Blackstone Buys Minority Stake in Senator Hedge-Fund Firm (BusinessWeek)
The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX)’s Tom Hill wants to dominate the $2.6 trillion hedge-fund industry. The firm, already the largest allocator in hedge funds, is setting its sights on buying stakes in the money managers. Senator Investment Group LP, a $6.7 billion firm, told clients yesterday that Blackstone bought a minority piece of its business, less than a week after Hill, who runs the New York-based firm’s $56 billion hedge-fund group, outlined his ambitions for that strategy. Blackstone, the world’s biggest manager of alternative assets, struck the agreement with Senator, its first such investment, as it seeks to raise $3 billion for similar purchases.
Carl Icahn Has Made Another $643 Million On His Forest Labs Stake Today (BusinessInsider)
The $25 billion deal for drug-maker Actavis acquiring Forest Laboratories is another massive win for billionaire investor Carl Icahn. “We were extremely pleased with the announcement this morning that Forest Labs is to be acquired by Actavis in a transaction that values Forest at approximately $89.48 per share,” Icahn said in a statement. According to Icahn’s latest 13F filing, he held 30,662,005 shares of Forest Labs as of December 31, 2013. Today, the stock has risen more than 29%, or about $21, putting the stock price at about $92.43 per share.
Jim Rogers tells us what everyone is getting wrong about China (FinancialPost)
Concerns about a Chinese hard-landing set off by Beijing’s efforts to deflate the credit bubble are making headlines again. GDP growth slowed to 7.7% in 2013, the lowest level in 14 years. And the slowdown has played a part in the emerging markets rout we have seen recently. But recent trade and lending data, and Lunar New Year sales have come in better than expected. We reached out to Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings , to get his thoughts on the slowdown and on what everyone is getting wrong about China. Rogers told us that we shouldn’t be very concerned about the slowdown in the Chinese economy. However, he does worry about China’s debt at the local levels.
Analyst Charged With Stealing Quant Trading Models From Major Hedge Fund (Forbes)
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., has accused a former analyst of stealing documents that detailed the methods and application of two trading models from a major New York hedge fund that specializes in quantitative trading. Kang Gao, a 28-year-old who until recently worked as a quantitative analyst at Two Sigma Investments, was arrested last week and charged by the Manhattan District Attorney of felony offenses, including computer trespass, criminal possession of computer related material and unauthorized use of secret scientific material…
Einhorn: Don’t be fooled by companies beating estimates (InvestmentNews)
Hedge-fund manager David Einhorn cautioned against betting on the extension of a U.S. stock- market rally that he said was fueled by conditions that are difficult to sustain. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index surged 30% last year. The rally strengthened in the fourth quarter as 74%of companies beat analysts’ estimates during the earnings season that ended in November. The equity benchmark is little changed this year after recovering from January declines. “In 2013, the market rewarded many companies for beating earnings after they had lowered guidance,” Mr. Einhorn Wednesday during a conference call discussing results at Greenlight Capital Re Ltd., the Cayman Islands-based reinsurer where he is chairman. “This trend is not likely to continue indefinitely.”
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