Carl Icahn

UltraCoin -> PayPal -> Disintermediation -> Margin Compression -> Icahn -> Old School

When it comes to staying relevant (and profitable) in today's rapidly changing technological world, one of the key requirements is constantly being one step ahead of the competition. Which, for tech stocks, implies investing significantly in research and development. So, off the top of one's head, when one thinks who invests more in R&D as a percent of revenue, say between Nokia - which failed to innovate fast enough and as a result got run over, and Apple - which is best known for its innovative (if NSA infiltration-riddled) products, one would be tempted to say Apple. However, the reality is quite the opposite. As the chart below shows, when plotting the R&D to sales ratio for the diametrically opposite Nokia and Apple, one sees a constant increase in research spending at Nokia on one hand, and a consistent decline at Apple, on the other.

Nearly two years ago, before the topic of (the great and constantly missing) Capex became a mainstream media mainstay, we said that as long as the Fed was actively engaged in manipulating the capital markets - and this was before the Fed launched its endless QEternity - the bulk of corporate cash would go not into investing for growth, i.e., capital spending and/or hiring, but dividends and (levered) stock buybacks. Nearly $1 trillion in stock buybacks later, and zero growth Capex, we were proven right, much to the chagrin of permabulls who said the capex spending spree is just around the corner again... and again... and. Of course, if this were to happen, it would promptly refute our fundamental thesis that the Fed's presence in the market results in the terminal misallocation of efficient corporate capital. We were not concerned. We are even less concerned now having just read an FT piece forecasting that "capital spending by US companies is expected to grow this year at its slowest pace for four years, in a sign of corporate caution over the outlook for global demand." And like that, dear permabuls, the key pillar beneath all "corporate growth" thesis was yanked. Again. Fear not. There is always 2015. Or 2016. You get it.

Despite his own admission that he is not a 'product guy', Carl Icahn extends his 'pitch' for investors to buy buy buy Apple stock from one of using their offshore capital (or borrowing against it) to buyback inglorious amounts of shares to how great the "wearables" business could be...

• *ICAHN: ULTRA HD REPRESENTS 'PROMISING MOMENT' FOR APPLE
• *ICAHN: APPLE HAS 'COMPELLING OPPORTUNITY' IN WEARABLE DEVICES
• *ICAHN: INVESTING IN APPLE IS HOW GOOD INVESTORS MAKE MONEY

So buy you dummy... oh and don;t worry because Icahn has your back, even if he knows that AAPL does not...

• *ICAHN SAYS TIM COOK IS NOT A 'FINANCE GUY'
• *ICAHN: NO 'IN DEPTH' KNOWLEDGE OF FINANCE ON APPLE BOARD

Apple is - according to Icahn - the most over-capitalized company in corporate history...

• Gross Told El-Erian ‘Hell No’ Seeking to Stop Departure (BBG)
• How Caterpillar got bulldozed in China (Reuters)
• Davos Bankers Struggle to Convince Elite That Markets Are Safer (BBG)
• Lucrative Role as Middleman Puts Amazon in Tough Spot (WSJ)
• Arctic Air Blankets Northern U.S. as Texas to Get Snow (BBG)
• Lenovo buys IBM's server business in China's biggest IT acquisition (Reuters)
• SEC judge bars "Big Four" China units for six months over audits (Reuters)
• U.S. Accuses Security Background Check Firm of Fraud (WSJ)
• RIP BOE forward guidance: Bank of England rate rise is 'still some way off' - Fisher (Reuters)

And sure enough, less than 24 hours later, here comes the now well-known Icahn Tweet-pump

Since tweeting about our large position in $AAPL on Aug 13, when the stock was 468 per share, we’ve kept buying shares of this ‘no brainer.’

— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) January 22, 2014

These men are masters of the capital markets. They are voting with their feet and pulling their capital out of them. Given that their personal compensation is closely linked to assets under management and profit sharing, this decision is akin to the choice to forego additional wealth that could be made quite easily (none of these individuals would have trouble raising several billion more in capital) rather than trying to find opportunities in a challenging market.

• Yellen’s Record-Low Senate Support Reflects Fed’s Politicization (BBG)
• Euro-Zone Inflation Rate Falls in December, even further below ECB's target (WSJ)
• Zambia politician charged for calling president a potato (AFP)
• Blame gold: India Savings Deposit Scam Collapse Leaves Thousands Penniless (BBG)
• Hedge Funds Raise Gold Wagers as Yamada Sees $1,000 (BBG)
• George Osborne limits cuts options with pensions promise (FT)
• Vietnam Raises Foreign Bank Ownership Caps to Aid System (BBG)
• But they said buy a year ago... Goldman to JPMorgan Say Sell Emerging Markets After Slide (BBG)
• SAC Trial Seen by Probe Convict as Latest Abusive Tactic (BBG)

