Hedge Fund Elliott Combats Hyundai, and South Korea’s Corporate Culture (TheStreet)
Badly burned by engines that set fire, and under fire from hedge-fund veteran Paul Singer, Hyundai Motor (HYMTF) finds itself under attack on all sides. The Hong Kong arm of Elliott Management on Monday laid out to the public its shareholder presentations pushing the car company and its car-components affiliate Hyundai Mobis to reform and restructure. Singer is pushing for the Hyundai group to unlock the stored cash on its books. Shares in the two companies and affiliate Kia Motors (KIMTF) fell on Monday after both Hyundai and Kia recalled yet more cars in North America. They called back another 534,000 vehicles due to risk of engine fires, bringing the total to more than 2.3 million vehicles recalled since 2015 for similar problems.
Tesla is ‘out of bullets’ and will plunge below $100 this year, former hedge-fund manager Whitney Tilson says (TSLA) (Business Insider)
Tesla has disappointed its investors and will tank more than 60% of its value by the end of this year, former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson said on Monday. “Today I’m making one of my rare big calls: we will look back on last Friday as the beginning of the end for Tesla’s stock,” Tilson said in a newsletter distributed Monday seen by the research firm Quoth the Raven. He added that stock will be at “under $100” before the end of 2019.
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Carl Icahn’s Comeback: The Raider Rebounds After A Tough Stretch (Forbes)
Carl Icahn has been shaking up Wall Street for decades, but for the last few years the legendary trader looked a little lost in the markets. His investment fund lost money for three straight years, including back-to-back annual losses of 20% and 18% in 2016 and 2015. But at 83, Icahn seems to have regained his footing. He is not the only high-profile trader who has been humbled by the market in recent years, but unlike most hedge fund managers Icahn made money in 2018.
Column: Hedge Funds Carry on Buying Oil Despite Trump Intervention (Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) – Hedge funds continued to boost their bullish position in crude and fuels last week despite a call from U.S. President Donald Trump for OPEC to “relax and take it easy”. Hedge funds and other money managers were net buyers of an extra 16 million barrels of Brent crude futures and options in the week to Feb. 26, according to ICE Futures Europe. Fund managers have been net buyers of 155 million barrels of Brent futures and options since Dec. 4, increasing their net long position in 11 out of the last 12 weeks (tmsnrt.rs/2EJUvB4).
Hedge Funds Disagree on the EM Rally, Says Lyxor (HedgeWeek)
Emerging markets (EM) L/S Equity strategies remain cautious regarding the sustainability of the rally in EM assets, according to the latest Weekly Brief from Lyxor’s Cross Asset Research team. Managers report that good news tend to be priced in with EM valuations back in their medium range. They are not convinced that global growth bottomed for good. They are also concerned that political uncertainties will continue to make stock picking opportunities vulnerable.
How Activists Buy Two Votes With One Share (The Wall Street Journal)
If you take big risks with other people’s money you should have your own fortune at risk too. At Barclays, the U.K. bank, New York-based Sherborne Investors is campaigning for a board seat and an overhaul of the business. But it has protected nearly two-thirds of its 5.5% stake with derivatives that limit its losses if Barclays’s stock tumbles, it emerged last week.
Can’t A Hedge Fund Buy $180M In Defaulted Venezuelan Debt In Private? (DealBreaker)
Suing a sovereign nation for failure to pay its debts can be fun. Just ask Paul Singer. And suing Venezuela for not paying its debts, at this precise moment, also seems especially promising: People can’t wait to offload their Venezuelan bonds for practically nothing, and there seems a decent chance that regime change is coming to Caracas that could prove as profitable as it did in Buenos Aires. Which is why lots and lots of hedge funds are buying up said bonds, and suing Venezuela and affiliated entities for repayment.
Carlson Capital is Bleeding Assets in Its Stock-picking Fund Following the Departure of One of Its Portfolio Managers (Business Insider)
Hedge fund Carlson Capital has been hit with client withdrawls from its long-short equity fund following the departure of one of the fund’s two portfolio managers. Carlson’s Black Diamond Thematic fund, which ended 2018 with $621 million in assets, has shed 60% of its assets since the start of the year after fund manager Matthew Barkoff resigned in January, sources tell Business Insider.
Top Berenberg Banker Investigated for Alleged Insider Trading (The Wall Street Journal)
FRANKFURT—German prosecutors are investigating a top executive of a prominent European bank for allegedly tipping off acquaintances on the share sale of a shipping company the bank was arranging. Prosecutors based in the German state of Hamburg are probing whether Hendrik Riehmer, managing partner of Hamburg-based Berenberg Bank, leaked insider information that led two people he knew to gain €3.2 million ($3.6 million) from the trading of shares in shipping company Hapag-Lloyd AG.
Monday 3/4 Insider Buying Report: ETM, CXO (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 Friday, Entercom Communications’ Chairman Emeritus, Joseph M. Field, made a $1.26M purchase of ETM, buying 200,000 shares at a cost of $6.32 each. Entercom Communications is trading up about 0.7% on the day Monday. Before this latest buy, Field purchased ETM at 23 other times during the past year, for a total cost of $47.6M at an average of $8.24 per share.
Insider Buys Of The Week: Cott, Hain Celestial, Kinder Morgan (Benzinga)
Conventional wisdom says insiders and 10 percent owners really only buy shares of a company for one reason — they believe the stock price will rise and they want to profit from it. So insider buying can be an encouraging signal for potential investors, particularly during periods of uncertainty. Here’s a look at a few notable insider purchases reported in the past week.Hain Celestial: Hain Celestial Group Inc HAIN 0.16% saw a director make a couple of notable share purchases this past week. At $19.17 to $19.42 apiece, the total of about a million shares acquired totaled nearly $19.38 million. His stake was listed as more than 2.3 million shares, compared with more than 106 million of them outstanding.
Ex-Morgan Stanley Broker Gets 18 Months in Prison for Insider Trading (OnWallStreet)
A former Morgan Stanley broker was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in a multi-million dollar insider trading scheme, according to federal prosecutors. Michael Siva, who had previously pleaded guilty in October 2018, used code words and other tactics to keep the scheme undetected by his employer, authorities say. Siva, 57, of Morristown, New Jersey, had been registered with Morgan Stanley from 1996 until his termination in August 2017 from the firm for allegedly engaging in insider trading, according to a note from the wirehouse on his FINRA BrokerCheck report.
XBiotech Inc (NASDAQ:XBIT) Insider Trading Activity – Major Shareholder Bought 45,574 shares of Stock (MarketExclusive)
Insider Trading Activity For XBiotech Inc (NASDAQ:XBIT): Fondation Rennes , Major Shareholder of XBiotech Inc (NASDAQ:XBIT) reportedly Bought 45,574 shares of the company’s stock at an average price of 8.14 for a total transaction amount of $370,972.36.
