SEC Wins D&O Bar Against Alleged Hedge Fund Scammer (Law360)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can bar a private hedge fund manager accused of misusing investor assets from serving as director or officer of a public company, an Illinois federal court ruled Thursday, despite the defendant’s claims that such a ban was “totally unprecedented.” U.S. District Judge Charles P. Kocoras denied Patrick G. Rooney’s motion to escape the so-called D&O bar, a common sanction in SEC fraud cases. The agency alleges Rooney failed to inform investors he had used $3.6 million from his Solaris Opportunity…
Stocks skid following record highs (KSAT)
Stocks skidded Thursday, as a series of mixed economic reports offered little inspiration to buy stocks. After hitting new all-time highs on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) and the S&P 500 closed down 0.3% and 0.5%. The Nasdaq dropped 0.2%. …A key measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index, also fell. Gold prices, which tend to do well during times of inflation, continued to plummet following the CPI report, falling by nearly 1%. Hedge fund manager George Soros revealed on Wednesday that he cut his stake in the SPDR Gold Shares Trust exchange traded fund in the first quarter.
Hedge Fund Titans Vs. The Fed Comes Down To Money Hoarding Vs. Reserve Hoarding (Forbes)
Jesse Eisinger, in a provocative article in today’s New York Times, summarizes an argument on Fed policy between hedge fund managers and economists. “After several such managers at a recent conference denounced the aggressive money-printing policies of Ben S. Bernanke . . . the economic blogosphere rose up to mock them.” According to the author, “Many hedge fund managers have been predicting that high inflation and fleeing creditors would send interest rates skyrocketing.” “And they have been wrong. Those silly hedge fund managers. They don’t understand macroeconomics! As Paul Krugman (and many others) have explained, the lack of demand explains why there isn’t any inflation and why interest rates haven’t risen despite all the money-printing.“
Four Things Einhorn, Soros Are Forgetting About Gold Miners ETF (Benzinga)
Highlighting fourth-quarter 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it was noted hedge fund legends David Einhorn and George Soros held sizable stakes in the largest gold miners ETF, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA:GDX). To be fair to Soros, during the fourth quarter, he pared his stakes in Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA:GDX) and the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners (NYSEARCA:GDXJ) by 800,000 and 400,000 shares, but he still owned 1.5 million shares of Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA:GDX) and about two million shares of Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners (NYSEARCA:GDXJ) at the end of the quarter.
Dell’s profit dives as billionaire battle rages on (Dawn)
The disappointing results lend weight to Michael Dell’s effort. The man who started Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) from a college dorm room wants to take the world’s No.3 PC maker private for $24.4 billion, arguing that its transformation into a provider of enterprise computing services, from mainly a computer maker in a shrinking market, is best done away from public scrutiny. Reflecting that shift in focus, Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) said on Thursday that revenue from enterprise solutions, services and software jumped 12 percent to $5.5 billion, while overall revenue slipped 2 percent. Its “end-user computing division,” linked to PC sales, slid 9 percent.
Ambrosiadou Wins Ikos Software Case Against Estranged Husband (BusinessWeek)
Elena Ambrosiadou, co-founder of Ikos Asset Management Ltd., won a U.K. court case brought by her estranged husband Martin Coward over who owns the computer software that runs the hedge fund’s trading platform. While Coward wrote the original software, he did so as a member of Ikos, making it an asset of the Cyprus-based hedge-fund firm’s partnership, Judge Sarah Asplin wrote in her ruling handed down today. Coward sued his wife’s businesses saying he was the architect of Ikos’ success and owns the copyright for the $1.36 billion fund’s trading algorithms.
A ‘staggering’ win for Singer (NYPost)
They called it a compromise, but hedge-fund mogul Paul Singer appeared to be the clear winner yesterday in his four-month battle with John Hess, the CEO of oil giant Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES). Singer’s Elliott Capital Management will gain three seats on the 14-person corporate board, and the CEO will give up his chairman’s role and agree to support a de-staggered board — something he fought against for years. The moves are seen as a major accomplishment for Singer — who agreed to support Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES)’ five-person slate as part of the compromise.
