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Ackman is gaining momentum and so is the JP Morgan Chase story by Matt Taibbi. The perfect storm is brewing.
It's going bananas on L2. Ackman = very powerful and influential.
Ackman just covered on CNBC for his $2B stake in a company called Zoetis. Man, Ackman is no joke. We will be good here.
I would think that news of FnF coming out of conservatorship or at least a positive change in the sweeping of all profits would send FnF up so fast, an R/S would not be needed.
LOL!!!!!
First post-conference call article for Pershing 3Q 2014:
http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/11/ackman-confirms-allergan-talks-valeant/
In conference call, Ackman wonders if Herbalife will collapse of its own accord or with government assistance
Allergan, Inc. (NYSE:AGN) is currently in direct negotiations with Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) (TSE:VRX), Pershing Square’s founder Bill Ackman confirmed on a conference call with investors today, as the hedge fund delivered positive October performance of 0.7 percent to 1.4 percent across its various fund structures. Year to date performance is 32.5 percent and 35 percent.
Winners for the month included long exposure to Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE:CP) (TSE:CP), Allergan and Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE:BKW), and the fund saw profits in a short position in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF). Losers included Fannie Mae / Federal National Mortgage Assctn Fnni Me (OTCBB:FNMA), Freddie Mac / Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (OTCBB:FMCC), Platform and Howard Hughes Corp (NYSE:HHC).
Bill Ackman Pershing Square Allergan
Allergan open to negotiations after Ackman’s letter
“Press reports are accurate,” Ackman said, saying they are now engaged in direct discussions with Allergan. ValueWalk had exclusively reported last week that Allergan was open to negotiations after Ackman posted a letter to Allergan’s board encouraging the firm to negotiate its sale. No information on the progress of those negotiations was revealed, but Ackman did note that a December 18 proxy meeting was looming and “the clock is ticking.”
In regards to Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), a famous short of the hedge fund, Ackman attributed the company’s poor second and third quarter earnings, as well as poor guidance going forward, due to the inability to sell distributorships. “This have everything to do with the sale of a fraudulent business opportunity,” Ackman said, saying it it was a real nutrition company it would be addressing obesity. The big question is “will the business collapse on its own accord or will it happen with government intervention.” The hedge fund also sent a letter to the firm that lays out “what a compliance operation at Herbalife should look like.” Ackman also said he anticipates Herbalife to repay debt that is coming due to the fact they have “little in the way of assets” and should have trouble paying back this loan.
In regards to Burger King, the Pershing Square portfolio managers expressed a great degree of confidence in Brazilian private equity firm 3-G, which they think will run the firm effectively and that a tax inversion played a small role in the motivation for a deal. Pershing Square said there was significant cross-selling opportunity with Burger King franchises, who might be interested in opening a Tim Horton in the U.S. The investors receive 5 percent of all revenue Burger King generates, which Ackman called an “inflation protected, currency hedged annuity.”
Ackman expects Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s issue to be overturned in courts
In regards to Fannie Mae / Federal National Mortgage Assctn Fnni Me (OTCBB:FNMA), Freddie Mac / Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (OTCBB:FMCC), Ackman said he expects the issue to be overturned in court on appeal. “The litigation strategy is to recover what was stolen,” Ackman said, while the potential for settlement exists. The U.S. government took control of the stock, taking all profits, without properly compensating shareholders, Ackman said, pointing to a larger issue. “If the government can take profits… without providing appropriate compensation… it can take the profits of every corporation.”
A big winner for the fund in the month was Canadian Pacific, a railroad firm that delivered great third quarter despite congestion in Chicago. The firm has a “culture of accountability,” and specifically outlined financial targets, citing increased railroad speed and efficiency to deliver goods.
In regards to risk management, the fund actively considers outlier protection methods. When it thought a Eurozone implosion was possible, it bought swaps credit default insurance. It also purchased call options on the Hong Kong dollar as a hedge and also as a speculative play, saying it was a mispriced option. Ackman said some of the social unrest in Hong Kong is due to the rising cost of living among lower economic classes. One government solution might be to make the Hong Kong dollar rise.
Excellent conference call.
Yup, I believe this is already in progress.
Thanks for posting!
Bingo!
It's going to be a great day for IBIO players.
Anyone in IBIO today, I think you are going to need your running shoes to keep up. Congratulations and take some profits.
Google the title of the article and you will be able to get the full content of it.
Yup. It's all coming together, slow and steady.
Lol! I like that post.
Agreed.
