Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: Marble Ridge Capital, Starboard Value, Cadence Bancorp (CADE), R C M Technologies Inc (RCMT), and More

Judge Tosses Hedge Fund’s Lawsuit Against Neiman Marcus (The Wall Street Journal)
A Texas judge Tuesday dismissed a bondholder lawsuit against Neiman Marcus Group over the company’s transfer of its MyTheresa e-commerce business beyond the reach of bondholders. Judge Tonya Parker of Dallas County District Court dismissed a lawsuit filed in December by Marble Ridge Capital LP that alleged that the company’s transfer of its MyTheresa e-commerce business was a fraudulent transaction.

Hedge Fund Veteran Says $130 Billion Bond May Just Fix Venezuela (Bloomberg)
Venezuela watchers have floated plenty of ideas for fixing the economic and humanitarian crisis, from a bitcoin drop to an oil-for-food plan, but the idea of wrapping all the nation’s debt into one giant bond issuance is perhaps the wildest proposal yet. Money owed to a disparate group of creditors including China, Russia, bondholders and oil service firms could be turned into one long-dated $130 billion bond, according to Daniel Osorio, a former hedge fund manager who’s now president of New York-based Andean Capital Advisors, which advises money managers on Latin America.

If This Is Failure, Show Me Success (The Wall Street Journal)
In a nearly 200-page presentation calling for investors to reject Bristol-Myers Squibb’s proposed acquisition of Celgene released on Monday, activist hedge fund Starboard Value called Celgene’s pipeline of new drugs “unproven.” The hedge fund said relying on that pipeline “adds incredible risk” for Bristol-Myers and could force additional acquisitions in the future. One example Starboard cited is Merck & Co’s $47 billion deal for Schering-Plough back in 2009.

Asian Hedge Funds, Distressed Debt will Drive Investor Demand in 2019 – Deutsche Survey (Pensions&Investments)
Asian hedge funds and distressed debt strategies will drive investor demand in 2019, according to an annual survey of 425 allocators conducted by Deutsche Bank’s hedge fund capital group. In its 17th year, the survey of allocators managing or advising on $1.74 trillion in hedge fund assets, found investors plan to increase their exposure to hedge funds despite underperformance.

Hedge Fund-backed Think Tank Manhattan Institute Publishes Blog Post Sympathizing with Killer the Day After Christchurch Attack (Eyes on the Ties)
Last week a magazine called City Journal published an article online about the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand denying that the attack was motivated by white supremacy and arguing that the killer’s obsession with Muslim immigration was a “legitimate concern.” This is extremely troubling on its face, but is even more alarming considering that City Journal is not a fringe outlet, but rather is ensconced firmly in the mainstream of New York politics.

National Enquirer Owner Chatham Asset Management Plays Starring Role in Tabloid-Worthy Stories (Fortune)
The threat was blunt: Back off, or there will be trouble. The 2016 presidential campaign had just ended, and Michael Cohen was fresh off handling hush money for Donald Trump. Now he was working on behalf of Chatham Asset Management, a $4.3 billion hedge fund that owns the National Enquirer. Chatham and the Enquirer’s publisher, David Pecker, had turned to Trump’s fixer as a mediator. They wanted to kill a lawsuit by the former head of another Chatham company. Before long, the Chatham camp would make good on its threat against that executive, unleashing a tale of sex and money worthy of the Enquirer.

Hedge Funds up 0.89 percent in March, Says Eurekahedge (HedgeWeek)
The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index gained 0.89 per cent in February, bringing its year-to-date return to 3.26 per cent, according to the March 2019 Eurekahedge Report. The risk-on sentiment among investors driven by the Fed’s patient stance and optimism over the potential resolution of the US-China trade tension persisted through the month, sending global equity markets on a rally through February. The global hedge fund industry saw performance growth totalling USD39.5 billion over the first two months of 2019, supported by the global equity market performance since the beginning of the year. Despite the positive performance figures, net investor redemptions stood at USD15.1 billion over the same period.

Buy Gold, Sell Stocks Is the ‘Trade of Century’ Says One Hedge Fund (Bloomberg)
One of last year’s best-performing hedge funds says the “trade of the century” is to buy gold and sell stocks as risk assets are due for another meltdown. It’s only a matter of time until the bearish bet pays off big, according to Crescat Capital LLC. While the Denver-based firm has only about $50 million under management, it has a history of outperforming the S&P 500 Index — with its Global Macro Fund returning 41 percent last year alone. Now the investment company says it’s ready to capitalize on an end of the economic cycle as indicators warn that a recession is imminent in the coming quarters.

The Executive Chairman & President of Rcm Technologies (NASDAQ: RCMT) is Buying Shares (AnalystRatings)
Yesterday, the Executive Chairman & President of RCM Technologies (RCMT), Bradley Vizi, bought shares of RCMT for $2.5M. This recent transaction increases Bradley Vizi’s holding in the company by 26.48% to a total of $12.17 million. This is Vizi’s first transaction since reporting a Buy transaction on FSTR back in March 2017.

Tuesday 3/19 Insider Buying Report: CADE, IBKC (Nasdaq.com)
Bargain hunters are wise to pay careful attention to insider buying, because although there are many various reasons for an insider to sell a stock, presumably the only reason they would use their hard-earned dollars to make a purchase, is that they expect to make money. Today we look at two noteworthy recent insider buys. At Cadence Bancorporation, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Friday, CEO Paul B. Murphy Jr. bought 50,000 shares of CADE, for a cost of $19.93 each, for a total investment of $996,438. Murphy Jr. was up about 4.0% on the purchase at the high point of today’s trading session, with CADE trading as high as $20.73 at last check today. Cadence Bancorporation is trading up about 0.7% on the day Tuesday. This buy marks the first one filed by Murphy Jr. in the past twelve months.

Singapore is Harbouring a Suspect Wanted in Massive Trading Scam, Says Sri Lanka (TheOnlineCitizen)
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has accused Singapore of harbouring one of Sri Lanka’s former central bank chiefs who is wanted in connection with a S$74 million insider trading the scam. Arjuna Mahendran, a Singapore national born in Sri Lanka, was accused in 2015 of passing sensitive information to his bond-dealer son-in-low to pocket millions. The two of them are accused of manipulating bond auctions in 2015 and 2016, causing the state of Sri Lanka lossess amounting to over $11 million.

Insider trading: March 19, 2019 (BIV.com)
The following is a list of stock trades made by corporate executives, directors and other company insiders of B.C.’s public companies filed in the week ended March 13, 2019. The information comes from a compilation of required reports filed with the BC Securities Commission obtained from DisclosureNet.com. Insider Amir Javidan, officer. Company: Well Health Technologies Corp. (TSX-V:WELL). Shares owned: 2,473,913. Trade date: March 7. Trade total: $1,000,000. Trade: Acquisition of 2,173,913 shares at a price of $0.46 per share.

Opko Health Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK) Insider Trading Activity – CEO Bought 40,000 shares of Stock (MarketExclusive)
Insider Trading Activity For Opko Health Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK): Phillip Md Et Al Frost , CEO of Opko Health Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK) reportedly Bought 40,000 shares of the company’s stock at an average price of 2.47 for a total transaction amount of $98,800.00.