market folly

Hedge fund D.E. Shaw & Co has recently updated its stakes in two companies. Firstly, we see that they have acquired a call option on Kid Brands (KID) with an exercise price of $6.63 to the tune of 15,000 shares. The option has an expiration date of 9/22/2019 and was purchased on September 22nd, 2009. Following this purchase, they now have nominal exposure to 30,000 shares in KID.

Secondly, we also see that D.E. Shaw has adjusted their stake in Spectrum Brands (SPEB). On September 17th, 2009, they sold 131,143 shares at a price of $23 per share. Following this transaction, they now hold 4,069,995 shares. This is the second round of selling D.E. Shaw has done in SPEB as we covered their previous Form 4 filing as well. Also notable is the fact that fellow hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners has in the past disclosed a stake in Spectrum as well.

In terms of other recent activity from D.E. Shaw, we noted their increased stake in Priceline (PCLN). David E. Shaw founded the hedge fund and still oversees strategic maneuvers at the firm, but no longer is active in the day to day operations. In Alpha's hedge fund rankings, D.E. Shaw was ranked 6th in the world. We recently posted up some interesting newsletters direct from the hedge fund firm and you can check them out on the topics of:

- Common Trading Mistakes
- Tracking Asset Class Returns Through the Crisis
- The Basis Monster That Ate Wall Street.

Taken from Google Finance, Kid Brands is "a designer, importer, marketer and distributor of infant and juvenile and gift consumer products. The Company’s operations consist of Kids Line, LLC (Kids Line), Sassy, Inc. (Sassy), LaJobi, Inc., (LaJobi) and CoCaLo, Inc., (CoCaLo), each direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries, design, manufacture through third parties and market products in a number of categories including, infant bedding and related nursery accessories and decor (Kids Line and CoCaLo); nursery furniture and related products (LaJobi); and developmental toys and feeding, bath and baby care items with features that address the various stages of an infant’s early years (Sassy). The Company’s products are sold primarily to retailers in North America, the UK and Australia, including national retail accounts and independent retailers (including toy, specialty, food, drug, apparel and other retailers), and military post exchanges. "

Taken from their company website, Spectrum Brands includes brands such as 8 in 1, Cutter, Jungle Labs, Rayovac, Remington, Schultz, and more.