Top Funds' Activity in Q3 2020

Today, we are going to go over top funds' activity in the third quarter. This is always a very popular comment and today I'm going to delve into it a little deeper, so please take the time to read it all.

Before I proceed, three weeks ago, Benjamin Bain and Robert Schmidt of Blain of Bloomberg reported that hedge funds' shot at keeping stock investments secret fades:

U.S. regulators are shelving a controversial plan to allow most hedge funds to keep their stock investments secret after public companies and other critics blasted the proposal as a major blow to market transparency, said people familiar with the matter.
Under the rule change the Securities and Exchange Commission was considering, only fund managers who owned at least $3.5 billion in equities would have had to publicly report their holdings, a dramatic increase from the current threshold of $100 million. While the SEC hasn’t publicly announced its decision to scrap the overhaul, some within the agency have been notified it’s dead, said the people who asked not to be named in discussing internal communications.
At issue are 13F filings, reports in which asset managers must disclose their investments in U.S. shares every three months. Even though the filings can be delayed by as many as 45 days after the end of each quarter, they are still closely tracked by companies, Wall Street analysts and rival money managers as the most revealing peak into funds’ stock portfolios.
When the SEC issued its proposal in July, the agency said it wanted to reduce compliance burdens on smaller money managers while ensuring that it could still monitor the equity investments of the biggest fund companies. But the plan to raise the threshold to $3.5 billion quickly became a lightning rod for attacks.
Corporate titans complained in comment letters that the revamp would make it much harder to figure out who owns their companies’ stock and enable investors to covertly build up equity stakes over time -- potentially making it harder to fend off activist campaigns. As opposition mounted, even the two main lobbying groups for hedge funds questioned whether the SEC had overestimated how much fund managers would save in compliance costs if many no longer had to file 13Fs.
“This shows the value of the public comment process,” said James Angel, a finance professor at Georgetown University who wrote a letter to the SEC opposing the rule change. “More people should monitor what our regulators are proposing and submit comments. The SEC is a political agency, and they do pay attention to public opinion.”
Inside the SEC, senior officials were surprised by the level of opposition, said the people. An SEC spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the proposal has been abandoned. In a statement, the regulator said it still believes that the $100 million trigger -- a level that hasn’t been altered in four decades -- needs to be revised.
“It remains clear that the current threshold is outdated,” the agency said. “The comments received illustrate that the form is being used in ways that were not originally anticipated when the form was adopted. We are focused on examining these important issues before we move forward with determining the appropriate threshold.”
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts did a tally of responses that the SEC received when the agency’s public comment deadline passed this month and the results were overwhelming: The regulator received 2,238 letters opposing the changes to 13F requirements and just 24 in favor. The Goldman analysts also predicted that the SEC would withdraw its plan.
In its proposal, the SEC said that almost 90% of fund managers would no longer have to file 13Fs if the change was approved. But more than 90% of U.S. stock holdings that are currently reported would still be publicly disclosed, the agency said. That’s because funds with $3.5 billion of equities own the vast majority of stocks.
The SEC’s proposal would have allowed some of the biggest names in investing to keep their stock holdings private, including John Paulson, Stanley Druckenmiller, George Soros and David Einhorn.
The SEC is now closely examining several topics raised in the comment letters, according to two other people who asked not to be named. The issues include whether corporations have enough information about who their shareholders are and whether market participants realize that 13F filings don’t reveal all the ways that funds might invest in companies, the people said. For instance, some derivative transactions aren’t disclosed.

Not exactly sure what that SEC official meant with “it remains clear that the current threshold is outdated,” but I'm very happy the SEC abandoned this proposal and after reading this comment, you will be too.

I believe more transparency is better for financial markets and I agree with SEC chair Jay Clayton who in a recent interview with CNBC’s Bob Pisani, admitted that the commission may need to take a look at issuers’ reliance on 13Fs to determine who their shareholders are.

