Fortress Executives Join Buyout Peers Selling Stock in Rally (BusinessWeek)
Four top executives of Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG), the first publicly traded private-equity and hedge-fund manager in the U.S., will sell 25.7 million Fortress shares and operating units, about 10 percent of their interest, in an underwritten public stock sale. The planned offering, disclosed yesterday in a regulatory filing by the New York-based company, is the first large disposal of shares by Fortress insiders (FIG:US) since the firm went public seven years ago. Co-founders Wesley R. Edens and Randal A. Nardone and senior executives Peter L. Briger Jr. and Michael E. Novogratz stand to collect about $215 million in the sale based on Fortress’ closing price yesterday of $8.37.
Marc Faber: Unchecked bull market leads to big declines (CNBC)
A bull market left to run without a correction for this long sets up stocks for huge declines, “Dr. Doom” Marc Faber told CNBC on Thursday. How huge? The editor and publisher of The Gloom, Boom and Doom Report said U.S. stocks could drop 30 to 40 percent, if left without a significant pullback. “These types of bull markets without a correction usually lead to more than just a correction,” Faber said on “Squawk on the Street.” That means investors should get out of U.S. stocks and look for the financial assets that lose the least amount of money, he said. Cash and U.S. Treasurys remain the safest bets, Faber said, except in the very unlikely event of the U.S. dollar imploding.
Reid steps up fight with Koch ‘oil barons’ over Republican funding (Reuters)
Democratic senate leader Harry Reid delivered his latest attack on billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, saying they were trying to buy the American political system by funding conservative and libertarian candidates in midterm elections. Reid, 74, repeatedly used the word “radical” to decry the influence on U.S. politics of the Kochs in a speech to the U.S. Senate on Thursday. The brothers spent over $100 million on the 2012 elections and continue to pour money into races for the November midterms in which control of Congress is at stake. …Obama has asked donors to contribute more in a series of fundraisers. Billionaire hedge fund manager Tom Steyer has pledged to spend as much as $100 million on the midterm elections, focusing on candidates who favor plans to curb climate change.
‘Fabulous Fab’ ordered to pay US$825,000 (ChinaPost)
A once high-flying Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) trader dubbed “Fabulous Fab” was ordered Wednesday to pay more than US$825,000 in one of the prominent cases stemming from the mortgage meltdown that helped spark the Great Recession. Ruling in a civil case that regulators called a symbol of “Wall Street greed,” U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest decided Fabrice Tourre should pay a US$650,000 penalty and give up more than US$175,000 of his US$1.5 million-plus bonus for 2007. The case was considered one of the most significant legal actions related to the collapse of mortgage-backed securities, the subsequent financial crisis and the conduct of Wall Street banks that sold the securities. Tourre was found liable after a trial last summer.
Hedge funds recover from early 2014 losses… survey scrutinizes hedge fund manager credibility… (HedgeWeek)
Hedge funds recovered from January losses – all investment strategies yielded positive returns during the month with long/short equities and distressed debt leading with gains of 2.42 per cent and 2.33 per cent respectively Global markets trended upwards during the month led by a resurgence of investor confidence in the global economy. Market sentiment held strong as weaknesses in recent US macroeconomic data were largely attributed to the weather conditions, with Fed chair Janet Yellen reaffirming the need to keep the QE tapering on track as the US economy continues its recovery…
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