Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: Paul Singer, Alan Howard, Bridgewater Associates, Macellum Advisors, Ancora Advisors, Impala Asset Management, SoFi Technologies Inc (SOFI), Chewy Inc (CHWY), and More

Lake Como Locals Object as British Billionaire Shuts Park for Wedding (The Times)
A hedge fund chief has hired an 18th-century public mansion, keeping out residents. Alan Howard paid €1.3 million to close Villa Olmo and its park on the shores of Lake Como for almost a month. Billionaires and Hollywood stars owning opulent villas on Italy’s Lake Como have long been able to rely on the discretion of neighbours who turn a blind eye to displays of excessive wealth. But the month-long closure of a large public mansion and its gardens to prepare for the lavish wedding celebration of a British hedge fund tycoon and Tory donor has proved one party too far for some residents.

Macellum, Ancora Lose Bid for Board Seats at SpartanNash – Sources (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Hedge funds Macellum Advisors and Ancora Advisors have lost their bid for board seats at supermarket operator SpartanNash Co., according to two sources familiar with the matter. The two hedge funds, which own 4.5% of the company, were trying to replace three of the company’s nine board members, arguing the company needed to improve its competitiveness and consider a full or partial sale.

The CIO of Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Says Stocks Could Crash 25% If Fed Policymakers Fully Commit to Lowering Inflation (Business Insider)
Ray Dalio‘s Bridgewater Associates – the world’s largest hedge fund – has adopted a cautious forecast on the global economy, and co-CIO Greg Jensen is expecting a downturn. “We’re in a radically different world,” he told the Financial Times Wednesday. “We’re approaching a slowdown.”

10 best cheap stocks to invest in February 2021

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Hedge Funds Stand Back to Let Elliott Do Battle with LME (Bloomberg)
Paul Singer is famed as a tenacious competitor, even by the dog-eat-dog standards of Wall Street. Yet this week, as Singer’s Elliott Investment Management launched a $456 million legal claim against the London Metal Exchange, many of his hedge fund rivals find themselves in an unfamiliar position: they’re rooting for him to win.

Hedge Funds Fell for a Second Straight Month in May Amid Rising Uncertainty Over Geopolitical and Economic Tensions (Opalesque)
Opalesque Industry Update – The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index declined -0.52% in May 2022, trailing behind the S&P 500 which eked out a 0.01% return over the same period. Widespread investor caution and uncertainty over both geopolitical and economic tensions continued to linger as inflation remains persistently high amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and continued global supply chain disruptions. This has fanned concerns that the Federal Reserve will be forced to tighten monetary policy more aggressively to prevent inflation from spiralling out of control and at the same time avoid pushing the economy into a recession. Market participants are expecting the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates by 50bps in its June and July meetings and then move to a more modest 25bps for the rest of 2022.

Impala Asset Management to Convert from Hedge Fund to Family Office After Strong Returns (HedgeWeek)
A run of strong returns over the past two years has prompted hedge fund boss Bob Bishop to close Impala Asset Management and covert to a family office, according to a report by Bloomberg. Impala has benefitted from recent bets on energy, industrials and materials, as well as shorting technology stocks this year. The Florida-based firm’s main hedge fund is up 11 per cent so far this year having posted gains of 64% since the start of 2020, according to a letter to investors.

Jana Partners Plans to Sue Zendesk Over Annual Meeting Date (Reuters)
June 8 (Reuters) – New York-based activist investment firm Jana Partners said on Wednesday it intends to sue software company Zendesk Inc after it failed to set a date for its 2022 annual meeting. The hedge fund said the “failure” was “inexcusable” and the company’s board had “inflicted significant damage” on its shareholders.

This Hedge Fund Manager Called Inflation Early. He Now Says Consumer Prices Will Finish 2022 at a Level That ‘Screams Failure by the Fed.’ (Barron’s)
Far from the bustle of Wall Street, inside his downtown Minneapolis office, Tim Magnusson got his first aching gut feeling about U.S. inflation in May of last year.That’s when U.S. government data showed a 10% increase in used car and truck prices during the prior month, April of 2021. Magnusson, then a senior portfolio manager at hedge fund firm Garda Capital Partners, sensed something was amiss from the report.

Hedge Funds Battle Against Volatile Markets in May to Consolidate 2022 Outperformance (Institutional Asset Manager)
Nick Evans writes that a challenging month in May produced mixed results for most hedge funds as volatility intensified across global financial markets, although several strategy areas are still showing strong gains for the year and substantial outperformance against major equity market indices. Analysis from research firm HFR shows that more than half of all hedge funds posted losses in a month of accelerating market upheavals and worsening economic and political concerns, with only around 40 per cent of the funds in HFR’s indexation universe making gains in May.

SoFi Insider Trading: CEO Buys SOFI Stock 3 Times in June. Here’s Why. (InvestorPlace)
CEO Anthony Noto has purchased 59,872 shares of SOFI stock this month. SoFi (SOFI) CEO Anthony Noto purchased 16,907 shares yesterday. Noto now owns a total of 3.38 million shares. Shares of SOFI stock have plummeted by over 55% year-to-date. Unsurprisingly, SoFi (NASDAQ:SOFI) CEO Anthony Noto has already purchased SOFI stock three times this month. Year-to-date (YTD), the CEO has now purchased shares of his own company on 14 separate occasions, with his first purchase falling on March 4. Shares of SoFi have fallen by over 30% since then.

Thursday 6/9 Insider Buying Report: CHWY, RKT (Nasdaq.com)
On Monday, Chewy’s Director, James A. Star, made a $5.00M buy of CHWY, purchasing 180,636 shares at a cost of $27.71 each. So far Star is in the green, up about 12.6% on their purchase based on today’s trading high of $31.19. Chewy is trading up about 6.7% on the day Thursday. Before this latest buy, Star made one other buy in the past twelve months, purchasing $1.79M shares for a cost of $55.58 a piece. And on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Jay Farner bought $599,240 worth of Rocket Companies, buying 69,900 shares at a cost of $8.57 each. Before this latest buy, Farner purchased RKT on 20 other occasions during the past twelve months, for a total investment of $8.84M at an average of $9.07 per share. Rocket Companies is trading down about 1.6% on the day Thursday.