market folly

Hedge fund Atticus Capital ran by Timothy Barakett has filed a Form 4 with the SEC and has disclosed some small sales in their Legend International Holdings (LGDI) position. Our apologies for not posting this sooner, as the filing was made on March 31st, 2009 due to sales made by Atticus on March 27th. They sold 50,000 shares at $0.6105 and another 65,700 shares at $0.6069. After the sales, their holding in LGDI sits at 30,654,300 shares remaining.

Atticus Capital, the hedge fund ran by Timothy Barakett saw their combined funds up 45% in 2005. In 2006, they gained over 30%. Yet, in a complete reversal of fortunes, Atticus survived a nightmarish year last year, having been down more than 30% at one point. With a fresh year in tow, they were eager to set out on the right foot for 2009. However, their pain somewhat continued. Their European fund was -0.8% for February and sits -10% for 2009 as of that time, as noted in our series of January & February hedge fund performance numbers (March numbers here). Barakett founded the firm at age 29 in 1995 and focuses on taking large, concentrated positions in companies. One of Atticus' most famous investments was Phelps Dodge, a miner which was bought out by Freeport McMoran (FCX). At one point, Atticus owned more than 9% of Phelps. Barakett received both his BA in Economics and his MBA from Harvard. Its very evident that Barakett employs macro based investment theses. Once he has decided on what the trend is, he will find the best company within that trend and he will place a big bet. And, when needed, he will step in and take an activist role, ensuring the company is performing to his liking. A fun fact about Barakett is that he was a Harvard hockey teammates with Philip Falcone of Harbinger Capital Partners, whom we also cover.


Taken from Google Finance,

Legend International Holdings Inc is an "exploration stage company. The Company is engaged in mineral exploration and development activities. Legend primarily focuses in the development of its phosphate interests in the Georgina Basin in Queensland. The Legend landholdings, prospective for phosphate, diamonds and base metals, cover 40,525 acres in Queensland, Australia, and 4.7 million acres in the Northern Territory, Australia."