Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Baidu.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU), Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL), Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), New Oriental Education & Tech Grp (NYSE:EDU)
Dan Loeb can’t take the heat. The billionaire hedge-fund manager pulled out of a panel discussion at a national conference of institutional investors today in Washington to avoid getting quizzed by teacher union bosses about his stance on their public pension plans. Loeb’s decision to skip out came the same day The Post reported that several pension-plan trustees planned to press him to explain his position at the conference. Loeb is involved with StudentsFirst, an education-reform group that wants to eliminate defined-benefit pensions for teachers. Loeb is on the board of the group’s New York chapter and has donated $75,000 to the cause.
During fraud trial, MICG investors say they didn’t know how hedge fund worked (DailyPress)
One after another, former MICG Investment Management LLC investors said they didn’t understand what they were getting into when they put money into a highly touted hedge fund run by the firm’s CEO Jeffrey A. Martinovich. Over the course of three days of testimony this week during Martinovich’s federal fraud trial, witnesses for the prosecution said they didn’t understand how the MICG Venture Strategies hedge fund worked, weren’t aware of its risks and didn’t realize how hard it would be to pull their money out. “I didn’t really know what a hedge fund was; I was busy practicing medicine,” said Thomas Stiles, an 82-year-old Newport News orthopedic surgeon, who was nearing retirement when he put $100,000 into the Venture fund.
How Billionaires Become Billionaires (UncommonWisdomDaily)
In the era of the Federal Reserve’s zero-interest-rate policy, everyone is looking for yield… even billionaire hedge fund managers. And since it’s the time of year when hedge funds and other institutional investors are required to file their 13-Fs with the SEC — detailing all their major stock holdings — we thought we’d check out the dividend stocks that these large fund managers are carrying in their portfolios. Here are a few that billionaire Kerr Neilson’s Platinum Management owned at the end of last quarter: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)… When most investors think tech stocks, they think growth plays like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). But there are many tech stocks that pay outstanding dividends today. Microsoft is one of those companies and is currently paying a yield of 3.2%. Platinum Management currently holds 13 million shares of the company.
Energy Hedge Funds Caught Out in the Cold (WSJ)
The unusually cold spring from Dubuque, Iowa, to Rochester, N.Y., has served as a punishing reminder to some hedge funds of how volatile energy markets can be. Natural gas, the main heating fuel for homes in the Midwest and Northeast, rallied to its highest levels since July 2011 as U.S. fuel supplies shrunk in recent months. The price surge has brought risky trades known as the “widow maker” back into vogue, as traders try to profit from the bigger price swings in gas prices created by low supplies. Recent volatility doesn’t compare with the wild moves that brought down hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC in 2006. But for the first time in years, traders are being squeezed by the popular, seasonal wager among veteran traders that gas supplies will become more plentiful as the weather warms up.
Putin turns up heat on hedge fund boss Bill Browder (TheTimes)
The Kremlin has escalated its battle with Bill Browder by announcing that it will seek the arrest of the outspoken hedge fund manager in a new case. Mr Browder, the founder of Hermitage Capital, was a prominent foreign investor in Russia during the early years after the fall of communism, but he was barred from the country seven years ago amid allegations of tax fraud. The American-born investor is now based in Britain, where he has been a critic of President Putin’s administration. He has lobbied fiercely recently for restrictions on travel to the United States and Britain by Russian.
Hedge fund manager pleads guilty to Ponzi scheme (Union-Bulletin)
A Portland hedge-fund manager pleaded guilty Tuesday to 17 counts of mail and wire fraud in a Ponzi scheme he orchestrated in Oregon, Washington and other states. Yusaf Jawed, 44, is scheduled to be sentenced June 21. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors and the defense will recommend 6 1/2 years in prison, Assistant U.S. Attorney Allan Garten said. Jawed has also agreed to forfeit $6.4 million in ill-gotten gains and make restitution to investors, if possible. “No one expects the $6.4 million will ever be paid by him,” Michael Esler, an attorney representing defrauded investors, told The Oregonian newspaper last week.
5:15 Derails: Bond Hedge Fund To Close (Finalternatives)
A bond hedge fund led by three Brevan Howard Capital Management veterans will close its doors after suffering redemptions. 5:15 Capital Management has seen its assets under management fall from $1 billion early last year to just $370 million at the beginning of the month, co-founders E.G. Fisher and Rob Wahl wrote to clients yesterday. The Greenwich, Conn.-based firm invested in sovereign debt. Fisher and Wahl wrote that the fund will wind down and return capital to clients. The two blamed “sector rotation” and “weakness in the fund of fund industry” for the redemptions, and concluded that 5:15 could not continue at its reduced size.
What Wall Street’s Gossips Are Saying About George Soros Shorting Gold (BusinessInsider)
Before I relay this, let me first make sure you understand that I am simply discussing a rumor here – I have no way of knowing whether or not it is true and have no opinion as to whether anyone should or should not act on it. Thank you for being an adult OK. So hedge fund guys are like washwomen, every bit as susceptible to gossiping and rumor-mongering, every bit as inclined toward the salacious and the juicy. Especially as it pertains to the portfolios, victories and defeats of their contemporaries. This is why we have things like “Hedge Fund Hotel” stocks such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) last summer and AIG right now. This is why so many hedge funds – especially of the value or the activist variety – sometimes seem as though they are merely variations of each other.
