Billionaire fund managers pick stocks amid scarce macro investing themes – Sohn Conference (Reuters)
Billionaire hedge fund managers are still feeling a polar vortex-like chill even as spring emerges. One by one, they lamented the lack of “macro” ideas that investors can pin their returns on this week at the annual Sohn Investment Conference in New York. Volatility is at “generational lows,” Michael Novogratz, the principal of Fortress Investment Group told the audience. This year and next year will feel a lot like last year, Larry Robbins of Glenview Capital told investors, as central banks maintain low interest rate policies. Instead, they picked stocks. Jeffrey Gundlach of Doubleline Capital is shorting housing and Zach Schreiber of PointState Capital is buying refiners. Robbins is betting on HMOs, specifically Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) and WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE:WLP).
Jonathan Bush’s response to David Einhorn lifts Athenahealth stock (MarketWatch)
A counterpunch from athenahealth, Inc (NASDAQ:ATHN)’s chief executive, coupled with positive earnings from another company in the sector, helped to stem the health care information technology company’s losses Thursday. It had been hit hard following David Einhorn’s revelation that he had taken a short position on the stock at the Ira Sohn conference in New York City earlier this week. Athenahealth shares were hovering around the break-even point of $107.85 after two days of tumbling. Jonathan Bush, the company’s founder, chairman and CEO, went on the offensive against hedge-fund manager Einhorn, who broadsided Athenahealth earlier this week with comments that said the firm was worth a fraction of its then-current value.
Olive Garden Feels Heat in Kitchen, Boardroom (Bloomberg)
Jim Nuetzi has a lot on his plate: reinventing a stale pasta menu that can boost sales and help get activist investors off his bosses’ back. Nuetzi is head chef at Olive Garden, Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)’s biggest brand. As part of an effort to bring foodie sensibility to a chain that tends to attract an older crowd, he’s experimenting with capers, kale and pistachio-crusted truffles — ingredients more often found at hipper joints. Darden, a casual-dining company that also owns LongHorn Steakhouse and Bahama Breeze, badly needs to revive Olive Garden to turn around slumping sales and fend off activist investors Starboard Value LP and Barington Capital Group LP.
France’s Hedge-Fund War (Wall Street Journal)
Since voters punished his Socialist Party in April’s municipal elections, François Hollande has tried to reverse his government’s antibusiness drive, which has resulted in 10.4% unemployment and a stagnant economy. Add France’s financial regulatory authority, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, to the list of state institutions that haven’t received the President’s pro-growth memo. The AMF on Monday imposed a combined $22 million fine, or $11 million each, on the American hedge fund Elliott Management and its U.K. arm, Elliott Advisors. While that’s a puny amount by the standards of American and British regulators, it’s a record for the AMF, which has sought to develop a reputation for toughness in recent years. “At the beginning we were a UFO,” said Claude Nocquet, who heads the AMF’s sanctions commission, in 2013. “We made ourselves known, recognized and feared.”
Tracking Brain Waves to Boost Investment Returns (Businessweek)
In a quest to improve its trading methods, hedge fund Sang Lucci Partners Capital sent a crew of traders from New York to Los Angeles last month to have their brains tested. As the traders bought and sold options and stocks on a simulated system, computers recorded their brains’ electrical activity. “These guys, their whole profit and loss statement is being determined by their mind, and yet they have no way to analyze it,” says Charlie Bathgate, a Sang Lucci partner who organized the test. “There’s this big gap there. So we’re trying to fill that a little bit.”
