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☆ European banking stocks sink as Silicon Valley Bank jitters spread
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

European banking stocks sold off sharply in early trade Friday as jitters surrounding U.S. bank SVB Financial — which plunged 60% Thursday — spread around the world. It followed an announcement by the tech-focused lender of a capital raise to help offset bond sale losses. The Euro Stoxx Banks index was on pace for its worst day since June, led by a decline of more-than 8% for Deutsche Bank . Silicon Valley Bank caters heavily to startup firms, particularly venture-backed tech and life sciences companies in the U.S. "If private capital can't provide a solution, a highly dilutive gov't preferred bailout should be considered."

☆ Billionaire investor Bill Ackman calls on the US government to consider a bailout of Silicon Valley Bank if private investors won't step up
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ackman called on the government for a "highly dilutive" Silicon Valley Bank bailout if the private sector doesn't step up. SVB is a go-to bank and lender to startups in the tech sector and a crucial part of the ecosystem. Greg Becker, the CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, told clients to "stay calm" at a conference call on Thursday, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The events spurred concerns among tech VCs and founders about Silicon Valley Bank's financial stability. Silicon Valley Bank did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

☆ Meet Matija Pecotic: a real-estate investor who counts Bill Ackman as a mentor - and now a breakout tennis star on the pro circuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A 33-year-old real-estate investor has become a tennis star after beating a former top-10 player. Pecotic counts Bill Ackman as a mentor, and compares his game preparation to day trading. "Being mentored by Bill Ackman continued to influence that hunger," Pecotic said. The moonlighting tennis star scours match tapes and other information sources to spot his opponents' weaknesses and refine his own game. "In our world, we are all about information, put the emotions aside – analytics, analytics, analytics," he said.

☆ Billionaire Ackman donates $3.25 million for ambulances in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has pledged $3.25 million to help buy more than a dozen ambulances for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia's invasion, according to a fellow investor who cited a conversation with him. "I had breakfast with my college buddy Bill Ackman this morning, walked him through the attached slide deck I put together about my ambulances-for-Ukraine mission, and on the spot he agreed to donate $3.25 million," Tilson wrote in the email, dated Feb. 25. Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management oversees roughly $16 billion in assets. Tilson has been leading an effort to buy ambulances for Ukraine that will be operated by humanitarian aid group MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station), which is based in Malta. Ackman, whose great-grandfather emigrated to the United States from Ukraine, has an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion, according to Forbes.

☆ Ackman's Pershing Square reaps $2.7 bln from rate trade but down 9% in 2022 -letter
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. stock indexes had a dismal 2022 with the S&P 500 slumping almost 20%, as the Federal Reserve battled soaring inflation with aggressive interest rate hikes that roiled markets. The assets minus the liabilities in Ackman's fund trade at a discount to its share price. "This possibility is also something that we do not feel is currently reflected in PSH's share price," it said. The interest rate hedges were initiated in late 2020 and early 2021. In 2022 the fund entered new positions in long-term interest rates, currencies and energy it said.

☆ Adani’s battle with Hindenburg leaves investors sizing up exposure to the global banking sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Seema Mody | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Indeed, Indian banks make up 0.6% of the group's sector loans, according to JPMorgan. This may seem low but the total exposure to the Adani Group is still around $9 billion, wrote Saurabh Kumar, an analyst at JPMorgan. Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group. Jefferies analyst Prakhar Sharma writes that, for now, the risk to Indian banks is low, saying, "we don't see material risk to the Indian banking sector." Of the seven companies operated by the Adani Group: Adani Green Energy, Adani Power and Adani Ports are sitting on the most net debt, according to analysts.

