Mar. 7--Wall Street didn't have a good year, and hedge fund manager William Ackman is no exception. But the leader of Pershing Square Capital Management seems especially aggrieved that the $2 billion stake in Target Corp. he amassed nearly two years ago has lost more than 90 percent of its value.

In an unusual letter to investors last month, the 42-year-old Ackman apologized for the "dreadful performance" of the Target-only fund, which Pershing Square made with bets on stock options rather than purchasing the underlying stock. He said the fund "has been one of the greatest disappointments of my career to date."

But it seems Ackman has had enough of the apologies and attempts to persuade Target managers to buy into his ideas for boosting what he considers its undervalued stock. Ackman now wants Target to give his unnamed "candidates" seats on the board of directors.

With the nation's economy shuddering and the credit markets dried up, it's unclear whether Ackman will have the same leverage he's had at other companies he's invested in, and how contentious the battle for Target's board might become. The effort, already underway in private, will play out in the coming weeks when Target files its proxy statement.

Ackman was in the Twin Cities last week, presumably meeting with Target management. Target declined to discuss specifics of a relationship with an individual shareholder or the content of their discussions. Meanwhile, Ackman said he wanted to keep his plans to himself at least for a few more weeks.

"He's been very respectful of Target management so far," said Thrivent Financial portfolio manager David Heupel. "And so far, they haven't really listened to him to the extent that he'd like. He's a very smart guy. He's a major investor. And he's got to be sitting there wondering, 'What can be done?'"

Ackman pushed Target to pursue an aggressive three-year, $10 billion share buyback program funded with debt, a move it suspended a year later to preserve cash and avoid jeopardizing its credit rating. But the company had spent about $5 billion on its shares at what in hindsight were inflated prices.

Target sold half of its profitable $8 billion credit-card receivables to J.P. Morgan Chase and Co., a now-prescient move as Target's write-offs from bad credit-card debt climb. Ackman had wanted more: He pushed for a complete sale.

But in his most public quest, Ackman so far has failed to persuade Target's brass to sell off the land under its stores.