As Valeant Tumbles, So Does Bill Ackman’s Hedge
Fund Herd - (www.nytimes.com) The billionaire investor William A. Ackman has
become the unofficial leader of a thundering herd that has lost billions of
dollars betting on Valeant Pharmaceuticals over the past year. The 49-year-old
founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, the $12.5 billion hedge fund,
found himself going to bat again for Valeant on Wednesday when he testified before
Congress about Valeant’s controversial drug pricing policies, which have
included inflating the prices of vital heart medicines right before learning
that generic equivalents were coming to the market. Mr. Ackman’s firm has lost
billions of dollars on Valeant. Shares of the Canadian drug maker have
plummeted 85 percent since he first pitched the company as one of his best
investment ideas at a hedge fund charity event last year.
Canary
in the US Housing Market: Canadian Snowbirds Cash Out - (www.wolfstreet.com) Naples,
Florida, a wealthy beach town on the Gulf of Mexico, known for its golf courses
and high-end shopping, and a favorite hangout for Canadian snowbirds trying to
escape their cold winters, has a problem: Pending home sales in the first
quarter plunged 23% from a year ago, according to the Naples Area Board of Realtors. Closed sales plunged 19%. Overall inventory
soared 33%. In the two mid-price ranges from $300,000 to $1 million, inventory
soared about 42%! But sellers haven’t gotten the memo yet: even as sales crash
and as unsold inventories pile up, the median closing price rose 8%. That’s how
housing busts start out. Buyers lose interest at these prices and evaporate,
while sellers go into denial. As prices still rise, volume collapses. When
sellers begin accepting the new reality, or when they’re forced to sell, then
prices are getting slashed until enough buyers materialize.
The
new Valeant CEO's pay package is putting the company in serious danger - (finance.yahoo.com)
Watch out, this is slippery. If you blinked, you may have missed it — a
lot of politicians did.
It's the part of incoming Valeant
Pharmaceuticals CEO Joe Papa's pay package that makes it a dangerous deal. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Papa agreed to a $67
million pay package. But that's not the most important part here. If
Valeant's shares reach a price of $270, Papa will get stock
equaling $500 million. That's right. If Papa manages to get the embattled
company's stock up by eight times its current level, he'll take
home a staggering amount of money. This news broke at the end
of Wednesday's Senate hearing for Valeant, the former Wall Street darling
under fire for buying up drugs and then jacking up their prices by (sometimes)
triple digit percentages.
The
European Union always was a CIA project, as Brexiteers discover - (www.telegraph.co.uk) Brexiteers
should have been prepared for the shattering intervention of the US. The
European Union always was an American project... Nor are many aware of
declassified documents from the State Department archives showing that US
intelligence funded the European movement secretly for decades, and worked
aggressively behind the scenes to push Britain into the project. As this
newspaper first reported when the treasure became available, one memorandum
dated July 26, 1950, reveals a campaign to promote a full-fledged European
parliament. It is signed by Gen William J Donovan, head of the American wartime
Office of Strategic Services, precursor of the Central Inteligence Agency.
Laid-Off Oil Workers Struggle to Pay Loans,
Credit Cards - (online.wsj.com) Rising unemployment in the energy sector is pushing
up loan delinquencies and raising the risk of new losses for banks. The slump
in crude prices is starting to show up as missed payments by consumers in the
oil patch. In states from Oklahoma and Texas to North Dakota and Wyoming,
rising unemployment in the energy sector is pushing up loan delinquencies and
raising the risk of new losses for banks. Wells Fargo & Co. this month reported an increase
in borrowers falling behind on payments in areas including Houston and
parts of Alaska. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. said auto-loan delinquency
rates picked up in some energy-related markets. Overall, energy-dependent
states are posting delinquency rates that in many cases exceed the
national average, according to data prepared for The Wall Street Journal by
credit bureau TransUnion.
Greece Creditors Agree Contingency Plans
Needed, Eurogroup Says - (www.bloomberg.com)
BOJ Decision-Day Guide: Markets Bear Down on Kuroda to Act - (www.bloomberg.com)
BOJ Decision-Day Guide: Markets Bear Down on Kuroda to Act - (www.bloomberg.com)
Fed signals no rush to raise rates as pace of U.S. recovery moderates - (www.reuters.com)
Oil Climbs Above $45 Amid U.S. Crude Output Drop, Fed Statement- (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Stocks Rise as Fed Reassures on Gradual Rate Path, Economy - (www.bloomberg.com)
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