Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: Josh Friedman, Renaissance Technologies, Bridgewater Associates, Concho Resources Inc. (CXO), Bellerophon Therapeutics Inc (BLPH), and More

Bridgewater, RenTech Make $13 Billion in a Grim Year for Hedge Funds (Bloomberg)
Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates and Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies beat their rivals in a tough year for hedge funds in 2018, making a combined $13 billion for their investors. The profits accounted for more than half the money generated by the top 20 managers last year, according to estimates by LCH Investments NV, a fund of hedge funds. Firms outside that top group lost more than $64 billion as stock declines and volatility took their toll.

How Warren Buffett Honored Jack Bogle’s Surprising Legacy (Forbes)
Jack Bogle was the entrepreneur-founder of Vanguard, now the largest mutual fund in the world boasting $4.5 trillion in assets. He died on January 16 at age 89. Bogle was iconic, fierce, and just about the straightest shooter on Wall Street. He was called a Titan of Industry and is remembered not only for promoting basic values like service, candor and stewardship, but also for practicing them.

Alex Oakenman / shutterstock.com

Rethinking General Electric (Seeking Alpha)
Last month, I noted that the cost of hedging General Electric was prohibitively high, and that high hedging cost can be a red flag. I was prompted to take a second look at that after hedge fund manager Josh Friedman argued General Electric’s equity was more interesting to him than its debt. The drop in General Electric’s hedging cost since December is consistent with Friedman’s assessment of General Electric: it’s still risky, but some of the gloom seems to have lifted.

Pension Agency Criticizes Sears Chairman Edward Lampert’s Plan to Buy Bankrupt Retailer (ChicagoTribune)
The federal agency preparing to take over Sears’ pension plans is opposing Sears chairman Edward Lampert’s plan to buy the retailer out of bankruptcy. Lampert’s $5.2 billion bid to buy the Hoffman Estates-based retailer’s 425 stores seeks to keep the company in business and says it will preserve 45,000 jobs. A committee of Sears’ unsecured creditors on Monday filed an objection to the proposed sale to Lampert.

Polaris Capital Management LLC Lifted Holding in Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA) (REurope.com)
Polaris Capital Management Llc increased its stake in Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA) by 9% based on its latest 2018Q3 regulatory filing with the SEC. Polaris Capital Management Llc bought 817,964 shares as the company’s stock declined 12.44% with the market. The hedge fund held 9.91 million shares of the major pharmaceuticals company at the end of 2018Q3, valued at $213.48M, up from 9.09 million at the end of the previous reported quarter.