The Alpha Masters: Unlocking the Genius of the World's Top Hedge Funds

BOOK: The Alpha Masters: Unlocking the Genius of the World's Top Hedge Funds
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Contents

 

Foreword: The Less Mysterious World of Hedge Funds

 

Preface

 

Disclaimer

 

Chapter 1: The Global Macro Maven

 

The Makings of a Maven

 

Coming of Age through a Crisis

 

Building Bridgewater

 

Winning Over the World Bank

 

Belly Up: Learning from the Bad

 

Calculating Crises

 

Foreseeing the Financial Crisis

 

Extracting Alpha

 

Bringing Home the Alpha

 

Fund in Focus

 

Procuring the Principles

 

Watchful Eye on the World Today

 

Going After What You Want

 

Chapter 2: Man versus Machine

 

Tim Wong: The Engineer

 

Pierre Lagrange: The Money Maker

 

Chapter 3: The Risk Arbitrageur

 

The Making of a Risk Arbitrageur

 

It’s Not All Numbers

 

The Stuff of Legends

 

Knowing What You Don’t Know

 

“I’m Sort of an Independent Person”

 

The Greatest Trade Ever

 

Mispriced Risk: Dow/Rohm & Haas

 

Jumping into the Deep End: Citigroup

 

Good as Gold

 

A Little Help from His Friends

 

Fighting Back

 

Chapter 4: Distressed Debt’s Value Seekers

 

The Auto Bailout

 

Brother-and-Sister Partnership

 

Catching the Eye of Robert Bass

 

Killer Combination

 

Detecting Diamonds in the Rough

 

Extracting the Value

 

Chapter 5: The Fearless First Mover

 

Gearing Up at Goldman

 

Pulling in the Profits

 

“A” for Appaloosa

 

The Early Days

 

No “A’s” in High School

 

Learning and Earning

 

Fierce and Fearless

 

Titanic Track Record

 

International Intrigue

 

Russian Roulette

 

Bullish on Bankruptcies

 

Delphi Dilemma

 

WaMu Winner

 

The Force Behind Financials

 

The ABC’s: AIG, BAC, and C

 

Sizing Up the Sweet Spot

 

Chapter 6: The Activist Answer

 

Bright Beginnings

 

Getting Gotham Going

 

The School of Rock

 

Making a Name for Himself

 

Return on Invested Brain Damage

 

Buying the Farm

 

Rising from the Ashes

 

Fast Food, Building Record Results

 

Making Cents at McDonald’s

 

Borders and Target: A Couple of Clunkers

 

Zeroing in on Target

 

MBIA

 

A Dud

 

The Greatest Trade

 

A Penney for His Thoughts

 

Canadian Pacific on the Rails

 

What Makes an Activist

 

Chapter 7: The Poison Pen

 

The Young Whippersnapper Finds His Way

 

Catching the Big Wave in the Storm

 

Evolution and Revolution

 

The Third Point Tao and Team Approach

 

Chapter 8: The Cynical Sleuth

 

Cause for Cynicism

 

The Contrarian Investor

 

The Secret Sauce of Short-Selling

 

Defending an Investment Strategy

 

China’s Coming Crisis

 

Back to Business School Basics

 

Chapter 9: The Derivatives Pioneer

 

The Rise of a Trailblazer

 

“Lehman Weekend” at the Fed

 

The Technicalities of the Trade

 

Afterword

 

Appendix

 

References

 

Acknowledgments

 

About the Author

 

Index

 

 

Copyright © 2012 by Maneet Ahuja. All rights reserved.

 

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

 

Published simultaneously in Canada.

 

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the Web at
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Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

 

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

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