It’s been proven time and time again that what top investors say at conferences tends to move the markets. But at Wednesday’s Ira Sohn investment conference in New York, Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn may have done something unprecedented: he helped send shares of multi-level marketing networks Herbalife (HLF) and Nu Skin (NUS) higher by not mentioning them.
Avi SalzmanDavid Einhorn (left) prepares to go onstage at the Ira Sohn investment conference in New York on Wednesday.Einhorn had caused a stir a few weeks ago by jumping on Herbalife’s quarterly earnings call to ask questions about its business model. Traders took this as a sign that Einhorn was shorting the stock and expected him to mention the two companies when he spoke at the Ira Sohn Conference on Wednesday. Barron’s Senior Editor Bill Alpert also wrote about some challenges facing the companies in this week’s magazine.
But Einhorn took a different tack, running through a list of his most and least favorite stocks, but not once mentioning either company. His wrath instead fell on sand and gravel company Martin Marietta Materials (MLM), Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) and on the entire nation of China.
With the multi-level-marketers seemingly all in the clear, their shares soared in late trading. Herbalife rose 17% and Nu Skin was up 16% by the end of the day, with the stocks spiking after Einhorn began speaking. Herbalife is up another 5.3% in pre-market trading on Thursday.
Of course, just because Einhorn didn’t mention the stocks doesn’t mean he’s not shorting them.
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