Kerrisdale Capital Up 198 Percent in 2011?

Last year was a tough one for hedge funds. A majority of funds lost money, according to Hedge Fund Intelligence. More hedge funds lost money than did in 2008.

But Kerrisdale Capital apparently had a stunningly good year. According to its latest quarterly letter, the fund was up 198.3 percent for 2011.

How'd it do that?

"Our top five positive contributors were four shorts in Chinese companies that we believe are defrauding investors, and our long position in Aeropostale," the fund says in its letter.

The hedge fund is run by the 30-year-old Sahm Adrangi, a former journalist who turned his investigative skills into short selling in 2009. Here's a lengthy profile of him in the Financial Post.

Where most hedge funds avoid publicity, Adrangi actually runs his own blog where he makes the case against the companies he is shorting.

I expect we'll be hearing a lot more about Adrangi in the future.

Questions? Comments? Email us [e-mail]

Follow John on Twitter @ twitter.com/Carney

Follow NetNet on Twitter @ twitter.com/CNBCnetnet

Facebook us @ www.facebook.com/NetNetCNBC