5 Market Heavyweights' Recent Picks
NEW YORK (
) -- Warren Buffett, George Soros, John Paulson ... investors watch every move these market mavens make, interpreting everything they say and do as a sign of things to come.
If we can't get inside their minds, let's at least get a look at their portfolios when we can. We grasp at everything and anything for some guidance that can help us do what they have done: make billions.
They make it sound so simple, too. But where they see deep value, the average investor often sees fear. And while they back their buys with conviction, the average investor often second-guesses their moves.
The following are among the top market movers. Read on for a snapshot of their different investment approaches and their latest portfolio moves.
>> Warren Buffett
>> George Soros
>> John Paulson
>> Carl Icahn
>> David Tepper
Warren Buffett
Latest Buys:
Fiserv
(FISV) - Get Fiserv Inc. Report
,
TheStreet Recommends
Johnson & Johnson
(JNJ) - Get Johnson & Johnson Report
Latest Sells:
None
Top Five Equity Holdings:
Coca Cola
(KO) - Get Coca-Cola Company (The) Report
,
Wells Fargo
(WFC) - Get Wells Fargo & Company Report
,
American Express
(AXP) - Get American Express Company Report
,
Procter & Gamble
(PG) - Get Procter & Gamble Company (The) Report
and
Kraft Foods
(KFT)
, who turns 80 next week, is the wise old sage of the investing world. Every quarter the market waits with bated breath to see a snapshot of the Wizard of Omaha's portfolio.
Buffett's widely reported buys and sells are often mimicked by other Buffett-wannabes, not the least because the investor is famous for "buying and holding" his stocks and rarely rides the latest market wave.
True to form, Buffett's latest portfolio features only one new addition,
Fiserv, a technology company that caters to smaller banks. He also added beaten-down consumer stock
Johnson & Johnson, which has seen a drop in valuations in the wake of increasing product recalls.
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Warren Buffett's Portfolio
|
The investing world will be at a loss for his market wisdom when Buffett retires, though there is no timeline for it yet. Buffett has said he could split his role into three parts. Possible successors to manage his investment portfolio include Li Lu, a Chinese-born fund manager at Berkshire Hathaway and David Sokol, chairman of NetJets and MidAmerican Energy Holdings, two Berkshire companies.
But there really can be only one Buffett.
>> George Soros
>> John Paulson
>> Carl Icahn
>> David Tepper
George Soros
Latest Buys:
Akamai Tech
(AKAM) - Get Akamai Technologies Inc. Report
,
Salesforce.Com
(CRM) - Get Salesforce Inc. Report
,
Netflix
(NFLX) - Get Netflix Inc. Report
and
Kraft Foods
(KFT)
figured among his new buys, but they are not significant holdings in his portfolio. Soros, however, increased positions in a number of his top holdings including
Monsanto
(MON)
,
Kinross Gold
(KGC) - Get Kinross Gold Corporation Report
and
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Apple Inc. Report
.
Latest Sells:
Petrobras
(PBR) - Get Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Report
was the most notable among his sells.
Top Five Equity Holdings:
SPDR Gold Trust
(GLD) - Get SPDR Gold Shares ETF Report
,
Monsanto
(MON)
,
Interoil
(IOC)
,
Plains Exploration and Production
(PXP)
and
Novagold Resources
(NG) - Get Novagold Resources Inc. Report
knows a bubble when he sees one. Then he goes out and buys it! That's why gold remains his top holding, even though earlier this year he called the yellow metal "the ultimate bubble." The legendary trader knows he can make money by riding a bubble while it is still inflating.
But more mortal investors might be caught in the bust if they were to follow his moves too closely. With over 1,000 stocks in his portfolio, Soros moves in and out of positions quickly. During the second quarter he bought 233 stocks and sold as many. Still, you want to watch out for big moves by traders like Soros because he has his finger on the market pulse.
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George Soros' Portfolio
|
It is worth noting that he slashed his equity exposure (which includes his 18% holding in gold ETFs) by 42% in the second quarter.
SPDR Gold Trust
(GLD) - Get SPDR Gold Shares ETF Report
at 18.5% of his portfolio is still his top holding, even though he did shed some of his shares in the fund.
>> Warren Buffett
>> John Paulson
>> Carl Icahn
>> David Tepper
John Paulson
Latest Buys:
Goldman Sachs
(GS) - Get Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (The) Report
, investment banking outfit
American Capital
(ACAS)
and regional bank
Popular
(BPOP) - Get Popular Inc. Report
.
