Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Oneok Partners LP (NYSE:OKS), Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL)
A giant hedge fund led by an embattled billionaire pledged to continue normal operations after an indictment accusing it of permitting an environment where extensive insider trading could reap hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal profits for more than a decade was unsealed in Manhattan federal court. SAC Capital Advisors said in a statement Thursday that federal prosecutors had advised the Stamford, Conn.-based company that charges of wire fraud and securities fraud unveiled earlier in the day were not meant to affect the operations of its business.
Activist hedge fund to get $600m windfall from Yahoo (CommercialAppeal)
Activist investor Dan Loeb is leaving Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO)’s board with a windfall after a 15-month stint that vindicated his crusade to shake up the long-slumping company under new leadership. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is spending $1.16 billion to buy back 40 million of the shares that Loeb’s hedge fund, Third Point LLC, began buying in 2011 around the same time Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) was ushering out Carol Bartz as its CEO. …Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) was mired in a prolonged financial funk and management turmoil when Loeb bought his stake. He forced the departure of former Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) CEO Scott Thompson in 2012 by revealing that Thompson did not have a computer science degree, as the company had previously stated.
Soroban Capital Wins With Oneok Options (WSJ)
Soroban Capital Partners, a New York-based hedge fund, was one of the big winners Thursday on a long-term trade in Oneok Partners LP (NYSE:OKS) as shares soared to a record high. The fund, which had $7.66 billion in assets at the end of the first quarter, held a sizable options position on Oneok Partners LP (NYSE:OKS) heading into news that the natural-gas firm would separate its natural-gas distribution business into a standalone publicly traded company. That position now stands to profit about $11.57 million at recent options prices. …Oneok Partners LP (NYSE:OKS) shares rose $10.94, or 26%, to $53.77 Thursday.
SkyBridge Multi-Advisor Hedge Fund Portfolios – Series G: SkyBridge Capital (Risk)
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck – but maybe not always. The SkyBridge Multi-Advisor Hedge Fund Portfolios is a fund of hedge funds that acts and behaves like a multi-strategy hedge fund. “Our fund typically looks a bit more like a multi-strategy single manager fund than a more typical fund of funds. We will identify investment themes and allocate capital to them. But unlike a multi-strat where the team is all in-house, we use external hedge fund managers to implement our themes. That gives us a larger universe of talent to draw from,” explains chief investment officer and managing partner Ray Nolte.
EM, commodity hedge funds fall out of favour (AsianInvestor)
hedge funds have fallen out of favour, with long/short equity cementing its dominance among investors, particularly in Asia, according to a new Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) survey. This compares to a investor poll conducted by the bank at the end of 2012, which put EM equity as the second most sought-after strategy, after long/short and ahead of event-driven. The three most favoured strategies are now long/short equity fundamental, event-driven and macro, indicates the ‘Mid-Year Survey of Hedge Fund Investor Sentiment’ from Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) Capital Services.
Paloma’s Sussman forecasts growth for hedge fund industry (Risk)
The Cuban revolution was the catalyst that launched the financial career of Donald Sussman. As a precocious 12-year-old, he made his first stock market killing correctly betting Castro’s guerrilla war would disrupt sugar supplies and drive up prices. What was to become a lifelong addiction to markets started around the family dinner table where he first got his idea for the sugar deal. Growing up in Miami Beach, Sussman remembers his grandfather, who came down to visit during the winter months, spending every day in brokerage firms. “I was always fascinated with the dinner conversation: when people’s expressions and eyebrows went up and down over three and three-quarters….
Clouds over hedge fund industry grow darker (Lohud)
One of the most-successful, high-profile hedge funds indicted on insider-trading charges. Lousy performance. Big losses on gold bets gone bad. Bad P.R. Not to mention a critical story earlier this month by Bloomberg BusinessWeek which wondered aloud if these pricey investment vehicles run by the so-called smart money for rich folks are for suckers. …”Hedge funds are under attack,” says Andrew Stoltmann, a Chicago securities attorney. “I don’t think there is any question that this has been the worst year for hedge funds in the last 20 years. It has been a tsunami of horrible press and horrible accusations.”
Icahn in control after Dell ups offer to take company private (CIO)
Michael Dell and Silver Lake’s decision to raise the offer to take Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) private is a concession that rival Carl Icahn and affiliate parties may have an upper hand in the wrangling to take over the company, observers of the deal said. Yesterday founder Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) and Silver Lake offered shareholders $13.75, an increase from the original offer of $13.65 proposed in February, which was met with opposition from Icahn and other institutional investors, who believed the company was being undervalued. Icahn has led the fight against Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), playing a major role in getting the company founder and CEO to increase his offer, observers said.
Pursue what you love, and don’t wait to have children: Jim Rogers to young professionals (Mining)
In his latest interview with Future Money Trends Jim Rogers strikes the usual chords: the inevitable disaster of central bank money printing around the world, the dangers of investing in things one doesn’t understand, and the 21st century belonging to Asia. But Rogers also offers some personal comments, admitting he was wrong to wait so long to have children, and imploring young people to pursue their passions, saying that this is the only path to – if not success – happiness.
Air Products’ Shares Are Ripping On A Rumor That It’s The Target Of An Activist Investor …Like Bill Ackman (BusinessInsider)
Over the past couple weeks, folks on the Wall Street have been trying to figure out activist investor Bill Ackman‘s newly created special purpose vehicle’s single stock target. Ackman, who runs Pershing Square Capital, has said he’s looking for a “simple, predictable, and free-cash-flow-generative and enjoys high barriers to entry.” CNBC’s David Faber points out that there’s speculation that Air Products could be that company.
In Speaking Out, John Paulson Decides the Best Defense Is a Good Offense (InstitutionalInvestor)
John Paulson has been on something of a publicity tour lately. Over the past few months, the eponymous founder of Paulson & Co., the big New York?based hedge fund firm, has been a headline speaker at two of the industry?s most high-profile conferences. Paulson has not been this visible since 2008, the year after he made his remarkable bet, lionized in the book? The Greatest Trade Ever,? on the collapse of the U.S. housing market. This time, however, the circumstances are rather different. After a particularly rough patch that has seen Paulson suffer significant losses and outflows, the 57-year-old manager has good reason to attempt to justify his record.
