider Buying Report: RETA, IRNT (Nasdaq.com)
At Reata Pharmaceuticals, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Friday, CFO Manmeet Singh Soni purchased 16,000 shares of RETA, at a cost of $26.22 each, for a total investment of $419,565. So far Soni is in the green, up about 21.4% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $31.84. Reata Pharmaceuticals is trading up about 11% on the day Tuesday. This buy marks the first one filed by Soni in the past twelve months. And at Ironnet, there was insider buying on Monday, by Director John M. Keane who purchased 25,000 shares for a cost of $4.24 each, for a trade totaling $106,000. Ironnet is trading off about 0.5% on the day Tuesday.
The CAO of Simon Property (NYSE: SPG) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the CAO of Simon Property (SPG), John Rulli, bought shares of SPG for $996.3K. Following this transaction John Rulli’s holding in the company was increased by 507.49% to a total of $7.08 million. This is Rulli’s first Buy trade following 15 Sell transactions. Based on Simon Property’s latest earnings report for the quarter ending September 30, the company posted quarterly revenue of $1.3 billion and quarterly net profit of $681 million.
