Oops! High Bid Of $605K For Coffee With Tim Cook Rejected Because Bidder Used Stolen Credit Card!

From Fortune: You know you're spending too much time tracking a charity auction -- in this case for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights -- when a $5,000 drop in price feels like big news.

But there I was Monday morning asking the spokesperson for Charitybuzz, which is running the RFK Center's 2013 fundraiser, why the top bid for a chance to have coffee with Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook had fallen from $605,000 Friday night to $600,000 Monday morning. The answer, it turns out, is that the $605,000 bid was made on a stolen credit card.

That must have been a rude surprise for the card holder….

More?  Go to http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/29/apple-cook-charity-coffee/?iid=HP_LN

France back in hedge funds' sights as economy really sucks

According to Reuters hedge funds are restoring bets that French bond prices will fall, speculating the country's gamble on increasing public spending to boost economic growth will fail.

Funds have already been burnt on the trade. Last year, the European Central Bank's promise to buy government bonds to restore confidence in the euro zone sent yields on French 10-year bonds tumbling by more than a third.  But that is not putting some off from trying again.  With President Hollande's approval ratings at the lowest of any modern French leader and March jobless claims at an all-time high, some funds think the country's bond yields should trade closer to those of Italy and Spain than Germany....

Read more at http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/04/29/france-hedgefunds-idUKL5N0D42DD20130429

Hedge fund to cough up $21.5 million to settle SEC charges

The following is from the SEC...

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund advisory firm Level Global Investors LP has agreed to pay more than $21.5 million to settle charges that its co-founder, who also served as a portfolio manager, and its analyst engaged in repeated insider trading in the securities of Dell Inc. and Nvidia Corp.

In January 2012, the SEC filed insider trading charges against Level Global, the firm's co-founder Anthony Chiasson, a former analyst Spyridon "Sam" Adondakis, and six other defendants, including five investment professionals and the hedge fund advisory firm Diamondback Capital Management.  The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleged that Adondakis was a member of a group of closely associated hedge fund analysts who illegally obtained highly sensitive information regarding the financial performance of Dell and Nvidia before this information was made public.

According to the SEC, during 2008 and 2009, Adondakis passed the information on to Chiasson, who used it to execute trades on behalf of hedge funds managed by Level Global and reap millions of dollars in illegal profits…..

Get the big picture at http://www.futuresmag.com/2013/04/29/hedge-fund-to-pay-215-million-to-settle-sec-charge

Infamous Trader With A $320,000 Bar Tab Has Been Charged In A $7 Million Unauthorized Investment Scheme

From BI: Alex Hope, the young trader who dropped over $320,000 on champagne and Grey Goose at a Liverpool nightclub last year, has been charged in relation with a $7.7 million unauthorized investment scheme.

ZeroHedge has the full bio.  We've included a brief excerpt below (emphasis ours): 

As his confidence and knowledge grew, Alex knew this was the world for him and at 20 years old he headed for the city and soon found employment at The Forex Academy in early 2010 as a FX & Commodity Trader. In July this year, he stepped into the spotlight when his career was profiled in The Daily Telegraph, subsequently Alex went onto to work at leading Trading and Commodities company, Zone Invest Group. For a career that started out trading on the local market stalls for pocket money, to a modest £21k salary in the hospitality industry, Alex has since followed his dream in the trading world and his basic salary has entered the six figure bracket!

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-320000-bar-tab-trader-has-been-charged-with-a-7-million-investment-scheme-2013-4

Bernanke Watch: Is He Eyeing the Exit Doors?

From CNBC: As the Federal Reserve meets this week, it's nearly a given on Wall Street that Chairman Ben Bernanke will not be presiding over the Fed at this time next year.  But the question is: Who will take his seat? The widespread belief is that it will be Vice Chair Janet Yellen. If that's true, will it be a seamless transfer of the policy baton? Bernanke has just six meetings left — his second term ends in January 2014.

Bernanke has not said whether he's going to leave, but some Fed watchers say the latest signal came earlier this month when it was announced that he would not attend the annual Fed symposium in Jackson Hole this August….

More?  Check out http://www.cnbc.com/id/100685991

Paulson Leads Hedge-Fund Lobby Push to Privatize Fannie

Hedge funds including Paulson & Co. Inc. are pushing Congress to abandon plans to liquidate Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac as investors buy up preferred stock that has long been considered worthless, people with knowledge of the discussions told Bloomberg.

The improving finances of the two government-owned mortgage companies have kindled hopes among shareholders that they could be revived as private firms.   Paulson & Co. is among funds that met with members of the Senate Banking Committee and with staff members in the House of Representatives two of the people briefed on the matter said…..

More?  Check out http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-30/paulson-leads-hedge-fund-lobby-push-to-privatize-fannie.html

Charge of the Blight brigade: Hedgies join JCP investment cavalry

The smart money is shopping for bargains again at JCPenney.  At least two major hedge funds have amassed significant stakes in the troubled retailer, The NY Post has learned — even as billionaire George Soros last week revealed a surprise stake equal to 7.9 percent of the company.

One of the new pair of investors — a hedge fund worth more than $10 billion, according to one source — has scooped up a stake worth between 5 and 10 percent of the department-store chain, according to Wall Street insiders briefed on the investment.  The identity of the fund couldn’t be learned, but the stake, like the one taken by Soros, is said to be passive. It is expected to be revealed in a securities filing by mid-May…..

Wait...wait...there's more at http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/blight_brigade_ZEKHp90e4vyaxxuELb4HoO

Hedge Funds Play 'Jeopardy' Over Herbalife

From WSJ: "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"  Hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman appropriated the title of the game show for a presentation labeling multilevel marketing firm Herbalife Ltd. HLF +0.84% a "pyramid scheme," a charge the company disputes vigorously. Rather than joining him in selling shares of the stock short, though, fellow activist investors Dan Loeb and Carl Icahn seemingly drew inspiration from another classic: "The Price is Right."

The fight involving Herbalife's stock is a stalemate for now, but Monday's first-quarter earnings could tip the scales toward those who see it as an investment opportunity. Earnings are seen at $1.06 a share versus 88 cents a year earlier…...

