Einhorn Likes Tech, Financials, Apple Now Biggest Holding

[Stocks-to-Watch]

Cars, money management, iPhones and gold were hot investments for David Einhorn in the third quarter.

The activist investor released a report today detailing the recent*purchases*of his hedge fund*Greenlight Capital,which included new positions in*CBS (CBS), Barrick Gold (ABX),*Compuware (CPWR)*Legg Mason (LM) and*Marvell Technology Group (MRVL).

The fund also added to current positions in*Apple (AAPL),*General Motors (GM), Best Buy (BBY) and Microsoft (MSFT). It sold some of its holdings in Beckton Dickinson (BDX) while wholly liquidating its holdings in*Pfizer (PFE),*Aeropostale (ARO)*Amdocs (DOX) and*BP (BP).

In previously released*statements, Einhorn touted CBS as a beneficiary of the upcoming presidential election, while saying GM was too cheap given its potential earnings growth and possible introduction of new vehicle models. He said that investors were overly concerned with the threat of flash memory to Marvell’s hard-disk drive*business. While he criticized Sprint Nextel (S) for its disappointing quarterly results and greater financing needs than previously disclosed, he still added to his position, according to the filing.

Apple is now Greenlight’s largest holding; with over 1.3 million shares–increased by nearly 22% in the third quarter–it now accounts for 10.7% of the portfolio’s total assets.*Market Vectors ETF Trust Market Vectors Gold Miner (GDX) accounts for 8.6% of the portfolio after Einhorn boosted his holdings by nearly 105%. Microsoft is now number three, with 8.1% of Greenlight’s total assets, followed by*CareFusion (CFN) at 6.6%. General Motors rounds out the top five,*accounting*for 6.4% of the fund’s portfolio after it boosted its share count by 330%.

As*Bloomberg reported, the moves in the third quarter represented a 7.1% and 5.9% *increase in the proportion of Greenlight’s investments in tech and financial names, respectively, while it slashed its health-care and energy exposure by 11.1%and 3.7%. Tech is the fund’s top sector, though health care, despite the reduction, still stands at number two.

Einhorn is of course no stranger to taking big (if not always popular) bets on well known names. Best known for shorting Lehman Brothers before its 2008 demise, Einhorn has also set his*sights on*Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) and*The St. Joe Company (JOE).




Original Article Source by Barrons.com