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.
Money Morning – President-elect Barack Obama has made no bones about wanting to jump-start the renewable energy markets – pledging $150 billion for the development of biofuels, solar and wind power, other alternative energy sources during his first term.
But what might the new administration mean for more traditional – and more reliable –energy sources?
Oil is always the first energy source to spring to mind. But it’s hardly a solo act – coal and nuclear make up the other two-thirds of the top fuel trio. Coal delivers 50% of U.S. electricity needs, and nuclear power brings another 20% to the table.
The cold truth is that demand for energy of all types – and especially electricity – is going to keep advancing, domestically and worldwide. And developing alternatives to coal and nuclear will take time. For instance, tying wind and solar into the existing power grid will be enormously expensive and is likely to pose massive technical and engineering problems.
Wall Street Journal – Harbinger Capital Partners and Firebrand Investments LLC, the hedge funds that put two representatives on the board of the New York Times Co. this past spring, are again adding to their stake in the media company.
Through share purchases and a series of equity swaps, Harbinger Capital Partners and Firebrand Investments added economic exposure to 1.9 million Times shares in August, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Harbinger and Firebrand increased their Class A stake in the Times to nearly 20% this spring, and shortly after gaining board representation, the funds stopped buying shares. After four months of silence, however, Harbinger disclosed that it is again adding to its stake, mostly through equity swaps.
By entering into the swaps with an unnamed counterparty, Harbinger and Firebrand effectively gained economic exposure to an additional 1.7 million Class A shares. The funds also bought 200,000 shares outright for $13 a share.
Bloomberg – Energy Capital Management and Nordic Commodity Funds AB’s hedge funds are outperforming the competition in European energy markets, where power prices fell as much as 17 percent last month from a record.
Energy Capital’s MMT fund returned 19.2 percent through July, according to a letter to investors, the best result in a Bloomberg survey of 11 funds in Europe’s electricity, coal, natural-gas and emissions markets. Alfakraft AB’s Alfa Energy Fund posted the biggest drop, at 17.9 percent, according to its Web site.
The plunge in power prices and related commodities since early July ended a four-year surge in electricity costs that enabled funds to provide better returns than stocks and bonds. Coal costs, which affect European power markets, more than doubled in the first half, before sliding 13 percent in July.
