Bill Ackman has been making the wrong kind of headlines again so far in 2016 after his hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management lost more than 20% of its value in 2015. Here’s a closer look at three of Ackman’s biggest investment blunders: J.C. Penney (JCP), Herbalife(HLF) and Valeant (VRX).
J.C. Penney (JCP)
Back in 2010, Pershing Square became JCP’s largest shareholder when Ackman decided to try his hand at turning around the ailing company. After joining the JCP board in February 2011, Ackman selectedApple (AAPL) VP Ron Johnson as the new JCP CEO. Johnson came up with a radical turnaround plan that involved transforming JCP into a collection of boutiques that would be “fun places to hang out.” The transformation fell flat, however, when JCP shoppers that were used to hunting for markdowns rejected the new “full-but-fair price” strategy.
In the end, JCP’s 2012 sales plunged 25% to their lowest level since 1987 and Ackman stepped down from the board and dumped his stake in JCP for a reported $500 million loss.
Herbalife (HLF)
Ackman made…
Click here to continue reading
Want to learn more about how to profit off the stock market? Or maybe you just want to be able to look sophisticated in front of your coworkers when they ask you what you are reading on your Kindle, and you’d prefer to tell them “Oh, I’m just reading a book about stock market analysis,” rather than the usual “Oh, I’m just looking at pics of my ex-girlfriend on Facebook.” For these reasons and more, check out my book, Beating Wall Street with Common Sense. I don’t have a degree in finance; I have a degree in neuroscience. You don’t have to predict what stocks will do if you can predict what traders will do and be one step ahead of them. I made a 400% return in the stock market over five years using only basic principles of psychology and common sense. Beating Wall Street with Common Sense is now available on Amazon, and tradingcommonsense.com is always available on your local internet!