☆ Bill Ackman says Hindenburg's Adani report 'highly credible'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Amit Dave/File PhotoJan 27 (Reuters) - Billionaire U.S. investor Bill Ackman said on Thursday that he found short-seller Hindenburg Research's report on India's Adani Group "highly credible and extremely well researched." Hindenburg's report also said it held short positions in Adani Group through its U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments. Adani Group has said that it is evaluating "remedial and punitive action" against Hindenburg, calling the report "maliciously mischievous, (and) unresearched." I found the Hindenburg report highly credible and extremely well researched," Pershing Square boss Ackman said in a tweet on Thursday. Adani Group did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.

☆ Bill Ackman says he finds short-seller's Adani Group report 'highly credible' – and notes similarities to 'pyramid scheme' Herbalife
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Hindenburg Research accused India's Adani Group of "brazen stock manipulation" in report published this week. Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman said he found the short-seller's report "highly credible and extremely well researched". Adani Group had inflated its own valuation by manipulating the stock market and committing accounting fraud, the report had said. "I found the Hindenburg report highly credible and extremely well researched," Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Ackman aid on Twitter late Thursday. Ackman also compared Adani Group to Herbalife – the multi-level marketing company that Pershing Square unsuccessfully shorted between 2012 and 2017 in one of the billionaire investor's biggest-ever losses.

☆ Adani shares plunge further as it weighs legal action against short seller firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Hindustan Times | Hindustan Times | Getty ImagesShares of Adani Group companies continued to see sharp losses for a second consecutive trading session in India, after short seller firm Hindenburg announced its short position in the conglomerate's firms earlier this week. Adani Transmission fell 19.47%, Adani Green Energy shed 19.89% and Adani Power lost 5%. Adani Port's share price also dropped 13.8%. Billionaire investor and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, Bill Ackman, voiced his support for the short seller firm in a tweet posted shortly before India's market open. "I found the Hindenburg report highly credible and extremely well researched," he wrote, adding that Adani Group's response "speaks volumes."

☆ Billionaire investor Bill Ackman says the public shouldn't 'rush to convict' Sam Bankman-Fried
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Ackman, known for his lucrative bet on COVID-19 crashing the market, extolled due process for SBF. He said defendants like Sam Bankman-Fried deserve the presumption of innocence at this stage. "Let's not sacrifice our core values in a rush to convict @SBF_FTX as it does no one any good," he wrote. After FTX's bankruptcy filing in November, Ackman tweeted in support of cryptocurrency, saying it could still "enable the formation of useful businesses and technologies." In his own Substack post this week, former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried insisted that he "didn't steal" from the company.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried doesn't 'have the typical profile of a crook' – and his fear of failure might explain FTX's collapse, Bill Ackman says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ackman compared SBF to convicted fraudster Bernie Madoff, saying neither "have the typical profile of a crook.' The crypto exchange cofounded by Bankman-Fried seems to have been profitable and backed by top venture capitalists, Ackman said Friday. This reminds me of Madoff," tweeted Ackman, the founder and CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management. Young Wall Street trader Bankman-Fried went from relative obscurity to the head of crypto empire FTX in just four years. That runaway success soon after leaving a top college sheltered Bankman-Fried from learning how to cope with failure, Ackman suggested.

☆ Hedge Fund Bets Against Hong Kong’s Dollar Peg Have a Long History—and Little Success
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Matthew Thomas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When Bill Ackman revealed last month that he was betting the Hong Kong dollar’s peg to the greenback would break, he became the latest in a long line of speculators who have made similar wagers. Hedge funds have made bets against the longstanding currency peg going back to the Asian financial crisis. High-profile fund managers including Crispin Odey and Kyle Bass are among those who have previously taken positions that the peg couldn’t last. Mr. Ackman’s fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, even once made a bet from the opposite side more than a decade ago. Boaz Weinstein , the founder of Saba Capital Management LP, is betting alongside him this time.

