Leon Cooperman’s Omega Overseas Fund Gained 18% Last Year (Bloomberg)
Omega Advisors, the firm whose billionaire founder Leon Cooperman reached an insider-trading settlement with U.S. regulators in May, posted an 18 percent gain from one of its stock funds last year, according to a person with knowledge of the returns. The $700 million Omega Overseas Fund Class A rose 3.7 percent in December, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. A spokesman for the New York-based firm, which oversaw $3.8 billion as of Nov. 30, declined to comment on the returns.
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‘I’m Bored of Bitcoin Already’: Fund Manager Tells Crypto Investors to Cash Out While They Can (Business Insider)
Financial experts are split in their opinions when it comes to cryptocurrencies. But Australian fund manager Michael Glennon is well and truly in the bearish camp. In an opinion piece for the Australian Financial Review, the founder of Glennon Capital referred to bitcoin as a “quasi-Ponzi scheme”. Glennon Capital is a listed fund manager with a focus on small-cap stocks. “Let me be clear. I’m bored of bitcoin already,” Glennon wrote. “I’m bored with the influx of LinkedIn requests I’m getting from cryptocurrency traders I have never met and I’m bored of explaining how useless all cryptocurrencies are and how you’re better to actually buy real businesses that make real profits.”
Legendary U.S. Investor Boone Pickens Closes Energy Hedge Fund After Setbacks (Reuters)
HOUSTON (Reuters) – Legendary investor T. Boone Pickens said on Friday he had closed his Dallas-based energy hedge fund after health and financial upsets, the latest oil-focused fund to report setbacks. Pickens, 89, said in a letter posted online that he planned to focus on his health and entrepreneurship, philanthropic and political activities. He is still recovering from a serious fall last summer and suffered a series of strokes in late 2016. “Trading oil is not as intriguing to me as it once was,” he wrote. “It’s no secret the past year has not been good to me, from a health perspective or a financial one.”
Newbie Activist D.E. Shaw Eyes Campaign At Lowe’s (TheStreet)
Lowe’s Cos. Inc. (LOW – Get Report) shares spiked up 5% Friday afternoon on a report that newbie activist investor D.E. Shaw & Co., a private equity fund, is planning to agitate for change at the retail home improvement giant. According to Bloomberg, citing sources, the investor has built up an activist stake in Lowe’s and plans to agitate for change. The campaign will put new pressure on Lowe’s CEO Robert Niblock. D.E. Shaw recently hired former Elliott Management portfolio manager Quentin Koffey to lead its activist investing team.
Cryptocurrency-focused Hedge Fund Alphabit Picks AELF as Digital Currency for 2018 (Opalesque)
Alphabit, a global hedge fund investing in digital currencies, has chosen that AELF (ELF) is its cryptocurrency pick for the coming year. AELF is based in Singapore and was launched in December of last year. Alphabit CEO Liam Robertson said at a press conference in Dubai that ELF would deliver large scale commercial adoption of Blockchain technology and solve major transaction issues through its decentralised cloud operating system. “I think we are witnessing a turning point in the Blockchain industry,” Roberston said. “AELF is a new generation of scalable Blockchain computing network, using multi-chain structure and parallel processing to solve issues around efficiency, transaction throughput, and governance.”
Carillion crisis: Hedge Funds Rake in Tens of Millions (The Guardian)
Hedge funds and other financial speculators have made tens of millions of pounds by quietly betting that Carillion would run into financial distress. Short-sellers, who make money by gambling that a company’s share price will fall, have been targeting the company since early 2015, but the number of bets reached a peak just before a profit warning last July that signalled the scale of its problems and sent its shares tumbling.
Hedge Funds Are Making Money From Exotic Bets (Bloomberg)
Cheese, sunflower seeds and rough rice sounds like an unappetizing mix — unless you happen to be a hedge-fund manager. A handful of computer-driven funds had a bumper 2017 by betting on the future price of such “exotic” assets. The success of this type of managed futures strategy, the industry’s term for trend-following, is now drawing new entrants despite the risks created by the low levels of liquidity. Hedge funds returns have been battered by central bank monetary policies that have made it more difficult for them to outperform the market in everything from bonds to equity futures. That’s prompting some trend followers to move into less crowded markets such as over-the-counter securities, electricity and coal.
Insider Buying: Francesca’s Holdings Corp (FRAN) CFO Purchases $11,600.00 in Stock (Stock News Times)
Francesca’s Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:FRAN) CFO Kelly Dilts purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $5.80 per share, with a total value of $11,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Francesca’s Holdings Corp (FRAN) opened at $5.82 on Monday. Francesca’s Holdings Corp has a 12 month low of $5.31 and a 12 month high of $19.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.57, a P/E ratio of 8.20, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.23.
Insider Buying: Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) Director Buys $200,196.00 in Stock (The Lincolnian Online)
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) Director Francis S. Blake acquired 3,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.76 per share, with a total value of $200,196.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,003,155.20. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) opened at $59.83 on Monday.
Insider Selling: Nordson Co. (NDSN) Insider Sells $1,109,888.00 in Stock (Dispatch Tribunal)
Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) insider Gregory A. Thaxton sold 7,475 shares of Nordson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.48, for a total value of $1,109,888.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,427,130.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ NDSN) opened at $148.46 on Monday.
