Ghana Ordered to Free Argentine Ship in Hedge Fund Dispute (Bloomberg)
A United Nations court said Ghana must release an Argentine naval ship seized in a dispute between the Latin American nation and a hedge fund that says it’s owed money over defaulted government bonds. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ordered the ARA Libertad freed after the African country detained it on Oct. 2, citing a court order obtained by NML Capital Ltd., which is run by billionaire hedge fund investor Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp. Argentina and Ghana must bear their own costs in the dispute, the Hamburg-based court said in a ruling today on its website.
Hedge Funds Reduce Bullish Bets by Most in a Month (Bloomberg)
Hedge funds cut bullish commodity bets by the most in a month as the Federal Reserve warned the U.S. budget impasse may damage the economy, increasing concern about demand just as prices head for the first loss since 2008. Speculators and money managers decreased net-long positions across 18 U.S. futures and options by 11 percent to 802,817 contracts in the week ended Dec. 11, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Sugar holdings tumbled 68 percent, the most in five years, and those for wheat dropped to the lowest since June. Wagers on higher crude-oil prices tumbled 21 percent, the most since May.
Build Your Own Hedge Fund (WSJ)
Hedge funds had a two-decade run as the investment of choice for wealthy investors. But lackluster performance since the financial crisis and high fees are prompting some investors to roll up their sleeves and build their own. Since the market bottom in March 2009, hedge funds have gained 33%, according to indexer Hedge Fund Research, compared with a 110% rise for the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. In the past year, hedge funds have risen 4%, versus 15% for the S&P 500.
UBS faces $1 billion day of reckoning over interest rate rigging (Reuters)
UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) is expected to be hit with a $1 billion-plus fine to settle charges of rigging Libor interest rates this week, making it the second bank to be brought to book for its role in the global scandal. The fine, to be imposed by regulators in Britain and the United States, would be the latest blow for the Swiss bank that suffered a rogue trading scandal last year, paid a $780 million fine to settle a U.S. tax investigation in 2009 and nearly collapsed in 2008 under the weight of huge subprime losses.
Dyal Capital takes minority stake in Pinnacle Asset (PIOnline)
Dyal Capital Partners announced Friday that it acquired a minority stake in Pinnacle Asset Management. Pinnacle manages $2.3 billion in commodities-oriented hedge funds of funds; its day-to-day operations will not be affected by Dyal Capital’s investment, according to a news release. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
Bad trip for guru in 2012 (NYPost)
Ray Dalio, who runs the world’s largest hedge-fund firm, the $130 billion Bridgewater Associates, is in danger of losing his hard-won serenity. Dalio, known for practicing transcendental meditation and creating a cult-like atmosphere at the Westport, Conn., firm, is just weeks away from stumbling to a loss for the year. The loss comes just 12 months after Dalio achieved near-genius status for doing what few hedge-fund titans have done: chalking up two back-to-back years of huge double-digit gains in his main macro fund.
Enzon to Review Potential Sale After Icahn Wants Talk (BusinessWeek)
Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(NASDAQ:ENZN), a developer of cancer treatments, said it is considering selling all or part of the business after billionaire investor Carl Icahn expressed interest in talking to the company. Lazard Ltd. was hired to help explore the possibility of a sale, Piscataway, New Jersey-based Enzon said today in a statement. To conserve cash, Enzon suspended development and testing of its androgen receptor treatment.
