Ackman says retail investing has not been his 'strong suit'

William Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, speaks at the Partner Connect 2013 conference, sponsored by Thomson Reuters, in Boston April 5, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON | Wed Aug 21, 2013 12:39pm EDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager William Ackman told investors he has had three "failures" in his portfolio over the years, all retailers, and retail investing has not been his "strong suit."

He included J.C. Penney, where he is sitting on hundreds of millions in losses and left the company's board last week, as one of the three failures. Borders Group and Target are the others. Ackman made the comments in an investment letter dated August 20 seen by Reuters.

He said he may choose to exit Penney "after more or less time depending on developments at the Company, the stock price, and the availability of other investment opportunities." He is the company's biggest shareholder.

In the past he has sidestepped questions from investors about what he would do with J.C. Penney as his investment is now at a 40 percent discount to where he bought it three years ago.

Herbalife , where Ackman has a $1 billion short bet on the nutritional supplements company which has lost roughly $300 million so, ranks in the "undecided column," the fund manager said.

Serious product quality issues plus timely aggressive regulatory intervention may still save the day on Herbalife, he said, declining to give more details about which regulators may be probing the company.

Reviewing his nearly 10 years at $11 billion Pershing Square Capital Management, Ackman said 16 of 19 investments have been successes on the long side while the bets on Borders Group, Target and J.C. Penney are grouped in the loser column.

"We have had three failures on the long side," Ackman wrote, citing the companies and adding "Clearly retail has not been our strong suit, and this is duly noted."

Bets on Wendy's International, General Growth Properties and Canadian Pacific Railway, among others, have been winners on the long side while he won big on the short side with bond insurers MBIA and Ambac.

Apart from the three listed "failures", Ackman said "our active investments (have) done extremely well during our holding period."

(Reporting By Svea Herbst-Bayliss; editing by Andrew Hay)

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Ackman says retail investing has not been his 'strong suit'

William Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, speaks at the Partner Connect 2013 conference, sponsored by Thomson Reuters, in Boston April 5, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON | Wed Aug 21, 2013 12:39pm EDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager William Ackman told investors he has had three "failures" in his portfolio over the years, all retailers, and retail investing has not been his "strong suit."

He included J.C. Penney, where he is sitting on hundreds of millions in losses and left the company's board last week, as one of the three failures. Borders Group and Target are the others. Ackman made the comments in an investment letter dated August 20 seen by Reuters.

He said he may choose to exit Penney "after more or less time depending on developments at the Company, the stock price, and the availability of other investment opportunities." He is the company's biggest shareholder.

In the past he has sidestepped questions from investors about what he would do with J.C. Penney as his investment is now at a 40 percent discount to where he bought it three years ago.

Herbalife , where Ackman has a $1 billion short bet on the nutritional supplements company which has lost roughly $300 million so, ranks in the "undecided column," the fund manager said.

Serious product quality issues plus timely aggressive regulatory intervention may still save the day on Herbalife, he said, declining to give more details about which regulators may be probing the company.

Reviewing his nearly 10 years at $11 billion Pershing Square Capital Management, Ackman said 16 of 19 investments have been successes on the long side while the bets on Borders Group, Target and J.C. Penney are grouped in the loser column.

"We have had three failures on the long side," Ackman wrote, citing the companies and adding "Clearly retail has not been our strong suit, and this is duly noted."

Bets on Wendy's International, General Growth Properties and Canadian Pacific Railway, among others, have been winners on the long side while he won big on the short side with bond insurers MBIA and Ambac.

Apart from the three listed "failures", Ackman said "our active investments (have) done extremely well during our holding period."

(Reporting By Svea Herbst-Bayliss; editing by Andrew Hay)

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Wall Street bounces back after strong data

1 of 3. Traders laugh as they work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the market opening August 22, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson

By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK | Thu Aug 22, 2013 11:13am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Thursday, with the Dow industrials up for the first time in seven sessions after upbeat data from the world's top economies more than offset lingering uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's asset purchases stimulus program.

Investors were encouraged by business surveys that showed U.S. manufacturing activity hit a five-month high in August, growth in the euro zone was better-than-expected and China's manufacturing sector rebounded, providing evidence that the world economy is on the mend.

Bets on a stronger economy helped lift shares of cyclical sectors like energy, basic materials and industrials, with financial shares .SPSY also up in the S&P 500.

"The way the U.S. recovery is going, to have an improving Europe and China is certainly going to help the global picture," said Art Hogan, managing director at Lazard Capital Markets in New York.

Other U.S. data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week but held close to a six-year low and gave a positive signal for hiring during the month.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 25.61 points or 0.17 percent, to 14,923.16, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 8.46 points or 0.51 percent, to 1,651.26 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 27.978 points or 0.78 percent, to 3,627.768.

