Omega’s Cooperman Sees Stocks Rising After ‘Healthy’ Retreat (SFGate)
The stock market’s decline this year is healthy and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index probably will end 2014 higher, Leon Cooperman, chairman of hedge fund Omega Advisors Inc., said on Bloomberg Television. “I say it’s a correction that’s creating some values, which is what we should all be happy about,” Cooperman said on Bloomberg’s “Market Makers” program. “You don’t want to buy stocks at a high, you want to buy stocks when they go down.” The S&P 500 lost 0.1 percent to 1,753.82 at 1:33 p.m. in New York, bringing its slide in 2014 to 5.1 percent, the worst start to a year since 2009. The gauge probably won’t fall below 1,600 this year and may climb to as high as 2,000, Cooperman said.
Jennifer Fan, former head of Arbalet commodities fund, joins Millennium (HedgeWorld)
Jennifer Fan, a hedge fund manager specializing in finding relative value in energy and agriculture markets, has joined Millennium Management to continue that strategy after closing her own commodities fund last year, sources said on Wednesday [Feb. 5]. The 30-year-old Fan, one of the few women hedge fund managers, started work this month at New York-based Millennium, according to her LinkedIn page, after shuttering the fund she ran, Arbalet Capital, in late 2013. She declined comment when contacted by email.
Local Man Aims To Rescue Loeb Family Name From Hedge-Fund Infamy (DealBreaker)
Third Point’s Daniel Loeb has made his surname synonymous on Wall Street with tear-inducing letters, kicking the CEOs of public companies in the nuts, and rubbing rivals’ faces in his success (and their failure). He’s the Loeb everyone thinks of when they think of the name Loeb, even though long before Loeb made his way over here from Santa Monica, there were another group of Loebs on Wall Street. Jamie Kempner traces his lineage to the famed New York banking Loebs, and he’s out to prove, well, something, we’re sure.
Hedge Funds Go After Bankers For “Aiding And Abetting” Petters’ Ponzi Scheme (HedgeCo)
A group of six hedge funds led by Ritchie Capital Management are suing JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), UBS AG (ADR) (NYSE:UBS), Merrill Lynch and 7 other entities. The hedge funds claim that the banks “aided and abetted Thomas Petters’ $3.7 billion Ponzi scheme.” Courthouse News reports. Petters was convicted for turning his hedge fund, Petters Group Worldwide into a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme and received a 50 year federal sentence. The group of hedge funds claim they lost $177 million in the scheme. They put two dozen major banks on notice in a summons.
Apex hedge fund to CEO: Get off your yacht! (CNBC)
Sandy Colen is doing his best Dan Loeb. The chief investment officer of $1.23 billion hedge fund firm Apex Capital wrote a scathing letter on Feb. 3 to the board of business intelligence software company MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR), calling for a new CEO and various corporate changes. But the real zinger of the letter is reminiscent of Third Point’s Loeb, famous for taking on the perceived personal excesses of chief executives with his so-called poison pen.
Puerto Rico credit in dire situation: CEO (CNBC)
Goldfinch Capital Scores 21% Gain in January on Natural-Gas Bets (WSJ)
Houston-based hedge fund Goldfinch Capital Advisors scored a nearly 21% gain last month amid an extraordinary wave of volatility in the natural gas market, according to people familiar with the matter. The fund, one of the biggest money managers in the natural-gas market, has about $600 million in assets once the January gains are factored in, these people said. Goldfinch is run by Michael Maggi, who once worked for billionaire Houston gas trader John Arnold at his former firm, Centaurus Energy. Mr. Arnold closed the firm in 2012, and several former colleagues launched new funds and raised hundreds of millions from investors.
The Latest Chapter in the Jos. A. Bank/Men’s Wearhouse Suit Saga: Hedge Fund Updates Lawsuit (WSJ)
Perhaps you’ve been getting bored by The Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. (NYSE:MW) +3.14%-Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc (NASDAQ:JOSB) ‘will they or won’t they’ suit up together talk, but Jerry Seinfeld told CBS Tuesday that the possible merger is “fascinating” and “hilarious.” The hedge fund Eminence Capital is not amused with the latest twist– the possibility that Jos. A. Bank might bid for Eddie Bauer to fend off Men’s Wearhouse’s proposed buyout. Men’s Wearhouse has offered $57.50-a-share for Jos. A. Bank. Its bid follows Jos. A. Bank’s $48-a-share bid announced in October for Men’s Wearhouse, an offer that was rebuffed in late 2013.
Soros Ex Explodes Outside of Court (JewishVoiceny)
A former girlfriend of George Soros has demanded to see his bank and other financial records in relation to her ongoing lawsuit against the billionaire, according to the New York Post. Page Six reported that Adriana Ferreyr, 30, made the demands while yelling at Soros’ attorney outside of court on Tuesday, January 28. The documents are reportedly being sought to substantiate her claim that Soros was “secretly dating his now-wife during their relationship” the Post reported.
MARC FABER: BETTER PLACES TO BE THAN THE STOCK MARKET IN SHORT TERM (NewsLedge)
The gloom is back in the markets, and so is the return of Marc Faber. Returning to CNBC for a brief interview, the author of the Gloom, Doom and Boom Report slammed the theory that real economic growth was occurring. In his opinion, it was all based on soaring asset prices. When it comes to asset prices soaring, he looks for the root cause, and the Federal Reserve is the beacon on the hill. For those that think it is finally QE tapering that is pressuring the markets, Marc Faber warns investors that it is not the only cause. He points to the emerging markets with no growth, and the stalling out in China. He says strategists are unwilling to admit the slowdown in China is more pronounced than they let on.
Hedge fund specialist takes 99% stake in GAME ahead of flotation (MCVUK)
Elliott Advisors, a US hedge fund specialist, has amassed a 99 per cent stake in Game Retail. The Financial Times reports that the move comes ahead of GAME’s expected flotation and could land the company a significant windfall, although the paper adds that a final decision on whether or not to go for an IPO has yet to be made. The FT adds that “Elliott was the sole and unpublicised backer of OpCapita, the private investment firm run by Henry Jackson that orchestrated the [GAME] buyout, and has loaned the business more than £100m.”
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