Whitman Capital Founder Accused of Using Tips From Rajaratnam Insider (Bloomberg)
Whitman Capital LLC’s president was charged with taking part in two separate insider-trading conspiracies, using illegal tips on Google Inc., Polycom Inc. (PLCM) and Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL) to make more than $900,000 for the hedge fund. Doug Whitman traded on information he got from two sources, including one who already admitted to sharing tips with Galleon Group LLC co-founder Raj Rajaratnam, according to an indictment filed Feb. 10 in Manhattan federal court. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also sued Whitman, 54, and his Menlo Park, California-based hedge-fund firm for insider trading.
Soros Undecided On Pro-Obama Super PAC (CNN Politics)
Billionaire financier George Soros said Sunday he has not decided on whether he will create a super PAC to help President Barack Obama win re-election. “But I think it’s a big, big issue that the ‘Citizens United’ has really unleashed private money for political purposes that can be used anonymously,” Soros said on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”
Jim Rogers Out Of Step With KWN Gold Bugs (GLD, IAU, SGOL, GDXJ, AGOL) (ETF Daily News)
Speaking with Investment Week, Jim Rogers of Rogers Holdings said he doesn’t expect gold to surpass $2,000 in 2012, putting him on the other side of the boat of some well-known analysts. “I do not think it will go to $2,000 this year, no,” said the 69-year-old American expatriate living in Singapore. “I own it and I am not planning on selling it. It will go over $2,000 one day, but not this year.”
Jim Rogers Or Jim Chanos: Which Billionaire Investor Is Right About China? (NASDAQ)
Jim Rogers says that China will ease itself through rough economic times, much like it did in 2008. Jim Chanos sees the entire Chinese banking system as ready to collapse as it is built “on quicksand.” Who’s right? If the banking system goes down, China goes with it. But Jim Rogers is no cock-eyed optimist, and he has long warned of a ” hard landing ” for countries such as the United States and Greece.
TPG’s GlobeOp Takeover Seen Topped as Carlyle’s SS&C Weighs Bid: Real M&A (Bloomberg)
Traders are betting TPG Capital’s agreement to take GlobeOp Financial Services SA (GO/) private is anything but a done deal. The London-based hedge fund administrator last week ended 21 pence above the 435 pence-a-share offer from TPG, the buyout firm run by David Bonderman, after SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc. (SSNC), a U.S. developer of software for financial firms backed by Carlyle Group LP, said it is weighing a competing bid. The gap shows arbitragers are anticipating GlobeOp will get the biggest price increase of any pending takeover in western Europe worth $500 million or more, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Man Group Hires Scott Kerson as Head of Commodities in London (Bloomberg)
Man Group Plc., the world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund, hired Scott Kerson as head of commodities for its Man Systematic Strategies team in London, which was created last year. He reports to group head Sandy Rattray, formerly a managing director at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Kerson joined in November, spokesman Stephen White, said by e-mail today.
Hedge Fund Exits Hit Record Low after Bumper January (Reuters)
Client exits from hedge funds fell to a record low after performance bounced back in January, industry data showed on Thursday, as investors were encouraged to stick with their portfolios despite a disappointing and volatile 2011. The GlobeOp (GO.L) Capital Movement Index, which tracks monthly net subscriptions to and redemptions from hedge funds managing around $173 billion (110 billion pounds), advanced to 142.6 points, the highest since October 2008.
Top U.S. Hedge Funds Eye Investors in Brazil (Reuters)
Two of North America’s premier hedge funds are heading south early next month for a little wining and dining, and maybe more. Paulson & Co and SAC Capital Advisors, long sought out by wealthy clients in the exclusive $2 trillion hedge fund industry, are both sending executives to the Hedge Fund Brazil Forum in Rio de Janeiro on March 6th and 7th, industry sources and the conference organizer said.
SEC Reaches Settlement In Bear Stearns Hedge Fund Managers Case (Thomson Reuters)
Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers who were acquitted of criminal charges in 2009 are prepared to settle a civil case with U.S. market regulators over subprime mortgage-backed securities, according to a person familiar with the case. If a settlement between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the two defendants is approved by a Brooklyn, New York federal judge, the case will not go to trial as planned on Monday.
Bet On European Banks Pays Off (WSJ)
When the German bank HSH Nordbank AG launched a tender offer this week for its hybrid securities, it was a pay off that had been a long time coming for a group of U.S. hedge funds. Going back to last June, when the Hamburg bank hosted a meeting at its office in the Helmsley Building adjacent to Grand Central Terminal in New York, it had been under pressure from investors. The attendees at this meeting weren’t the institutional investors it usually courts in Europe, but a group of U.S. hedge funds that trade in distressed bonds.
Elliott Trader Craig Delaurier Plans Convertible Arbitrage Fund (AR)
Craig deLaurier, who until recently traded credit for Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, is preparing to launch Cerro Capital Management, a credit hedge fund focused on convertible arbitrage.
Former Harvard Management Company Duo Set Up Maiden Hedge Fund Manager (HFM Week)
Steve Alperin and Sara Fleiss, previously of Harvard Management Company, have set up their maiden hedge fund manager, HFMWeek has learned. According to an investor document, Boston-based Emeth Partners will roll out an event-driven volatility arbitrage offering focused on emerging markets in the third quarter the year.