Read all about it at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324743704578447311312026792.html

Hedge funds zoom in on mutual funds

From pionline: Hedge fund managers are looking to the mutual fund industry for their next source of growth. With the relentless shift to defined contribution plans from defined benefit plans, hedge fund managers are looking to DC plans to diversify their client base.

“I think this is a spectacular opportunity. The 40 Act (the Investment Company Act of 1940, which regulates mutual funds) has real, tangible benefits for retail investors, and you will see some world-class hedge funds entering the liquid alternatives space,” said Neil Siegel, managing director and head of New York-based Neuberger Berman Group LLC's global marketing and product development….

Read more at http://www.pionline.com/article/20130429/PRINTSUB/304299975/hedge-funds-zoom-in-on-mutual-funds

JPMorgan Beats Goldman as Biggest Payer

JPMorgan Chase was the top payer among investment banks last year, awarding its senior employees a fifth more than Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to a Bloomberg report that also highlights a growing divide between firms based in the U.S. and Europe.

Managing directors in JPMorgan’s mergers advisory and underwriting teams earned an average of 1.1 million pounds ($1.7 million) in total compensation for 2012, according to Emolument, a London-based salary data provider. Morgan Stanley  was the second-highest payer, with an average award of 903,000 pounds, followed by Goldman Sachs (GS) at 873,000 pounds....

Find out more at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-28/jpmorgan-beats-goldman-as-biggest-payer-as-europe-trails.html

High-Frequency Traders Face Speed Limits

High-freq traders are facing "speed limits" for the first time on a major trading platform, under a proposal that is being touted as a template for a regulatory clampdown on computer-driven activity, according to CNBC. . EBS, one of the two dominant trading platforms in the foreign exchange market, is suggesting scrapping the principle of "first in, first out" trading, which it says gives an unfair advantage to the fastest computers and has led to an arms race of spending on technology…..

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100682552

…And Another Exec Bails After Multi-Billon Dollar Scandal

According to HuffPo JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Sunday that one of its co-chief operating officers is leaving the company, marking the latest high-profile departure since the bank's massive trading loss last year. Frank Bisignano will become CEO of payment processor First Data Corp. on Monday. Matt Zames, who was co-chief operating officer with Bisignano, will become the sole COO of JPMorgan Chase effective immediately.

More?  Check out http://www.huffingtonpost.com/business/

Matt Taibbi’s Mega-Shocker: The Biggest Price-Fixing Scandal Ever

  

Conspiracy theorists of the world, believers in the hidden hands of the Rothschilds and the Masons and the Illuminati, we skeptics owe you an apology. You were right. The players are a little different, but your basic premise is correct: The world is a rigged game. We found this out in recent months, when a series of related corruption stories spilled out of the financial sector, suggesting the world's largest banks may be fixing the prices of, well, just about everything.

You may have heard of the Libor scandal, in which at least three – and perhaps as many as 16 – of the name-brand too-big-to-fail banks have been manipulating global interest rates, in the process messing around with the prices of upward of $500 trillion (that's trillion, with a "t") worth of financial instruments.

That was bad enough, but now Libor may have a twin brother.

Word has leaked out that the London-based firm ICAP, the world's largest broker of interest-rate swaps, is being investigated by American authorities for behavior that sounds eerily reminiscent of the Libor mess. Regulators are looking into whether or not a small group of brokers at ICAP may have worked with up to 15 of the world's largest banks to manipulate ISDAfix, a benchmark number used around the world to calculate the prices of interest-rate swaps. Interest-rate swaps are a tool used by big cities, major corporations and sovereign governments to manage their debt, and the scale of their use is almost unimaginably massive. It's about a $379 trillion market, meaning that any manipulation would affect a pile of assets about 100 times the size of the United States federal budget…..

Wait…wait…there’s more at http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/everything-is-rigged-the-biggest-financial-scandal-yet-20130425

Feds seek prison for Conn. ex-hedge fund manager/insider trader

From the AP: A former hedge fund manager should serve at least five years in prison for his insider trading conviction and repay $39 million to his former employer for the troubles he put the company through and the money it lost as a result, the government told a judge Friday.

Prosecutors made the recommendations in papers filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan in advance of Thursday's sentencing of Todd Newman, who was convicted in December of conspiracy and insider trading charges for trades that generated $3.6 million in profits when he worked at Stamford, Conn.-based Diamondback Capital Management. The government recommended that Newman be sentenced within the recommended guidelines range of five years, three months to 6 1/2 years.

Read all about it at http://news.yahoo.com/feds-seek-prison-conn-ex-hedge-fund-manager-184328952.html

SAC’s Stevie goes prime time

According to the NY Post hedge fund honcho Steve Cohen made the jump from Wall Street to Main Street this week when a character loosely based on him appeared on a CBS crime drama.

In a story ripped from the headlines, Thursday night’s “Person of Interest” centered on a hedge fund’s insider-trading scandal gone awry.  The show’s hedge fund was called VAC Capital. Cohen’s firm is  the $15 billion dollar SAC Capital.

There were more similarities. The show centered on a doctor who told a young trader at VAC that a drug trial he was overseeing was “about to fail.  The trader earned VAC $500 million on the insider tip, which he called “black edge.”  SAC’s traders have also reportedly called such tips “black edge….”

Read all about it at http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/stevie_goes_prime_time_MEir8061r13YSW8PWJUhtL

John Paulson Likes A Couple Of Money-Making Investments, Too

(They are useful for blunting the impact of drops in his most favorite thing in the whole world.)

John Paulson, the hedge-fund manager trying to recover from more than two years of losses in some of his funds, told investors he likes convertible bonds, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Paulson, speaking on a conference call with clients today, also said mortgage-backed securities have been performing well within the New York-based firm’s Credit Opportunities Fund, according to a person who listened and asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The strategy is Paulson’s biggest, with $5.9 billion in assets, according to a letter to investors that was obtained by Bloomberg News….

Convertible bonds rose 7.9 percent in the first quarter and 9.9 percent last year, compared with returns for investment- grade corporate bonds of 1.5 percent this year and 10 percent in 2012, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch data.....

