Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HBC), State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT), Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS), J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP)
Carl Icahn Tweeting About Apple Again (WSJ)
A week after the activist investor sent the stock leaping on a tweet that he had taken a “large” position in the stock, Mr. Icahn posted that he’d had a followup conversation with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s CEO Tim Cook. The two sides both said last week’s talk was amicable and the tweet shows the CEO isn’t brushing aside Mr. Icahn. Mr. Icahn told WSJ last week that he believed Apple should issue debut to fund a stock tender buyback at a price around $525, a move that he believed could send shares to $625. While Apple has announced plans to return $100 billion to investors through 2015, Mr. Icahn seemed unimpressed with the speed of that plan given the company’s cash pile of more than $140 billion.
Lampert’s Sears marching backward (NYPost)
Eddie Lampert has been taking Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD) farther down the drain since he became CEO. The hedge-fund billionaire has failed to reverse a “dangerous downward spiral” at Sears since he became its top exec in February, an analyst said yesterday after the retailer reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss. Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD) had a second-quarter loss of $194 million, steeper than the year-ago loss of $132 million and far wider than analysts had expected. Investors ran for the exits on the news, pushing Sears’ stock down 8.2 percent to $39.72.
Wells Fargo Eyes 20% Annual Growth in Asia Fund-Services Clients (Bloomberg)
Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), the world’s most valuable bank, plans to expand the number of fund services clients in Asia by as much as 20 percent a year, the division’s global Chief Executive Officer Christopher Kundro said. The administrator of $30 billion of assets globally has 20 clients receiving its fund services in the region, New York-based Kundro said in a telephone interview. The majority of them are single-manager hedge funds, in addition to traditional, private-equity and hybrid funds, he said. Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) is trying to gain business in a region whose economic growth and potential opportunities for investment have attracted boutique shops to compete for fund clients with the likes of HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HBC) and State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) The region represents about 15 percent of its global fund services revenue at the moment, according to Kundro.
Ex-Citi Emerging Markets Research Head Plans Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C)’s former global head of emerging markets equity research, Rhys Summerton, plans to start his own hedge fund in September with at least $20 million of assets. Milkwood Capital Ltd. will be a global equity long and short fund, taking bets on rising and falling stocks, according to a letter to potential investors obtained by Bloomberg News. Summerton, 36, is putting $20 million of his own money in the pool, while other investors have given “indications of interest” to invest $50 million or more, he said by e-mail.
Dan Loeb May Be A Great Activist Investor, But His Triathlon Times Are Pretty Lame (BusinessInsider)
Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, who runs Third Point LLC, is extremely fit. The 51-year-old practices yoga, surfs, and competes in triathlons. He even challenged three former Navy SEALS to compete with him in the 2011 “MightyMan” Half Iron Triathlon in Montauk. Out of curiosity, we decided to look up some of Loeb’s race results. We were surprised to find that Loeb isn’t as fast as we thought he would be. We were surprised to find that Loeb isn’t as fast as we thought he would be.
Jarcho To Lead SEC Hedge Fund Exams (Finalternatives)
The Securities and Exchange Commission has named Jane Jarcho to lead its new hedge-fund oversight program. Jarcho was appointed national associate director of the SEC’s investment adviser examination program. In the post, she’ll oversee some 450 lawyers, accountants and examiners looking through the books at hedge funds and other money managers. Jarcho has worked at the SEC since 1990, and has been acting director of the examination program since March. She formerly led exams in the SEC’s Chicago office and has also worked in the regulator’s Division of Enforcement.
Mad Money, August 22, 2013 (CNBC)
