Editor’s Note: Related tickers: The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX), BMC Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:BMC), Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ), PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP), Kraft Foods Group Inc (NASDAQ:KRFT), Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI)
Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management has taken big, new positions in two snack food companies, Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ) and PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP), making them the firm’s two largest holdings in its $4.68 billion portfolio. Trian, known for taking concentrated positions in consumer-oriented companies, has disclosed it owns 40.3 million shares worth $1.2 billion in Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ) in the first quarter. Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ), formerly Kraft Foods Group Inc (NASDAQ:KRFT), was renamed after it spun off the North American grocery business, Kraft Foods Group Inc (NASDAQ:KRFT), on October 1, 2012. It’s worth noting that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) moved the opposite way, reducing its stake in Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ) in the first quarter to 7 million shares, from 12.8 million at the end of the December quarter.
Hedge fund: The bets we’ve got right and wrong in 2013 (WhatInvestment)
Boussard’s principal success since January has been to short Dutch technology group Royal Imtech N.V. (AMS:IM). ‘The stock was under increased scrutiny by investors following the publication of several research notes highlighting concerns about cash conversion,’ the hedge fund explained. ‘Lower cash conversions typically result in a much weaker balance sheet than shown by conventional credit ratios.’ Boussard therefore reckoned that Imtech N.V. (AMS:IM)’s new boss, Gerard van de Aast, would take action to recognise this financial stress after his appointment was confirmed in December.
Hedge fund that prompted BMC Software sale buys stake in NetApp (Information-Age)
Elliott Management, an activist investment firm that prompted BMC Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:BMC)‘s recent sale to private equity, has acquired a stake in enterprise storage vendor NetApp, according to a report by Bloomberg. The news agency claims the hedge fund is pushing the company to replace its board of directors. …Ealier this month, BMC Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:BMC) accepted a $6.9 billion offer to be acquired by a consortium of private equity firms. Last year, Elliott Management had acquired a 5% stake in the company, and wrote a letter to the board of directors calling for a sale.
Blackstone courts bold trades for new fund (FT)
The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) is preparing to launch a “super” hedge fund to cherry-pick the best trades from the hundreds of third-party hedge funds it invests with in return for paying them a commission. The new vehicle will invite managers with whom The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) already invests via its $48bn fund of funds platform to submit their boldest and most interesting trading ideas in return for a fee. It will be run by former Duquesne Capital partner, Greg Geiling.
Capricorn Strategies Trumps Other Hedge Funds to Win Investors Choice Award “Best Emerging CTA” (WatchListNews)
Capricorn strategies have once again been honored by its industry piers with yet another award for its Cayman Island based hedge fund. Winning Investors Choice Award for ‘Best Emerging CTA’ is just another notch on its award stick with the number of industry awards for Capricorn strategies now standing well above ten. Capricorn strategies relies by it team of professional which have been assembled from some of the finest trading institutions from across the globe to provide superior performance within today’s volatile markets.
What does activist investor Dan Loeb want with Hollywood? (Hint: could it be Yahoo?) (ChicagoTribune)
The news that activist shareholder Dan Loeb invited Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) to spin off its entertainment property had the entertainment industry buzzing this week: Who is Dan Loeb and what does he want with Hollywood? …”Hollywood is a small piece of business,” said this individual, noting that Third Point owns about 5.3 percent of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) and made its money this year trading Greek debt. “Dan hired Marissa Mayer to run Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO). If he was trying to transform Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), having a traditional media company with a deep content library might be interesting to own.”
The ‘Smart Money’ Ain’t So Smart Anymore (WallStreetPit)
Not long ago it seemed that the “smart money” was invested in hedge funds which generated outsized returns for investors. When broad markets fell by 40% in the crash of 2008 and 2009, hedgies like John Paulson, who bet against mortgage-backed securities, made fortunes. In 2007, Paulson made $3.7 billion. In 2010, he made $5 billion. Now that the financial crisis has abated, such returns for Paulson and his fellow superstar hedgies appear to be a thing of the past. And, with the recent rash of insider trading prosecutions by the Feds against hedge fund managers, investors must seriously question the value of putting their money with these folks.
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.
