Hedge Funds Lose Less Than Stocks in Month as Dalio Gains (Bloomberg)
Hedge funds held up better than stocks in January, falling an average of 0.1 percent as global equities slumped amid a selloff in emerging-market currencies and signs of weakness in China. Bridgewater Associates LP’s Ray Dalio gained 1.1 percent as of Jan. 28 at his Pure Alpha II fund, according to a person familiar with the matter. Global stocks declined 4 percent for the full month, including reinvested dividends. “Across most strategies, the last two weeks of the month and the first few trading days of February were challenging,” Anthony Lawler, portfolio manager at $120 billion Swiss asset manager GAM, wrote in a report issued yesterday.
Feds’ focus will now go back to Cohen: lawyer (New York Post)
The conviction of Mathew Martoma will likely reinvigorate the government’s probe on hedge-fund mogul Steve Cohen, a lawyer familiar with the billionaire’s fund told The Post. Martoma, a former portfolio manager at Cohen’s SAC Capital, was found guilty Thursday of three criminal insider-trading counts. “If the government convicts the company and so many of its employees but never charges the company’s leader, who was directly involved in many of these illegal trades, I think this insider-trading crackdown will be viewed ultimately as a failure,” said Michael Bowe, the lawyer who deposed Cohen for a civil suit and got him talking about insider trading.
‘Loeb effect’ buoys social media site for investors (Reuters)
In the past, billionaire investor Daniel Loeb would often wait for an industry conference before revealing his investment ideas. Not anymore. The hedge fund manager and some other prominent investors have now turned to Harvest Exchange, a new website designed for investors, to release news of their big bets. Such announcements — including Loeb’s bet on The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) and Kyle Bass‘ bet on General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) — often lead to big swings in share prices as other investors pile on. Peter Hans, one of the founders of Harvest Exchange (HVST.com), said he hopes the platform can help bring into the open information and ideas that have traditionally circulated in private circles of elite investors.
Einhorn’s Green Mountain Short Hurt by Coca-Cola Stake (Bloomberg)
Money manager David Einhorn’s wager against Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. was undermined after The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) agreed to buy a 10 percent stake in the maker of Keurig coffee brewers, sending the shares surging. Coca-Cola is buying the 16.7 million newly issued shares for about $74.98 apiece, the companies said yesterday in a statement. Green Mountain climbed 26 percent today to close at $102.10 in New York, the highest price since Sept. 28, 2011. Einhorn, who runs $10 billion hedge-fund firm Greenlight Capital Inc., first criticized Green Mountain at an Oct. 17, 2011 conference saying that the company should improve its disclosure and that it has a “litany of accounting questions.”
Exclusive: Oil bull Hall sees redemptions, and long-dated U.S. oil falls (iStreetWire)
Famed oil bull Andy Hall’s hedge fund appeared to suffer notable investor redemptions in January after an 8 percent decline last year, according to a note to investors, a revelation that may add to the debate around a mystifying slump in long-term U.S. crude prices. Assets under management (AUM) at Hall’s Westport, Connecticut-based Astenbeck Capital Management fell to $3.5 billion at the end of January from $4 billion at the end of last year, according to data the fund shared with its investors earlier this week and seen by Reuters on Thursday.
Harvey Pitt: Martoma case impressive (CNBC)
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.