Hmm, Watts claiming that the GSEs have been reformed AFTER Ackman drops one of his lawsuits, Fannie and Freddie had huge profits and Cramer goes on TV talking about the housing industry in a positive light and dropping Fannie by name? I forgot to add in the lumping Dems took during this election cycle.
I am going with FnF being released from conservatorship soon as a strategic move by the Obama administration. Also, with the woman from the JP Morgan whistle blower story naming Eric Holder as not really wanting to go after the banksters like he should have, Holder leaving at this time is very interesting.
It's a wrap.
And some people think fraud only happens on the OTC.
Powerful stuff in this article:
Good points, indeed.
Herein lies the problem on a much grander scale.
If I had the option to short EWSI, I would. Easy money here for shorters. EWSI is your usual OTC company, unfortunately.
IMO, nothing here says "go long." Good luck to those who play it.
IMO, he doesn't have to mention FNMA by symbol and to say "it's a buy" for it to move in this case. Just piecing Cramer's mentioning of FNMA along with other recent happenings surrounding FNMA, Cramer's comments (and timing) leads me to believe commons will get a favorable outcome. When? Who knows.
And the pressure keeps mounting.....awesome.
Unfortunately, that is how the game works. Our task, as retail money, is to position on the side that big money runs it so we can put our buckets out in the flow of their money and grab some of it.
As Clay Trader puts it, "Price and volume are the King Indicators." That's what we have to closely watch more than any other chart indicator to help us see where big money is moving. SEC 4 filings are helpful, too, IMO.
We can win. Just realize retail is usually more of the bucket holders either dipping in to scoop out more money or dumping what we have into the flow and losing it. Let's position to scoop out of the flow of big money. They won't miss it as their stream of money is dang near never ending.
Those people that got in at the $.20 - $.30 range and are still holding, have some serious patience and discipline.
That's a fair statement. Isn't it due by Nov 11th?
Count me in!
Yes sir. While it probably went over many people' heads at first (me included), reading this board has educated me a lot on the FnF situation and how it's turning around.
Glad to be here and participate!
I believe Sweeney is going to rule favoring the commons. It's so clear cut that our government did the wrong thing by sweeping all of the profits. While FnF are not easy to hold stocks due to their volatility, pay day is approaching.
Sitting tight here.
This is monster! Cramer, love him or hate him, has clout. Just the mere mention of a company's ticker can send it in the direction favoring his viewpoint on the stock.
Like someone else posted, connect the dots. Cramer, Ackman's comments yesterday or today on value of Fannie's shares, Perahing lawsuit withdrawn, the creation of the CSE (?), lawyer known for helping with NYSE listings coming on board with Fannie, Bloomberg writer posing a suggestive question about Congress rethinking winding down the two GSEs during the recent FMCC conference call among other things.
IMO, we are seeing confirmation of deals that are in progress or already worked out to favor the shareholders. Oh, I forgot one HUGE story; the recent Rolling Stone article about JP Morgan Chase which also mentioned Eric Holder.
All those ingredients mixed together to me = one heck of a stir fry for the commons. Anyone find it strange that Cramer's opinion came out on Friday evening? Hmm....big money and power don't play the game like retail. They run the market. Cramer is dropping hints on how this will play out.
Bingo!
Ugh! Not good to hear the CEOs say that. However, it could be the script they are given from their bosses, the FHFA.
What a bounce back! Anyone who picked up in the $.80s must be planning to treat themselves to dinner tonight!
Good lawd. Congrats, man.
That just may be a part of the game plan. When I reviewed the Freddie Mac conference call (I posted about it), a Bloomberg reporter asked the CEO if Congress should reconsider the wind down since the company is improving.
The way she asked the question was very suggestive to the listening audience although the CEO clearly could not answer it because of the conservatorship. Find it under my posting history from yesterday and take a listen. This whole FnF debacle is picking up steam for sure.
I did and have corrected it. Thanks RC!
Good question posed during Q & A on Freddie Mac call:
Clea Benson - Bloomberg News: https://twitter.com/cleabenson
Asked:
"Being that you folks are making so many improvements both to the company and to the housing finance system, should Congress think twice before enacting legislation that would wind you down?"
Response from CEO Donald Layton - http://www.freddiemac.com/bios/exec/layton.html:
"Clea, as you know, conservatorship, all matters of policy like that as Sherod announced earlier on, are clearly a providence of our conservator, the FHFA. So we are not going to predict what Congress should or should not do."
Starts around 16:00 of the conference call:
http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=100821
Disregard. That was for Freddie Mac.
$2.11 uptrend line may be tested today, hopefully not broken.