Which Market Heavyweight Made The Wisest Move?

Buffett, Paulson, Soros...who made the best pick in the third quarter?

Author:: Shanthi Bharatwaj
Publish date:: Nov 16, 2010 3:23 PM EST

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) - Get Report

? 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

. 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)

. 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) - Get Report

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) - Get Report

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) - Get Report

now figuring in his top five equity picks, Einhorn bet on smaller tech plays including

Broadridge Financial

(BR) - Get Report

and

Ingram Micro

(IM)

. Of course, Einhorn's short position in real estate developer

St. Joe