Hundreds of issuers co-signed letters filed by NIRI national, local NIRI chapters, Nasdaq and the NYSE, as well as 33 companies that submitted stand-alone letters, all expressing concern about how the proposal would reduce visibility into who holds stock.

Clayton said last week that if 13F filings are ‘the only way we have to effectively identify who our shareholders are, that’s a problem. If we’re using 45-day trailing filings of a select group of people to help companies figure out who their shareholders are in the day of electronic communication, that’s something we’ve got to address.’

He added that this may require the SEC to take a look at the commission’s rules around objecting beneficial owners (OBOs) and non-objecting beneficial owners (NOBOs). These rules were introduced in the 1980s and govern how issuers interact with their investors through brokerages.

Alright, keep this in mind as you still get to enjoy a sneak peek into the portfolios of the world's richest and best known fund managers, with the customary 45-day lag.

Everyone is an "expert" on 13F filings but only yours truly brings you quarterly comments where you can literally click on links and go straight to the top holdings of each fund to see firsthand what your favorite superstar fund managers bought and sold last quarter.

A few things to keep in mind:

The data is lagged by 45 days and it's highly likely some funds added to positions or sold out of positions since the end of Q3. Most quant funds churn their entire portfolio often, other activist funds very rarely, and others are mixed.
Markets are very volatile, now more than ever, because interest rates are at historic lows and geopolitical risks remain high. Use the information below as part of your tool kit, learn from it but never ever make an investment decision based on what Tepper, Soros or Buffett are doing in their portfolio. Importantly, most of you reading this are better off just buying the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) or the Russell Value and Growth ETFs (IWD and IWF) or a balanced fund ETF (AOA, AOM, or VBAL.TO in Canada) over the long run. Never risk more than you can afford to lose, it's a sure road to ruin.
It's important to also note that even the best fund managers get clobbered once in a while. Over 90% of active managers underperform the S&P 500 on any given year and over a four-year rolling basis which is why most big pensions index their US stock exposure and use portable alpha strategies to invest in external hedge funds. True, at any given time, there are very hot portfolio managers. Cathie Wood, founder and CEO and CIO of Ark Investment Management is very hot this year, calling the Tesla bull run and investing in disruptive technologies, but it remains to be seen if she will stay at the top or go the way Bill Miller went after beating the S&P for 15 years in a row. Still, you can invest in the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) if you want exposure to her ideas for low fees. My point is even the best of the best get clobbered in these markets on any given year (Ray Dalio's Pure Alpha fund is down 18% YTD).
Speaking of best of best, I almost fell off my chair this week listening to Josh Brown on CNBC's Halftime Report touting Crowdstrike (CRWD) because Chase Coleman increased his position in Q2 and "he's the best living hedge fund manager alive." Umm, no he isn't, Citadel's Ken Griffin is the best hedge fund manager alive followed by Steve Cohen and Izzy Englander but Chase Coleman is a very good tech stock picker (so is Coatue's founder Philippe Laffont who massively increased his position in Crowdstrike in Q2 before Coleman and is still a top holder of the stock).
What else? A lot of talk of Buffett did this or that or Soros did this or that. Both these gentlemen are legends but they're close to or over 90 years old and not managing the day-to-day portfolios. Buffett has two lieutenants, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, taking increasingly more positions and Soros has a great female CIO, Dawn Fitzpatrick, managing his portfolio. Don't read too much into their moves. I laugh when I hear folks on CNBC who think Buffett is predicting a "flat yield curve for years" which is why he sold most of his banks in Q3 (Soros maybe but Buffett couldn't care less about the yield curve or macro trades in general).
What I find fascinating about going over top holdings of top fund managers is you get to appreciate the diversity in views and approaches and also see where the crowded trades are. It's also worth noting while many top hedge funds gorged on tech stocks and gold in Q2, others made a killing focusing on retail names. For example, Lone Pine Capital Management and Melvin Capital Management are top holders of L Brands (LB), a stock that popped big this week on good earnings and has rallied sharply off its March lows and has more room to run higher.

