Sears Sues Former CEO, Eddie Lampert, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Others for ‘Thefts’ of Billions from Bankrupt Retailer (CNBC)
Sears on Thursday lodged a lawsuit against its former CEO, Eddie Lampert, and a string its high-profile past board members, including his former Yale roommate Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, for allegedly stealing billions of dollars from the once storied retailer. Sears Holdings filed for bankruptcy this past October, after years of losses under Lampert, who was then its chairman, CEO and largest shareholder. Lampert saved the retailer from complete liquidation by buying it through Transform Holdco, an affiliate of his hedge fund ESL Investments.
Activist Investing Is Alive and Well. Here’s a Look at Some Fresh Ideas (Barron’s)
Activist hedge-fund investors, like Carl Icahn, are shareholders who refuse to vote with their feet. They feel compelled to say something if they see something. Their approach can roil egos in the boardroom and even generate angst with traditional long-only asset managers. On Tuesday, activists gathered at the Plaza Hotel in Midtown Manhattan for the 10th annual 13D Monitor Investor Summit. 13D Monitor is a firm that follows activist situations. It even runs a mutual fund based on disclosed activist positions—it’s the 13D…
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Elliott Target Pernod Pushes Up Profit Outlook (Reuters)
PARIS (Reuters) – French spirits maker Pernod Ricard, which is being targeted by activist investor Elliott, raised its profit outlook on bets cost savings and Chinese demand will offset a slowdown in quarterly sales growth. Pernod, the world’s second-largest spirits group after Diageo, is hoping cost cuts, expansion into profitable premium brands such as Malfy gin and sustained demand for Martell cognac in China will underpin sales growth and profits. “We upgraded our ambition for the year. This truly reflects the efficiency of our strategy plan,” CEO Alexandre Ricard told Reuters.
Here’s How the World’s Biggest Hedge Funds are Shorting the Heart of Germany’s Economy (Business Insider)
AQR, Capital Fund Management, and Marshall Wace are among hedge funds making big bets against the German steel conglomerate Thyssenkrupp, the first time on record that so many at once have taken that position. In what may be a worrying sign for companies at the heart of Germany’s economy, bets against German steel have been ticking up this year, and Marshall Wace is racking up more than two dozen other short bets in Germany across a range of sectors.
Hedge Fund Under Federal Probe For Use Of Pension Money (InsuranceNewsNet.com)
Alden Global Capital, a prominent hedge fund that controls more than 100 local newspapers, moved nearly $250 million of employee pension savings into its own accounts in recent years, an unusual move that is triggering federal scrutiny. The hedge fund, the controlling owner of newspapers including the Denver Post and Boston Herald under the brand MediaNews…
Hedge Fund Assets Surge in Q1 to to $3.18tn but Still Below 2018 Record High (Opalesque.com)
Hedge fund industry assets increased during the first quarter to $3.18tn as of March 31, 2019 (Q1) driven primarily by strong investment performance overcoming continued net outflows. Total capital invested in hedge funds surged in the first quarter of 2019, paring losses from the prior quarter, as the strongest first quarter of industry performance since 2006 vaulted industry capital by $78.8bn, data released by Hedge Fund Research showed. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index gained +5.7% in 1Q, the strongest first quarter gain since 2006, according to the latest HFR Global Hedge Fund Industry Report.
Collapsed Hedge Fund Columna Sues Permira-backed Former Managers (Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) – The new managers of Columna Commodities Fund, a Luxembourg hedge fund which went into liquidation in early 2017, have said they are suing its former managers Alter Domus for $56 million in lost assets and fees. Columna, launched in 2013, was a top-performing fund in a stable known as LFP I SICAV, managed by Luxembourg Fund Partners. Alter Domus, a Luxembourg fund platform and administrator that has financial backing from private equity giant Permira, bought Luxembourg Fund Partners in December 2017, after Columna’s collapse, when LFP I SICAV’s assets under management totaled nearly 400 million euros ($450 million).