Find out more at http://dealbreaker.com/2013/04/john-paulson-likes-a-couple-of-money-making-investments-too/#more-102315

The Next Thing: Hedge Funds And Money Laundering

Forbes reports that there are indications from Washington that hedge funds, long exempt from anti-money laundering reporting rules, may soon be brought into the fold under new rules proposed by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

1. While public hard data is scant on the amount of money laundering through hedge funds, we believe that hedge funds would easily fit into money laundering schemes. They offer varying degrees of: secrecy, offshore accounts and the ability to place large sums of money. While it is often thought that a “lock up” of the investment for long period would be a deterrent to money laundering, this may no longer be the case with more complex schemes.

Perhaps most importantly, hedge funds have traditionally delegated the anti-money laundering function to admistrators, who will do a very good job performing as much checking and monitoring as required under applicable law and their own internal procedures.  However, the administrators may be at a disadvantage in spotting the launderer because their personal contact with the investor is cursory at best– and the personal contact element in the hedge function scenario may be the most important…..

Read all about it at http://www.forbes.com/sites/judygross/2013/04/26/hedge-funds-and-money-laundering/

Stanford Joins University of Chicago Selling Into Tax-Free Rally

Bloomberg reports that Stanford University and the University of Chicago, among the 10 highest-ranked U.S. schools, plan to offer tax-exempt revenue bonds amid the biggest rally this year in the $3.7 trillion municipal-debt market.

The California Educational Facilities Authority will issue about $240 million of new tax-free debt on behalf of Stanford, according to offering documents released today. The Bay Area university, near the headquarters of Facebook and Google Inc., will also issue $150 million of taxable securities itself.

In a similar deal, the University of Chicago plans to offer $200 million of taxable bonds and borrow another $150 million via the tax-exempt market through the Illinois Finance Authority….

Read all about it at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-26/stanford-joins-university-of-chicago-selling-into-tax-free-rally.html

SAC Capital to "Give Clients More Time" on Withdrawals

Ain't that Stevie Cohen kind!  Bloomberg reports that Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors LP is giving more time to investors to decide if they want to pull their money from the firm’s hedge funds, according to a person with knowledge of the plan.  The firm, based in Stamford, Connecticut, is giving clients the opportunity to withdraw 50 percent of their fund stakes in each of the third and fourth quarters, said the person, who asked not to be named because the information is private.

 “We are offering our investors additional time to make their decisions as we are hopeful that the next few months will bring greater clarity surrounding the resolution of pending regulatory matters,” Tom Conheeney, president of SAC Capital said in a statement, which didn’t provide details on the fund redemption terms….

More?  Check out http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-26/sac-capital-said-to-give-clients-more-time-on-withdrawals.html

Fabrice Tourre: From 'Fabulous Fab' to Grad Student

From WSJ: Fabrice Tourre is trying to get on with his life.  Since he first emerged three years ago as the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS +0.58% employee at the center of one of the most bruising regulatory battles in the firm's history, Mr. Tourre has settled into the cloistered world of academia. He is pursuing a doctorate in economics at the University of Chicago and working as a teaching assistant.

The SEC sued Goldman and Mr. Tourre, then a vice president, in April 2010, alleging they misled investors on a collateralized-debt obligation called Abacus 2007-AC1 that produced big losses for investors and big gains for hedge-fund firm Paulson & Co.  Mr. Tourre's emails formed a central part of the regulator's case and created a sensation on Wall Street. The messages disclosed both a sense of humor—in one email, he refers to himself as "the fabulous Fab"—and a keen awareness of the looming crisis….

Wait...wait...there's more at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324474004578445083569502750.html?mod=WSJ_business_whatsNews

Reorg could leave Paulson out in the cold

After several contentious months in Chapter 11 reorganization, bankrupt mortgage lender ResCap is close to a deal with key creditors, The Post has learned — news that is likely a plus for taxpayers but bad news for hedge fund billionaire John Paulson.

The two sides grew close to a deal during mediation sessions this week after Ally, the government-owned parent of ResCap, agreed to fork over much more than the $750 million it had on the table, sources said.

Filing a reorganization plan by the May 7 deadline could make it easier for Ally to step away from the lender’s liabilities and raise cash — either through the sale of assets or by taking its remaining auto-lending and online-bank business public — to pay back Uncle Sam…

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/no_paulson_ally_9Xvzs1yBItCYIZg6kl80yK

JC Penney Soars on News George Soros Is Shareholder

From BI: Shares of beleaguered retailer JC Penney rose more than 7 percent in aftermarket trading on Thursday after billionaire financier George Soros disclosed a 7.9 percent stake in the company.

Soros disclosed he owns about 17.4 million shares of the Plano, Texas, department store operator in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission….

Read all about it at http://www.businessinsider.com/soros-reports-stake-in-jcpenney-2013-4

Herbalife Elects Two Carl Icahn-Backed Board Members

From CNBC: During Herbalife's shareholder meeting, three proposals passed easily: an advisory vote supporting executive compensation, a plan to move toward annual re-election of the entire board and the election of some board members, including two new ones who work with Carl Icahn…

Icahn representatives Jonathan Christodoro and Keith Cozza were elected to serve two-year terms on the board.   The meeting was over in 15 minutes, and the board then adjourned to a private meeting where reporters weren't allowed….

More?  Check out http://www.cnbc.com/id/100675100

Bernanke: Alternatives to Libor Being Considered

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Bloomberg today that “a new issue this year pertains to reference interest rates, which recent investigations have demonstrated were manipulated, particularly in the case of Libor.”

“The international regulatory community is taking actions to address the governance and the integrity of Libor and to consider transitions toward alternative benchmarks,” Bernanke said today during a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council. He said the U.S. needs to cooperate in those efforts…

Find out more at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-25/bernanke-says-alternatives-to-libor-being-considered.html

Hedge Funders: It's 'A Badge Of Honor' To Be Targeted By 'Thuggish' Teachers Unions

From BI: The American Federation of Teachers, a labor union that represents teachers, is going after a bunch of hedge funders who support education reform.  Last week, the AFT released a "watch list" of hedge funds they think are "attacking" their defined benefit plans through their support of various educational reform groups.

. A total of 33 asset managers were named. There were big names on the so-called "watch list", including David Tepper (Appaloosa Management), Cliff Asness (AQR), Paul Singer (Elliott Management), Henry Kravis (KKR), Daniel Loeb (Third Point), Julian Robertson (Tiger Management) and Paul Tudor Jones (Tudor Investments), just to name a few….

