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 […]
Archive for Articles
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 […]
‘You Have to Stop,’ Renaissance Executive Tells Boss About Trump Support
At some companies, a divisive presidential campaign has led to disharmony in the workplace By Gregory Zuckerman for The Wall Street Journal Feb. 23, 2017 David Magerman says he was in his home office in suburban Philadelphia earlier this month when the phone rang. His boss, hedge-fund billionaire Robert Mercer, was on the line.
Meet the Mercers: A Quiet Tycoon and His Daughter Become Power Brokers in Trump’s Washington
Armed with data on an alienated electorate, a hedge-fund magnate and his family shun the GOP establishment to support the winning campaign; advising on cabinet selections By Gregory Zuckerman, Keach Hagey, Scott Patterson and Rebecca Ballhaus for The Wall Street Journal Jan. 8, 2017 In February 2014, a group of conservative political donors gathered at New York’s Pierre Hotel to […]
15 Years After 9/11, a Brother Confronts Grief’s Long Arc
Harley Di Nardo had long suppressed his pain over the loss of his sister—until sorrow proved stronger By Gregory Zuckerman for The Wall Street Journal Sept. 9, 2016 The night before everything changed, Harley Di Nardo and his sister, Marisa, treated their mother to a birthday dinner at Windows on the World, the restaurant on the World […]
Billionaire George Soros Lost Nearly $1 Billion in Weeks After Trump Election
Hedge-fund manager’s ex-deputy, Stanley By Gregory Zuckerman and Juliet Chung for The Wall Street Journal Jan. 13, 2017 Billionaire hedge-fund manager George Soros lost nearly $1 billion as a result of the stock-market rally spurred by Donald Trump’s surprise presidential election. But Stanley Druckenmiller, Mr. Soros’s former deputy who helped Mr. Soros score $1 billion of profits betting […]
The Quants Run Wall Street Now
For decades, investors imagined a time when data-driven traders would dominate financial markets. That day has arrived. By Gregory Zuckerman and Bradley Hope for The Wall Street Journal May 21, 2017 Alexey Poyarkov, a former gold-medal winner of the International Mathematical Olympiad for high-school students, spent most of his early career honing algorithms at technology companies such as […]
