May 4-8: Activists Abound

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EURO 1.135 // OIL 60.11 // GOLD 1213 // BIT 237

Dan Loeb, founder of Third Point Management, took a swipe a Warren Buffett at the SALT Conference in Las Vegas last week. Activists have been in the news with two big conferences: SALT in Las Vegas last Wednesday and the Sohn Conference last Monday in Lincoln Center, Manhattan.

$112,000,000,000

Total amount of assets under management controlled by activist hedge funds as of 2014, according to JP Morgan

NOTE: If paywalled, search article title and access from Google

Hedge fund star Dan Loeb trashes Warren Buffett, CNN Money 

"I love how he criticizes hedge funds, but he really had the first hedge fund. I love how he criticizes activist investors, yet he was the first activist," said Dan Loeb to the sound of applause. "He thinks we should all pay more taxes but he loves avoiding them himself."

Factories sluggish but orders signal stronger outlook, Investor's Business Daily

"2015 had a rocky start: a soaring dollar shrank exports, a West Coast ports work stoppage snarled supply chains, and plunging oil prices dented energy firms' capital budgets. Yet key ISM indicators suggest that some headwinds are receding."

Europe: There's plenty of good news, and then there's Greece, CNN Money

"The quarterly growth rate of the 19 countries in the eurozone was stronger than either the US or UK managed in the first quarter. France outpaced Germany, Spain is on a roll, but Greece saw its economy shrink for the second consecutive quarter."

Vocabulary & People:

• hedge fund
• ISM
• activist
• Dan Loeb

Calendar:

• Mo May 11: Labor market conditions, 3-month bill auction; ACT, DISH, MBLY
• Tu May 12: NFIB Small biz optimism, Treasury budget; Z, GDDY 
• We May 13: Retail sales, Import export prices, Biz inventories; CSCO, M, SHAK
• Th May 14: Jobless claims, PPI; WB, SINA, MANU
• Fr May 15: Industrial production, Consumer sentiment; MTU

Predictions from last week: 3/3 All-Time: 23/42

• High consumer sentiment: CORRECT
• NFLX beats: CORRECT
• GS beats: CORRECT

Weekly Predictions:

1. Industrial production up
2. MANU beats on rising international popularity
3. MTU misses