Donald Trump added a number of people to his all white, male economic advisory team, including hedge fund executive Anthony Scaramucci, widely known as “the Mooch.” The Republican presidential candidate also named eight women after he faced criticism for his homogeneous group. Scaramucci, of course, is the founder of funds-of-funds firm SkyBridge Capital, co-host of the revised Wall Street Week television show and co-creator of the annual SALT Conference. Other hedge fund honchos advising Trump include John Paulson of New York-based Paulson & Co. and former hedge fund manager Carl Icahn.
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Shares of activist favorite Macy’s surged 17 percent on Thursday, to close at $39.81, after the department store giant reported mediocre results that nonetheless exceeded Wall Street expectations and announced plans to close about 100 stores. Last summer, Starboard Value’s Jeffrey Smith told attendees at the Delivering Alpha conference that the stock was worth about $125, or nearly double its price at the time. In January the New York activist published a detailed plan designed to unlock value at Macy’s, recommending that the Cincinnati-based retailing giant create joint ventures for the real estate of underlying stores. At the end of the first quarter David Einhorn’s New York-based Greenlight Capital was the eighth-largest shareholder. However, Einhorn recently reported in his second-quarter letter to clients that he sold his entire Macy’s position for a loss after the company sharply reduced its 2016 guidance.
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Easy come, easy go. Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International fell more than 10 percent and are now down more than 13 percent over the past two days following its 25 percent surge on Tuesday. On Thursday the Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal government has launched a criminal investigation into whether the embattled drug maker hid its ties to Philidor Rx Services, a mail-order pharmacy, in order to boost the sales of its own drugs.
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Chris Hansen’s Valiant Capital Management established sizable new positions in two stocks in the second quarter, according to its 13F quarterly stock filing. They are online travel company TripAdvisor and the “C” shares of telecom giant Liberty Global. At the same time, the San Francisco-based Tiger Grandcub liquidated four positions, including the “A” shares of Liberty Global as well as lender World Acceptance Corp., timeshare company Diamond Resorts International and retailer L Brands.
