Which Market Heavyweight Made The Wisest Move?
NEW YORK (
) -- The latest regulatory filings have once again given investors a chance to get a glimpse of the stocks that market heavyweights such as Warren Buffett, George Soros and John Paulson favor.
But would it be wise to follow their moves? The filings come 45 days after the end of the last quarter. Positions may have already changed, stock prices have likely already run up. Plus, these filings offer only a partial glimpse into these gurus' picks, as it only discloses long equity positions.
Then there is the question of trying to figure out whose bet to follow. Should you jump in and bet with the legendary investor Warren Buffett, and buy
Bank of New York Mellon
(BK)
? The world's largest custody bank has been on an acquisition mode, buying
PNC Global Investment Servicing
, which serves the asset management industry. It also bought Canadian wealth advisory services company
i3
. But Mellon might itself be an
attractive target for larger banks looking to expand their wealth management business.
Among George Soros's latest portfolio additions is
Dendreon
(DNDN)
TheStreet Recommends
. An advisory panel will vote Wednesday on whether there is enough evidence to support the claim that Dendreon's Provenge extends life in prostate cancer patients and should be covered by Medicare. Dendreon shares bottomed out in July after it became unclear whether Medicare would pay for the drug's use in prostate cancer patients. The drug first became available in the U.S. in April. Medicare sales would generate $1.7 billion a year for Dendreon by 2014, and approval by Medicare could lead to a major Dendreon share rally.
Hedge fund titan John Paulson cut back on financials in the third quarter. His biggest pick was
Anadarko Petroleum
(APC)
,
among the most volatile large-cap stocks in 2010. Anadarko now figures among Paulson & Co's top five equity holdings.
With a 25% stake in the ill-fated
BP
(BP)
Macondo well project, Anadarko has been plagued by concerns that it will be held liable for legal compensation damages for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Recent investigations into the spill concluded that none of the parties involved in the Macondo project put money before safety, absolving BP of the charge that it had taken undue risks to cut costs. While the government's findings have no legal applications including questions of negligence, Anadarko might have a harder case to make to escape damages.
Tech stocks became a favorite for hedgies David Tepper and David Einhorn. While
Tepper bought into large-cap tech stocks, with
Hewlett Packard
(HPQ)
now figuring in his top five equity picks, Einhorn bet on smaller tech plays including
Broadridge Financial
(BR)
and
Ingram Micro
(IM)
. Of course, Einhorn's short position in real estate developer
St. Joe
(JOE)
might be the bet to watch.
Which of these picks do you think was the wisest one? Vote in our poll, to find out what other users of
TheStreet
think.
-- Written by Shanthi Venkataraman in New York
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>>David Einhorn Buys Apple, Sells EMC
>>David Tepper Loads Up On Tech
>>Buffett Buys Mellon, Dumps Home Depot, CarMax
Disclosure: TheStreet's editorial policy prohibits staff editors and reporters from holding positions in any individual stocks.
