By Peter Loftus and Gregory Zuckerman July 1, 2020 10:53 am ET At the year’s start, few outside the world of biotech had heard of a Boston-area company with a New Age name and unproven approach to drugmaking. Most in the industry who did know Moderna Inc. MRNA -3.39% doubted its prospects. Investors barely had interest in the company, which […]
Author Archive
Hedge Fund Star John Paulson Calls It Quits
By Gregory Zuckerman July 1, 2020 5:09 pm ET John Paulson made billions of dollars anticipating the 2008 financial collapse. But after running into difficulties in recent years, Mr. Paulson will convert his hedge fund firm into a private investment firm that runs only his family’s money. Mr. Paulson’s decision to hand his investors’ their […]
With Biotech Stocks, Investors Love the Thrill of the Chase
By Gregory Zuckerman and Michael Wursthorn Aug. 5, 2020 5:30 am ET Eric Distenfeld is rolling the dice on CytoDyn Inc. Last month, the real-estate executive bought 1,000 shares of the unheralded biotech company, which hopes to discover a Covid-19 drug. Now, he spends the day tracking shares, checking news and debating friends whether CytoDyn can […]
Bob Mercer’s Influence on Politics Wanes as New Donors Emerge
By Gregory Zuckerman Nov. 4, 2018 12:00 p.m. ET Two years ago, hedge-fund investor Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah had the president’s ear. Now, on the eve of midterm elections, a different group of Wall Street executives enjoys access to the Oval Office. The Mercers are playing a less-important role backing conservative politicians, according to […]
Herd-like Behavior of Computerized Traders Contributes to Market Swoon
By Gregory Zuckerman, Rachael Levy, Nick Timiraos and Gunjan Banerji Dec. 25, 2018 7:54 p.m. ET Behind the broad, swift market slide of 2018 is an underlying new reality: Roughly 85% of all trading is on autopilot—controlled by machines, models, or passive investing formulas, creating an unprecedented trading herd that moves in unison and is blazingly fast. That […]
Quant Pioneer Helped Jim Simons Transform Trading
By James R. Hagerty and Gregory Zuckerman May 1, 2019 2:28 p.m. ET Elwyn Berlekamp, the son of a pastor in rural Ohio, was a grade-school pupil in the 1940s when it began to dawn on him that math was not a torment inflicted on schoolchildren. It was a game, he concluded, and also a way […]
In New Energy Era, Gushers of Opportunity
It isn’t too late to learn important lessons from the surprising resurgence of American oil and gas. It is also not too late to profit from it.
The Outsiders Who Saw Our Economic Future
The experts keep getting it wrong. And the oddballs keep getting it right. Over the past five years of business history, two events have shocked and transformed the nation. In 2007 and 2008, the housing market crumbled and the financial system collapsed, causing trillions of dollars of losses. Around the same time, a few little-known […]
How to Profit From the Energy Boom
March 4, 2014 The U.S. is experiencing a remarkable energy revolution, and exchange-traded funds that focus on energy stocks may seem an obvious way to benefit. But selecting the right ETFs to tap a gusher of profits isn’t as simple as it seems. U.S. oil and natural-gas production have surged. More than eight million barrels […]
Web Pioneer Keeps Faith, and Cash, in Bitcoin
Marc Andreessen Is Betting on Wide Adoption of Digital Currency Bitcoin March 21, 2014 Internet pioneer Marc Andreessen is doubling down on bitcoin amid turbulence in the virtual-currency world, in a bet that widespread adoption of the currency will fuel the growth of new businesses and technologies. Venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, where Mr. Andreessen is […]
