Cohen in the crosshairs

Message ID: 167591
Posted By: stats_for_all
Posted On: 2004-08-16 13:05:00
Subject: Cohen in the crosshairs

Jonathan Cohen was relentless in his public promotion of SCOX in June-September of 2003. A few other companies have benefited from his positive publicity at other times. Cohen used market programs on PBS and NBC to successfully tout companies for which he invested. A single Business Week journalist, Gene Marcial, has repeated tips from Cohen on stocks.

A common theme running through these reports is Cohen's assertion that the favored stock is a "great takeover target". This indicates to me that central to Cohen's investment strategy is payout from M&A action. His buy and hold policy, such as in SCOX, indicates that he waits for the merger payout rather than the stock run-up in the market. In this context, the Royce emphasis on "value" is really shorthand for 'attractiveness to buyout'.

Cohen's press statements on mergers talk about "whisperings" and "rumors" on the street. Cohen has mentioned in analyst commentaries how much he and assistant Dana Serman benefit from "knowledge" of pending investments.

In actual fact, most of Cohen's "great takeovers" have been illusory or distress sales at great discount. The M&A talk may be a simple pump, just like the occasional shill on this board, but the hold pattern shows Cohen may himself believe the veracity of the "whispers".

Charles Royce may have grown tired of Cohen's secret knowledge. Not only has Royce divorced itself of the RYTVX fund at Q2, but stocks heavily promoted by Cohen, but in other Royce funds show a pattern of "SOLD OUT" in the Q2 Royce filings. Royce is systematically stripping itself of Cohen's stock picks.

The Tech Value fund quarter end holdings show DSGX (Descartes Systems) as a soldout position (300K shares). DSGX is a Canadian logistics company caught in an accounting fraud. The JHC Capital filing show Cohen has retained 42 k shares of DSGX, perhaps he is waiting payoff from the class action lawsuits. DSGX was founded by a wunderkind Peter Schwartz, who is now involved in a Canadian VC and hedge firm J. L. Albright Venture Partners with Rick Segal, a former Microsoft VP>

The stocks:

Cohen promoted RCOM (Register.com) as a takover target 12/17/01 in a Business Week article by G. Marcial. Royce sold out a long held 324K shares of ROCM in Q2, 2004. A takeover never materialized.

Cohen promoted NTRT (Net ratings) in October 2003. Royce sold out 145K shares or NTRT in Q2. No takeover as of yet.

Cohen said CYBS was a takeover target by First Data in Business Week and television appearances in September and October 2003. Royce sold out shares of CYBS in Q2, Cohen's RYTVX kept it shares until July 16th when it liquidated about 600k. Cohen private hedge has a separate stake in CYBS of 159K shares. No takeover has materialized.

Cohen promoted LendingTree (TREE) as a takover target despite its profligate spending on brand marketing. The prestigious M&A suitors declined the bait. TREE had a distress sale to IACI in July, 2003.

Cohen repeatedly marketed Verity (VRTY) as takeover bait. Reports from 8/13/02 and 12/18/03. VRTY was a RYTVX-only play which Cohen began to dispose in Q2.

Descartes:
www.jlaventures.com/overview.php3
Lendingtree:
www.lendingtree.com/stm/aboutlt/corporate/corporate-newsarticles-mortgagedip.asp
www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_05/b3768123.htm
CYBS:
www.businessweek.com/investor/content/nov2003/pi20031117_7297_pi017.htm
RCOM:
www.businessweek.com/magazine/ content/01_51/b3762147.htm
VRTY
yahoo.businessweek.com/ magazine/content/02_31/b3794141.htm
other Picks:
moneycentral.msn.com/cnbc/tv/stockpicks/ spsummary.asp?id=249&name=Jonathan+Cohen

Message ID: 168080
Posted By: stats_for_all
Posted On: 2004-08-17 12:48:00
Subject: Cohen's Hedge

JHC Capital manages 2 funds, RYTVX and a private hedge. Comparing Q2 data reported for RYTVX and the SEC 13F filing for JHC Capital reveals the positions held by the private hedge.

Cohen's top touts from 2003, CYBS and SCOX, are central to the holdings.

It appears that Cohen has private long positions worth >$500K in SCO, CYBS, and RSAS. Ambiguity concerns the MRBA position (a stock formerly in RYTVX) which merged with BMC in Q2, the $1 MM position appears to be a private at least in part.

Total value of the positions not reported in RYTVX are $4.5 MM. This is less than the $15 MM assets reported to the SEC in March, but will not record overseas securities. Cohen has announced (Feb, 2004) an Asian Long-short hedge.

The RYTVX has a "miscellaneous" category worth $135K, so the bottom of the list may have some misrepresentation.

List of JHC Capital positions not represented in RYTVX
Symbol.. Name.......... ....Value $........ ....Note
CYBS.... CyberSource .. 1,329,307
MRBA.... Marimba....... ___977,790 ....bought out BMC, april 28th
RSAS.... RSA SEC inc... ___824,941 ....Not in RYTVX
SCOX.... SCO Group .... ___560,219
DIGI.... Digital Impact ___277,733
JCDA.... Jacada........ ___137,470
bvew.... bindview dev.. ____87,850 ....Not in RYTVX
Manu.... manugistics... ____82,500
Ulti.... ultimare SFT.. ____50,750
MOBI.... mobius........ ____48,032
DSGX.... descartes..... ____46,048 ....Accounting Scandal
ACTG.... acacia RSH.... ____44,505 ....VChip Patent revoked
epre.... eprescence.... ____41,800 ....dissolved
FAIM.... Dynabazaar.... ____31,682

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