Read all about it at http://www.businessinsider.com/aft-attacking-hedge-funds-2013-4#ixzz2RUPJv9J3

Greenlight’s Einhorn applauds Apple's capital return moves

According to thestreet, after waging and then withdrawing a battle with Apple to pay out a perpetual preferred stock dividend, David Einhorn of hedge fund Greenlight Capital is applauding the iPhone maker's decision to finance a 15% increase to the company's quarterly payout.

"We applaud Apple's decision to borrow money and return excess capital to shareholders, an idea that was off the table only months ago," a Greenlight Capital spokesperson said on behalf of the fund.

"This positive development represents a more shareholder friendly capital allocation policy and demonstrates the conviction of Apple's management and board in the Company's future."

Read all about it at http://www.thestreet.com/story/11903692/1/david-einhorn-of-greenlight-applauds-apple-dividend-boost.html

Wow! Is This Firm Unbeatable ? 100 straight quarters of profits!

From Bloomberg: Raymond James Financial Inc., the brokerage that posted profits for 100 straight quarters, is showing investors that simplicity is key to generating gains.

With headquarters 1,200 miles from Wall Street, the St. Petersburg, Florida-based company produced the best risk- adjusted return of nine U.S. brokerages, banks and advisory firms since 2009, the Bloomberg Riskless Return Banking shows. JPMorgan Chase, the biggest U.S. bank, ranked third as Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were among the worst performers.

Investors compare Raymond James, which has a business model that’s easy to grasp and shields the balance sheet from risk, to an asset manager as it mainly relies on fees. Unlike larger rivals, the brokerage gets most of its sales managing investor money, earning 64 percent of annual revenue in the last fiscal year from its private-client group. That gave Raymond James the stability to weather a financial crisis that caused larger banks to write off billions of dollars in loans….

Wait...there's more at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-24/raymond-james-beats-jpmorgan-as-best-brokerage-riskless-return.html

12 Signs the Economy is Weaker Than You Think

We’ve seen plenty of conflicting data in recent weeks as we begin to see some weakness in the economy (right on time again!).  In his latest note David Rosenberg highlights 12 indications that the economy is weaker than we think:

Household employment (-206k in March, the steepest decline in well over a year).

Real retail sales (-0.3% in March, down for the second time in three months).

Manufacturing production (-0.1% and also down in two of the past three months).

Core capex orders (-3.2% in February, and again, down in two of the past three months).

Single-family housing starts (-4.8% in March and negative for two of the past three months as well.

More?  Check out http://pragcap.com/david-rosenberg-12-signs-the-economy-is-weaker-than-we-think

Apple Dives as Cook Reports Profit Dip and No June IPhone

From Bloomberg: The shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple declined as much as 3.4 percent. While Cook outlined plans to debut new products starting late this year, analysts including Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray Cos. had expected the iPhone 5S in June and now anticipate that the new handset may not ship until September at the earliest.

Cook yesterday boosted Apple’s quarterly dividend and alloted more cash to buybacks, adding $55 billion to its plan to return cash to shareholders -- bringing the total to $100 billion through 2015. Cook made the announcements as Apple reported narrowing margins, an 18 percent decline in earnings and acknowledged that growth will continue to slow….

Wait…wait…there’s more at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-24/apple-ceo-seeks-to-blunt-growth-concerns-by-returning-cash-tech.html

The Trader Call That May Cost Billions

Deutsche Bank said it wasn’t to blame for 2008 losses on currency trades by Alexander Vik’s Sebastian Holdings Inc. that the Norwegian entrepreneur described in a phone call to Bloomberg as his “worst nightmare.”

E-mails and phone calls cited by the bank in trial documents show how market turmoil in October 2008 led to escalating losses at Sebastian, soured its relationship with Deutsche Bank and tested the lender’s prime brokerage systems to the breaking point.

Vik’s investment fund is suing the bank for as much as $8 billion over margin calls made at the height of the financial crisis, the bank said yesterday in documents released at the start of a London trial. Deutsche Bank says it acted properly and Sebastian owes it $250 million….

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-22/sebastian-losses-were-worst-nightmare-vik-told-deutsche-bank.html

Jana: Rockwood Worth $80 a Share in Possible Takeover

Jana Partners LLC, the $5 billion activist hedge fund run by Barry Rosenstein, said Rockwood Holdings Inc., the specialty chemicals maker seeking to exit businesses, may be worth $80 a share in a takeover.

Rockwood, which seeks to focus on its lithium and surface- treatments businesses, could attract bids from larger chemicals makers after selling other units, Jana said in a first-quarter letter to investors. Rockwood shares climbed 1.2 percent to $64.01 at 11:42 a.m. in New York trading, bringing the gain this year to 30 percent including reinvested dividends…

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-23/jana-says-rockwood-worth-80-a-share-in-possible-takeover.html

Avenue Capital's Lasry will not be envoy to France

Billionaire trader Marc Lasry told investors in his $12 billion Avenue Capital that he will remain at the hedge fund and not become the next U.S ambassador to France, according to a person familiar with the situation told Reuters

Lasry, who had been expected to get the nomination, told clients in a note on Tuesday he would remain at the New York-based firm, according to the source, who did not want to be identified….

Read more at http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/23/avenuecapital-lasry-idUSL2N0DA24U20130423

Apple Returning $55 Billion to Investors as Forecast Trails

Apple forecast sales that missed analysts’ predictions and said it will return an additional $55 billion in cash to shareholders to compensate for a stock that’s been hammered by signs of slowing growth.

The company boosted its quarterly dividend and alloted more cash to buybacks, announcing plans to borrow funds for what it called the largest share-repurchase program in history. Apple will have returned $100 billion, including past buybacks and dividends, through 2015, the Cupertino, California-based company said today in a statement…..

Read all about it at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-23/apple-forecasts-sales-below-estimates-boosts-dividend-buybacks.html

Hedge fund invests $2bn in Microsoft, thinks Redmond is undervalued

 

From theregister.uk: Microsoft's quarterly earnings report last week did little to reassure the markets that the company is on track to regain its former stock valuation, but a $2bn buying spree by a US hedge fund prompted an uptick in its share price on Monday.

At an investor conference Jeffrey Ubben, founder ValueAct Capital Management, said that investors aren't recognizing the long-term value that Microsoft holds, particularly with its strengths in server and back-end systems. His fund specializes in taking stakes in undervalued firms and spinning the shares into profitability….

