Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX), QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), Metlife Inc (NYSE:MET), American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG), Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES), Monitise Plc (LON:MONI)
Billionaire hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman listed some of his favorite stocks on Thursday and said the biggest winner of all might be mobile banking company Monitise Plc (LON:MONI). “That’s a five bagger,” Cooperman, who runs Omega Advisors, said about Monitise Plc (LON:MONI) at the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference on Thursday. “That’s the one I would pick to win a contest with,” he said on a panel that discussed fund manager’s best ideas. Cooperman also said he likes Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX), QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), Metlife Inc (NYSE:MET) and American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG). American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG) recently replaced Apple as the hedge fund industry’s favorite stock, according to a report from Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS).
Hedge fund conference (BostonGlobe)
The SALT hedge-fund conference, held over four days at the Bellagio resort, is a lot of things: It’s an ideas conference, a Wall Street bacchanal, a power-networking event. It is also, with its vaunted lineup of speakers, a place to absorb the musings of senior Wall Street money managers and Washington politicos. On Wednesday and Thursday, panelists weighed in on everything from the risks of the situation in Syria to investment opportunities in the shipping industry. A keynote speaker was John Paulson, the billionaire manager who has recently absorbed steep losses across a number of his strategies. Paulson urged investors to have a long-term horizon and stick with hedge funds, even through rough patches. ‘‘Don’t focus on weekly or monthly returns,’’ he said.
Barney Frank, Scott Brown hobnob at Vegas junket (BostonHerald)
A hedge fund junket might be the last place you’d expect to find a self-styled crusader against the abuses of Wall Street. But three years after he was a leading co-sponsor of the Dodd–Frank Act, a sweeping reform of the U.S. financial industry, there former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank was yesterday, yukking it up with his one-time political foe, former Bay State U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, at the SALT conference at the Bellagio resort in Las Vegas. The two joined Republican Party operative Karl Rove and former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) for a panel discussion dubbed “Real Issues, Real America: Putting Citizenship over Partisanship.”
Hedge-Fund Booster Anthony Scaramucci’s Tips for Successful Schmoozing (NYMag)
Last night, by the pool at the Bellagio, Anthony “The Mooch” Scaramucci threw a party that would have put Jay Gatsby to shame. At SALT, the annual Las Vegas hedge-fund conference he runs, Scaramucci took the stage and welcomed hundreds of his fellow hedgies to a Cinco de Mayo–themed shindig that included feather-clad dancing showgirls, a tarot-card reader and cigar-rolling station, Kobe beef mini-tacos, an open bar, and shrimp and mango ceviche shooters — all courtesy of his fund-of-funds firm, SkyBridge Capital, and SALT’s many other sponsors. “Ladies and gentlemen … er, more gentlemen than ladies!” Scaramucci said. “Welcome to SALT 2013!”
Hedge Fund Billionaire John Paulson Is Selling His Breathtaking Aspen Mansion For $29.9 Million (BusinessInsider)
Closely-followed billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson has put his gorgeous Aspen ranch on the market for $29.9 million, Aspen Business Journal reported citing a listing. [via Curbed] Paulson, who famously bet against the subprime housing market in 2007, purchased “Aspen Lakes Ranch” for $24.5 million back in 2010. Last summer, he snapped up Hala Ranch in Aspen from Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan for $49 million. It was listed for $135 million.
Goldman cuts investment fund pledges in half since Dodd-Frank-filings (BNN)
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) has slashed its capital pledges to investment funds by nearly half since the Volcker rule was signed into law in 2010, as it prepares its principal investment business for restrictions on investing its own money, according to regulatory filings. The Wall Street bank has reduced future commitments to hedge funds and funds that invest in private equity, credit and real estate, by $5.8 billion US since June 2010, the last period before the Volcker rule was included in the Dodd-Frank financial reform act. That represents a reduction of 48 percent, according to data in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Why are hedge fund titans so upset about the stock market boom? (WashingtonPost)
We can argue all day long about whether quantitative easing policies from the world’s central banks are doing much to help the economy. But this much is for darn sure: It is boosting a wide range of financial markets. The stock market is the one most often cited, including the ascent of the Dow Jones industrial average over 15,000 for the first time this week. But it’s equally true for plenty of other assets: corporate bonds, mortgage-backed securities, government bonds, real estate investment trusts. This is exactly what you would expect to happen in a world in which the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of Japan have all bought vast sums of bonds using newly created money. Indeed, pushing up asset prices is an explicit goal of those policies. So, why are some of the people who you would think would be the biggest beneficiaries of this strategy so angry about it?
