REPORT: Dan Loeb Also Bet Against Bill Ackman On JC Penney

This isn't the first time hedge funder Dan Loeb has taken on hedge funder Bill Ackman.

Before Loeb took the other side of Ackman's massive bet against Herbalife, he had a short position against Ackman's big gamble on JC Penney, according to a new report.

From the WSJ:

Mr. Loeb had taken a short position in J.C. Penney, JCP 0.00% a retailer that Mr. Ackman has sought to revive under former Apple Inc. AAPL +0.04% executive Ron Johnson, according to people familiar with Mr. Loeb's holdings. Penney's new strategy hasn't paid off so far, with both sales and the share price slumping. Mr. Ackman has told his investors the turnaround will take time. The company has repeatedly said it would take years to turn around the chain.

Business Insider contacted Third Point for comment, and was told the the hedge fund does not discuss its short positions. Ever.

However, in Loeb's latest investor letter (out yesterday) he wrote that both of his shorts had been losers over Q4 — and since a JC Penney short would've been profitable over that time, it is likely that Third Point has exited a JCP short.

Then of course there's Target, another Ackman investment that didn't perform. The New York Post claims that Loeb is still sore from losses he suffered from investing in Ackman's Target fund back in 2008.

It also called the two "frenemies," but that just seems a little extra, doesn't it?



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