Why does Buffett get a free pass from the media? (Marketwatch)
Uber-billionaire Warren Buffett hosted the annual shareholders meeting for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B) in Omaha last weekend. Folks came from far and wide to listen to the Oracle of Omaha, as the financial media lovingly call him, talk about the state of the global economy, management theories and investing ideas. They also love to watch Buffett exchange snappy one-liners with his longtime colleague, Charlie Munger, the Ed McMahon to Buffett’s Johnny Carson. The special weekend in Omaha, where Buffett lives below his means, is often referred to as “Woodstock for Millionaires” because so many of his supporters have become rich by investing with Berkshire Hathaway.
Bill Ackman’s Hedge Fund Is Killing It This Year (Business Insider)
While most hedge funds are struggling in 2014, Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Square is having a spectacular year. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ackman’s $13.7 billion Pershing Square Capital is up 18.7% for the year through the end of April. To put that in perspective, the S&P 500 is up about 1.6% year to date. According to HFR’s HFRX Equity Hedge Index, the average equity hedge fund is down -0.31% year to date.
Carl Icahn’s Son Brett Is Setting Up a Hedge Fund (Wall Street Journal)
Carl Icahn‘s son, Brett Icahn, is about to have an official coming-out party on Wall Street. The younger Icahn and a partner, the duo behind some of Mr. Icahn’s recent winning investments, including Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), are set to launch a new hedge-fund-management company, people close to the situation say. The new company is expected to take money from outside investors, they said. The elder Mr. Icahn’s public company, Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ:IEP), will own 35% of the new fund company and is expected to give $1 billion in capital to it to manage, the people said. Icahn Enterprises doesn’t manage money for outside investors.
Man Group hit by cautious outlook after ‘challenging’ Q1 (Reuters)
Shares in British hedge fund manager Man Group slid on Friday after its cautious outlook took the shine off an in-line trading statement. The firm, founded in 1783 as a barrel maker, said it took in a net $2 billion of new money during the first quarter, mostly into its GLG alternatives unit, which partially compensated for the money pulled by investors from its FRM funds. When combined with a net $700 million performance loss across its investments, funds under management at the end of March rose to $55 billion, from $54.1 billion at the end of December.
Sotheby’s To Cover Third Point’s Costs (FINalternatives)
To end its battle with Third Point, Sothebys (NYSE:BID)’s capitulation was not enough. The auction house on Monday gave Third Point the three seats on its board that the hedge fund was seeking through a nasty proxy battle. Sotheby’s also agreed to relax its poison pill’s impact on Third Point, in spite of the fact that on Friday it won a court battle with the hedge fund, which had sought to junk the poison pill and delay its annual meeting.
Kerrisdale Capital Management Short Retailer Quiksilver (Wall Street Journal)
Kerrisdale Capital Management is wagering against retailer Quiksilver, Inc. (NYSE:ZQK), its founder Sahm Adrangi said at a conference on Thursday. The investment manager, who often talks publicly about its “short” positions against a stock, said that he believes the brands at Quiksilver, which cater to surfer and skating cultures, are fading from style and declining. “Once fashion changes, there really is no going back,” Mr. Adrangi said while speaking at a gathering hosted by the New York Society of Security Analysts on Thursday.
The rise of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (CNBC.com)
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.”
