give brief and simple explanation to this article and why it relates to the topic hedge funds

! ! BONDS!NEWS!|!Tue!Aug!23,!2016!3:08am!EDT! REFILE=Hedge!funds!eye! Japan!stocks!again!after! mauling!by!wrong=way! yen!bets! ! ! ! !!!! (Refiles!to!fix!typo!in!first!bullet!point)! *!Hedge!funds!book!losses!after!bets!on!rising!stocks,! weaker!yen! *!Trade!stumbles!in!H1,!average!fund!down!4.21!pct! *!BlackRock!says!good!time!for!bargain=hunting;!earnings! eyed! *!Japan!Post!Bank!to!start!hedge!fund!investment!this!year! By!Maiya!Keidan!and!Tomo!Uetake! LONDON/TOKYO!Aug!23!Japan=focused!hedge!funds!may! be!ready!to!start!nibbling!at!Tokyo!shares!again!after! suffering!losses!earlier!this!year!by!betting!on!a!weaker! yen.! Though!the!outlook!for!the!yen!remains!as!murky!as!ever! ahead!of!Bank!of!Japan!and!U.S.!Federal!Reserve!policy! reviews,!some!fund!managers!think!Japanese!stocks!are! looking!attractive!again!after!tumbling!13!percent!from! January.! Foreign!and!domestic!hedge!funds!are!anxious!for!payback,! after!average!losses!of!4.2!percent!in!the!first!seven!months! of!the!year,!according!to!data!tracker!Eurekahedge.! Many!had!shorted!the!yen!betting!the!Fed!would!hike! interest!rates!several!times!this!year,!boosting!the!dollar,! while!the!BOJ's!negative!interest!rate!was!seen!keeping!a! lid!on!the!yen.! Since!the!yen!and!Japanese!stocks!are!closely!correlated!=! stocks!generally!fall!when!the!yen!rises!and!vice!versa!=! investors!who!got!the!yen!wrong!generally!got!stocks! wrong,!too.! They!were!further!wrong=footed!by!the!yen's!surge!as! investors!scrambled!for!safe!havens!after!Britain's!surprise! vote!in!June!to!leave!the!European!Union.! Hedge!funds!now!think!the!market's!repricing!has!created! some!opportunities!in!equities.!BlackRock's!largest!mutual! fund!said!last!week!that!equities!were!now!cheap!and!that! it!was!increasing!its!holdings!to!about!10!percent.! Other!funds!are!looking!to!the!next!round!of!earnings!soon! from!some!of!Japan's!top!firms!to!help!them!assess! valuations!after!the!first=half's!firesale.! "The!initial!reaction!when!a!macro!thesis!fails!is!for!all! equities!to!get!punished,"!said!Edward!Rogers,!founder!of! Tokyo=based!fund!of!hedge!funds!Rogers!Investment! Advisors.! "Of!20!companies,!if!10!have!way!better!numbers,!then!all! of!a!sudden!people!go!out!and!buy!that!stock!again,!so!our! managers!benefit!from!holding!that!stock."! Katsunori!Sago,!chief!investment!officer!of!Japan!Post!Bank! ,!which!plans!to!start!hedge!fund!investment!next!year,!says! hedge!funds!with!new!technologies!and!strategies!may! outperform.! "Because!there's!been!a!diversion!between!monetary! policy=makers'!intentions!and!market!directions,!some! hedge!funds!are!not!able!to!produce!returns!as!they!used! to.!On!the!other!hand,!funds!that!make!full!use!of!latest= generation!technologies,!such!as!big!data,!are!doing!well."! ! YEN!STILL!A!BIG!QUESTION!MARK! The!yen!has!risen!from!120.30!against!the!U.S.!dollar!at!the! start!of!the!year!to!around!100.! "These!investors!planned!to!make!money!on!both!sides!of! the!trade.!However,!as!the!yen!grew!stronger,!that!trade! didn't!work,!people!had!to!unwind!large!short!positions,"! said!Frank!Packard,!president!of!TAP!Japan,!an!investment! advisor.! So=called!long=short!hedge!funds!=!which!bet!on!stocks! rising!and!falling!=!have!lost!an!average!3.82!percent!this! year!versus!gains!of!5.72!percent!in!the!same!period!last! year,!the!Eureka!hedge!data!showed.!Long=only!funds!lost! an!average!7.44!percent,!versus!a!rise!of!11.25!percent.! Activist!hedge!funds!that!buy!shares!and!push!for! management!change!have!lost!5.7!percent!this!year,!versus! gains!of!16.7!percent.! Funds!that!focus!on!the!currency!are!now!watching!policy,! rather!than!fundamentals,!as!the!market's!main!driver.! Japan's!economic!growth!stalled!in!the!second!quarter!as! weak!exports!and!shaky!domestic!demand!prompted! companies!to!cut!spending,!putting!fresh!pressure!on! premier!Shinzo!Abe!to!come!up!with!policies!that!will! produce!more!sustainable!growth.! Many!market!watchers!also!expect!the!BOJ!to!ease!policy! further,!despite!growing!fears!it!is!nearly!out!of!options!and! that!any!respite!for!the!yen!would!be!short=lived.! (Reporting!by!Maiya!Keidan!and!Tomo!Uetake;!Editing!by! Kim!Coghill)