Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: Ray Dalio, Kyle Bass, Neil Woodford, Elliott Management, Otelco Inc (OTEL), ResMed Inc. (RMD), and More

Ray Dalio Says Gold will be a Top Investment During Upcoming ‘Paradigm Shift’ for Global Markets (CNBC)
Hedge fund kingpin Ray Dalio is seeing a case for gold as central banks get more aggressive with policies that devalue currencies and are about to cause a “paradigm shift” in investing. Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, wrote in a LinkedIn post that investors have been pushed into stocks and other assets that have equity-like returns. As a result, too many people are holding these types of securities and likely to face diminishing returns.

Exclusive: Woodford Biotech Stakes First Off Block in Asset Sale – Source (Reuters)
LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – British fund manager Neil Woodford is looking to kick off the sale of his unlisted biotech investments at the end of July, but faces months of negotiations to offload the portfolio, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Woodford, one of Britain’s best-known money managers, has left thousands of investors without access to their savings after suspending his flagship 3.7 billion pound ($4.63 billion) equity income fund six weeks ago after a surge of exit requests.

stock, market, buy, graph, risk, trading, dice, concepts, chart, objects, investment, opportunity, business, three-dimensional, horizontal, line, gambling, decisions, symbol,

Maxx-Studio/Shutterstock.com

Hedge Fund Manager Who Called the Housing Crisis Bets the Fed will Cut Rates to Nearly Zero (CNBC)
Hedge fund manager Kyle Bass told the Financial Times that he believes that U.S. interest rates will plummet toward zero in 2020 as the country’s economy heads for recession and the Federal Reserve slashes borrowing costs dramatically more than expected. Bass said he’s wagering the economic deceleration takes a turn for the worse next year and falls into a recession by mid-2020.

Activist Hedge Fund Elliott Takes Stake in UK’s Saga (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Activist investor Elliott Management has disclosed a stake in Saga Plc (SAGAG.L) less than a month after the specialist tourism and insurance firm warned discounting was hurting its tours business. Saga has been trying to shake off its image as only serving “old people” and had begun rebranding after a profit warning in April. The company is also looking for a new chief executive officer after Lance Batchelor announced his departure last month.

New Report Shows High Rate of Turnover at Steve Cohen’s Hedge Fund… (CNBC)
The Wall Street Journal reports that Steven Cohen‘s Point72 Asset Management is losing some key players with roughly 20 portfolio managers have left the firm just this year. WSJ reporter Rachael Levy, who broke the story, joins “Squawk Box” by phone to discuss.

US Hedge Fund Steadview to Step up Investments in Indian Startups (Money Control)
American hedge fund Steadview Capital plans to invest $500 million in growth-stage companies in India over the next two years, two people aware of its strategy said. The fund is looking to invest $20-40 million per deal, the people said on condition of anonymity. The hedge fund, which has previously invested in unicorns, such as Flipkart and Ola, is looking at consumer internet startups in vertical e-commerce, content and fintech. “Steadview could invest up to $100 million in a single firm if the company’s financial metrics justify heavy capital,” the first person cited above said.

Another Equity Manager Throws in the Towel (HFAlert.com)
Kane Street Capital has ceased operations after nearly 10 years of trading. The New York equity manager finished returning most, if not all, limited-partner capital in June. It had about $150 million of assets, on a gross basis, at yearend 2018. The firm’s flagship vehicle, Kane Street Fund, began trading a concentrated portfolio of global stocks on Sept. 1 2009. By 2015, it was running a little more than $180 million, on a gross basis — a level it maintained for several years. There’s no word on why managing partners Gal Harel and Matthew Prince called it quits. But like many other long/short equity managers, Kane Street struggled to stand out amid a steady climb in stock prices.

Wednesday 7/17 Insider Buying Report: OTEL, REZI (Nasdaq.com)
At Otelco (OTEL), a filing with the SEC revealed that on Monday, Ira Sochet bought 4,874 shares of OTEL, at a cost of $14.53 each, for a total investment of $70,838. Otelco is trading off about 2.5% on the day Wednesday. Before this latest buy, Sochet purchased OTEL on 21 other occasions during the past year, for a total investment of $7.19M at an average of $15.96 per share. And at Resideo Technologies (REZI), there was insider buying on Monday, by CEO Michael G. Nefkens who purchased 467 shares at a cost of $21.40 each, for a total investment of $9,994. Before this latest buy, Nefkens purchased REZI at 7 other times during the past twelve months, for a total investment of $355,166 at an average of $20.54 per share. Resideo Technologies is trading down about 1.4% on the day Wednesday. Bargain hunters are able to snag REZI at a price even lower than Nefkens did, with shares changing hands as low as $19.64 at last check today which is 8.2% under Nefkens’s purchase price.

Resmed Inc (RMD) President and COO ResMed Inc. Robert Andrew Douglas Sold $511,820 of Shares (Guru Focus)
President and COO ResMed Inc. of Resmed Inc (30-Year Financial, Insider Trades) Robert Andrew Douglas (insider trades) sold 4,111 shares of RMD on 07/15/2019 at an average price of $124.5 a share. The total sale was $511,820. ResMed Inc is a part of the healthcare sector. It develops and distributes medical products for treating and diagnosing respiratory disorders. ResMed Inc has a market cap of $17.78 billion; its shares were traded at around $123.97 with a P/E ratio of 40.26 and P/S ratio of 7.08. The dividend yield of ResMed Inc stocks is 1.20%. ResMed Inc had annual average EBITDA growth of 12.40% over the past ten years. GuruFocus rated ResMed Inc the business predictability rank of 3.5-star. GuruFocus has detected 3 severe warning signs with ResMed Inc.

Insider Trading: Overreach, Underreach and Reform (Law.com)
It has been nearly 60 years since the SEC first clearly prohibited insider trading in its 1961 decision in In re Cady, Roberts & Co. You would think that would be long enough for the doctrinal rules to have become reasonably clear. Think again! The recent evidence shows otherwise: A month ago, U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe for the Southern District of New York permitted a defendant who had plead guilty to insider trading charges in 2013 to withdraw his guilty plea because there had been “insufficient” evidence that a personal benefit had been paid by the tippee to the tipper.

Nike Inc (NKE) EVP, CAO & General Counsel Hilary K Krane Sold $1.6 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
EVP, CAO & General Counsel of Nike Inc (30-Year Financial, Insider Trades) Hilary K Krane (insider trades) sold 17,903 shares of NKE on 07/12/2019 at an average price of $88.7 a share. The total sale was $1.6 million. Nike Inc designs, develops and markets footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessory products. It is a seller of athletic footwear and athletic apparel. It sells its products through NIKE-owned in-line and factory retail stores and internet websites. Nike Inc has a market cap of $139.26 billion; its shares were traded at around $88.60 with a P/E ratio of 35.58 and P/S ratio of 3.71. The dividend yield of Nike Inc stocks is 0.96%. Nike Inc had annual average EBITDA growth of 10.30% over the past ten years. GuruFocus rated Nike Inc the business predictability rank of 5-star.

The CFO of GSI Technology is Exercising Options (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday it was reported that the CFO of GSI Technology (GSIT), Douglas Schirle, exercised options to buy 2,625 GSIT shares at $4.00 a share, for a total transaction value of $10.5K. The options were close to expired and Douglas Schirle retained stocks. Following this transaction Douglas Schirle’s holding in the company was increased by 5.51% to a total of $381.6K. Following Douglas Schirle’s last GSIT Buy transaction on June 25, 2018, the stock climbed by 0.8%.