Keep in mind, while everyone is focused on growth (FANG) and hyper growth stocks (Zoom, Roku, PayPal, Square, Docusign, etc), the stock market is made up of a lot of stocks across many sectors and even more industries.

There are always opportunities in the stock market, you just need to focus your attention on the bigger picture and not one or two stocks.

A few more points to help many of you:

I've already stated most of you are better off over the long run just investing in the S&P 500 ETF (SPY). If you like Tech, Tech, Tech then invest in tech ETFs (QQQ or XLK) or Cloud ETFs (CLOU or WCLD) or Fintech ETFs (FINX or IPAY). Just make sure you look at the fees these ETFs charge and look closely at the holdings because many ETFs are very concentrated in a few companies.
What else? Try to understand the big picture. For example, cyclical sectors like Financials (XLF), Industrials (XLI), Energy (XLE) and Materials (XLB) tend to do well right before the economy is ready to turn the corner and do well. The hard part is figuring out exactly when that is. Conversely, in tough economic times, Utilities (XLU), Staples (XLP), Real Estate (XLRE), and Healthcare (XLV) tend to outperform and provide stable yields. However, things are unclear in Real Estate right now and there's a lot of biotech (XBI) in healthcare so it's not always easy to make these big calls. As far as tech (XLK), portfolio managers view it as a defensive sector with growth and in an ultra-low yield environment, they can't seem to get enough growth stocks and will always find a way to explain investing in them despite crazy high multiples. Hedge funds love growth stocks, they trade them and some of them make a lot of money trading them.

What else? I want you to get used to charting stuff on StockCharts. It's free and only advanced traders really need to pay for extra services. You just type in any symbol at the very top and then a default chart pops ups showing you a daily chart with a default period, daily RSI, daily MACD, and 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (these are the defaults).

For example, I typed in "AAPL" at the top of the StockCharts web page to get the default chart on Apple:

From there, I can change the range to one year or go up to five years. I can also change the range to set weekly closings (next to symbol box) and set my simple moving averages to 20, 50, and 200 days or weeks for longer period charts (if you pay StockCharts, you can also view monthly data going back years).

For example, here is Apple's 5-year weekly chart using the weekly simple moving averages I set as my defaults:

You see how it's still trading above its 20-week moving average but toppish and the weekly MACD is telling me a reversal might be going on here (still positive but declining).

I use daily charts for short-term trading and weekly charts for long-term trading ideas and to gauge the long-term trend. You can use the simple or exponential moving averages tor whatever technical indicator you like, just remember, all stocks are different so be careful interpreting too much into any stock using these technical indicators (just another tool, that's all).

What do I mean by that? If you 're buying Enbridge (ENB) to collect the 8% dividend, you don't really care if it's trading choppy and a bit weak as long as the stock doesn't crater, wiping out your gains from the dividend and more:

Got that? All stocks trade differently, some are far more volatile than others.

Let's add something else to your toolkit. I want you to go to barchart.com and hover your cursor over stocks at the very top to see this image:

From there, you can click on stock market sectors to see how sectors are performing today (or this week if you change defaults) or click on "percent change" under performance leaders to see which stocks are performing well today (or this week, month, quarter, YTD etc.).

Here's is what I like to look at every day:

Today's advances and declines for All US Exchanges (default setting) and then switch period to see top gainers and losers for the week, YTD or whatever period and change settings to view it for large cap shares or ETFs (once you change settings, it automatically updates).
Top performing sectors for the day and week. Again, you can view many periods, play around with the default settings.

Other experts (like Jon and Pete Najarian) like to look at unusual activity in the options market to buy short-term positions in stocks or options when there's unusual call option buying. They also engage in covered call strategies and buy and sell volatility when the VIX is low or high (follow CNBC Halftime Report on Twitter here).

Top multi-strategy hedge funds have teams of experts doing this all day long on top of other sophisticated and not-so-sophisticated derivatives strategies.

Why am I sharing this with you? To make a point, the stock market is continuously on the move, to really stay abreast of everything going on, you need to put in a lot of time reading and looking at all sorts of data and charts in real time.