☆ Billionaire investor Bill Ackman says the Fed's inflation target isn't realistic anymore - and could result in a brutal recession
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Ackman warned the Fed that slowing inflation to its 2% target is no longer realistic. He raised the prospect of a "deep, job-destroying recession" if the Fed tries to hit its goal. "The @federalreserve 2% inflation target is no longer credible," he tweeted on Wednesday. "Businesses need price stability, but can thrive in a world with 3% stable inflation." Ackman warned that attempting to force inflation down to 2% would likely cause the economy to shrink and unemployment to spike.

☆ US lawmakers want answers on FTX's collapse. Sam Bankman-Fried may not have them.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But first, we are going to hear more from Sam Bankman-Fried this week, even if you think we've already heard quite enough from him. Sam Bankman-Fried testifies during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on December 8, 2021 in Washington, DC. Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who said he once considered himself a "model CEO," tweeted last week that he would testify before tomorrow's House Financial Services committee hearing focused on his firm's blowup. FTX's new CEO, John J. Ray III, who oversaw the bankruptcy of Enron, will testify in the first part of the hearing. A private lunch with the billionaire is on the table if you're willing to pony up the cash.

☆ Send Sam Bankman-Fried to prison, Elon Musk suggests, while Binance's boss calls him a 'master manipulator'. 8 top figures weigh in on the disgraced FTX founder.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is racking up critics after the implosion of his crypto exchange. Here's what top voices like Elon Musk, Bill Ackman and Binance boss CZ have said, in 8 top quotes. Now the crypto CEO is under fire from all sides, from Elon Musk and Bill Ackman to "Shark Tank" investor Mark Cuban. Given that, the crypto exchange boss said he feels like the mainstream media has given Bankman-Fried softball interviews. The crypto bull believes Bankman-Fried will probably end up in jail, but doesn't think he was acting alone.

☆ Billionaire investor Ackman bets Hong Kong dollar peg can break
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Bill Ackman said he’s betting the Hong Kong dollar will fall and that its peg to the U.S. dollar can break, the latest big money manager to take a public short bet as U.S. rate hikes turn the blowtorch on Hong Kong’s currency system. FILE PHOTO: A Hong Kong dollar note is seen in this illustration photo May 31, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration“We have a large notional short position against the Hong Kong dollar through the ownership of put options,” he said on Twitter. U.S. fund manager Kyle Bass has long bet against the Hong Kong dollar and told Nikkei in July he expects the peg to break. GRAPHIC: Hong Kong rates, liquidity ()($1 = 7.8132 Hong Kong dollars)

HONG KONG, Nov 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Pershing Square boss Bill Ackman is taking another tilt at the Hong Kong dollar , betting the government will be forced to break its link to the greenback. His logic is stronger today than when he took the plunge in 2011 but it’s up to Beijing, not Hong Kong. Back then Ackman famously predicted that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority would allow the local currency to strengthen against the U.S. dollar. A secular decline in Hong Kong might ultimately sabotage the peg at some point. On the other hand, Hong Kong is a city, not a country.

☆ Bill Ackman doubts Fed can tame prices: 'We'll have to ultimately accept a higher level of inflation'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is skeptical of the Federal Reserve's ability to bring down inflation, seeing structurally higher prices lingering. "A part of our thesis here is that we think inflation is going to be structurally higher going forward than it has been historically." "We'll have to ultimately accept a higher level of inflation." The Pershing Square hedge fund manager previously urged the Fed to put a line in the sand on soaring price by aggressively raising rates. At the end of the third quarter, Pershing Square hedge fund's top holdings included Lowe's , Chipotle , Restaurant Brands , Hilton and Canadian Pacific Railway .

☆ Billionaire Bill Ackman says crypto 'is here to stay' in the wake of the FTX collapse, as the one-time skeptic outlines some of his investments
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman said "crypto is here to stay," in a Tweet thread published Sunday. Calling himself an initial crypto skeptic, Ackman said he is a small investor in a "hobbyist" capacity. He outlines his crypto observations following the dramatic collapse of crypto exchange FTX. "As such, I was initially a crypto skeptic, but after studying some of the more interesting crypto projects, I have come to believe that crypto can enable the formation of useful businesses and technologies that heretofore could not be created." The world's once third-largest crypto exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Friend is seeking bankruptcy protection in the US and could leave up to 1 million creditors exposed to losses.