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/22/hedge_fund_invests_microsoft/

Hedge fund manager 'earns' $1 million an hour

Yes, folks, last year, even as 15 million Americans continued to look for work and the average wage barely kept up with the cost of living, the 25 best paid hedge fund managers raked in a total of $14.14 billion, an average of $565.6 million per year, according to an analysis published last week by Institutional Investor Alpha.

The top ten took home $10.1 billion, and top manager David Tepper-who did not even make the top 25 last year-made off with $2.2 billion, equivalent to $1,057,692 an hour, as much as the average American family makes in 21 years.  As the report points out, the 2012 numbers were actually the lowest since 2008, when hedge fund managers lost money because of the financial crisis they largely caused. In 2011, the top 25 made $14.4 billion….

Find out more at http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/299706.html

Corzine Sued Over MF Global Failure

Who says there’s no such thing as justice?  Bloomberg reports that Jon Corzine, the former head of bankrupt broker MF Global Holdings Ltd., was sued by the holding company’s trustee, Louis J. Freeh, for failing in his duty to oversee the company and causing the eighth-biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

In the suit, filed in U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan, Freeh alleged that Corzine, the company’s chief executive officer and a former governor and senator from New Jersey, along with senior executives Bradley Abelow and Henri Steenkamp, failed to act in good faith and implemented strategies that caused the company to fail….

Read all about it at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-23/corzine-sued-by-trustee-freeh-over-mf-global-failure.html

How to Make $800 Million in 6 Months, Carl Icahn Edition

Back in January Netflix NFLX +6.73% disclosed that in late 2012, activist investor Carl Icahn had acquired about 10% of the company, at an average price of $58 per share. According to WSJ that means his stake of just over 5.5 million shares would have set him back about $321 million.

Mr. Icahn’s final intentions may still be a work in progress, but the “more valuable” part has certainly happened: After reporting positive first quarter results today, Netflix stock is up almost 25% in after-hours trading, at about $217 per share on Monday evening. That values the company at about $11.2 billion, and Mr. Icahn’s stake somewhere north of $1.1 billion.  On paper, that’s a tidy little $800 million profit in six months….

http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2013/04/22/how-to-make-800-million-in-6-months-carl-icahn-edition/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=WSJ_corp_intel

Apple’s Identity Crisis: Is It a Hardware Company or a Software Firm?

From WSJ: As Apple prepares to report what analysts project may be the company's first year-over-year quarterly earnings decline in a decade on Tuesday, it is also grappling with jittery investors and a recent share-price plunge that has wiped about $280 billion off its market capitalization since its stock reached a high of $702.10 last September.

Much of the investor nervousness is rooted in how Wall Street is treating and valuing the Cupertino, Calif., company as a traditional hardware maker. One camp of analysts and some investors said there is strong evidence that Apple should be viewed in a different light: as a software-hardware hybrid.

The distinction matters. If it continues to be seen as a hardware business, Apple's streak—driven by products like the iPhone and iPad—could run out….

More?  Check out http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323551004578439162453339122.html?mod=WSJ_business_LeadStoryCollection

Einhorn’s Swaps Boosting Marvell Bet Exposed by Buyback

David Einhorn, the hedge-fund manager who oversees $8.8 billion, relied on derivatives earlier this year to raise his bet on Marvell (MRVL) Technology Group Ltd. without falling under regulations designed for corporate insiders, according to the good folks at Bloomberg.

Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital Inc. increased its economic stake in Marvell to 12.4 percent from 9.7 percent by entering into total return swaps in January on about 12 million company shares, according to a regulatory filing last week. Einhorn was required to disclose the swaps because Marvell accelerated its stock repurchase program in December and January, reducing its shares outstanding and briefly pushing New York-based Greenlight’s ownership above 10 percent….

Read all about it at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-19/einhorn-s-swaps-boosting-marvell-bet-exposed-by-buyback.html

Aurora targets retail investors with liquid hedge fund

From Financialstandard: The need for daily liquidity is restricting retail investors from satisfying their increasing appetite for alternative investment products, according to Aurora Investment Management.

The US-based hedge fund boutique said that difficult market conditions had led many investors who wouldn't otherwise consider hedge funds, to increase their allocations.  In its Aurora Horizons fund, the hedge fund manager believes it has the key to unlocking the lucrative retail market. Not available to Australian investors yet, Aurora has been in the country sounding out interest from super funds and asset consultants and so far it says the response has been positive.

"It's a multi-strategy fund of hedge funds strategy which focuses on the most liquid ideas from across our investment partners to give our clients the advantage of daily pricing," explained Aurora partner, president and portfolio manager Scott Schweighauser….

More?  Check out http://www.financialstandard.com.au/news/view/27072441

Hedges find new Swiss rules good for business

At least ten new hedge funds are set to launch in Switzerland this year, after none in 2012, in a boost to the country's $24 billion industry, sources familiar with the plans told Reuters.

Fund managers had feared tighter legislation passed this year would damage the hedge fund sector in Switzerland, but the new rules have in fact attracted institutions previously unable to invest in such funds by giving them more protection.

While Swiss single hedge funds make up only a small part of Europe's $415 billion total, industry insiders see it growing, with the new regulations helping attract EU demand.  Industry sources advising new funds referred to at least ten fund launches this year which they said could ultimately boost Swiss hedge fund assets by $8 billion, eclipsing a 10 percent global growth forecast in a Credit Suisse survey….

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/22/uk-swiss-funds-hedge-idUSLNE93L00R20130422

Heavy hitters swing for the ‘hedges’

According to the NY Post hedge-fund mogul Stevie Cohen will be pitching at Yankee Stadium tomorrow.   No, the 56-year-old billionaire is not suiting up for the Bronx Bombers — but he will be hoping the magic of the House that Ruth Built will yield some investment cash.

Cohen, whose SAC Capital faces a loss of $1.7 billion from investors who want out of his $15 billion hedge fund, is one of about 70 hedge fund managers who’ll be at the Stadium tomorrow making a pitch to prospective new investors at a day-long event sponsored by Goldman Sachs.

SAC, which just settled Securities and Exchange Commission charges over insider trading, has recently re-opened its fund to new investments….