I tweet a bunch of articles on Twitter and charts on Stocktwits but I don't have time covering everything I read or look at every day, it's impossible and quite frankly, very time consuming.

This is why I reserve every Friday on my blog to go over markets where I can really go over my market thoughts in more detail.

But most people simply don't have the time to analyze markets either because that's not their number one job or because they simply don't care. Again, these people are much better off investing in a low fee ETF (like SPY) or low fee balanced fund managed by experts.

I realize this comment is long but please stick with me, we have only scratched the surface and are now getting into the fun stuff, I promise.

For this comment, I am still using the old Nasdaq website. It will eventually be retired and everything will migrate to the new Nasdaq website.

I'm not a huge fan of the new website but truth be told, I'm just pissed because I'll have to manually change a bunch of links again.

Anyway, what did top funds buy and sell last quarter?

Strangely enough, the traditional market news sources didn't do a great job covering 13-F filings this week.

Zero Hedge did a good job going over what hedge funds bought and sold in Q3:

While we live in a time when the holdings of the top 20 Robinhood "investors" have far more information value for markets and other traders than a glimpse into what hedge funds are doing, not in the least because retail investors are outperforming both the S&P500 and hedge funds 10-to-1...

... unfortunately there is still no regulatory requirement for even superstar retail investors to disclose their holdings, which is why we have to be satisfied with the quarterly 13-F publication spectacle, which just concluded today, and which revealed that even as tech stocks suffered two correction shakeouts since early September, hedge funds mostly stuck with the "safety" of tech stocks during the third quarter heading into the election, even as some hedge funds trimmed Amazon.com as the dominant e-commerce platform thrived amid a pandemic-fueled surge in online shopping, while others sold Netflix

Courtesy of Bloomberg, below is a snapshot of what some of the most prominent tech stock additions as disclosed by today's barrage of 13F filings:
Coatue Management doubled its holdings of Tesla in the three months ended Sept. 30, making the electric-vehicle maker its second-biggest publicly disclosed holding. Assuming the fund held on, the bet proved prescient with the stock soaring in late trading Monday after it was announced that Tesla will enter the S&P 500 next month.
Gabe Plotkin’s Melvin Capital Management bought an additional 2.5 million shares of Expedia Group Inc, while Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital added stay-at-home play DocuSign Inc. and snapped up more shares of Shopify Inc., Facebook Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Netflix Inc.
D1 Capital and Soroban Capital Partners were among funds that increased their holdings in Microsoft.
One recent initial public offering that received a lot of attention from hedge funds was Snowflake Inc. The software company was a top new buy for Berkshire, D1 Capital and Temasek Holdings.
Not everyone added to their tech holdings, with some selling although it was not clear if funds that trimmed tech stocks did so because they’ve soured on the investments or if its part of a portfolio exposure plan to manage risk associated with soaring stocks.

Dan Sundheim’s D1 Capital cut its stake in Netflix by 89% in the third quarter, selling more than 951,000 shares. That’s surprising given Sundheim has long held bullish views of the online-streaming service and last year said the stock could reach $1,000. So far, this has been a prescient move, with Netflix dropping 4.2% in the fourth quarter, as work from home stocks were hammered following vaccine news.
Lone Pine trimmed holdings in Amazon.com Inc. and Zoom and pared its stake in Salesforce.com. Fellow Tiger-cubs Maverick, Viking and Tiger also trimmed their Salesforce holdings. David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management, Viking and D1 either reduced or liquidated their Amazon stakes.
Work from home winner Netflix Inc. was trimmed by several funds, including Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Family Office, Appaloosa and Corvex Management, while Melvin Capital Management exited its stake.
Maverick Capital boosted its exposure to tech by more than 9% in the third quarter. In the last quarter upped its stake in semiconductor equipment company LAM Research Corp. and business-payments company FleetCor Technologies Inc. Even though it sold some Facebook Inc. shares, the tech giant is still Maverick’s biggest U.S. long holding.
As noted earlier, Berkshire Hathaway continued its trend of pulling back on certain financial bets in the quarter, cutting its Wells Fargo stake and JPMorgan Chase & Co. bet. The company also trimmed holdings in PNC and M&T Bank.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund retrenched from its big jump into U.S.-traded stocks battered by the pandemic. The Riyadh-based Public Investment Fund cut its U.S. holdings to $7.0 billion from $10.1 billion during the third quarter, mainly by selling stakes in exchange-traded funds that track the real estate and materials sectors. That left a $2.7 billion stake in Uber Technologies Inc. as its largest U.S. traded holding.
Finally, a quick look at what some of the marquee hedge funds bought and sold in Q3:

