Druckenmiller Says a Weak Jobs Report Would Put the Fed ‘on a Clear Easing Path by July’ (CNBC)
Billionaire hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller says a weak May jobs report would put the Federal Reserve on a pivot to easing monetary policy before the end of the summer. “If the job number is weak, given everything else they are saying, the Fed will be on a clear easing path by July,” Druckenmiller said Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Under Fire Fund Manager Woodford in Scramble to Sell Stakes (Reuters)
LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) – British money manager Neil Woodford cut his stakes in at least 21 companies this week as he frees up cash to meet a rush of redemption requests that forced him to suspend his flagship fund. Woodford, one of Britain’s best known investors, froze his Equity Income Fund on Monday as too many people were asking for their money back after a number of his top investments turned sour. The suspension has bought him time to restructure the 3.7 billion pound ($4.70 billion) fund, but stock market filings this week indicate he has been in a rush of selling.
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Citadel Crushes It in May, Widening Lead Over Hedge Fund Rivals (Bloomberg)
Ken Griffin’s good year keeps getting better. In a month that saw stock markets roiled by the escalating U.S.-China trade war and global growth concerns, the billionaire’s three equity businesses led profits for Citadel’s flagship hedge funds, which gained 2.4%, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The firm’s commodities and quantitative strategies were also top performers. May’s gain extended the funds’ returns for this year to 12.6%, beating the S&P 500 Index, the broader hedge fund industry and Griffin’s biggest hedge fund rivals.
Barnes & Noble sells to hedge fund Elliott for $475.8 million (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Barnes & Noble Inc said on Friday it would be bought by hedge fund Elliott Management Corp for $475.8 million, marking the end of the once-dominant U.S. book retailer as a public company after years of falling sales. Shares in the United States’ largest book-store chain closed up 30% on Thursday after reports of a potential deal surfaced, and rose another 11% early on Friday. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange since 1993, Barnes & Noble has struggled to grow its business since the arrival of Amazon.com Inc turned the book sales market on its head.
Hedge Fund Chatham Weighs Shutting $763 Million Liquid Alts Unit (Bloomberg)
Chatham Asset Management, the $4.3 billion credit hedge fund, is weighing the closure of a unit that manages $763 million for clients including mutual fund giant Franklin Templeton Investments. Chatham, founded by Anthony Melchiorre in 2003, is pondering the move for its so-called liquid alternatives unit while continuing to raise money for other funds that lock up capital for several years, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named discussing the deliberations. The liquid alts unit, in contrast, lets clients exit on a daily basis and focuses on the “higher-quality segment of the high-yield market,” according to a recent marketing document.
Legendary short seller Jim Chanos: Uber and Lyft Went Public Because They had to, Not Because They Wanted To (Business Insider)
The talk at the Indian Harbor Yacht Club Thursday night was about cars instead of boats for a change. Legendary short seller Jim Chanos, the billionaire founder of Kynikos Associates, spoke at the Connecticut Hedge Fund Association’s second quarter meeting in a fireside chat with Fox Business reporter Charlie Gasparino.
Friday 6/7 Insider Buying Report: EOLS, FCX (Nasdaq.com)
At Evolus (EOLS), a filing with the SEC revealed that on Monday, Director Vikram Malik purchased 1,298,701 shares of EOLS, for a cost of $19.25 each, for a total investment of $25M. Investors are able to pick up EOLS at a price even lower than Malik did, with shares changing hands as low as $15.90 in trading on Friday – that’s 17.4% below Malik’s purchase price. Evolus is trading down about 5.3% on the day Friday. Before this latest buy, Malik bought EOLS on 2 other occasions during the past year, for a total investment of $350,042 at an average of $21.34 per share. And on Thursday, CEO Richard C. Adkerson bought $1.74M worth of Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold (FCX), buying 172,000 shares at a cost of $10.14 a piece. Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold is trading up about 3.9% on the day Friday. Adkerson was up about 4.7% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with FCX trading as high as $10.62 in trading on Friday.
India’s Manappuram Finance Gets Notice Over Alleged Insider Trading (Reuters)
BENGALURU, June 7 (Reuters) – Indian lender Manappuram Finance Ltd said on Friday it got a show-cause notice from the market regulator alleging that its officials disclosed price-sensitive information to a research analyst firm in 2013. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued show-cause notices to five asset management companies, including SBI Fund Management and BNP Paribas, for allegedly using price-sensitive information to trade in Manappuram Finance’s shares in March 2013, the Business Standard newspaper had reported here earlier in the day.
The Sr VP General Counsel of Black Hills Corp (NYSE: BKH) is Selling Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, the Sr VP General Counsel of Black Hills Corp (BKH), Brian Iverson, sold shares of BKH for $503.8K. In addition to Brian Iverson, 7 other BKH executives reported Sell trades in the last month. Based on Black Hills Corp’s latest earnings report for the quarter ending March 31, the company posted quarterly revenue of $598 million and quarterly net profit of $104 million. In comparison, last year the company earned revenue of $575 million and had a net profit of $133 million. BKH’s market cap is $4.7B and the company has a P/E ratio of 19.84. Currently, Black Hills Corp has an average volume of 81.8K.
A Director at Spire Inc (NYSE: SR) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, a Director at Spire Inc (SR), Edward Glotzbach, bought shares of SR for $208K. Following this transaction Edward Glotzbach’s holding in the company was increased by 100% to a total of $681K. Following Edward Glotzbach’s last SR Buy transaction on June 09, 2009, the stock climbed by 62.1%.
SEC Charges Issuer With Conducting $100 Million Unregistered ICO (HedgeCo.net)
(HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued Kik Interactive Inc. for conducting an illegal $100 million securities offering of digital tokens. The SEC charges that Kik sold the tokens to U.S. investors without registering their offer and sale as required by the U.S. securities laws. As alleged in the SEC’s complaint, Kik had lost money for years on its sole product, an online messaging application, and the company’s management predicted internally that it would run out of money in 2017. In early 2017, the company sought to pivot to a new type of business, which it financed through the sale of one trillion digital tokens. Kik sold its “Kin” tokens to the public, and at a discounted price to wealthy purchasers, raising more than $55 million from U.S. investors. The complaint alleges that Kin tokens traded recently at about half of the value that public investors paid in the offering.