Find out more at http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/heavy_hitters_swing_for_the_hedges_laFYl48z3GyAQNgTmme0UP

Hedge Fund Gold Wagers Defy Worst Slump in 33 Years

From Bloomberg: Hedge funds increased bets on gold rallying after prices plunged the most in 33 years, underscoring billionaire John Paulson’s view that bullion will rebound.

Fund managers and other speculators increased net-long positions in gold by 9.8 percent to 61,579 futures and options in the week ended April 16, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Investors turned bullish on silver for the first time in three weeks. Wagers on higher prices across 18 U.S.-traded raw materials climbed 5.1 percent to 453,467 contracts, the first gain in three weeks.

More?  Go to http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-21/hedge-fund-gold-wagers-defy-worst-slump-in-33-years-commodities.html

A Make-or-Break Week Ahead for the Stock Market (Is this pullback really different?)

It's make-or-break time for the first-quarter earnings season, and it comes just as the stock market is showing signs of strain, according to CNBC..  About 170 S&P 500 and 10 Dow companies report earnings in the week ahead, and they include everything from tech icon Apple to industrial names like Caterpillar and energy companies like giant Exxon. As of Friday, a fifth of the S&P 500 had reported, and two-thirds had better-than-expected earnings. But an unusually high amount—57 percent—missed their top-line revenue estimates, according to Thomson Reuters…..

That's a cause for concern, since stocks traded in one of the most volatile seesaw patterns of the year in the past week, as worries about global growth increased amid a dramatic sell-off in commodities…. The Dow finished its worst week this year 2.1 percent lower at 14,547, and the S&P 500 was down 2.1 percent at 1,555. The Nasdaq was down 2.7 percent for the week, even with Friday's big gain of 1.3 percent on the back of a tech rally….

Read more at http://www.cnbc.com/id/100656626

Billionaire Steve Schwarzman Has Donated $100 Million To Start His Own Version Of The Rhodes Scholar

Ego, ego...who's got the big ego?  Billionaire private equity tycoon Steve Schwarzman has donated $100 million to endow a scholarship program similar to the Rhodes Scholars at Tsinghua University in Beijing, according to a press release.  Instead of Rhodes Scholars, the students will be called "Schwarzman Scholars."

According to the release, the program will pay for 200 students every year to study for a one-year Master’s program at Tsinghua University.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/schwarzman-scholars-in-china-2013-4#ixzz2R7irs7P0

Steve Cohen buys $39M W. Village property

According to the Post hedge-fund billionaire Steve Cohen is on a real-estate buying spree as his SAC Capital insider-trading woes continue.  Cohen, whose firm got a conditional court agreement to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $602 million this week, snapped up 145 Perry St. in the West Village for $38.8 million, according to public records of the sale.

The apartment building was being developed by David Halpern Architects, but that deal fell through. Records show it was sold to Cohen’s Greenwich Heights Corp. in Stamford, Conn.

There is chatter he bought another city apartment, this one at the Abingdon, also in the West Village, while he renovates 145 Perry…

Read all about it at http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/cohen_land_deals_qpIfscBIxAMW1DQoNnr9fN

Cantor Fitzgerald Gets Hedge Fund Investors' Claims Pared

From Law360.com :A Federal judge in Louisiana on Wednesday granted most of Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.’s request to dismiss claims it was involved in stiffing investors in now-bankrupt hedge funds, except an allegation for aiding and abetting a breach of fiduciary duty…

http://www.law360.com/articles/433813/cantor-fitzgerald-gets-hedge-fund-investors-claims-pared

Paulson's Advantage fund stung by plunge in gold

Hedge fund billionaire John Paulson's best-known fund is down 2.4 percent in April, largely due to the sharp selloff in gold, a source familiar with the numbers said on Thursday, Reuters reports.

The Paulson & Co Advantage fund is making money for the year, but just barely, with a 1.3 percent gain, the source said.

The fund's substantial holdings in several gold mining stocks, including a bet on AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, which is down 40 percent this year, have dramatically cut into the Advantage fund's returns.

More?  Check out http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/19/uk-paulson-idUSLNE93I00I20130419

Randi Weingarten's Pension Veto

The teachers union chief tries to blackball hedge funds that support school reform.

From the WSJ: Public pension funds are frantically chasing higher yields to reduce their roughly $3 trillion in unfunded liabilities. But don't tell that to Randi Weingarten, the teachers union el supremo, who is trying to strong-arm pension trustees not to invest in hedge funds or private-equity funds that support education reform.

That's the remarkable story that emerged this week as the American Federation of Teachers president tried to sandbag hedge fund investor Dan Loeb at a conference sponsored by the Council of Institutional Investors. CII had invited Mr. Loeb, who runs Third Point LLC, to talk about investment opportunities and corporate governance. Ms. Weingarten is an officer and board member of CII.  But Ms. Weingarten's real concern is that Mr. Loeb puts his own money behind school reform and charter schools….

Read all about it at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323809304578429372927039816.html

Oops! Reuters Accidentally Releases George Soros Obituary And It's REALLY Scalding

Reuters has accidentally posted an obituary of hedge fund billionaire George Soros.

The remarkable thing is how harsh it is, basically calling the fund manager a hypocrite, and talking about all of the crises he supposedly caused by making currency bets.

In the opening line, Soros, 82, is referred to as "predatory."  He's also called "an enigma, wrapped in intellect, contradiction and money" in the piece.  Other critiques include the fact that he failed to buy the Washington Nationals at one point.

Moments after the story was set live, Reuters Tweeted that it published the obit in error. The article has been taken down.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/reuters-george-soros-obituary-2013-4#ixzz2QtCKIzS5

Former Israeli Intelligence Operatives Now Working For Hedge Funds

Shocker: A company staffed with former operatives of Israel’s top intelligence agencies and founded with the help of the former head of the Mossad is being used by hedge funds looking for an edge in the financial markets, Forbes reports.

Kela Israeli Intelligence has increasingly become a popular service on Wall Street. The firm employs about 40 former intelligence operatives and analysts, most of them ex-members of the Israeli army’s secretive 8200 unit, which is often described as Israel’s equivalent to the National Security Agency and believed to be behind the Stuxnet computer worm that attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities. Kela also employs former agents of Israel’s Mossad spy agency and the company was founded with the help of Shabtai Shavit, the director general of the Mossad from 1989 to 1996, who sits on Kela’s advisory board….