ADAGE CAPITAL PARTNERS

Top new buys: BMY, LSPD, SAGE, PH, OXY, TWTR, RKT, WEC, ANNX, CMI
Top exits: PFE, CCK, TM, GRA, HSC, ATR, WM, SIRI, VMC, PCG
Boosted stakes in: AMZN, JNJ, ST, BRK/B, HZNP, UPS, UAA, HON, DHR, TXN
Cut stakes in: OTIS, ROST, CSCO, BAC, RTX, C, FIVE, ITT, FCX, BMRN
APPALOOSA

Top exits: AVGO, QCOM, VST, TSLA, HUM
Boosted stakes in: PCG, MU, MSFT, ET
Cut stakes in: AMZN, T, GOOG, BABA, FB, NFLX, PYPL, WFC, V, MO
BALYASNY ASSET MANAGEMENT

Top new buys: LULU, BAC, GOOGL, TJX, SNX, ROP, CARR, VAR, TMUS, XOM
Top exits: JPM, FLT, NSC, C, NKE, AZN, SAIC, TWLO, LSTR, CTLT
Boosted stakes in: MCD, CTSH, MDT, SWKS, WAT, CMCSA, RTX, TWTR, AJG, MSI
Cut stakes in: FISV, QGEN, LITE, NXPI, QRVO, ITW, DKS, GM, LHX, HOLX
BAUPOST GROUP

Top new buys: PSTH, MU, AMAT, PEAK, HWM
Top exits: AKBA, HCA, ABC, UNVR, VTR
Boosted stakes in: PCG, SSNC, VRNT, HDS, VSAT
Cut stakes in: EBAY, GOOG, TBPH, HPQ, FB, VIST, CLNY, FOXA, QRVO
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY

Top new buys: ABBV, MRK, BMY, SNOW, TMUS, PFE
Top exits: COST
Boosted stakes in: BAC, GM, KR, LILAK
Cut stakes in: WFC, JPM, PNC, GOLD, MTB, LBTYA, AXTA, DVA, AAPL
BRIDGEWATER ASSOCIATES

Top new buys: WMT, PG, KO, JNJ, PEP, MCD, ABT, MDLZ, EL, DHR
Top exits: INDA, LMT, PM, FIS, MO, CI, FISV, ADP, AMT, TMUS
Boosted stakes in: BABA, EEM, VWO, IEMG, COST, SBUX, JD, TGT, NIO, DG
Cut stakes in: IVV, SPY, FXI, MCHI, EWY, EWZ, LOW, HD, SHW, SINA
COATUE MANAGEMENT

Top new buys: SNOW, RUN, Z, NUAN, LB, ZG, GPS, DECK, AEO, URBN
Top exits: BA, HWM, SFIX, NOW, TDG, BBBY, TWTR, SKT, HD, AAP
Boosted stakes in: TSLA, GPN, SQ, PLAN, UBER, SHOP, FB, DIS, DOCU, NFLX
Cut stakes in: LBRDK, DXCM, SMAR, OKTA, MU, GH, DDD, SRNE, SDC, LRCX
CORSAIR CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Top new buys: PSTH, ECPG, BERY, CCK, APG, PCG, GSAH, MS, LKQ, GVA
Top exits: IWO, REPH, HGV, IWM, SMIT, GSL
Boosted stakes in: VRT, GDDY, NATR
Cut stakes in: QQQ, BXRX, PRSP, VOYA, PLYA, CHNG, STAR, HMHC, C, WMB
CORVEX MANAGEMENT

