Ackman Says He Will Be Patient on J.C. Penney Turnaround (Bloomberg)

Pershing Square Capital Management LP’s William Ackman, the activist hedge fund manager, said he’s willing to be patient as J.C. Penney Co. pursues a turnaround. “It takes time to get new product,” Ackman said today on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” program. “The question is how quickly is the customer going to understand the new pricing and the promotion? That will take some time.” (more…)

Seth Klarman’s Margin of Safety (Frank Voisin)

Seth Klarman’s classic Margin of Safety is the most concise introductory value investing book you can find. Or not find. It is famously rare. I had to track down a copy to read at a public library in New Zealand, after hunting for two years. Guess what? It was worth the effort. (more…)

Brevan Overtakes Paulson As World’s Top Hedge Fund (HFM Week)

Brevan Howard is now the world’s top hedge fund manager by annualised net gains, new research suggests, following dramatic losses during 2011 at former number one Paulson & Co. According to data from LCH Investments NV, the Brevan Howard Fund, which employs a global macro strategy, has achieved an average net gain of $1.74bn per year since its launch in 2003, up from an average of $1.56bn at the end of 2010, after seeing its total net gains rise by $3.2bn in 2011. (more…)

Peter Schiff: Why Warren Buffett Is Wrong About Gold (Investment News)

The gold doomsayers have found their champion in the media’s favorite financial adviser and one of the world’s richest men. Warren Buffett, the man dubbed the “Oracle of Omaha,” has repeatedly and publicly denied that gold is an investment, and called gold buyers “speculators” and people “who fear almost all other assets.” In fact, Buffett claims that gold’s rise has the same characteristics as the housing and dot-com bubbles, and it is only a matter of time before it reverses course. He doesn’t mean that the price will decline because of austerity measures and a free-market interest rate, mind you. He just asserts that because he’s deemed it a bubble, it will inevitably burst. (more…)

Movers & Shakers: Buffett’s Insurance Cash Stalling (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg’s Betty Liu and Dominic Chu report that Warren Buffett, the former hedge fund manager who built Berkshire Hathaway Inc. into a $195 billion company by gaining leverage through insurance premiums, said this traditional source of new funds is drying up. They speak on Bloomberg Television’s “In The Loop.” (more…)

Bumpy Road for Buffett as Insurance Funds Dry Up (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg’s Dominic Chu reports that Warren Buffett, the former hedge fund manager who built Berkshire Hathaway Inc. into a $195 billion company by gaining leverage through insurance premiums, said this traditional source of new funds is drying up. He speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “Inside Track.” (more…)

Feds Taped Cohen’s Calls In Insider Probe (FINalternatives)

Federal authorities recorded several of SAC Capital Advisors founder Steven Cohen’s phone calls in the early stages of their wide-ranging insider-trading investigation. (more…)

Dalio Delivers Billions for Hedge Fund Investors (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg’s Dominic Chu reports that Ray Dalio’s Pure Alpha hedge fund made $13.8 billion for its investors last year, while John Paulson lost clients almost $10 billion after an unsuccessful wager that the U.S. economy would recover, according to a report by LCH Investments NV. He speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “In The Loop.” (more…)

Hedge Fund Assets May Hit $2.1 Trln In 2012-Survey (Reuters)

Hedge fund assets under management could reach $2.13 trillion at the end of the year, as investors put more cash into the industry and managers report positive returns, a survey conducted by Credit Suisse showed on Monday. The survey, which covered more than 600 institutional investors representing $1.04 trillion of hedge fund assets, found that investors expect their hedge fund portfolios to return 8.6 percent in 2012, down from 11 percent last year. (more…)

Hedge Fund Investor Base Has Changed, Nemes Says (Bloomberg)

Anita Nemes, Deutsche Bank AG’s London-based global head of capital introduction, talks about the outlook for the hedge-fund industry. Global hedge fund assets may rise 12 percent this year to a record $2.26 trillion as investors reduce cash and seek returns, according to an annual survey of investors by Deutsche Bank. Nemes speaks with Erik Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle on Bloomberg Television’s “InsideTrack.” (more…)

Buffett Reveals Warts as He Prepares Annual Letter (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett bought oil stocks near the peak of an energy boom, declined to spend $35 million on a growing television station and swapped a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) stake for a shoe company he later said was worthless. In each case, shareholders of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire were charged or deprived of at least $1 billion. And in each case, Buffett apologized in writing. (more…)