In our occasional series on the impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami on Japan-focused investors, hereâs an intriguing tale of Philip Jabreâs $300m blunder.
Itâs rare to hear such admissions â let alone explanations â from the mouth of the former star trader at GLG. And it kind of makes us wonder why anyone, having made such a colossal miscalculation, would want to talk about it.
It could be that market rumours got to the point where speculation was worse than reality. Either way, perhaps in Jabreâs world, any publicity is good publicity.
From the Wall Street Journal on Friday:
Few investors have made as many mistakes navigating markets over the past two weeks as Philippe Jabre.
Mr. Jabre, one of Europeâs best-known hedge-fund managers, bought Japanese stocks on news of the earthquake, and then suffered when the Nikkei Stock Average quickly tumbled 13%. Making matters worse, Mr. Jabre got nervous and sold his shares last week, just before a rebound in Japanese stocks. The miscues cost his firm about $300 million, the worst few days of his career.
But as Mr. Jabre reflects on his decisions, he isnât sure he made many mistakes. âI keep thinking about it, what could I have done differently?â said Mr. Jabre, who manages $6 billion hedge fund Jabre Capital Partners SA. âI spent all last weekend asking questionsâ of friends, colleagues and clients, he said. âWe couldnât take the risk of the Tokyo Stock Exchange closing down, so we soldâ Japanese shares.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2011/03/28/528341/jabres-300m-error-japan-dunnit/?updatedcontent=1
Errrrrrrr......
:eek:
Itâs rare to hear such admissions â let alone explanations â from the mouth of the former star trader at GLG. And it kind of makes us wonder why anyone, having made such a colossal miscalculation, would want to talk about it.
It could be that market rumours got to the point where speculation was worse than reality. Either way, perhaps in Jabreâs world, any publicity is good publicity.
From the Wall Street Journal on Friday:
Few investors have made as many mistakes navigating markets over the past two weeks as Philippe Jabre.
Mr. Jabre, one of Europeâs best-known hedge-fund managers, bought Japanese stocks on news of the earthquake, and then suffered when the Nikkei Stock Average quickly tumbled 13%. Making matters worse, Mr. Jabre got nervous and sold his shares last week, just before a rebound in Japanese stocks. The miscues cost his firm about $300 million, the worst few days of his career.
But as Mr. Jabre reflects on his decisions, he isnât sure he made many mistakes. âI keep thinking about it, what could I have done differently?â said Mr. Jabre, who manages $6 billion hedge fund Jabre Capital Partners SA. âI spent all last weekend asking questionsâ of friends, colleagues and clients, he said. âWe couldnât take the risk of the Tokyo Stock Exchange closing down, so we soldâ Japanese shares.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2011/03/28/528341/jabres-300m-error-japan-dunnit/?updatedcontent=1
Errrrrrrr......
:eek:
read the book.....