Top new buys: ILMN, FE, ACM, TWTR, DIS, ZEN, HCA, NAV, FIVE
Top exits: IAA, CNC, TIF, FLMN, CZR
Boosted stakes in: EXC, BABA, ATVI, CNP, ATUS, CMCSA, HUM, LYV, EVRG
Cut stakes in: MSGS, AMZN, PCG, NFLX, ADBE, TMUS
D1 CAPITAL PARTNERS

Top new buys: U, IR, BEKE, BLL, DT, SNOW, OM, GDRX, ADI, CD
Top exits: AMZN, AZO, FLT, BFAM, ESTC, TSM, SBUX, API, ALLO, HST
Boosted stakes in: CVNA, JD, MSFT, EXPE, GOOGL, PNC, LYV, FB, RH, JPM
Cut stakes in: BABA, NFLX, LVS, DHR, FIS, HLT, AVB, ORLY, PLAN, HPP
DUQUESNE FAMILY OFFICE

Top new buys: NUAN, GDX, NEE, XLI, EXPE, CVNA, PANW, ADI, SNE, NET
Top exits: XBI, HD, WFC, CB, INSM, SRPT, AZO, MAR, CRWD, TCDA
Boosted stakes in: MSFT, PENN, BABA, TMUS, SBUX, MELI, AMZN, JD, VZ, FIS
Cut stakes in: JPM, PYPL, WDAY, GOOGL, BKNG, CCL, LYV, FSLY, REGN, NFLX
ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT

Top new buys: UNIT, CUB
Top exits: T, RYAAY, SPR
Boosted stakes in: DELL, CRMD
Cut stakes in: WELL, RILY
ENGAGED CAPITAL

Top new buys: EVH, MX
Top exits: SMPL
Boosted stakes in: NCR, STKL, IWM
Cut stakes in: MED, RCII
GREENLIGHT CAPITAL

Top new buys: SNX, NCR, TWTR, INTC, INGR, DDS, UHAL, ICPT, GHC, PANA
Top exits: TPX, SATS, WHR, XELA
Boosted stakes in: GLD, AAWW, JACK, REZI, NBSE
Cut stakes in: AER, GDX, GPOR, CNX, APG, TECK, CC, CHNG
ICAHN

Boosted stakes in: IEP, XRX
Cut stakes in: HLF, LNG
IMPALA ASSET MANAGEMENT

Top new buys: FDX, RKT, FCX, VALE, SBSW, FND, MHK, ALK, THO, AGQ
Top exits: QCOM, HES, VAC, DOOO, MU, TGT, DKS, SKX, TJX, CRNC
Boosted stakes in: KSU, WYNN, KNX, KL, CMI, SBLK, CNK, CENX
Cut stakes in: RIO, SIX, DRI, HOG, TOL, ADNT, TTWO, NSC, MT, LPX
LAKEWOOD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Top new buys: LBRDK, TMUS, CWH, GLD, LOW, UPWK, SAIC, VVV, MIK
Top exits: YNDX, BLDR, NKLA, SHAK
Boosted stakes in: ABG, ANTM, COF, C, SKX, APO, BHC
Cut stakes in: BIDU, BC, CI, CMCSA, CWK, AXS, GOOGL, WRK, FB, GS
LANSDOWNE

Top new buys: IDA, BLDP, EQT, CDE, LOOP, KCAC, RIDE
Top exits: ONEM, GE, SMMT, GDX, AAL, NKE, SALT
Boosted stakes in: FCX, TSM, OTIS, FSLR, EGO, DAR, ETN, COG, TMUS, AG
Cut stakes in: C, MU, DAL, LRCX, AMAT, LUV, UAL, AES, ADI, VMC
LONG POND

