‘This is the Shareholders’ Money’: Billionaire Warren Buffett Argues that Companies should Stop Making Decisions Based on Their Social Beliefs (Business Insider)
The legendary investor Warren Buffett thinks that companies shouldn’t assign their investors’ cash to social causes and should instead focus on what would most benefit the shareholders, the Financial Times reported. More companies and funds have shifted attention from simple profitability to so-called ESG – environmental, social, and governance – issues in a bid to gain public favor. The Berkshire Hathaway CEO opposes the idea, saying that public companies’ primary concern should be maximizing shareholder value.
Clark’s Hedge Fund Plunges by Record 35% as Short Bets Backfire (Bloomberg)
Russell Clark’s hedge fund slumped by 35% last year — its biggest-ever annual loss — as his short bets went awry during the longest bull market in history. The Horseman Global Fund has persistently wagered against equities since 2012, and raised its net short position to a record 111% of gross assets in October. Clark’s bold, contrarian move, which has made him one of the most watched hedge fund managers in the world, backfired as the S&P 500 index surged 31.5% last year. A spokeswoman for Horseman Capital Management confirmed the numbers.
Greenlight Comes up Short in Fourth Quarter (Institutional Investor)
Greenlight Capital posted a sharp loss in the fourth quarter, reversing what was previously shaping up to be a strong year. The firm’s eponymous, value-oriented long-short hedge funds headed by David Einhorn posted a small 0.3 percent loss in December. As a result, the funds finished 2019 up 13.8 percent, dropping around 10 percent for the fourth quarter, according to a person with knowledge of the firm’s performance. The funds had risen 24 percent through September. In contrast the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index surged almost 29 percent in 2019. Greenlight declined to comment.
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Steve Cohen Is Back (Relatively Speaking)! (Deal Breaker)
As your go-to source for questions related to Steve Cohen’s back-ness-Is Steve Cohen back? Is he not because he never left? Why is he back? Does he really want to be back at all? How much is Steve Cohen’s being back costing him? How long do you have to be back with the newly-back Steve Cohen? What will the back Steve Cohen’s nom de hedge be? Who is back with Steve Cohen? Just how back is Steve Cohen in Steve Cohen terms? Should Steve Cohen have come back at all? Who is driving Steve Cohen’s back-ness? Will Steve Cohen stay back?-we are obliged to inform you: Steve Cohen is definitely back. By hedge fund standards.
How Billionaires Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg Corrupted Climate Science (Forbes)
This is a story of American democracy. It one sense, it’s a noble story. People with shared values have come together to petition the government and the public on their political aims, just as envisioned by James Madison in Federalist 10. In another sense it’s a story of privilege and conceit – the privilege in American democracy that accompanies being mindbogglingly wealthy and the conceit that climate politics could be best pursued by corrupting the scientific literature on climate change.
A Billionaire Just Scooped Up the Most Expensive Home Ever Sold in Florida: a $111 million Estate that has its Own Bowling Alley (Business Insider)
In early December, hedge fund billionaire Steven Schonfeld and his wife bought an estate in Florida for $111 million. The property boasts over 70,000 square feet of living space, 350 feet of beachfront, and 233 feet on the Intracoastal Waterway. According to a report by CNBC, it’s the most expensive home ever sold in the state. A spokesperson for the couple told Fox Business that the 11-bedroom, 22-bathroom home went into contract over the summer and will serve as a vacation home for the family; the Schonfelds primarily reside in New York. According to CNBC, the new property’s amenities include a bowling alley, a spa, an ice cream stand, and a candy parlor.
Pro Bankruptcy Briefing: McDermott Mulls Bankruptcy, Looks to Line Up $2 Billion DIP | PG&E Wins Interest Rate Fight | Boy Scouts Hire Outsider as New CEO (The Wall Street Journal)
Good day and happy new year! We’re ringing in 2020 with an exclusive from WSJ Pro’s Soma Biswas and Alex Gladstone on engineering giant McDermott International Inc.’s talks with HPS Investment Partners and Baupost Group LLC about bankruptcy and a $2 billion DIP loan. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali handed PG&E Corp. a win on New Years’ Eve in the utility’s interest-rate fight with bondholders. And WSJ Pro’s Andrew Scurria has another exclusive on the Boy Scouts of America hiring a new CEO in the face of a wave of sexual-abuse litigation.
Hedge Funds on Track to End 2019 with Four Consecutive Positive Quarters (Hedge Week)
Hedge fund managers recorded a second positive month in the fourth quarter of 2019, with the equal-weighted index up 0.73 per cent and the asset-weighted index up 0.20 per cent in November following the positive geopolitical developments surrounding the US-China trade negotiations. On an annual basis, returns were positive across geographic and strategic mandates, supported by the risk-on sentiment and accommodative central bank policies throughout the year. Approximately 32.2 per cent of the hedge fund managers tracked by Eurekahedge have generated double-digit returns as of November 2019 year-to-date.
Insider-Trading Prosecutions Just Got Easier With Court Ruling (Bloomberg)
Prosecutors have a stronger hand going after insider trading following a court ruling that lowered the bar for bringing cases. The federal appeals court in Manhattan on Monday said the government may pursue insider-trading charges under a newer securities-fraud law not subject to a key requirement of the statute prosecutors traditionally use. The change will make it much easier to bring cases, particularly against those who trade on illegal tips passed to them indirectly and who may not know the source personally.
Thursday 1/2 Insider Buying Report: CNFR, OFC (Nasdaq.com)
As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy – they expect to make money. So let’s look at two noteworthy recent insider buys. On Monday, Conifer Holdings’ Director, Jeffrey Anthony Hakala, made a $54,692 buy of CNFR, purchasing 13,673 shares at a cost of $4.00 a piece. Conifer Holdings is trading up about 1% on the day Thursday. Before this latest buy, Hakala made one other buy in the past twelve months, purchasing $698,526 shares at a cost of $4.50 a piece. And at Corporate Office Properties Trust, there was insider buying on Monday, by CEO Stephen E. Budorick who bought 1,028 shares at a cost of $29.17 each, for a total investment of $29,987. Before this latest buy, Budorick bought OFC on 10 other occasions during the past year, for a total cost of $254,956 at an average of $28.56 per share. Corporate Office Properties Trust is trading off about 0.9% on the day Thursday.
Nike Inc (NKE) EVP: HR Monique S. Matheson Sold $1.7 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
EVP: HR of Nike Inc., Monique S. Matheson, sold 16,500 shares of NKE on 12/30/2019 at an average price of $101.54 a share. The total sale was $1.7 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 $158.15 billion; its shares were traded at around $101.31 with a P/E ratio of 35.43 and P/S ratio of 4.08.
A Director at Kingstone Companies (NASDAQ: KINS) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, a Director at Kingstone Companies (KINS), Floyd Tupper, bought shares of KINS for $5,285. Following this transaction Floyd Tupper’s holding in the company was increased by 1.96% to a total of $513.1K. In addition to Floyd Tupper, 2 other KINS executives reported Buy trades in the last month.
