Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: Edward Lampert, Daniel Loeb, Brenham Capital, Walmart Inc (WMT), PureBase Corp (PUBC), Party City Holdco Inc (PRTY), and More

Energy-Focused Hedge Fund Brenham Capital to Close (The Wall Street Journal)
Dallas-based hedge fund Brenham Capital is closing, a casualty of what founder John Labanowski called “some truly bizarre stock action.” Brenham made bets on small and midcap energy stocks. Brent, the global benchmark, entered a bear market this month-defined as a 20% drop from a recent peak. Energy investors have also been whipsawed by volatility outside the oil market.

Eddie Lampert’s Next Play: Inside the Hedge Fund War at Sears (Bloomberg)
Edward Lampert isn’t done with Sears yet. Neither are Sears’s enemies on Wall Street. Six weeks after the storied department store chain filed for bankruptcy, Lampert is maneuvering to salvage what he can from the worst investment of his life.

Rawpixel / shutterstock.com

Campbell Soup and Nestlé: One Activist, Two Strategies (The Wall Street Journal)
Activist investor Daniel Loeb has given Nestlé much sweeter treatment than Campbell Soup. With a few more business sales, the Swiss giant can keep it that way. Third Point, the hedge fund founded by Mr. Loeb, has sunk roughly $4.5 billion into the two food companies, which now account for a full 17% of the fund’s net exposure. Mr. Loeb has a much bigger investment in Nestlé, but his approach with Campbell Soup has been notably more aggressive. This week the canned soup maker gave Third Point the right to nominate two board.

Novogratz Remains Steadfast on Crypto, Says Wait Until Next Year (Bloomberg)
Billionaire investor Michael Novogratz is resolute when it comes to cryptocurrencies, even after his firm lost millions this year as the embryonic market continued to tumble in value. “It’s been a horrible bear market in tokens,” Novogratz, founder and chief executive officer of Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd., said on a conference call Friday. “There’s plenty of reason to be depressed.”

There are Many Reasons to be Mad at Sheryl Sandberg. Asking About Soros’s Facebook Interests Isn’t One of Them (Vox.com)
Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg is under fire amid reports that she asked whether liberal billionaire and investor George Soros was betting against Facebook’s stock. Amid revelations that Facebook hired an opposition research firm to discredit its critics by linking them to Soros, this looks pretty bad. But for Sandberg to have inquired about an investor’s financial interests, in terms of general business practices, is pretty reasonable. The New York Times and BuzzFeed News reported late Thursday that Sandberg asked Facebook staff in January to look into Soros’s financial interests.