Posts tagged 'Carson Block'

It’s a tough short life

Masa joined the FT in 2009 and has worked on a number of desks across the paper, including Companies, Markets and Comment. She spent much of 2010 in New York covering the US equity markets. But earlier this year she finally saw the light and moved to Alphaville.

She started her career in the investment banking division at Lehman Brothers in the summer of 2007, timing it perfectly with the beginning of the credit crunch.

She studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University.

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| Dec 06 2012 17:20 | Comment |

Muddy Waters’ Carson Block has made some big claims about the companies he and his colleagues have targeted and shorted, the latest of which is Olam. But the extent to which the market has been willing to follow his trades has been falling. More importantly, the willingness of sovereigns to support their listed companies has been rising. The combination of the two suggests shorting Block-style is getting less profitable. Read more

Not what the Singaporeans ordered…

Paul Murphy is the founding editor of FT Alphaville.

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| Dec 04 2012 10:46 | Comment |

Here’s embattled agriculture combine Olam on Tuesday morning:

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Muddy Waters (finally) publishes report on Olam

Masa joined the FT in 2009 and has worked on a number of desks across the paper, including Companies, Markets and Comment. She spent much of 2010 in New York covering the US equity markets. But earlier this year she finally saw the light and moved to Alphaville.

She started her career in the investment banking division at Lehman Brothers in the summer of 2007, timing it perfectly with the beginning of the credit crunch.

She studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University.

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| Nov 27 2012 09:46 | Comment |

Carson Block has faced some criticism in the past couple of days (such as from the FT’s Lex) for the week-long delay in releasing the promised Muddy Waters’ report on Singapore-based Olam International.

But the wait is over. The report was published on Monday night. Block has not skimped on his allegations, so have a new ink cartridge ready if you’re planning on printing out all 133 pages. Read more

Sohn Conference cheat sheet

Masa joined the FT in 2009 and has worked on a number of desks across the paper, including Companies, Markets and Comment. She spent much of 2010 in New York covering the US equity markets. But earlier this year she finally saw the light and moved to Alphaville.

She started her career in the investment banking division at Lehman Brothers in the summer of 2007, timing it perfectly with the beginning of the credit crunch.

She studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University.

Learn more

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| Nov 22 2012 16:01 | Comment |

Hedge fund managers piled into the Marriott on Grosvenor Square earlier this week for London’s first Sohn conference. The headlines were dominated by Carson Block’s announcement that his next target was Olam International, but we wanted to give you a quick run through what the others had to say. Read more

Muddy Waters’ next target: Olam

Masa joined the FT in 2009 and has worked on a number of desks across the paper, including Companies, Markets and Comment. She spent much of 2010 in New York covering the US equity markets. But earlier this year she finally saw the light and moved to Alphaville.

She started her career in the investment banking division at Lehman Brothers in the summer of 2007, timing it perfectly with the beginning of the credit crunch.

She studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University.

Learn more

Subscribe to Masa's posts
| Nov 19 2012 20:38 | Comment |

With his reputation suitably inflated from his Sino-Forest adventures, Carson Block’s next target is Olam International, the Singapore-based commodities trading group. As usual with the companies Block focuses on, it should be assumed that that his firm, Muddy Waters, is shorting the name.

Speaking at the Sohn London Investment Conference on Monday, Block questioned Olam’s accounting practices, declaring that the company was engaged in “constant ‘reclassification’” of certain parts of its balance sheet. He alleged there was a case where “office supplies became biological assets”. Read more

OSC: erm, about that Sino-Forest thing…

| Aug 26 2011 19:40 | Comment |

We take it back, perhaps the Canadian regulators have absolutely nothing to teach their US counterparts.

A few hours after suspending trading in Sino-Forest shares and ordering the executive team to resign, the Ontario Securities Commission issued the following statement: Read more

Sino-Forest scorched by Canadian regulators

| Aug 26 2011 14:50 | Comment |

This really wasn’t what Sino-Forest hoped for when it welcomed the Ontario Securities Commission investigation following the release of Muddy Waters’ now infamous report into the firm.

