After spending three decades focusing on things like economic trends, currency moves, politics and policy, Spindel has been confounded by markets shaped by low volatility, algorithms and more. He finally gave up and closed his nine-year-old hedge fund. “I felt the intensity of following markets at a time of increasing political and economic confusion very hard,” said Spindel, founder of Potomac River Capital in Washington. “My entire career had centered on an understanding of monetary politics and I had trouble getting my head around it all. It was exhausting.” These are troubled -- and troubling -- times for macro managers,...

Jim Fong, portfolio manager at hedge fund Quam Asset Management Ltd., has something to say to the short sellers who have become increasingly active in Hong Kong’s markets: Thank you. “When a short seller comes out with a report, actually, I should thank them,” Fong, who manages a Greater China-focused long-short equity fund for Hong Kong-based Quam Group, said in an interview at the firm’s office. When the targeted companies respond with their own statements, “it helps us clarify more whether the company is good or not,” Fong said. “Then, swift action is very important.” Fong has taken the opposite side...

I have my doubts, even though many believe that being acquired by a private-equity firm improves the odds that Staples can survive in the cutthroat retail arena. My doubts trace to a recent study that found that companies undergoing a private-equity leveraged buyout don’t perform any better after going private than they did when they were publicly traded.