Hottest links for Thursday October 10th, 2013 the — early edition for once finally (see Wednesday’s edition of hottest links). Get our free daily newsletter (which is being updated to make it superb) and never miss a single linkfest.
Top stories for today can be found below. Some news on Baupost, a new hedge fund by a Whitney (not Tilson); interesting reads attacking both value investing and one on the dark side of compound interest; that and much more below.
Hottest Links: Stories
Baupost Group Boosts Credit Portfolio In Europe
Baupost protected its portfolio from interest rate volatility which spiked towards the latter part of the second quarter by establishing hedges in rates. [Tabinda Hussain, ValueWalk] Also see: [PMJar] Also see: Baupost Group was looking forward to major liquidations from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc Plan Trust (OTCMKTS:LEHMQ) in the second half of this year, according to a Q2 investor letter, sections of which were reviewed by ValueWalk.
Hedge Funds Rise In September, Q3
This news won’t come as a shock to gold investors who have watched the metal take a beating this year and followed recent ETF trends: SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSEARCA:GLD) is down more than 20% for the year, while the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA:GDX) and Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA:GDXJ) have lost more than 40%. [Teresa Rivas, Barron’s]
Apollo Asia Fund: The Manager’s Report For 3Q2013
The Apollo Asia Fund’s NAV fell 0.8% in the third quarter, to US$1,896.80. Over the last twelve months it was up 9.3%. [Apollo Investment]
Ex-Chesapeake CEO McClendon raises $1.7 bln to drill in Utica Shale
An energy firm run by Aubrey McClendon, the former Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) chief executive, has raised $1.7 billion to drill on shale acreage in Ohio’s Utica Shale, the firm said on Wednesday. [Reuters]
Investing “Gangnam Style”
The global success of “Gangnam Style,” the 18th K-pop single by the South Korean rapper PSY in 2012, was an exogenous shock to international investor enthusiasm about DI Corp (KRX:003160), because the company’s chairman and CEO is PSY’s father. [Wesley R. Gray, Turnkey Analyst]
How Investors Lose 89 Percent of Gains from Futures Funds
The pitch was enticing. At a time when the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index had suffered a decline of 41 percent in the previous three years, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was offering its clients the possibility of some relief. [David Evans, Bloomberg]
Pricing and Market Share…
This is a market where you need to be very careful not to “take” market share at rates that are unsustainable. The funny thing about focusing on one dimensional goals, like market share gains, is that you will get two dimensional results, one of which you’ve decided doesn’t warrant any prospective consideration (i.e. market share gains without regard to sustainable profitability). [Joe Koster, Value Investing World]
Chuck Royce Shares Royce’s Culture and Philosophy
Tom Gardner here with Chuck Royce, the founder and manager of the Royce family of funds and Royce & Associates. This is a group of funds that focuses on small-caps. [TheRoyceFunds]
Don’t Cry for Me Argentine Bondholders
On June 24, 2013, Argentina filed a certiorari petition with respect to the Second Circuit’s October 26, 2012 decision, in which the Second Court affirmed Judge Griesa’s interpretation of the pari passu clause, his determination that the plaintiffs were entitled to a “Ratable Payment,” and his conclusion that the Injunction did not violate the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”). [Noam Noked, Harvard.edu]
Janet Yellen Has More Than $100K in Her Checking Account
Janet Yellen, President Obama’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, is a vastly wealthy multimillionaire—which is standard, because only those fully insulated from the effects of economic policies are allowed to make economic policies. [Gawker]
Complacency on Wall Street Could Be Worse Than a Panic
Short-term bond markets have hiccupped. Spreads on United States credit default swaps have widened, indicating a slightly greater fear of default, but nothing drastic. The financial media keep grasping at any movement to demonstrate investors are worried. [Jesse Eisinger, DealBook]
When Considering Emerging Markets, Look Beyond the Label
Emerging markets have become well ensconced in the minds of the equities investors and an inextricable part of the global economy. [Kemal Ahmed, Institutional Investors]
Who Would Benefit From a US Government Debt Default?
Some people will play with sovereign debt just to put a few more dollars in their own pockets. On August 2, 2004, when it was the world’s largest financial services group, Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) sold €11 billion of eurozone government bonds in less than two minutes and 30 minutes later bought back €4 billion at lower prices to pocket a profit of €17 million ($23 million). [Janet Tavakoli, Huffington Post]
Deutsche Bankers Warm Up to Florida
Investment bankers are decamping from New York for lifestyle reasons. [The Wall Street Journal]
2013 Has Been a Good Year for Activist Investors
Nelson Peltz is on a roll this year and — he has company. The co-founder of New York-basded activist hedge fund firm Trian Partners is one of a handful managers who employ activist techniques that are enjoying big gains this year. [Stephen Taub, Institutional Investors Alpha]
Fidelity Sells All Debt-Ceiling Maturing Treasuries
It seems, despite these views, Fidelity Investments – the largest manager of money-market mutual funds – said, according to AP, that it no longer holds any US government debt maturing around the time of the nation could hit ist borrowing limit. [Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge]
Complete Guide to Spotting Accounting Fraud & Cover-Ups
Fraud-if you’ve ever lost money to one, it’s an experience that violates you personally in a way that you never forget. If you have seen a (formerly) trusted colleague convicted of it, you always remember your complete disbelief upon first hearing of it. [Richard P. Kozlow, ABA Banking Journal]
Day Trading Gabelli
The next big thing in the $1.5 trillion exchange-traded funds business is being cooked up in a small office sharing an entrance with a beauty salon in the bucolic town of Bedminster, N.J. [Ari I. Weinberg, Forbes]
Why I am not a Value Investor
Many value investors place great stress on the concept of intrinsic value – the discounted future cashflows of a company, as distinct from its book value, liquidation value or market value. [Guy Thomas]
Buffett’s Folly: The Dark Side of Compound Interest
If being in thrall to compound interest is a problem for you, just imagine how it feels for Warren Buffett. The world’s richest man has compounded his wealth by 20% since the early 1970s. Before that has was doing even better. [The Investor, Monevator]
The Most Important Charts in the World
The withdrawal of Federal Reserve stimulus and attendant normalization of interest rates is also a hot topic — as is the bloodbath in emerging markets — while many are coming around to the notion that the American economy just can’t grow like it used to anymore. [Matthew Boesler, Business Insider]
Hottest Links: Not The Onion
Azerbaijan Released Election Results Before Voting
Azerbaijan’s big presidential election, held on Wednesday, was anticipated to be neither free nor fair. President Ilham Aliyev, who took over from his father 10 years ago, has stepped up intimidation of activists and journalists. [Max Fisher, World News]