Read all about it at http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2013/04/18/former-israeli-intelligence-operatives-now-working-for-hedge-funds/

Stoolie turns up heat on Steve Cohen

From the NY Post: More bad news has landed at the doorstep of billionaire hedge-fund honcho Steven Cohen. Cohen, who just had his ex-wife’s racketeering lawsuit against him revived, learned yesterday that a former employee of his $14 billion SAC Capital Advisors has become quite the government stoolie.

Jon Horvath, an analyst with SAC’s Sigma Capital unit until his arrest last year on insider-trading charges, pleaded guilty last September. The government was given until March 31 to say whether he should be sentenced.  But he has apparently been so helpful to prosecutors and the FBI probing fraud at SAC that the feds requested the sentencing be put off for six months..

Read all about it at http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/stoolie_turns_up_heat_on_steve_lNXz1nJAtY3HuoFllMBbHP

Wall Street Slips Out of Highest-Paid Intern List

If you believe the highest-paid interns are on Wall Street, you're wrong. They're mostly in social media and technology, according to a recent Glassdoor.com survey. The site, which touts itself as a jobs and career community, found that the top four companies pay interns more than $6,000 a month.

VMware (VMW), a leading technology firm, ranks No. 1 in internship salaries, at $6,704. Rounding out the top five: eBay (EBAY) ($6,500), ExxonMobil (XOM) ($6,268), Facebook (FB) ($6,084) and Google (GOOG) (5,891).  In fact, Wall Street firms didn't even crack the top 10…..

Read all about it at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-street-slips-highest-paid-145337149.html

Fund manager is a wanted man

The Daily Telegraph reports that Russian prosecutors have asked a court to issue an international arrest warrant for William Browder, the millionaire British hedge fund manager who has become a major thorn in the Kremlin’s side over his criticism and exposés of official corruption.

Investigators in Moscow have charged Mr Browder, the founder of Hermitage Captial Management, with tax evasion in a case which human rights groups have largely dismissed as political. His co-accused is Sergei Magnitsky, the whistleblowing lawyer who died in police custody..  Browder has been accused of illegally buying Gazprom stock when foreign ownership of the world’s largest natural gas producer was restricted. He says the charges are politically motivated.

More?  Turn to http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/british-hedge-fund-manager-william-browder-is-a-wanted-man-in-russia-8577394.html

The Real Reason Goldman is Mum on Risky Assets

From Fortune: How risky is Goldman Sachs? Don't ask. Executives won't tell you. On a conference call with analysts on Tuesday to announce first-quarter earnings, which beat expectations but still somehow disappointed, Goldman's CFO Harvey Schwartz was asked about a key measure that tracks how many potential risky securities or loans the bank has. Had it risen or dropped? Schwartz's response: We aren't saying.

Goldman doesn't have to. Dodd-Frank, the banking reform law passed in the wake of the financial crisis, doesn't require Goldman and other big banks to begin using the measure Schwartz was asked about for another few years. Nonetheless, nearly all the big banks began regularly disclosing the new figure of so-called risk-weighted assets, known as Basel 3, last year. Goldman is the only holdout….

More   Check out http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/17/goldman-sachs-risky-assets/?iid=SF_F_River

Apollo sued by fraudster/ex-placement agent

Fortune asks is it chutzpah, a breach of contract or both? Former "placement agent" Al Villalobos yesterday sued Apollo Global Management (APO) in a Nevada bankruptcy court, alleging that the firm had improperly withheld payments related to his capital-raising work on behalf of the firm. The complaint also includes the transcript of a recent deposition of Apollo founder Leon Black, which (finally) shines a bit more light on Apollo's thinking during the years in which it used Villalobos.

For the uninitiated, Villalobos has been accused of fraud by both The Securities & Exchange Commission and The U.S. Department of Justice, who allege that he and former CalPERS CEO Fred Buenrostro forged disclosure documents…..

Find out more at http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/17/apollo-sued-by-ex-placement-agent/?iid=SF_F_River

….And Another Hedge fund operator pleads guilty…

Yusaf Jawed on Tuesday pleaded guilty to felony charges that alleged Portland-based Grifphon Asset Management was little more than a Ponzi scheme.

The charges included five felony counts of mail fraud and 12 felony counts of wire fraud. Each count carries a maximum 20-year sentence and $250,000 fine….

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2013/04/16/yusaf-jawed-grifphon-guilty-plea.html

The Gold Plunge May Have Been The First ETF-Led Death Spiral

“….If it was just ETFs and some retail money, then it wouldn’t be so bad. The real problem comes from hedge funds. While mom and pop and the die hards might sit on their gold holdings, hedge funds don’t have that luxury. Funds have monthly and quarterly performance targets. Watching a market meltdown doesn’t bring out buyers, it forces selling.

This is especially true in assets that have seen “mission creep”. It is one thing for a commodity focused hedge fund to lose on gold. It isn’t even so bad if a global macro fund does, but the problem is when funds that really don’t have much business being in gold have added positions. As a “hedge” or as an “alternative”. Whatever the excuse was, many funds had accumulated some gold….

Read more: http://www.tfmkts.com/the-t-report-gold-etf-flows-death-spirals-and-fixed-income/#ixzz2Qn8S62fG

Stoolie turns up heat on Steve Cohen

More bad news has landed at the doorstep of billionaire hedge-fund honcho Steven Cohen.

Cohen, who just had his ex-wife’s racketeering lawsuit against him revived, told the Post that he learned yesterday that a former employee of his $14 billion SAC Capital Advisors has become quite the government stoolie.

Jon Horvath, an analyst with SAC’s Sigma Capital unit until his arrest last year on insider-trading charges, pleaded guilty last September. The government was given until March 31 to say whether he should be sentenced.  But he has apparently been so helpful to prosecutors and the FBI probing fraud at SAC that the feds requested the sentencing be put off for six months..

Read all about it at http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/stoolie_turns_up_heat_on_steve_lNXz1nJAtY3HuoFllMBbHP

Wall Street Slips Out of Highest-Paid Intern List

According to Yahoo Finance, if you believe the highest-paid interns are on Wall Street, you're wrong. They're mostly in social media and technology, according to a recent Glassdoor.com survey. The site, which touts itself as a jobs and career community, found that the top four companies pay interns more than $6,000 a month.

