A little more than a year ago, Dan Loeb was feeling pretty good about things. This is not the usual state of affairs, for it is much more within the Third Point founder’s ken to identify those things that suck—the former president of the United States, for instance, and central banks, and mostcorporatemanagement, and of course Bill Ackman. Now, he didn’t know what, exactly, to make of the then-new president of the United States, but he was pretty sure the White House reality show would at the very least shake things up. And even though it hasn’t really done anything, it has done that, which means there’s a lot more suck in the market for Dan Loeb to make money on. (Which he hasn't otherwise been doing.)

Following a quarter in which his two flagship funds posted losses, the head of Third Point said he is increasing short positions that proved to be profitable during an otherwise rough first quarter.

"Investors have become increasingly concerned about multiples, particularly since after many years of low rates, there finally was an alternative to equities in the form of relatively riskless two-year money," he added…. An equity short allocation returned 2.4 percent, "and we intend to further increase short exposure to fundamental single names and quantitative-derived baskets in 2018, and less on market hedges to dampen volatility and reduce net exposure."

Now, shorting shitty companies is certainly a lot of fun, especially when you’re as good at it as Loeb. But do you know what’s even more fun? Buying shitty companies and then firing their shitty board and shitty managers, thus making the company less shitty, and making Dan Loeb more money.

Daniel Loeb’s activist hedge fund Third Point LLC is in talks with investment banks about launching a “blank check” company that would raise money in an initial public offering to pursue an acquisition, according to people familiar with the matter….

Third Point is in talks with investment banks about arranging the SPAC’s IPO later this year, which could raise hundreds of millions of dollars, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential…. The SPAC is an attempt by Third Point to diversify its revenue stream, as returns from its flagship hedge fund, which has returned 15.6 percent on average over its lifespan, have flattened this year amid jitters in the stock market.

Coming off a Q1 loss, Third Point’s Dan Loeb raises his bet against the stock market [CNBC]
Hedge fund Third Point seeks to launch ‘blank-check’ company – sources [Reuters]