Eton Park Vet’s Ronit Capital Up 13.5% YTD (Finalternatives)
Eton Park vet Edward Misrahi’s hedge fund has returned double-digits year to date in 2014. Ronit Capital returned 4.8% in July, bringing its year-to-date returns to about 13.5%, a person with knowledge of the fund told FINalternatives. To put that in perspective, the average hedge fund lost 0.6% in July, according to the HFRI Weighted Composite Index, and has gained 2.5% YTD. The global emerging markets fund apparently made a substantial return on its short book last month, including its bet on the floundering Banco Espirito Santo, Portugal’s second-largest bank and the subject of a government bailout.
Hedge fund enthusiasm for ags rises even as sentiment sours (AgriMoney)
Agricultural commodities are becoming a more popular bet with hedge funds – but for the prospects of profiting from price falls – official data showed, revealing another reduction in particular in sentiment on cotton and sugar. Managed money, a proxy for speculators, cut its net long position in futures and options in the top 13 US-traded agricultural commodities, from corn to coffee, by nearly 30,000 contracts in the week to last Tuesday, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulator.
PetSmart Campaign Takes Strange Turn With Anonymous Package (WSJ)
The campaign to push PetSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PETM) +0.12% just took a strange turn. Jana Partners LLC, a hedge fund that’s been pressing PetSmart to sell itself, on Monday revealed that it had received an anonymous package that contained a purported internal PetSmart presentation on how the company planned to improve results. An accompanying cover letter noted that PetSmart had “missed internal projections” and criticized the firm for not acting in the best interests of shareholders, according to a Jana regulatory filing released Monday.
Pro-Gay Marriage Republicans Are Getting Big Money From Paul Singer (InTheCapital)
In the world of megadonors, ideology is usually more important than individual candidates. The Koch brothers for example focus their money on Tea Party leaning candidates with an anti-regulation streak. Tom Steyer supports mostly Democratic candidates with a strong record fighting climate change. But hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer’s approach is less cut and dry. His American Unity PAC supports pro-business Republicans, so long as they are also supportive of gay rights.
Louis Bacon’s Bahamas battle reaches New York court (FT)
A battle over Clifton Bay, a postcard-perfect patch of turquoise waters off the western coast of the Bahamas, has raged for years between a billionaire hedge fund owner and a Canadian clothing mogul. It has now spilled into a New York courtroom in what one side hopes will finally settle the score. Louis Bacon, the billionaire founder of hedge fund Moore Capital Management, took legal action last week by asking a US court to try to gain access to videotaped footage he believes will help him prove that Peter Nygard, founder of clothing manufacturer Nygard International and his Bahamian neighbour, has engaged in a smear campaign against him.
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