All the pundits who preach an economic recovery in the US always fall strangely silent when asked to share their thoughts on the following chart (taken from the St. Louis Fed), showing the annual change in real disposable income per capita in the US. What seems to stump them most is that aside from the 2012 year end aberration (due to accelerated distribution of dividends ahead of the 2013 tax hikes) is that in November the series finally posted its first Y/Y decline (-0.1%) since the Lehman collapse. But as the chart notes, the data is "per capita" and as everyone knows, under the New Normal, some "per capitas" are more equal than other "per capitas." Enter the billionaires. As Bloomberg summarizes, "The richest people on the planet got even richer in 2013, adding $524 billion to their collective net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s 300 wealthiest individuals. The aggregate net worth of the world’s top billionaires stood at $3.7 trillion at the market close on Dec. 31, according to the ranking. "The rich will keep getting richer in 2014," John Catsimatidis, the billionaire founder of real estate and energy conglomerate Red Apple Group Inc., said in a telephone interview from his New York office.

• Americans on Wrong Side of Income Gap Run Out of Means to Cope (BBG)
• Michael Schumacher battles for life after ski fall (Reuters)
• Professors for hire: Academics Who Defend Wall St. Reap Reward (NYT)
• Chinese police kill eight in Xinjiang 'terrorist attack' (Reuters)
• How to Prevent a War Between China and Japan (BBG)
• Unemployment Benefits Lapse Severs Lifeline for Longtime Jobless (BBG)
• Japan's homeless recruited for murky Fukushima clean-up (Reuters)
• China Local-Government Debt Surges to $3 Trillion (WSJ)
• How unexpected: Britons less inclined to pay down mortgage debt (Reuters)

Gross: HoHoHo! Who cant like a ~25% gain in 2013? Only a Grinch who worries abt record profit margins, corp buybacks &Fed checkwriting. Moi?

— PIMCO (@PIMCO) December 25, 2013

Many Ponzi schemes work for a while, but it is only a matter of time before the tide goes rolling out to Sea.

UPDATE: Herbalife is halted for the following news:

- HERBALIFE COMPLETES RE-AUDIT FOR FISCAL '10 '11, '12
- HERBALIFE NO MATERIAL CHANGES TO 2010, 2011 OR 2012 FINL

Which opens the doors for the substantial buyback they have planned. We suspect one can hear a pin drop in Pershing Square's headquarters.

Herbalife has re-opened up 9% over $75 on very heavy volume - It seems Ackman's "end of the earth" bet may take a little longer...

This week marks the one-year anniversary of Bill Ackman’s 342-page slide presentation at the Ira Sohn Conference in NYC.  At that time he publicly disclosed his $1 billion short bet against Herbalife (HLF), accusing the company of being a pyramid scheme and claiming its stock was destined to fall to zero once regulators stepped in.  As everyone knows, HLF shares plummeted, losing nearly half their value in the three days after the presentation.  The market’s initial response did not last, and HLF is up about 160% since its 12/21/12 low of $26.06 (vs S&P 500 +24%).  Pershing Square’s public campaign has taken many forms, as Barclays outlines below...

Now that the CapEx drought has become a mainstream topic, it bears reminding that this phenomenon will continue indefinitely, and certainly as long as CapEx hurdle rates are far greater than issuing a low-yielding bond and using the proceeds to reward shareholders: indeed, this shareholders friendly topic has been perhaps the dominant theme of 2013 when activist investors stormed to the forefront once again, most prominently in the face of Carl Icahn, and have managed to force even lower revenue growth prospects by levering companies with debt loads that are now greater than during the prior credit bubble peak. Naturally, one after another bank has come out once again, as they did, and is predicting that the great deferred CapEx renaissance is upon us... any day now. Unfortunately, it isn't. And just to confirm this, here is Archer Daniels Midland summarizing the company's plans for its 2014 free cash flows. In short: they don't involve any US growth CapEx spending at all.

• U.S. set to adopt Volcker rule to curb bank trading gambles (Reuters) After vote, lawsuits likely next hurdle for Volcker rule (Reuters)
• U.S. Congress budget talks could produce Tuesday deal, aides say (Reuters)
• Wealthy Go Frugal This Holiday Amid Uneven U.S. Recovery (BBG)
• Tearful Thai PM urges protesters to take part in election (Reuters)
• Fed’s Bullard Sees Higher QE Taper Odds as Labor Market Improves (BBG)
• Coeure Says ECB Would Offer More LTROs Only When Banks Can Lend (BBG)
• Inside China's Super-Sterile Chicken Farms (WSJ)
• Mandela Service Rivals JFK’s as Leaders Meet in South Africa (BBG)
• China data defy slowdown forecasts (FT), and of course the word is "data"
• Cold, ice grip U.S. as more snow to blanket East (Reuters)