Stanley Druckenmiller Says He Bought GE Stock During Plunge Amid Fraud Accusations (CNBC)
Hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller said he bought General Electric shares on Thursday during the stock’s double-digit plunge brought about by a report from Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos accusing the conglomerate of an Enron-like fraud. “I believe Culp…I bought stock today,” Druckenmiller told CNBC’s Kelly Evans in a statement. GE shares cut losses slightly on the news of the Druckenmiller position, but were still down 11% and headed for the worst decline in 11 years.
Activist Urges Care.com to Explore Sale (The Wall Street Journal)
An activist investor is urging Care.com, the largest marketplace for online caregivers, to pursue a sale, saying the company is “at a crossroads.” The push by hedge fund Engine Capital LP, revealed in a letter sent to the company’s board Thursday, comes a week after Care.com said its founder and chief executive, Sheila Lirio Marcelo, would step down as CEO. The company said Ms. Marcelo will become executive chairwoman.
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Bill Ackman’s hedge fund reveals new stake in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) (Business Insider)
Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway has a new stockholder: Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Square Capital. The activist investor held 3.51 million shares of Berkshire’s Class B stock as of June 30, according to a regulatory filing released on Wednesday. The stake was worth more than $696 million as of early trading on Thursday. According to Bloomberg, Ackman’s investment is expected to be passive.
Burford Capital Replaces Finance Chief to Appease Investors (The Guardian)
Burford Capital is replacing its chairman and finance chief in an effort to appease shareholders, following allegations of poor governance and murky accounting practices made by a US hedge fund. Burford, which specialises in funding lawsuits in exchange for a cut of the settlements, has faced criticism over the fact that its chief financial officer, Elizabeth O’Connell, is married to the chief executive, Christopher Bogart. Muddy Waters, the San Francisco-based hedge fund that made the allegations, said the relationship of the pair posed a conflict of interest and should “alarm investors”.
Want to Know Warren Buffett’s Recent Investing Positions? Read Berkshire’s 13F Form. (Barron’s)
Warren Buffett likes Amazon.com and bank stocks, Dan Loeb added more Netflix , and John Paulson’s fund took a stake in Sotheby’s in the second quarter. Hedge funds and other big money managers have recently revealed their positions as of June 30. The filings offer a window into the thinking of some of the country’s most famous investors, who don’t often reveal their holdings to the public. It is important to note, however, that the holdings represent only what they owned at the end of the quarter. They may have sold or increased the positions since then.
Coeli Launches Climate-Focused Hedge Fund (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Stockholm-headquartered asset manager Coeli Asset Management is launching a new climate-focused, market-neutral energy equity fund on August 16. Coeli Energy Transition will be managed by Vidar Kalvoy and Joel Etzler, two experienced portfolio managers who previously operated a similar strategy at London-based alternative asset manager Horizon Asset. Coeli Energy Transition focuses on the accelerating transition from fossil fuels towards more sustainable energy alternatives. The market-neutral investment approach enables the new fund to simultaneously influence the climate in the right direction and protect capital in the event of a downturn.
Hedge Funds are Cozying up to Uber but Snubbing Lyft (Business Insider)
Some of the world’s largest hedge funds snapped up shares of Uber in the second-quarter following the ride-hailing giant’s initial public offering. But investment managers weren’t feeling as optimistic about the company’s biggest competitor, Lyft, in the second quarter, regulatory filings show. Hedge funds are required to disclose their stakes in public companies four times a year, following the close of each quarter. Because Lyft went public at the very end of the first quarter, its likely that the funds interested in the stock bought in then, and already disclosed the holdings in April.
Thursday 8/15 Insider Buying Report: VRAY, LKFN (Nasdaq.com)
On Tuesday, ViewRay’s CEO, Scott William Drake, made a $500,048 purchase of VRAY, buying 131,260 shares at a cost of $3.81 each. ViewRay Inc is trading down about 2.2% on the day Thursday. Before this latest buy, Drake made one other buy in the past year, purchasing $388,200 shares at a cost of $6.47 each. And on Wednesday, Director M. Scott Welch bought $425,100 worth of Lakeland Financial, buying 10,000 shares at a cost of $42.51 each. Before this latest buy, Welch purchased LKFN at 4 other times during the past year, for a total investment of $1.31M at an average of $42.58 per share. Lakeland Financial is trading up about 0.7% on the day Thursday.
Smartsheet Inc (SMAR) President and CEO Mark Patrick Mader Sold $1.9 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
President and CEO of Smartsheet Inc, Mark Patrick Mader, sold 40,000 shares of SMAR on 08/12/2019 at an average price of $46.82 a share. The total sale was $1.9 million. Smartsheet Inc has a market cap of $4.84 billion; its shares were traded at around $45.40 with and P/S ratio of 23.84.
A Director at Nisource Inc (NYSE: NI) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, a Director at Nisource Inc (NI), Michael Jesanis, sold shares of NI for $174.1K. In addition to Michael Jesanis, 6 other NI executives reported Sell trades in the last month. Following Michael Jesanis’ last NI Sell transaction on August 06, 2019, the stock climbed by 0.6%.
Royal Gold Inc (RGLD) CEO and President Tony A Jensen Sold $5.8 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO and President of Royal Gold Inc, Tony A Jensen, sold 46,570 shares of RGLD on 08/13/2019 at an average price of $124.59 a share. The total sale was $5.8 million. Royal Gold Inc manages precious metal royalties and streams, with a focus on gold. The company seeks to acquire existing stream and royalty interests or to finance projects that are in production or in the development stage. Royal Gold Inc has a market cap of $8.09 billion; its shares were traded at around $123.46 with a P/E ratio of 86.32 and P/S ratio of 19.12.
Last Player Found Guilty in KPMG Insider Dealing Case (Economia.icaew.com)
The third defendant in the KPMG partner insider dealing case has been found guilty of receiving confidential information ahead of three acquisitions. New Jersey stockbroker Raymond Pirrello was given the information by Thomas Avent Jr, a former tax partner in KPMG’s US practice, who performed tax due diligence work during 2011 and 2012 on the impending acquisitions of Radiant Systems, Midas Incorporated and BrightPoint.
GE Is New Target of Madoff Whistleblower (The Wall Street Journal)
An accounting expert who raised red flags about Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme has a new target: General Electric Co. In a research report posted online Thursday, Harry Markopolos alleges the struggling conglomerate has masked the depths of its problems, resulting in inaccurate and fraudulent financial filings with regulators. The report, which numbers more than 170 pages and was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, is a mixture of detailed financial analysis and sweeping claims.
Broker-Dealer Charged with Violations of Gatekeeping Provisions Aimed at Protecting Investors (HedgeCo.net)
(HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Canaccord Genuity LLC, a broker-dealer headquartered in New York City, with enabling trading in dozens of thinly-traded securities without conducting the review required by the federal securities laws. According to the SEC’s order, Canaccord published quotes and made markets in dozens of over-the-counter (OTC) securities without performing the review required by Exchange Act Rule 15c2-11, which requires that broker-dealers have a reasonable basis for believing the prospectus and other information made available by the issuer of the securities was accurate. The order finds that Canaccord delegated to a compliance associate the responsibility to obtain and review the information required by Rule 15c2-11 and to fill out and sign the necessary forms demonstrating compliance with the rule.
