Taking Aim at an Anonymous Blogger

It may seem as though David Einhorn, the outspoken hedge fund manager, wants to have his cake and eat it, too. After an anonymous blogger on the website Seeking Alpha leaked one of his firm’s investments — a stake in Micron Technology — Mr. Einhorn’s firm, Greenlight Capital, asked a court to force the website to identify the writer by name. If Mr. Einhorn — a longtime champion of transparency when he singles out companies and other market participants — were to win, the result could limit the free flow of information to traditional news outlets and require sites like Seeking Alpha to not publish anonymous contributions, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in the DealBook column.

“The case could be a watershed for both the reporting of financial news using anonymous sources and the increasing trend of confidential information being posted anonymously on social media and the comment sections of established news websites,” Mr. Sorkin writes, adding, “In an industry whose lifeblood is information, this case underscores the struggle between secrecy and transparency.”

FOREIGN INVESTORS IN RUSSIA BEGIN TO SOUND ALARM  |  When seeking to limit a global force, less is sometimes more. Such may be the case with Russia, which the United States and Europe are looking to punish for its conduct in Ukraine and Crimea. Rather than hit Russia with sanctions, pressuring large global investors to reduce their sizable holdings in the country could prove more powerful, Landon Thomas Jr. writes in DealBook.

Since 2009, central banks have been pouring cash into the worldwide economy, with more than a quarter of a trillion dollars flowing into Russian coffers. Most has found its way to companies controlled by the state. Now, some analysts and economists are arguing for an end to this easy money, a move that would choke off critical funds, Mr. Thomas writes. But officials are unlikely to take such a major step anytime soon. For one, the Obama administration has urged caution in pushing measures that might upset fragile markets.

But as pressure behind the scenes mounts, mutual funds and other institutions “could take it upon themselves to reassess or reduce their exposure,” Mr. Thomas adds. And while investors have broadly remained sanguine about Russia, some are beginning to sound the alarm. One went so far as to say Russia should be removed from the global equity indexes that are closely watched in the industry, a move that, Mr. Thomas writes, “would have a stark effect, prompting investors to sell and removing a crucial source of funding for Russia’s top companies.”

ANOTHER WIN FOR A BOUTIQUE  |  Among the large investment banks that played a role in the $10 billion Vodafone-Ono deal, one name stuck out: the boutique advisory firm Robertson Robey Associates, Chad Bray writes in DealBook. The firm, which advised Vodafone’s board of directors in the acquisition, features three star deal makers who have struck out on their own in London. One, Simon Warshaw, was formerly the co-chief of investment banking at UBS. Before joining Robertson Robey last fall, Mr. Warshaw played a lead role in Vodafone’s $130 billion deal to sell its stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications.

ON THE AGENDA  |  The Federal Reserve’s policy-making committee convenes for its two-day meeting. A European Union parliamentary committee is scheduled to vote on “net neutrality” legislation. Housing starts for February and the Consumer Price Index for February are out at 8:30 a.m. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a former N.B.A. star and a United States cultural ambassador, is on CNBC at 5 p.m. Patrick Collison, the co-founder and chief executive of Stripe, is on Bloomberg TV at 1 p.m. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew is in Mexico for meetings with top Mexican officials, including President Enrique Peña Nieto.

MORE TURNOVER AT SAC CAPITAL  |  Two portfolio managers from Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors have jumped to the hedge fund Highbridge Capital Management, Matthew Goldstein writes in DealBook. The two traders, Wayne Chambless and Christopher Procaccini, are leaving SAC a month before the firm officially changes its name to Point72 Asset Management and converts from a hedge fund to a family office that will manage mainly Mr. Cohen’s $9 billion as a result of an insider trading scandal that has besieged the firm. Collectively, Mr. Chambless and Mr. Procaccini managed $800 million to $1 billion of SAC’s money.

Highbridge, which has $29 billion under management, is owned by JPMorgan Chase and is one of the world’s largest hedge funds. It joins a growing list of well-known hedge funds that have hired traders and analysts form SAC despite the trading scandal, Mr. Goldstein writes.

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