Lehman Hedge Fund Customers Set To Get Money Back (Finalternatives)
Lehman Brothers’ hedge fund clients are poised to be repaid more than four years after the investment bank collapsed. A federal bankruptcy court yesterday approved trustee James Giddens’ plans to repay banks and hedge funds more than $15 billion. The move will “set the stage” for customers to get all of their money back, Giddens said. That money has been frozen since Lehman declared bankruptcy in 2008.
Qatar plans to buy hedge fund managers as part of expansion strategy (International-Adviser)
The Qatar Financial Centre has plans in place to buy hedge funds as part of a strategy to bolster the asset management industry based in the country. In an interview given to a local media outlet, Yousuf Al-Jaida, chief strategic development officer said the QFC is currently implementing a four-stage process to build the local asset management presence in Doha and that the strategy of buying hedge funds is part of “Wave 2”. Al-Jaida told MENA Fund Manager that the QFC is currently implementing “Wave 1” of its strategy which centres on incentivising global asset managers to set up shop in Qatar by offering to seed new funds, with capital supplied by Qatar’s Sovereign Wealth Fund. However, he said the QFC will be moving on to Wave 2 which largely involves setting up back and middle office support services but will also involve “buying hedge funds”.
Robert Karr Buys Baidu, Micron Technology, Yelp, Sells Yum Brands, New Oriental Education, Facebook (Nasdaq)
Robert Karr is the founder of hedge fund Joho Capital. He is one of the Tiger Cubs, the hedge fund managers who learned from the legendary Julian Robertson . Robert Karr tends to hold very concentrated positions in the area of new technologies. His stock picks performed the best among our gurus, according to the Scoreboard of Gurus. Robert Karr buys Baidu.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU), Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Hexcel Corporation (NYSE:HXL), sells Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM), New Oriental Education & Tech Grp (NYSE:EDU), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA) during the 3-months ended 03/31/2013, according to the most recent filings of his investment company, Joho Capital. As of 03/31/2013, Joho Capital owns 14 stocks with a total value of $902 million. These are the details of the buys and sells.
RICHARD RUSSELL: I See A Bearish Pattern In The Latest Buffett, Paulson, And Soros Trades (BusinessInsider)
Richard Russell, the veteran technician and long-time author The Dow Theory Letters, has been a gold bull for as long as we can remember. And the latest plunge in gold prices doesn’t have him worried. “Does this mean that the great gold bull market is over?,” he asked via King World News. “My intuition says no — I believe we have not seen the end of the gold bull market. However, I do think that this is the “wipe-out, clear-out” correction that will leave gold free of late-comers and non-believers.” Russell finds some solace in the actions of billionaire investors Warren Buffett, John Paulson, and George Soros.
Israeli Billionaire Sues Former Business Advisor Over Soros Connection (JewishVoiceny)
An Israeli billionaire has filed a lawsuit against his former business advisers and a British ex-minister in a fight over Guinea’s vast mineral resources that involves the world-famous left-wing hedge fund mogul George Soros. Beny Steinmetz has been in an adversarial relationship with Guinea’s government for many months with regard to the legal right to mine half of the huge Simandou deposit, which is one of the world’s biggest uncultivated iron ore repositories. The mining division of Steinmetz’s industrial empire, BSG Resources (BSGR), is accusing the foreign advisers – a group that includes Soros – of the West African country’s government of perpetrating a reputation-damaging campaign to sabotage its plans in Guinea.
George Soros’ son puts his $12 million New York townhouse on the market (and it has a rooftop basketball court) (DailyMail)
George Soros’ son Gregory is selling a $12 million home in Manhattan, which features a rooftop basketball court, less than three years after he bought it. Gregory, a 20-something artist, bought the single-family townhouse at 5 Centre Market Place in Little Italy in late 2010 for $11,999,900 – down from the original sale price of $18 million in 2008. Soros is now selling the house for $12 million, just $100 more than what he paid in 2010, according to the real estate website Curbed.
Roubini Says U.S. Fiscal Policy Path Opposite of Optimal (BusinessWeek)
The fiscal policy that the U.S. is pursuing is “opposite of the optimal” for a weak economy, said Nouriel Roubini, known as Dr. Doom for predicting hard times before the global financial crisis began in 2008. Ideally, in a weak economy, “you would like to have short- term stimulus, and for that short-term stimulus to continue for as long as necessary, while you have a credible medium-term plan for the fiscal discipline,” Roubini said today during a macroeconomic policy debate in Washington. “The U.S. right now is doing the opposite of the optimal, because we have no medium-term plan for fiscal consolidation” due to political gridlock, “and we don’t have actual short-term stimulus,” Roubini said.
Apple Loses Throne as World’s Biggest Company (WSJ)
Wednesday’s steep slide in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s shares has pushed the tech giant to second place on the list of the world’s most valuable companies. Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) -0.62% has reclaimed the throne. As the chart shows, both companies have been jockeying back and forth for the top spot for much of 2013. Prior to that, Apple had been the clear-cut king from January 2012 through this past January. And before that, Exxon had been the king dating back to 2006. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares recently dropped more than 5% and briefly dipped below $400 for the first time since December 2011. Exxon shares are down less than 1%.