☆ Activist investor Bill Ackman increased his stake in rail stock Canadian Pacific
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square hedge fund increased its stake in Canadian Pacific Railway during the third quarter, according to a securities filing released Monday . Pershing Square held just under three million shares at the end June. Ackman previously served as a board member at Canadian Pacific, pushing for a takeover of Norfolk Southern that never happened. It is not clear how many, if any, additional shares Ackman bought outside of those forward contracts. Ackman is an activist investor, known for pushing for change in a small group of portfolio companies.

☆ Stock market rally will be put to test in week ahead, after yields fall and tech surges
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Patti Domm | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

This week, bond yields also came off their highs and were sharply lower, paving the way for gains in tech and growth shares. They include Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard, New York Fed President John Williams and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari to name a few. Hogan said that group includes Bullard, Brainard and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly. Many strategists are calling the move higher a bear market rally, and some expect it will fizzle in December while others say it could continue into the new year. Friday Earnings: JD.com, Foot Locker, Buckle 8:40 a.m. Boston Fed President Susan Collins 10:00 a.m.

☆ Billionaire investor Bill Ackman is floating a peace plan for Ukraine that, like Elon Musk's, requires giving major concessions to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman floated a peace plan for Ukraine on Sunday. Like Elon Musk's controversial plan, Ackman's involves giving concessions to Russia. Ackman's ceasefire plan comes two weeks after Tesla CEO Elon Musk drew ire for tweeting out a peace proposal of his own that parroted Kremlin talking points. While Ackman's plan differs from Musk's, both billionaires have taken the position that Ukraine should take steps to secure a ceasefire and let Russia keep Crimea. Both Ackman and Musk also seem to agree that Ukraine should remain neutral, and not join NATO.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: JPMorgan Chase, Albertsons, Tesla, Beyond Meat, Delta and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Citigroup — Citigroup rose more than 1% after its third-quarter revenue climbed more than analysts expected, helped by rising interest rates. However, its earnings fell 25% from the year-earlier period as it bulked up its credit loss provisions and investment banking slumped. Wells Fargo — The bank stock was up 3% after Wells Fargo reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts' expectations. US Bancorp - Shares of US Bancorp rose 3.7% after the bank's third-quarter earnings came in above Wall Street analyst expectations. First Republic Bank — The bank stock dropped more than 14% after First Republic posted its third-quarter results.

☆ Bill Ackman, billionaire hedge fund manager, argues for increasing immigration to fight inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager and activist investor, has an alternative idea to fight inflation: Increase immigration. “Inflation can be mit igated by reducing demand and/or by increasing supply,” tweeted Ackman of Pershing Square Capital. “Doesn’t it make more sense to moderate wage inflation with increased immigration than by raising rates, destroying demand, putting people out of work, and causing a recession? The argument goes that by increasing the availability of workers in the United States, businesses will be less strained to fill open positions. Corporations have also passed along costs to preserve their profit margins, and climate change is creating unprecedented volatility across commodity markets.

☆ Bill Ackman says more immigration could help the Fed crush inflation without causing a recession - and touts Russia as a labor source
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Ackman proposed more immigration as a partial solution to stubborn US inflation. Ackman said immigration could help the Fed to avoid tanking the job market and the economy. "Doesn't it make more sense to moderate wage inflation with increased immigration than by raising rates, destroying demand, putting people out of work, and causing a recession?" However, he said wage inflation won't slow down until interest rates hit high levels that are painful for financial markets and the economy. Read more: A 35-year market veteran shares how he perfected a strategy to hedge against higher interest rates as the Federal Reserve works to stop inflation

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