Hedge fund gets its teeth into Darden (FT)
An activist hedge fund will on Tuesday launch a stinging attack on the management at Darden, owner of US restaurant chains Olive Garden and Red Lobster, as it steps up its campaign for the company to split. An investor group led by Barington Capital plans to publish a critique of five years of what it calls value destruction, citing a litany of complaints from failed acquisitions to poor menu choices. By going public with an 85-slide presentation setting out its case for change, the New York-based hedge fund is escalating pressure on Darden’s chief executive Clarence Otis, ahead of company earnings due this week.
Icahn: Herbalife is undervalued, has capital to spare; shares spike 10% (CNBC)
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn on Monday said he believes Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) is undervalued and said he is satisfied with the company’s re-audited results. “We’re certainly happy about it,” billionaire investor Carl Icahn told CNBC on Herbalife’s completion of re-audited results. “I’ve never really doubted that this is a valuable company.” Earlier Monday, the nutritional-supplement maker said there were no material changes to the company’s audited 2010, 2011 or 2012 financial statements and with these amended filings, the company is now up to date with the SEC. Icahn said that the company is still undervalued and has capital. “It’s not a secret that [Herbalife’s] earnings have been increasing at about a 10-percent clip,” he said.
Soros-linked group sued for snooping on mining executives (DailyCaller)
Global Witness, an advocacy group heavily funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros, was sued Monday in London’s High Court by four people who claim the organization obtained and held their private information in violation of British law. The group, which bills itself as an outfit speaking truth to corporate power, says it “investigates and campaigns to prevent natural resource related conflict and corruption, and associated environmental and human rights abuses.” But it may have taken one investigation a bit too far. Benjamin Steinmetz, an Israeli billionaire who runs the mining company BSG Resources (BSGR), claims he and three other top executives somehow lost private data to Global Witness.
Jury hears final arguments in insider trading trial of SAC’s Steinberg (Reuters)
A lawyer for Michael Steinberg, an SAC Capital Advisors portfolio manager on trial for insider trading, urged jurors on Monday to find his client not guilty, saying the government’s star witness has been lying. But a federal prosecutor said Steinberg knew the information he received from SAC Capital analyst Jon Horvath was improper when he made trades that netted more than $1.4 million in profits. The two sides were making closing arguments in a trial that has been playing out in a federal court in New York for the past four weeks.
These Hedge Funds Are Losing in a Winning Year (InstitutionalInvestorsAlpha)
As 2013 winds down to its final two weeks of trading, it is shaping up to be one of the best years in recent memory for hedge funds. While the composite indexes are up between 8 percent and 9 percent, depending on the database you consult, a large number of funds are on track to finish the year with gains in the mid-teens to 20 percent range, with some up 30 percent or more. So, it must be especially frustrating and embarrassing for a small group of funds that look likely to finish the year in losing territory. That’s right: In a year when the major stock indexes are poised to rise somewhere in the 30 percent range, some funds are losing money.
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