15-year-old wins over Warren Buffett with Beaux Up bow ties (DavidsonNews.net)
Young entrepreneur Jake Johnson of Davidson has revolutionized the bow tie, and people in high places are taking notice – very high places. The 15-year-old ninth grader at Woodlawn School won the individual grand prize Monday at the “Grow Your Own Business Challenge,” hosted in Omaha, NE, by a man who knows a thing or two about business – billionaire Warren Buffett. Jake was among five individuals and three teams picked as finalists at the competition. He wowed Buffett and the judges with his Beaux Up, a new version of the classic bow tie.
A Hedge Fund Highflier Comes Back to Earth (New York Times)
The chickens of the one percent could roost comfortably here. In this West England village, where sheep seem more abundant than people, a hedge fund manager, Crispin Odey, is close to completing a chicken coop in the style and scale of a small Grecian temple. Screened by walls and vegetation, it has been an object of mystery, though elaborate architectural drawings reveal a sweeping three-sided stairway, two dozen columns and radiating rooftop design flourishes. If nothing else, the sprawling coop, with a final cost above $250,000, has made Mr. Odey headline fodder. British tabloids called it Cluckingham Palace.
CQS’s Hintze Warns on Market Volatility (Wall Street Journal)
Ultra-calm financial markets are set for trouble ahead in the form of a sharp pickup in volatility, according to Michael Hintze, one of Europe’s top hedge-fund managers. Mr. Hintze, founder and chief executive of London-based CQS, which manages $12.8 billion in assets, says the massive central bank bond-buying programs of recent years have driven investors to buy the same assets, building up problems for markets further down the road. “Central banks, through QE [quantitative easing], forward and quantitative guidance, have driven markets into the same risk trades. That spells trouble and opportunity,” Mr. Hintze said in comments emailed to The Wall Street Journal.
Executives at failed Connecticut hedge fund plead guilty (Reuters)
Three former executives of New Stream Capital LLC, a failed Connecticut hedge fund, have pleaded guilty to conspiring to mislead their clients to keep their largest investor, federal prosecutors said on Thursday. David Bryson, Bart Gutekunst and Richard Pereira each pleaded guilty on Wednesday in the New Haven, Connecticut, federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, said the office of U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly in Connecticut.
Hedge Funds Clash With Wall Street Bankers in Argentina (Bloomberg)
The surge in Argentina’s securities tied to economic growth is rekindling a decade-old disagreement between investors and Wall Street. The warrants, which provide payouts when growth exceeds targets, have jumped 29 percent from a nine-month low in March on speculation a data revision that boosted the size of the economy will lead to bigger payments in the future. While investors are piling into the securities, banks from Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) to Credit Suisse Group AG (ADR) (NYSE:CS) say the advance is excessive as the terms of the warrants have enough wiggle room for Argentina to avoid making the larger disbursements.
Russian inflation spike temporary: Hedge fund (CNBC.com)
Billionaire U.S. environmentalist to target seven midterm races (Reuters)
Billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer will give a boost to 2014 political candidates from seven U.S. states who work to combat climate change, countering political support from fossil fuel interests. NextGen Climate, Steyer’s political group, said Thursday it would back candidates in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Maine, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania who face challenges from opponents who either doubt that humans cause climate change or receive donations from the fossil fuel industry.
Cadogan Chief Seeks $32M For Brooklyn Apartment (FINalternatives)
Brooklyn, N.Y., has become among the hottest residential address in the country. One hedge fund manager wants to see just how hot. Cadogan Management’s Stuart Leaf and his wife are seeking $32 million for an 11,000-square-foot penthouse on the Brooklyn Heights waterfront. The Leafs paid just over $6 million for what were originally three units atop One Brooklyn Bridge Park in 2010.
Hedge fund executive pays for anti-Jacobs ads (Mason City Globe Gazette)
New York hedge fund executive Robert Mercer is the person behind TV ads that have criticized Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Mark Jacobs and praised Joni Ernst, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday. American Heartland PAC has spent $246,000 in the Republican primary race, according to the FEC, with a bit more than half of it going to pay for TV ads criticizing Jacobs. Mercer is co-chief executive of Renaissance Technologies and donated $200,000 to American Heartland PAC, according to a filing with the FEC on Thursday.
Clash Over Darden Board Will Be Measure of Activist Clout (Wall Street Journal)
An activist investor’s uncommon maneuver to overthrow the entire board of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) will test shareholders’ appetite for aggressive action by dissident hedge funds. On Thursday, Starboard Value LP said it would nominate its own candidates to replace all 12 directors from the board of Darden, which owns Red Lobster, Olive Garden and other chains. A New York-based hedge fund, Starboard has taken a 6.2% stake in Darden and has been agitating since December to break the company into three parts. Fund executives were livid last week when Darden announced a stand-alone sale of Red Lobster, foiling Starboard’s plans.
Hedge funds burned by favorite stocks (CNBC.com)
It’s been a rough year for hedge funds, with many underperforming their index benchmarks or even losing money. One explanation is crowding into bad stock picks: A new Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) analysis of the 50 stocks most commonly held in large quantities by 777 hedge funds found the group suffered its worst monthly return outside the “crisis periods” of 2002, 2008 and 2011. Their “longs”—bets on the appreciation of a stock’s value—lagged the S&P 500 by 5 percent in March and April, according to a May 21 report. Long losers for the year include Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (-6 percent), General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) (-16 percent) and Citigroup (-11 percent).