Latest Sells:
First Midwest Bancorp
(FMBI) - Get First Midwest Bancorp Inc. Report
was the only stock sold during the quarter.
Top Five Equity Holdings:
SPDR Gold Trust,
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Bank of America Corporation Report
,
Citigroup
(C) - Get Citigroup Inc. Report
,
AngloGold Ashanti
(AU) - Get AngloGold Ashanti Limited Report
and
Hartford Financial
(HIG) - Get Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (The) Report
.
Four years ago, no one knew much about
. That was before he made $15 billion shorting sub-prime mortgages in 2007, with a strategy subsequently dubbed
The Greatest Trade Ever
in a book by the same name. In 2008, he made money shorting bank stocks and in 2009, he switched sides, making large bets on the nation's big banks, scooping them up at low valuations.
Paulson, like Soros, has been
this year; gold and financials are the fund's top two holdings.
The fund manager is reportedly having a tough time this year, with his Advantage Plus Hedge fund shedding 8.8% in the first half, according to
Bloomberg News
reports citing investors. His Advantage Fund -- which invests in mergers and bankruptcies -- was down 6% while his Recovery Fund rose 9% in first half but fell 12% in June.
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John Paulson's Portfolio
|
Paulson is said to have cut his net long bets more recently according to a
Financial Times
news report, which has been seen as a more bearish outlook from the hedge fund manager. But the fund manager has his eye out for stocks undergoing corporate restructuring and bankruptcy, according to reports citing his letter to investors.
>> Warren Buffett
>> George Soros
>> Carl Icahn
>> David Tepper
Carl Icahn
Latest Buys:
Anadarko Petroleum
(APC) - Get Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Report
,
Hain Celestial
(HAIN) - Get The Hain Celestial Group Inc. Report
,
Mentor Graphics
(MENT)
and
Lawson Software
(LWSN)
were prominent among his recent buys.
Latest Sells:
Blockbuster
(BLOKA.PK)
Top Five Equity Holdings:
Motorola
(MOT)
,
Genzyme
(GENZ)
,
Biogen
(BIIB) - Get Biogen Inc. Report
,
Chesapeake
(CHK) - Get Chesapeake Energy Corporation Report
and
Amylin Pharmaceuticals
(AMLN)
.
When
buys a significant stake in a company, you know big change is around the corner. The activist investor is legendary for his role in staging outright takeovers, waging proxy wars to replace management and calling for corporate restructuring to create value.
He is famous for launching a proxy contest to replace
Yahoo!'s
(YHOO)
board of directors when it rejected Microsoft's takeover bid. He sued Motorola to gain four seats on its board, eventually settling for two. Icahn is also behind Motorola's plans to spin off its mobile business.
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Carl Icahn's Portfolio
|
Most recently, Icahn has been battling to take over the film studio
Lions Gate Entertainment
(LGF)
which the management is trying hard to prevent.
>> Warren Buffett
>> George Soros
>> John Paulson
>> David Tepper
David Tepper
Latest Buys:
CF Industries
(CF) - Get CF Industries Holdings Inc. Report
,
Macy's
,
Banco Santander
(STD)
and
PNC Financial Services
(PNC) - Get PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (The) Report
.
Latest Sells:
Valassis Communications
(VCI)
,
Royal Bank of Scotland
(RBS.R)
,
Office Depot
(ODP) - Get The ODP Corporation Report
and
NRG Energy
(NRG) - Get NRG Energy Inc. Report
were notable among sells.
Top Five Equity Holdings:
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Bank of America Corporation Report
, Wells Fargo, Citigroup,
Pfizer
(PFE) - Get Pfizer Inc. Report
and
Fifth Third Bancorp
(FITB) - Get Fifth Third Bancorp Report
.
David Tepper of
may not be a household name, unless your kids happen to go to Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business. But he was the highest paid fund manager in 2009. His bet on banking stocks when they were trading at never-before lows in late 2008 paid off big time, earning the fund a 120% after-fee return in 2009. He is personally reported to have taken home $4 billion, trumping Paulson's win of $3.7 billion from shorting sub-prime mortgages.
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David Tepper's Portfolio
|
Tepper thrives on buying deep discount, distressed assets and companies on the verge of bankruptcy, which makes this a good time to watch his every step. His performance has, however, swung widely, given the concentrated nature of his bets.
>> Warren Buffett
>> George Soros
>> John Paulson
>> Carl Icahn
-- Written by Shanthi Venkataraman in New York.
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Disclosure: TheStreet's editorial policy prohibits staff editors and reporters from holding positions in any individual stocks.
