Brief: Hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones said Thursday investors should commend Washington’s policy response to the economic shock from the coronavirus pandemic. “Investors can take heart that we’ve counteracted this existential shock with the greatest fiscal, monetary bazooka. It’s not even a bazooka. It’s more like a nuclear bomb,” Jones said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Jones said the actions from the Federal Reserve and Congress have brought “safety” to the economic system, even as COVID-19 spreads across the U.S. and disrupts daily life. “We did in two weeks what it took the Fed eight months to do in 2009,” the billionaire investor said. “Remember, we didn’t even get quantitative easing until well after the great financial crisis had started, well into the recession.”
Brief: Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Citigroup Inc (C.N) have hit pause on layoffs as the coronavirus pandemic has led to a record level of unemployment claims and unprecedented economic uncertainty, according to sources. Morgan Stanley on Thursday pledged to not cut any jobs this year, according to a memo seen by Reuters, as the Wall Street bank sought to reassure worried employees during the coronavirus pandemic. Contents of the memo were confirmed by a Morgan Stanley spokesman. Citigroup Chief Executive Michael Corbat has also ordered a suspension of any planned layoffs, a source told Reuters. Further details were not immediately available.
Brief: “Please note,” the hedge fund firm’s website warns, “the Baupost partnerships are generally closed to new capital and do not actively solicit or market to prospective investors. But right now,Seth Klarman’s firmis making an exception, along with a number of other superstar managers who are typically impossible to invest with. The massive drop in asset prices catalyzed by the novel coronavirus pandemic has some elite hedge funds quietly shopping for extra capital to invest, sources say. In addition to Baupost, which managed $29 billion at the end of last year, The Children’s Investment Fund (TCI) has selectively reopened to additional money.
Brief: Jeff Talpins’s Element Capital Management is predicting that global markets are near a turning point and has begun betting on a sharp market reversal. The $15 billion hedge fund firm told clients it has started deploying cash and is taking positions on the prospect that equities will gain. Element is also shorting the long end of the interest rate market. In a note sent to clients Monday, the day before the S&P 500 bounced back with gains of more than 9%, the firm said the stimulus packages announced across continents to soften the economic blow from the coronavirus means the worst is over.
Brief: The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is an unprecedented situation but it is important to recognise that, while the reduction in activity associated with coronavirus could be sharp and large, it is likely to rebound sharply when social distancing measures are lifted. In addition, in the intervening period, while activity is disrupted, substantial and substantive government and central bank measures have been put in place in the UK and internationally to support businesses and households. These measures, which have been evolving rapidly and could evolve further, are expected to remain in place throughout the period of disruption. Successful and sustainable businesses underpin our economy and society by providing employment and creating prosperity. Equity and debt capital markets play a vital role providing finance to these businesses and will aid the recovery. Governments and regulators around the world remain focused on keeping capital markets open and orderly.
Brief: Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it is extending the filing periods covered by its previously enacted conditional reporting relief for certain public company filing obligations under the federal securities laws, and that it is also extending regulatory relief previously provided to funds and investment advisers whose operations may be affected by COVID-19. In addition, the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued today its current views regarding disclosure considerations and other securities law matters related to COVID-19.