Hedge funds see opportunities in credit investments (PIOnline)
The sensitivity of mortgage and other credit investments to an anticipated rise in interest rates can be mitigated, a credit hedge fund manager told attendees at the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference in Las Vegas Wednesday. Clayton DeGiacinto, chief investment officer at structured credit hedge fund manager Axonic Capital, said there are opportunities to earn returns in the mortgage market based on careful selection of individual securities. Opportunities exist to invest in non-agency residential mortgages bought at deeply discounted dollar prices, Mr. DeGiacinto said.
Soros-Funded Religious Left Group Targets Gitmo (FrontPageMag)
The chief torturer of Sudan’s Islamist regime is soon to visit the U.S., igniting not a peep of concern from left-leaning church officials ostensibly very concerned about “torture.” Instead, a long list of prominent church honchos is instead demanding President Obama close Guantanamo Bay detention center because of its reputed history of “torture.” Their letter was organized by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, which has received over $1 million from George Soros.
Icahn, Southeastern propose alternative to Dell buyout deal (Reuters)
Activist investor Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management Inc, two of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) largest shareholders, have proposed an alternative to a $24.4 billion buyout deal led by founder Michael Dell. In a letter to Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL)’s board, Icahn and Southeastern proposed giving Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) shareholders the option to either receive $12 per share in cash or $12 in additional shares valued at $1.65 per share. (r.reuters.com/tug97t) Icahn and Southeastern, both vocal opponents of the go-private deal, said in the letter they together held about 13 percent of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL)’s stock.
Hess to split roles of CEO and chairman (WSJ)
After a tussle with major shareholder Elliott Management, the New York energy company Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) is splitting the roles of chairman and CEO. John Hess will hold his CEO job and the company will bring in John Krenicki, the former GE vice chairman, as non-executive chairman. Krenicki must still be elected and the change will take place after the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday in Houston if approved by shareholders. Elliott has been pushing for changes at Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) and is seeking to get its own slate of nominees elected to the board. Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) has accused the hedge fund of trying to disrupt progress it has already made in reshaping itself as a pure-play exploration and production company.
Hedge Fund Manager Baran: Dollar Will Reach as High as 118 Yen (MoneyNews)
The yen broke through the 100 dollar resistance level Friday and was trading at 101.63, its weakest level in more than 4 ½ years. Now the question is will how low can it go. David Baran, co-founder of Tokyo-based hedge fund Symphony Financial Partners, says he doesn’t see the dollar stopping until 115 to 118 yen. “Give it time, it will happen,” he tells The Wall Street Journal. A weaker yen helps Japan by boosting its exports. But it can hurt the United States by limiting our exports to Japan.
Ira Sohn Confab Yields Few Winning Ideas (InstitutionalInvestorsAlpha)
They traipsed across the stage every 15 or 20 minutes — 15 high-profile hedge fund managers in all, over a span of six and a half hours. What brought these industry household names together? The annual Ira Sohn investing conference, which has become widely watched in recent years as a place where the big shots of the hedge fund industry unveil their next major bets. In exchange for making a sizable donation to the Sohn Conference Foundation (named after Wall Streeter Ira Sohn, who died of cancer at 29), attendees are supposed to receive “actionable” investment ideas from a slew of investment luminaries.
Japanese investors switch to foreign bonds (FT)
Japanese investors have turned into net buyers of foreign bonds for the first time since the Bank of Japan drastically loosened its policy stance, reversing a recent trend and prompting further yen weakness. By joining foreign hedge funds and other non-Japanese investors who have been selling yen-based assets in droves, Japanese investors could help extend the yen’s decline against the dollar, euro and other currencies, analysts said.