Hedge Fund Flows Turn Positive in February Ending Five-month Redemption Trend (HedgeWeek)
Hedge fund flows turned positive in February, as a January stock market rebound, hopeful signs in US-China trade talks and indications of a pause in US interest rate hikes spurred investors to reverse a five-month trend of net redemptions. The hedge fund industry posted USD12.1 billion in net inflows in February, a significant improvement from January’s USD24.1 billion in redemptions. February’s inflows represented 0.4 per cent of hedge fund assets, according to the Barclay Fund Flow Indicator, published by BarclayHedge, a division of Backstop Solutions.
Former Financial Manager of Phoenix Company Charged With Insider Trading (HedgeCo.Net)
(HedgeCo.Net) A complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, alleges that Quentin Louis Wilcox, of Gilbert, Arizona, sold Avnet stock short and bought Avnet put options shortly before the company’s April 27, 2017 press release announcing disappointing sales for third quarter 2017 and guidance for fourth quarter 2017. As a financial manager for budgeting and forecasting, Wilcox allegedly had access to the confidential information in Avnet’s earnings announcement before it became public. Using this confidential information, Wilcox’s trades netted him approximately $55,000 in profits.
Legal Insider Trading Unlocks Hidden Opportunities (BanyanHill.com)
SeaWorld is a happy place. Many of you know that. The company’s original San Diego park opened in 1964. It’s on 21 acres along the shore of Mission Bay. The initial $1.5 million investment drew 400,000 visitors in its first year alone. Today, SeaWorld also has parks in Orlando, Florida, and San Antonio, Texas. And SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: SEAS) owns nine more theme parks, including names like Busch Gardens, Aquatica and Sesame Place.
Court Rules Internal Affairs Doctrine Bars California Insider Trading Claim (NatLawReview.com)
California, unlike the federal government, has codified its prohibition on insider trading. Corporations Code Section 25402 provides: “It is unlawful for an issuer or any person who is an officer, director or controlling person of an issuer or any other person whose relationship to the issuer gives him access, directly or indirectly, to material information about the issuer not generally available to the public, to purchase or sell any security of the issuer in this state at a time when he knows material information about the issuer gained from such relationship which would significantly affect the market price of that security and which is not generally available to the public, and which he knows is not intended to be so available, unless he has reason to believe that the person selling to or buying from him is also in possession of the information.”
A Director at Blonder Tongue Laboratories (NYSE MKT: BDR) is Buying Shares (AnalystRatings.com)
Today, a Director at Blonder Tongue Laboratories (BDR), James Nj Williams, bought shares of BDR for $67.6K. Following this transaction James Nj Williams’ holding in the company was increased by 36.47% to a total of $435.7K. Based on Blonder Tongue Laboratories’ latest earnings report for the quarter ending December 31, the company posted quarterly revenue of $5.44 million and GAAP net loss of $742K. In comparison, last year the company earned revenue of $5.36 million and had a GAAP net loss of $63K. Currently, Blonder Tongue Laboratories has an average volume of 897.
Federal Jury Convicts Hermosa Beach Man in $550,000 Insider Trading Conspiracy (TBRNews.com)
A Hermosa Beach man was found guilty of conspiracy to engage in insider trading by a federal grand jury in Chicago, authorities said Wednesday, April 17. Eric Weller, 54, was also acquitted on three counts of securities fraud, said Joseph Fitzpatrick, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and was ordered to return to court for sentencing on July 10.
Thursday 4/18 Insider Buying Report: SCYX, GABC (Nasdaq.com)
On Wednesday, SCYNEXIS (SCYX)’s Chief Executive Officer, Marco Taglietti, made a $40,750 buy of SCYX, purchasing 25,000 shares at a cost of $1.63 each. SCYNEXIS is trading up about 0.6% on the day Thursday. Before this latest buy, Taglietti bought SCYX at 3 other times during the past year, for a total cost of $61,000 at an average of $0.81 per share. And on Monday, Zachary W. Bawel purchased $2,107 worth of German American Bancorp (GABC), purchasing 71 shares at a cost of $29.68 each. Before this latest buy, Bawel bought GABC at 3 other times during the past twelve months, for a total cost of $10,578 at an average of $31.11 per share. German American Bancorp is trading off about 0.3% on the day Thursday.
