It sure seems like it. For the past few years, many of these managers, and their cousins who are trend followers, have posted mediocre results and lagged most of the global indexes. They blamed their woes on the dearth of trades with a sustained direction. Rather, they kvetched that most of the markets they played would abruptly change direction after a short run. So with the emergence of the great macro trades coming from the recent drop in the Japanese yen and a 20 percent jump in the Japanese stock market, the macro funds would have racked up tremendous gains in the first quarter, right? Well, not quite. As it turns out, many macro vehicles continued to post mediocre returns.
A $616 million nuisance fee (NYPost)
The funniest sitcoms on TV remain the unintended ones that appear on financial news channels. Last month, after the large hedge fund operation run by Steve Cohen — one of its biggest boys had already been indicted for on-the-job corruption — reached a record $616 million settlement with the SEC, the financial stations dutifully (and with straight faces) reported that the deal was reached “with no admission of wrongdoing.” Now that’s funny!
Soros Sees China Shadow-Banking Risks Akin to U.S. Subprime (SFGate)
Billionaire investor George Soros said China has a “couple of years” to control risks from nontraditional financing whose expansion has parallels with the cause of the global financial crisis. “The rapid growth of shadow banking has some disturbing similarities with the subprime-mortgage market in the U.S. that caused the financial crisis of 2007-2008,” Soros said today in a speech at the Boao Forum for Asia in China. “I’m sure the authorities are aware of the dangers. They have both the skills and the resources to deflate an incipient bubble gradually.”
Gold is volatile and unsafe says Soros (Mining)
Legendary financier George Soros told the South China Morning Post that gold disappointed after going down with everything else during the euro crisis last year. In February Soros slashed his exposure to gold, which included more than a 50% reduction of his shares in GPDR Gold Trust and dumping a stake in Kinross Gold Corp. …In more bad news for miners, Soros said China is unlikely to keep growing at the breakneck pace it has for the last several years. He pointed to the imbalance between domestic consumption compared to exports and investment. He says the country is going to have to make changes.
George Soros Steps Forward To Invest In Myanmar (JewishBusinessNews)
George Soros, whose foundation, the Open Society, has been involved in helping Myanmar since the early nineties to help displace the repressive military junta in place, now intends to invest some of his considerable fortune in the vast Asian country now that it has come out of the dark and is now under the light of democratic rule. …In the meantime, one of the first doors that intend to be opened is to greatly enhance the country’s highly underdeveloped telecommunications system, and this is the area where George Soros intends to make his opening gambit in helping Myanmar move forward after decades of repression.
Carl Icahn may get expenses reimbursed by Dell (IrishTimes)
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) said it is willing to reimburse billionaire Carl Icahn for expenses he incurs in the process of bidding for the computer maker. Mr Icahn is offering $15 a share in cash for as much as 58.1 per cent of Dell’s stock, according to a statement last month. Blackstone has offered to pay at least $14.25 a share to current investors, with an option to hold on to some of their stake through a so- called equity stub.
