Hedge Fund News: Warren Buffett, T Boone Pickens & George Soros

Tom Steyer’s $1 million offer to pro-environment candidates (SFGate)
When San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer speaks, Sacramento listens. In fact, outgoing state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg recessed the body for 90 minutes in the middle of a busy floor session Thursday so Democrats could meet privately across the street with the environmental activist and former hedge fund titan to talk about his pet cause, climate change. Steyer says he’ll pour $1 million into legislative races in California this year on behalf of candidates who support environmental causes.

How to get paid more for managing money and still give investors what they want (COOConnect)
In the heroic age of hedge fund investing, managers based in the United States enjoyed a more than useful tax break. They could leave their crystallised annual performance fees in the offshore funds they managed. This had the twin advantage of ensuring the money accrued and compounded pre-tax, and enabled managers to claim to investors that their interests were aligned since they (as the phrase has it) “ate their own cooking.”

Peer-to-peer funding offers alternative finance source (Risk)
A recent piece published by JP Morgan, in its role as prime broker, suggests that it is feeling the need to come forth with the blunt reality of the consequences of Basel III. That is, it may be time for fund managers to contemplate alternative funding sources. In a paper called Leveraging the Leverage Ratio, it wrote: “As the financing markets evolve it may be appropriate for hedge fund managers to consider developing internal treasury functions which would enable direct access to the funding markets:..

Billionaire George Soros Sold $112 Million of This Gold Miner (Fool)
George Soros is probably one of the greatest investors on the planet. In 1973, he founded the Quantum Fund. Over the next two decades Soros went on to generate a 30% compounded annual return for his investors. Based on that type of performance, he has earned a place amongst business legends like Warren Buffett and John D. Rockefeller. Because of his exceptional track record, I always pay attention to what stocks Soros is buying and selling. And right now, he’s making some interesting bets on the Canadian mining industry.

Crude Traders Raise Bets on Price Rise, CFTC Data Show (Bloomberg)
Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators increased their net-long position in crude-oil futures in the week ended Aug. 26, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. Each Friday the CFTC publishes aggregate numbers for long and short positions for speculators such as hedge funds and institutional investors, as well as commercial companies that buy or sell futures to protect against price moves. Analysts and investors follow changes in speculators’ positions because such transactions can reflect an expectation of a change in prices.

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Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (FOX), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), Charles Schwab Corp (SCHW): Route One Investment Company Top Q2 Picks

Tim Hortons Inc. (USA) (THI), Burger King Worldwide Inc (BKW) Agree To Merge: 3G Capital Will Own Over 50% of New Company

Howard Hughes Corp (HHC), Unit Corp. (UNT), Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (CP): Kenneth Squire’s 13D Management Boosts its Stakes in Its Largest Holdings