Top new buys: GLPI, PGRE, EXPE, NTST, H, MGP, XHR, RLJ
Top exits: FR, SEAS, INVH, MAR, HST, BXP, TRNO, DRH, ESRT, REXR
Boosted stakes in: EQR, AVB, SHO, WELL, AIV, RHP, DEI, HPP, CPT, JBGS
Cut stakes in: HLT, PEAK, WH, SBRA, MAA, MAC, HGV, LVS
MAGNETAR FINANCIAL

Top new buys: VAR, MXIM, MPLN, BMCH, GLIBA
Top exits: QGEN, PAYA, UTZ, FSR, HYLN, CCC, PACB, SNY, PCG, IR
Boosted stakes in: EHC, ABBV, GRUB, PIC, SYNH, NVS, PTAC, MRK, CHNG, AVTR
Cut stakes in: UBER, VLDR, LCA, AZN, BDX, NOVA, HCAC, PRGO, PKI, PAE
MAVERICK CAPITAL

Top new buys: BX, NKE, GPN, BECN, GPRO, OSH, GME, MCD, LB, TGT
Top exits: BTI, STNE, IRBT, SCHW, NTAP, GIS, CHGG, FL, PLCE, BIG
Boosted stakes in: LRCX, GLW, TGTX, LOGI, FLT, PRSP, DD, AMAT, LIVN, AXP
Cut stakes in: GOOG, NFLX, AVTR, DLTR, MSFT, APD, AMZN, FB, HUM, ALNY
MELVIN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Top new buys: ALGN, MCD, DDOG, TJX, AMD, MSCI, WDAY, SBAC, LYV, TEAM
Top exits: CRM, FLT, FIS, CSGP, WEN, YUM, TWLO, NFLX, FB, VRSN
Boosted stakes in: BABA, PINS, NKE, NOW, EXPE, ADBE, FISV, GOOGL, DOCU, LVS
Cut stakes in: AZO, PYPL, AMZN, MSFT, DPZ, JD, RACE, DECK, CAR, BURL
OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Top new buys: MEG, UNIT, VALE, AMX, CEO, EQR, GTXMQ, XPEV, LEA
Top exits: TMHC, BABA, CZR, IHRT, CCO, SRNE, BCEI
Boosted stakes in: TRMD, NMIH, IBN, EGLE, KC, TV, ASC, ITUB
Cut stakes in: CCS, AU, TSM, PBR, MELI, BBD, API, GTH, INDA, BIDU
OMEGA ADVISORS

Top new buys: GOOGL, ATH, VRT, MSI, FVAC, EPD, MNRL
Top exits: JPM, CNC, GTN, VICI, DNRCQ
Boosted stakes in: COOP, OCN, ASPU, FCRD, NAVI, STKL, AMCX, ASH, FOE, SNR
Cut stakes in: CI, PE, SRGA, GCI, NBR, LEE, ABR
PERSHING SQUARE

Cut stakes in: A, HLT, LOW
SOROBAN CAPITAL

Top new buys: ADI, PSTH, FISV, FIS, ARMK
Top exits: NOC
Boosted stakes in: YUM, ATUS, MSFT, CSX, RTX
Cut stakes in: FB, SNE, AMZN
SOROS FUND MANAGEMENT

Top new buys: QQQ, PLTR, XLI, MCHP, U, VAR, MXIM, DIS, MCHI, NGHC
Top exits: TDG, GRFS, BK, BAC, JPM, GS, PNC, USB, WFC, TFC
Boosted stakes in: DHI, DRI, ARMK, GM, ATVI, PFSI, TIF, MT, CHTR, APTV
Cut stakes in: IGSB, PCG, TMUS, NLOK, PTON, C, GOOGL, OTIS, LPLA, LQD
STARBOARD

Top new buys: SPY, CTVA
Top exits: EBAY
Boosted stakes in: ACM, ACIW, IWN, GDOT, IWR, MMSI, SCOR, BOX
Cut stakes in: NLOK, AAP, IWM, CERN, CVLT
TEMASEK HOLDINGS