The OSC has decided to not wait around for Sino-Forest’s independent investigation. Read more

Sino-Forest shares rise on activist investor hopes

Kate is FT AV’s Asia Correspondent. She joined FT Alphaville in mid-2011 after carrying out various roles in the FT’s London office since 2005: interactive editor, companies reporter, and founding editor of the FT’s Energy Source blog.

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| Jul 27 2011 04:54 | Comment |

Sino-Forest shares have climbed since billionaire investor Richard Chandler disclosed his stake in the company, Bloomberg reports. The Chinese tree farming company’s shares rose to their highest level since Carson Block’s firm, Muddy Waters, published a report claiming it had overstated its timber holdings. The shares rose as much as 12 per cent in Toronto on Tuesday. Mr Chandler’s Mandolin Fund disclosed on July 20 it had built up 26.7m shares in Sino-Forest, or an 11 per cent stake, making it the company’s third-largest investor.  Chandler became one of New Zealand’s richest men partly by pushing for reforms at South Korea’s SK Group, the news agency says. Read more

LA researcher is scourge of Chinese companies

| Jul 25 2011 22:27 | Comment |

Without ever leaving the comfort of his Beverly Hills home in Los Angeles, Andrew Left has become the scourge of companies based halfway around the world in China. Mr Left, 40, does not understand Chinese and has not been in China for more than a decade. Over the past five years, however, he has prepared research reports on at least 18 Chinese companies that trade publicly in the US, alleging fraud, accounting irregularities and disclosure violations. Since each report was posted, the stock prices of 14 of those 18 companies have fallen 50 to 100 per cent, says the FT. Mr Left’s strategy is similar to that of Carson Block, the short seller who devastated Sino-Forest’s value with a damning report extensively covered by FT Alphaville. Read more

Carson Block drinks beer, leaves questions

| Jul 18 2011 15:09 | Comment |

The Globe & Mail continued its coverage of the Sino-Forest story by sharing a few beers and a Cobb salad with Carson Block.

In a “dude”-laced interview with Andy Hoffman published Saturday, Block reiterates his belief that Sino-Forest is a “fraud”. Read more

The Muddy Waters effect [updated]

| Jun 28 2011 16:56 | Comment |

The price action in Shanghai-based, Nasdaq-listed Spreadtrum Communications on Tuesday afternoon.

Via Google Finance: Read more

High-growth, high-stakes at Sino-Forest

Tracy Alloway used to be deputy editor of FT Alphaville. Here she learned the details of derivatives, the absurdities of accounting and the various structures of ... erm ... structured finance. She now covers big US banks for the FT paper, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. She pops up on FT Alphaville every once in a while.

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| Jun 14 2011 11:54 | Comment |

It’s Tuesday — Sino-Forest results day.

The Chinese forestry firm already stands accused of being a “stratospheric” fraud by research and short-selling outfit Muddy Waters. Today Sino-Forest is set to offer a deeper look at its finances with Q1 results. Read more

Sino-Forest: the case for the defence

| Jun 07 2011 18:30 | Comment |

In the previous post we tried to identify Muddy Waters’ (MW) main allegations concerning Sino-Forest Corporation’s (TRE) assets in Yunnan province, China.

This post looks at TRE’s response and makes some new information publicly available. Read more

Sino-Forest: the case for the prosecution

| Jun 07 2011 17:55 | Comment |

At pixel time Sino-Forest Corporation’s (TRE) was trading at C$4.72, below even Friday’s lows, on the back of continued scrutiny and Moody’s’ announcement it was putting TRE’s bonds on review for a downgrade.

The timber company, which research house and short seller Muddy Waters (MW) alleges is a “fraud”, released a statement on Monday rebutting claims it has misled investors about its finances. Read more