What we’re reading (8/15)
“‘Big Short’ Investor Michael Burry Dumps Stock Portfolio After Market Crash Warnings” (New York Post). “Michael Burry’s Scion Capital Management dumped his entire stock portfolio in the second quarter as the “Big Short” hedge fund legend stepped up his warnings about a looming stock market crash, a filing showed on Monday…The holdings were cumulatively worth $165 million at the end of the first quarter.”
“The Crypto Geniuses Who Vaporized A Trillion Dollars” (New York Magazine). “Crypto companies from New York to Singapore were the direct victims of Three Arrows. Voyager Digital, a publicly traded crypto exchange based in New York that once had a multibillion-dollar valuation, filed for Chapter 11 in July, reporting that Three Arrows owed it more than $650 million. Genesis Global Trading, headquartered on Park Avenue, had lent Three Arrows $2.3 billion. Blockchain.com, an early crypto company that provided digital wallets and evolved into a major exchange, faces $270 million in unpaid loans from 3AC and has laid off a quarter of its staff.”
“There’s A Glorious Website Where You Can Bet On Politics, And The U.S. Is About To Kill It” (Slate). “[F]ederal regulators are about to shut down PredictIt, which is actually an academic research project. I hope they change their mind—not just because I would like to continue deriving entertainment and profit from questions like, “Will any Republican Representatives who voted to impeach Trump be reelected,” but because PredictIt has become an invaluable source of information for journalists and the public about future political outcomes. Instead of shutting it down, regulators should change the rules it operates under to more fully and ethically harness the predictive power of market forces for society.”
“Dan Loeb’s Third Point Calls For Disney To Spin Off ESPN, Refresh Board” (Wall Street Journal). “Mr. Loeb on Monday said his firm, which liquidated a large Disney stake earlier this year, has repurchased a “significant stake” in the company and sent a letter to Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek urging the company to engage with Third Point on a number of issues.”
“Stock Buybacks And Dividends Become A $1.5 Trillion Political Target” (New York Times). “Despite the rocky stock market and the slowing economy, corporate America is sending more money to shareholders than ever before. The amounts are staggering, which is why these huge sums, sometimes called “windfall profits,” have become a political target. The landmark climate and tax legislation that now goes to President Biden for his signature includes a new 1 percent tax on buybacks, for example.”
