Each business day HedgeCo.Net keeps you informed with the top hedge fund industry news, opinion and insight from around the globe. From the latest hedge fund launches, to the impact of regulation, competition, and investor activism - we track the topics and people that make a difference to you.
Fort Worth Star Telegram – That sure looked like the Alaska governor moose hunting in downtown Fort Worth on Wednesday.
And she found an already-well-stuffed target: business and political leaders generously donating money for Christmas gifts for 1,500 children, thanks to the Exchange Club of Fort Worth.
By the time Sarah Palin look-alike Kristy Casey of Houston winked her last "You betcha!" and introduced Fort Worth lawyer and political pooh-bah Dee Kelly as a "maverick," the 160 members of the tradition-rich civic club had toasted the holidays and taken up $75,000 for the Star-Telegram’sGoodfellow Fund.
"The Guv" teased Kelly by presenting him a double-sided political yard sign supporting two 2010 candidates for governor: U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and aspiring governor-for-life Rick Perry. The Palin double also dropped off a belated Wendy Davis campaign sign for Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief, a Democrat who backed Republican state Sen. Kim Brimer in a moose-sized defeat.
Bloomberg – Parkcentral Capital Management LP, an investment firm that manages money for the family of former U.S. presidential candidate H. Ross Perot, is liquidating a fixed-income hedge fund because it’s “no longer viable.”
Parkcentral Global Hub Ltd.’s assets fell as much as 40 percent to $1.5 billion this year through October. The fund is selling remaining holdings to pay creditors, Eddie Reeves, a spokesman for the Plano, Texas-based firm, said in an e-mailed statement today. Perot, 78, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. president in 1992, and members of his family are the fund’s biggest investors.
Vineland Daily Journal – So Mark Cuban — internet billionaire, Dallas Mavericks owner, blogging geyser — is in the soup for alleged insider training, the feds claiming he saved himself $750,000.
That’s chump change. It wouldn’t even pay his NBA fines. But the folks down at the Securities and Exchange Commission can be a little touchy.
The upside to all this, though, is we could well be treated to another episode of one of the more entertaining grudge matches in the public domain.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Dallas Mavericks owner and billionaire investor Mark Cuban has been accused of insider trading by the SEC after allegedly using private information that helped him avoid over $750,000 in losses tied to stocks.
Search engine company Mamma.com supposedly invited Cuban to participate in its offering, but made Cuban swear he would keep the information private. The lawsuit filed in Dallas claims that Cuban was well aware that his 6 percent stake in the company would be sold below the current market price after learning some inside information. Cuban allegedly took that information and got rid of all of his shares.
"As we allege in the complaint, Mamma.com entrusted Mr. Cuban with nonpublic information after he promised to keep the information confidential. Less than four hours later, Mr. Cuban betrayed that trust by placing an order to sell all of his shares," Deputy Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement Scott W. Friestad said. "It is fundamentally unfair for someone to use access to nonpublic information to improperly gain an edge on the market."
In Cuban’s popular blog, blogmaverick.com, the outspoken investor wrote, ““I am disappointed that the Commission chose to bring this case based upon its Enforcement staff’s win-at-any-cost ambitions. The staff’s process was result-oriented, facts be damned. The government’s claims are false and they will be proven to be so.”
Cuban has an estimated net worth of close to $3 billion. In addition to owning the Mavericks, he serves as the Chairman of HDNet, an HDTV cable network.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
Dallas Morning News – Hedge fund operator and oil prognosticator T. Boone Pickens liquidated one of his hedge funds last month as the stock markets plunged.
The Dallas billionaire converted his energy equity fund to cash and offered investors the opportunity to withdraw their money early.
The fund started with $2 billion and could be down to around $400 million to $500 million after withdrawals, according to someone familiar with the fund.
The fund was down 60 percent this year after heady gains in previous years.
