Investors Bet Against Stock in Harvard Professor’s Blog (Bloomberg)
At least five investors betting against Internet video and advertising company Blinkx Plc (BLNX) benefited after a blog posting by a Harvard Business School professor last week triggered the stock’s biggest plunge ever. The investment companies are Luxor Capital Group LP, Blau GmbH, Jericho Capital Asset Management LP, Valiant Capital Management LP and Oxford Asset Management LLP, according to European regulatory filings. In the Jan. 28 blog, entitled “The Darker Side of Blinkx,” Benjamin Edelman, an associate professor of business administration, said his research indicated that the London-based company used deceptive software to inflate traffic counts and capture commissions.
UK hedge fund Capri Capital plans to launch realty PE fund in India (Economic Times)
US-based hedge fund Capri Capital Partners plans to launch its first India-dedicated real estate private equity fund to raise about $400 million, two people familiar with the development said. Capri Capital, which advises pension funds and institutional investors globally, has $3.7 billion assets under management. It is looking to raise the fund through its India arm, Capri Global Capital, after the upcoming general elections. The offshore fund will focus on investing in affordable housing projects across the country, the people quoted earlier said.
Shorts pounce on Green Mountain surge, others get roasted (Hedgeworld)
Notable short sellers including Doug Kass, who runs Seabreeze Partners Management, are making a tidy profit off of the furious surge in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR) shares, but longtime detractors of the stock aren’t likely to have been so lucky. Those who have been betting against the stock for some time, and there are many, are smarting with the stock’s 30 percent jump on Thursday [Feb. 6]. Kass proved nimble by shorting the shares Wednesday. In a note Thursday, he told clients: “I shorted Green Mountain stock at $128 a share at around 6:00 p.m. EST last night.”
Two Insiders Are Betting On Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) (Insider Monkey)
On Feb. 5th, two insiders at Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) acquired stock from the company. Ray Young, Chief Financial Officer, acquired 3,000 shares of Common Stock at a price of $38.569 per share. Mr. Young now owns about 120,303 shares, valued at more than $4.6 million. On the same date, Juan Luciano, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Archer Daniels Midland Company, purchased 2,612 shares of Common Stock; 2,500 for a price of $38.196 per share, and another 112, for $38.197 each. He now holds 321,727 shares, worth more than $12.4 million.
Former head of Britain’s SFO accused of running chaotic agency (Reuters)
Richard Alderman, the former head of Britain’s leading fraud prosecution authority, oversaw a chaotic agency that was unable to keep records and documents in order, a London court heard on Thursday. Alderman gave evidence at Southwark Court in a hearing to consider whether there had been an abuse of process by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) when it issued fraud charges against the founder of Weavering Capital, a $600 million hedge fund that collapsed in the wake of the credit crisis in 2009.