VMware (VMW), a leading technology firm, ranks No. 1 in internship salaries, at $6,704. Rounding out the top five: eBay (EBAY) ($6,500), ExxonMobil (XOM) ($6,268), Facebook (FB) ($6,084) and Google (GOOG) (5,891).  In fact, Wall Street firms didn't even crack the top 10…..

Find out more at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-street-slips-highest-paid-145337149.html

Richard Russell: I See A Bearish Pattern In The Latest Buffett, Paulson, And Soros Trades

Via King World News: What do billionaires Warren Buffet, John Paulson, and George Soros know that you and I don't know?  I don't have the answer, but I do know what these billionaires are doing.  They, all three, are selling consumer-oriented stocks.  Buffett has been a cheerleader for US stocks all along.

But in the latest filing, Buffett has been drastically cutting back on his exposure to consumer stocks.  Berkshire sold roughly 19 million shares of Johnson and Johnson.  Berkshire has reduced his overall stake in consumer product stocks by 21%, including Kraft and Procter and Gamble.  He has also cleared out his entire position in Intel.  He has sold 10,000 shares of GM and 597,000 shares of IBM.

Fellow billionaire John Paulson dumped 14 million shares of JP Morgan and dumped his entire position in Family Dollar and consumer goods maker Sara Lee.  To wrap up the trio of billionaires, George Soros sold nearly all his bank stocks including JP Morgan, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.  So I don't know exactly what the billionaires are thinking, but I do see what they're doing -- they are avoiding consumer stocks and building up cash.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-russell-on-buffett-paulson-soros-2013-4#ixzz2QkQN1acn

Apple Sinks to One-Year Low Amid Signs of 'Lacking Demand'

Apple tumbled to its lowest level in over a year as investors continued to dump shares of the tech company amid worries over second-quarter iPad mini shipments, CNBC reports.

The once-darling tech giant of Wall Street shed more than 3 percent Wednesday, falling to its lowest level since last January, following a report from DigiTimes that iPad mini shipments could fall 20 to 30 percent quarter-over-quarter to 10 to 12 million in the June quarter due to "lacking demand in the market….."

More?  Check out http://www.cnbc.com/id/100649481

Court OKs Lehman settlements to free up $15 billion for customers

From Reuters: A judge on Tuesday approved a set of settlements among Lehman Brothers entities that will allow the company's defunct brokerage to pay back about $15 billion in customer claims.

The intercompany claims had been the final obstacles keeping James Giddens, the trustee recovering money for the broker's customers, from making full payouts to brokerage customers.  While individual retail customers were made whole shortly after Lehman's collapse in 2008, hundreds of affiliate, institutional and hedge fund customers of the brokerage have been waiting for their money….

Read all about it at http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/16/us-lehman-settlements-idUSBRE93F11720130416

Swiss banker, attorney charged in American tax probe

Authorities on Tuesday charged a Swiss banker and a Swiss attorney with helping American clients hide millions of dollars in offshore accounts to evade paying taxes. According to Reuters Stefan Buck and Edgar Paltzer were each charged with one count of conspiracy, an indictment filed in Manhattan federal court showed. It did not name the defendants' employers…..

The case is the latest in a string of prosecutions from the Justice Department aimed at curtailing offshore tax evasion services sold by Swiss and Swiss-style banks.

….

Read more at http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/17/us-usa-tax-swiss-idUSBRE93G02K20130417

Yahoo's Bogosity: Marissa Mayer's Got Numbers -- Just Not the Right Ones

From Forbes: Call it growth, Yahoo-style.  Three months ago, glossing her new company’s fourth-quarter earnings, CEO Marissa Mayer dropped an impressive if context-free number, claiming to have resolved “resolved 385 of the high-priority obstacles our employees identified to us.”  This quarter, she had an even bigger number to report: Under her watch, Yahoo has launched no fewer than 567 “employee-focused initiatives.” That’s 182 more employee-focused initiatives launched than high-priority obstacles resolved, for those keeping score.

If Mayer’s been emphasizing the made-up metrics, it’s most likely because Yahoo has been having a tough time with the generally accepted ones.   It’s no mystery what’s going on. Yahoo disappointed on both the display advertising and search revenue fronts. The display performance was especially worrisome, with the total volume of ads sold falling 7% year over year and the price per ad dropping 2%...

Sure it’s sobering.  But there’s more at http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/04/16/yahoo-earnings-marissa-mayers-got-numbers-just-not-the-right-ones/

Huge SAC Settlement OKed—With A Caveat

A federal judge has given provisional approval to SAC Capital Advisors' record $602 million insider-trading settlement. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero yesterday assented to the Securities and Exchange Commission settlement. But Marrero, who last month postponed a decision on the deal, said SAC would not have to pay the money until a federal appeals court rules on whether district court judges can reject settlements in which defendants do not admit or deny wrongdoing…

Read all about it at http://www.finalternatives.com/node/23407

How Paulson’s Gold Fever Dream Lost Him $1 Billion in Two Days

NY Mag’s Kevin Roose writes: I always thought it was somewhat bizarre that John Paulson, the hedge-fund billionaire and imaginary IM pal of Jessica Pressler, was heavily invested in gold. Gold, unlike the credit default swaps on mortgage-backed securities that made Paulson his billions, isn't a thinking man's investment. Betting on gold requires no counterintuitive analysis, no Paolo Pellegrini whispering insights in your ear. It's a fairly obvious reactionary play for doomsday preppers and Fed-haters, and has been since Paulson began piling into it in 2009.

What's weirder is that Paulson, who is temperate (if conservative) in his personal politics, isn't simply betting on gold as a speculator. That, at least, would be an understandable move. (Rough investment thesis: There are a lot of gold bugs in the world, and the Fed's quantitative easing efforts will likely create more, driving up the price of gold and making me rich[er].) No, Paulson seems to be a true believer, who really does think that the Fed's expansionary monetary policy will create massive inflation and debase the dollar.

"What's the only asset that will hold value? It's got to be gold," Paulson said back in 2009….

Grab a clean hankie and go to http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/04/john-paulson-loses-1-billion-on-gold.html