SAC Capital Beats Prem Watsa in Court

SAC Capital beats Prem Watsa in court. Fairfax Financial brought a case against SAC Capital, Dan Loeb’s Third Point, and Jim Chanos’ Kynikos five years ago. A NJ judge dismissed the five-year old case against SAC Capital. The judge hasn’t decided yet on Dan Loeb’s and Jim Chanos’ motions to dismiss. A few months ago it was revealed that Dan Loeb said “Prem Watsa bend over the hedge funds have something special for you” in an old email.

Here is what Reuters said about SAC Capital’s win:

In the lawsuit, Fairfax alleges the hedge funds worked together with industry consultants to persuade financial reporters to write negative stories about Fairfax from 2003 to 2006 in an attempt to “crush” the company’s stock. The insurer claims the hedge fund defendants were shorting, or betting against, Fairfax’s stock and hoped to profit from a decline in the share price.

SAC Capital, throughout the litigation, has argued that it traders rarely shorted Fairfax and had little communication with the other hedge funds. The judge, in ruling for SAC Capital, clearly accepted the hedge fund’s argument.

“Plaintiffs pointed to no direct evidence which establishes a conspiracy of which SAC was part of,” said Judge Hansbury. “Most tellingly, is SAC’s trading reports in Fairfax securities. The fact that at no time did SAC trade similarly to its alleged Enterprise Members is baffling, and without explanation by plaintiffs.”