Pershing Square Capital

With his fortunes sinking along with Target Corp.'s stock price, activist investor William Ackman said he will unveil a "potential transaction" today that he believes will pump up shares and build long-term value for shareholders.

It's an aggressive move for Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund owns a nearly 10 percent stake in Minneapolis-based Target.

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Hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management LP's outspoken manager William Ackman, who has made headlines over the past year for his short positions (namely the financial services sector), took aim at the $700 billion bailout bill and Securities and Exchange Commission's short selling ban at the 4th Annual New York Value Investing Congress on Monday.

Hedge fund manager William Ackman is counting on comebacks for Sears Holdings Corp. and Target Corp., even as earnings declined, in a bet against fellow investors who have sent short interest sales to record highs.

The 42-year-old founder of New York-based Pershing Square Capital Management LP has won these kinds of retail bets in the past, most recently in a gain of as much as $202 million on his against-the-market investment in Longs Drug Stores Corp.

Hedge fund manager William Ackman, who is betting against shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, criticized a government plan to shore up the mortgage-finance companies and said he proposed an alternative that would wipe out stockholders.

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From the article:”Sears Holdings‘ annual meeting apparently turned into a battle of the hedge fund managers as William Ackman took Sears chairman Edward Lampert to task over the retailer’s performance.

“You’re the reason we’re here,” Mr. Ackman, the head of hedge fund Pershing Square Management told Mr. Lampert. “We think Sears is undervalued. Your disclosure is not as forthcoming as it should be.”

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William Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management LP hedge fund returned 22 percent last year, increased his bet against MBIA Inc. and said the bond insurer may need to raise $10 billion in capital to protect its policyholders.

Just how much can one activist investor take? A lot, if your name is Bill Ackman.

Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management does not quietly sit by as the companies it invests in go about their business. Each investment requires a different strategy: When he bought shares of McDonald's two years ago because he thought they were undervalued, Ackman reportedly spent a day behind the counter at a local franchise to see how the hamburger chain works.

At the Value Investing Congress, activist investor William Ackman, founder of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital, said he loves Target (NYSE: TGT) and he called the stock "extrodinarily cheap." Ackman said he now has a larger position in the retailer.

In a July 13D filing, Pershing Square controlled a 9.6% stake in Target, mostly through options. His latest filing showed Ackman owned about 3.5 million common shares of Target, or about 0.42% of the stock.

Activist investor William Ackman said he increased his company's stake in Target Corp., the second- biggest U.S. discount chain.Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management LP lobbied McDonald's Corp. and Ceridian Corp. to boost share prices, said that Minneapolis-based Target is 'probably the best retailer in the world.'

'We have enormous respect for management,' Ackman,said at the Value Investing Congress in New York. 'They are doing exactly the right things.'