Hedge Fund Drama, Appearing on Your Screen

It was a locker room diss between billionaires. But it took place on the computer screens of traders across Wall Street.

A longstanding dispute over the nutritional supplements company Herbalife â€" which helped a business channel put reality television to shame earlier this year â€" erupted in a racy taunt on Tuesday.

The aggressor was the hedge fund manager Daniel S. Loeb â€" or his profile on the Bloomberg data terminal, at least.

First, the background. Mr. Loeb took a position in Herbalife in January, betting the company’s stock would rise, that put him squarely in opposition to William A. Ackman, the hedge fund manager who announced a bet against Herbalife in December. Mr. Ackman claims the company is an illegal pyramid scheme, an assertion the company disputes.

With Herbalife shares rising about 80 percent so far this year, maintaining a short-selling position like Mr. Ackman’s has required a strong stomach. Mr. Loeb, on the other hand, has already sold his shares.

But the stock’s ascent has been a source of satisfaction for a third investor, Carl C. Icahn, who holds a large Herbalife position. That also puts Mr. Icahn at odds with Mr. Ackman, an old foe.

Given that charged history, it must have been highly amusing to many on Wall Street to see this banner displayed across Mr. Loeb’s instant messaging page on the Bloomberg terminal on Tuesday morning, using the ticker symbol for Herbalife:

“New HLF Product: The Herbalife Enema administered by Uncle Carl.”

Herbalife’s stock was up more than 2 percent at midday on Tuesday, approaching $61 a share.

DealBook managed to photograph the message, which was noticed earlier by Stephanie Ruhle of Bloomberg TV, before it disappeared from the profile of Mr. Loeb, who runs Third Point.

A spokeswoman for Third Point said she was not aware of the message. A spokeswoman for Pershing Square Capital Management, Mr. Ackman’s firm, did not immediately have a response.

The message was replaced by another later in the morning: “Always take the high rode.”

Before long, the misspelling was revised to “road.”