Alternative investment

Valiant Capital Management is a San Francisco-based hedge fund and is among the few who not only accurately predicted the coronavirus’ impact on global markets, but did something about it, The Wall Street Journal reported. Sources close to the hedge fund told WSJ its boss Chris Hansen started to take short positions in stock indexes in late January. A few weeks later, the fund started shorting companies it identified as over-levered from a financ…

The first quarter of 2020 has come to an end and by nearly every imaginable metric, it was a terrible period for global investors. The U.S. market, in particular, was hard hit with the Dow posting its worst performance since 1987 while the S&P 500 index recorded its biggest quarterly decline since 2008. The debate if now is the right time to buy on the dip is as fierce as ever. Even billionaire investment pros can’t agree with each other. Oak…

2019 was a monumental year for global money manager BlackRock but this seems to be a “distant reality,” Chairman and CEO Larry Fink wrote in his yearly letter to shareholders. ‘Overtaken our lives’ The coronavirus has, unfortunately, “overtaken our lives” and BlackRock’s offices across the world are void of human activity, Fink wrote. Instead, he is writing his annual letter to shareholders from his home office, much like millions of others. The…

The current environment is certainly a difficult one for the world but the one silver lining is we can expect to see a lot of new innovation, according to ARK Invest founder and CEO Cathie Wood. Buy ‘trounced’ names ARK focuses on finding investment opportunities among companies that show disruptive innovation. The current environment encourages companies to innovate and those who succeed will see market share growth in whatever area they operate…

The stock market is in a state of complete turmoil and panic while on a social level, people haven’t shown any meaningful reaction to the coronavirus, Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya said on CNBC’s “Halftime Report” on Thursday.  Should be the opposite A “little bit” of social panic could prove to be a good thing to help ease the spread of the coronavirus, Palihapitiya said. A reasonable amount of panic translates to heightened caution an…

Multiple activist investor hedge funds are upping their campaigns against oil giant Occidental Petroleum and video game retailer GameStop. Icahn quadruples-down against Occidental Notable billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn appears to have taken advantage of the recent dip in Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) and now owns nearly 10% of the company, according to The Wall Street Journal. This represents an increase of around four-fold from the…

The price of oil crashed Monday by nearly 25% to settle at $31.13 a barrel and this poses a problem for American oil companies, according to Again Capital founding partner John Kilduff. Below $50 A Barrel Again Capital is an alternative investment firm with a specialized focus on listed energy derivatives and core energy plays. On Monday the fund’s Kilduff was a guest on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” segment and said many American oil companies are “in tro…

Activist investor Paul Singer and his Elliott Management hedge fund reached an agreement with social media company Twitter. Elliott Owns 4% Of Twitter Singer and his hedge fund accumulated a 4% stake of Twitter and a proxy war to remove Jack Dorsey as CEO seemed to be imminent. But on Monday the two sides reached an agreement in which Twitter will immediately nominate two new board members and search for a third.  The agreement also calls for Twi…

Private equity behemoth Sequoia Capital sent a letter to companies it invested in, noting they may want to “brace” for coronavirus-induced “turbulence” ahead. ‘The Black Swan Of 2020’ The coronavirus has now infected more than 100,000 people across the world and showing no sign of slowing down. This represents “the black swan of 2020” that could play out in one of several ways, according to the letter. While the number one priority is the health…

Billionaire hedge fund and stock picking veteran Steven Cohen is looking to jump into the private market through a new hybrid venture and private-equity fund, The Wall Street Journal reported. Unusual Fund Style Cohen is looking to raise $500 million to $900 million to start a new fund that will seek companies that are either: 1) early-stage tech companies who focus on artificial intelligence, or 2) operating companies that would benefit from AI…