The Dow industrials fell Wednesday for a sixth straight day and the S&P 500 closed below its 50-day moving average for a fourth session after minutes from the Fed's July meeting gave few clues about when, and by how much, the U.S. central bank will start reducing its $85 billion a month in bond purchases.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N) dropped 11.7 percent to $22.42, a day after the company reported a decline in Enterprise Group revenue, the company's second-largest division and a critical component of Chief Executive Meg Whitman's plan to transform the company.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF.N) shares tumbled 19.3 percent to $37.79 after the apparel retailer said quarterly comparable sales fell a larger-than-expected 10 percent.

Sears Holdings (SHLD.O), which operates Sears department stores and the Kmart discount chain, reported a much bigger-than-expected quarterly loss and its shares fell 8.6 percent to $39.56.

GameStop (GME.N) shares were up 14.2 percent at a more than five-year high of $54.36 after the world's largest retailer of video game products posted results that topped Wall Street estimates.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Kenneth Barry and Nick Zieminski)

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Ackman says retail investing has not been his 'strong suit'

William Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, speaks at the Partner Connect 2013 conference, sponsored by Thomson Reuters, in Boston April 5, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON | Wed Aug 21, 2013 12:39pm EDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager William Ackman told investors he has had three "failures" in his portfolio over the years, all retailers, and retail investing has not been his "strong suit."

He included J.C. Penney, where he is sitting on hundreds of millions in losses and left the company's board last week, as one of the three failures. Borders Group and Target are the others. Ackman made the comments in an investment letter dated August 20 seen by Reuters.

He said he may choose to exit Penney "after more or less time depending on developments at the Company, the stock price, and the availability of other investment opportunities." He is the company's biggest shareholder.

In the past he has sidestepped questions from investors about what he would do with J.C. Penney as his investment is now at a 40 percent discount to where he bought it three years ago.

Herbalife , where Ackman has a $1 billion short bet on the nutritional supplements company which has lost roughly $300 million so, ranks in the "undecided column," the fund manager said.

Serious product quality issues plus timely aggressive regulatory intervention may still save the day on Herbalife, he said, declining to give more details about which regulators may be probing the company.

Reviewing his nearly 10 years at $11 billion Pershing Square Capital Management, Ackman said 16 of 19 investments have been successes on the long side while the bets on Borders Group, Target and J.C. Penney are grouped in the loser column.

"We have had three failures on the long side," Ackman wrote, citing the companies and adding "Clearly retail has not been our strong suit, and this is duly noted."

Bets on Wendy's International, General Growth Properties and Canadian Pacific Railway, among others, have been winners on the long side while he won big on the short side with bond insurers MBIA and Ambac.

Apart from the three listed "failures", Ackman said "our active investments (have) done extremely well during our holding period."

(Reporting By Svea Herbst-Bayliss; editing by Andrew Hay)

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Starbucks profit up, U.S. sales unexpectedly strong

By Lisa Baertlein

(Reuters) - Starbucks Corp on Thursday posted a bigger than expected jump in quarterly profit after new "Refresher" fruit beverages and seasonal Frappuccino iced drinks helped drive more visits to its shops in the United States, its top market.

The world's biggest coffee chain also raised its full-year profit forecast, sending shares soaring almost 6 percent in after-hours trade.

Seattle-based Starbucks is a top destination for consumers with ample cash to spend on $3 to $5 lattes and other premium coffee drinks. As a result, it has withstood the economic weakness crimping fast-food chains and other operators better than some other companies.

McDonald's Corp and Panera Bread Co were among the chains hit by the summer swoon.

Starbucks' net earnings for the fiscal third quarter that ended on June 30 increased more than 25 percent to $417.8 million, or 55 cents per share, to beat analysts' average forecast by 2 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Global sales at Starbucks cafes open at least 13 months jumped 8 percent, versus the 5.8 percent average increase analysts' expected, according to Consensus Metrix.

In the U.S.-dominated Americas region, which contributes about three-quarters of Starbucks' revenue, same-store sales were up 9 percent, far better than analysts' average estimate for a 6.1 percent rise.

Same-store sales also increased 9 percent for China and Asia Pacific and 2 percent for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, an area that has struggled to grow.

Based on results from the latest quarter, Starbucks boosted its full-year forecast to $2.22 to $2.23 per share from a previous range of $2.12 to $2.18 per share.

Starbucks shares were up 5.9 percent at $72.19 in extended trading late on Thursday.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; editing by Matthew Lewis)

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Strong chromatic index of k-degenerate graphs. (arXiv:1304.0285v2 [math.CO] UPDATED)

Subjects: Combinatorics (math.CO); Discrete Mathematics (cs.DM) Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

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Kuroda 7 strong in Yankees’ 5-2 win over Red Sox

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