Ex-TCI And Citadel Execs. To Launch Hedge Fund (FINalternatives)
Two veterans of two top hedge funds have joined forces to launch a new firm, with as much as US$100 million in commitments more than two months before its expected debut. Masroor Siddiqui and Bruce Emery have set up Naya Capital. The new firm has already lined up between US$75 million and US$100 million in capital from friends and family of the two men, who formerly worked at The Children’s Investment Fund and Citadel Investment Group, respectively, Financial News reports. And the firm is in talks with several institutional investors.
Texas Pension Hires Two Hedge Funds (FINalternatives)
The Texas County & District Retirement System has added a pair of hedge funds to its portfolio, spending $305 million of $885 million recently set aside for the asset class.
Hufton Out At Sloane Robinson (FINalternatives)
Michael Hufton has left hedge fund Sloane Robinson as his fund reaches a likely endgame. Hufton resigned from Sloane Robertson Europe. The investment trust is expected to offer clients the opportunity to wind down the fund and get their money back amidst poor performance.
HazelTree Picks Fir Tree’s Rawal As CTO (FINalternatives)
HazelTree Fund Services has a new head of technology. The New York-based provider of treasury management services to hedge funds has named Sandeep Rawal chief technology officer. Rawal joins the firm from hedge fund Fir Tree Partners.
Let’s Meet Some Generous Hedge Fund People (HFN)
The generosity of those in the hedge fund industry has been well-documented and is once again in the spotlight.
A Secretive Hedge Fund Legend Prepares To Surface (CNN Money)
It’s a humbling time for Louis Moore Bacon. The 55-year-old founder of the $15 billion Moore Capital Management — and one of the premier hedge fund investors of the past two decades — just weathered his second down year in the past four after a particularly ragged run in the markets. His onetime heir apparent recently launched his own fund and a spate of negative publicity in the past few years has raised questions about his management.
209 Hedge Funds Rejoice As Apple Passes $500 (Zero Hedge)
Why is this good news for the “financial industry?” Because Apple is now the financial industry, with a record 209 hedge funds holding it (a number that has likely surged in the past 3 months). As Apple goes, so goes not only the entire Tech index, the NASDAPPLE, the global capital markets, but the entire 2 and 20 model. We wonder how long until LPs ask their hedge fund advisors why they paying management fees when everyone can just put their money into AAPL outright and bypass the whole “hegde fund” mockery.
Charles Royce “Virtually Impossible to Understand Banks” (Value Walk)
On this week’s Consuelo Mack WealthTrack we have an exclusive interview with legendary “Great Investor” Charles “Chuck” Royce. Royce pioneered investing in small company stocks with his Royce Pennsylvania Mutual Fund forty years ago this year. He’ll explain why high quality small cap stocks are undervalued compared to large cap stocks right now and the advantages they offer to investors from the vantage points of portfolio diversity, international exposure and income, three characteristics normally not associated with the small cap universe.
David Einhorn is Wrong: GMCR is a Buy (Value Walk)
Growth stocks are defined as companies with high rates of change of earnings growth of 15% to 20% or better. Growth stocks offer the potential for share prices to rise in lockstep with their profit growth in the long run. Therefore, the PEG ratio formula (price equals growth rate) tends to be the most appropriate formula used to value growth stocks. However, due to the exponential nature of compounding large numbers, PEG ratio forecasts are capped at 40%.
Seth Klarman Purchases 18% Stake in Targacept (Value Walk)
In a 13-D just filled with the SEC, Baupost has disclosed a 9% stake in Targacept. What is very unusual is that Seth Klarman personally also bought a 9% stake as well. After years of following Seth Klarman’s Baupost, we have never seen him buy a personal stake in a company. This is a usual Klarman buy, an esoteric bio-tech company, which is hard to value or understand.
Hedge Fund AM Capital Up +21.19% In January Through Taking Advantage Of Deeply Discounted Prices (Opalesque)
Chicago-based AM Capital Management which specializes in hedge fund investment strategies for qualified institutional and individual investors, started 2012 up +21.19% versus the DOW index + 3.36%, NASDAQ + 5.88%, and the S&P 500 index at + 4.25%. AM Capital President Aaron Miller, told Opalesque in an exclusive interview, that his firm took advantage of “deeply discounted prices in specific companies,” to achieve the double digit return last month. Since its inception in July 2009, AM Capital is up 36.73% and has outperformed the markets significantly except in August and September 2011.
Premarket Read: Greece, Coco, Leveraged ETF Asset Flows Look Weak (Barrons)
Hot Links: Blue Whale (The Reformed Broker)
Sorted Recent Tweets (Aleph Blog)
10 Monday AM Reads (The Big Picture)
Morning News: February 13, 2012 (Crossing Wall Street)
Daily US Opening News And Market Re-Cap: February 13 (Zero Hedge)
Frontrunning: February 13 (Zero Hedge)
Monday 7atSeven: extend and pretend (Abnormal Returns)
Top clicks this week on Abnormal Returns (Abnormal Returns)
Hedge Fund Inflows Up 2.25%, Einhorn Speaks, LIBOR Manipulation Case Fallout And More (Reuters Hedge World)
PRESS DIGEST – Financial Times – Feb 13 (Reuters)
Hedge Funds Kick Off 2012 With Average Of 2% Return – And Other Hedge Fund News – Week 6 (Opalesque)
HFMWeek Daily Snapshot – 13 February (HFM Week)