Top new buys: DCT, SNOW, SE, IAU, GOVT, SCHP, XLK, BNTX, EWT, IWM
Top exits: FIS, VRT, PDD, NIO
Boosted stakes in: PYPL, AMZN, IBN, HDB, DDOG
Cut stakes in: TME, TMO
THIRD POINT

Top new buys: PCG, MSFT, TDG, FTV, EXPE, PINS, AVTR, CZR, PLNT, GDRX
Top exits: BAX, RTX, NKE, EVRG, ATVI, TTWO, GPS, CNNE
Boosted stakes in: BABA, JD, BKI, FB, V, BURL, INTU, TEL, ETRN, SHY
Cut stakes in: GB, IQV, ADBE, DIS, AMZN, IAA
TIGER GLOBAL

Top new buys: SNOW, GSX, BEKE, SUMO, BIGC, JAMF, FROG, GDRX, CD, ASAN
Top exits: NEWR, ATH, CHWY
Boosted stakes in: PDD, CRWD, PTON, ZM, NOW, AMZN, UBER, WDAY, TEAM, MSFT
Cut stakes in: SVMK, PYPL, TWLO, CRM, BABA
TUDOR INVESTMENT

Top new buys: NGHC, KDP, GDRX, VICI, HEC, FSLR, LIN, RXT, DLR, RPAY
Top exits: SOXX, O, X, TMUS, TME, NLOK, SCHW, AVB, SJM, CDAY
Boosted stakes in: GRUB, GLIBA, KC, BDX, GOOGL, AMT, TEAM, CVX, ADBE, AMD
Cut stakes in: PCG, CRWD, UBER, ATHM, NFLX, SBAC, ESS, BXP, THO, BXMT
VIKING GLOBAL INVESTORS

Top new buys: TSM, AVB, AMD, RTX, GOOGL, CSGP, ZBH, BILL, BMY, OTIS
Top exits: UBER, JD, CRM, PLAN, LOW, SHW, LIN, NFLX, DHR, BABA
Boosted stakes in: MSFT, TMUS, MELI, FIS, CME, JPM, BKNG, PH, NUAN, HLT
Cut stakes in: AMZN, CMCSA, CI, LVS, ALL, DRI, FTV, SE, RPRX, WDAY
Source: Bloomberg

Zero Hedge also covered the 50 most popular and 50 most shorted hedge fund stocks:

50 Most Popular Hedge Fund Stocks:

50 Most Shorted Hedge Fund Stocks:

Again, don't buy or sell any of your holdings based on this information, it's lagged data and sometimes hedge funds are spectacularly wrong (like David Einhorn and Jim Chanos and others shorting Tesla as it melts up).

Speaking of Tesla, check out the mini bubble happening right now in smaller electric vehicle stocks like Ayro Inc (AYRO) and Electrameccanica (SOLO):

It is just nuts, the shares have gone exponential this month on massive volume and while people will blame retail investors (Robinhoodies, Dave Portnoy's gang, etc.) I wonder if a hedge fund like Renaissance Technologies (RenTec) or some asset managers like BlackRock or other large ones are behind these moves.

It's like anything that is ESG is being bought hard on massive volume, shoot first, ask questions later, just nuts.

What else did I look at this week?. I checked out who added to Snap Inc (SNAP) last quarter and who bought the Palantir IPO (PLTR). Go to the old Nasdaq website, type in "SNAP" and then "PLTR" at the very top of the page where it prompts you which symbol and then scroll down looking for th institutional holdings link in the blue box on the left hand side of the page:

For Snap, I noticed the large Canadian pension CPP Investmetns increased its position in Q3 and so did Exoduspoint Capital management, a top muti-strategy fund (to view image above, you need to click on column heading Change % after you see top institutional holders of Snap).

For Palantir Inc., the who's who of the hedge fund world (Cohen, Soros, etc.) got in on the IPO as did two large Canadian pensions, CPP Investments and PSP Investments:

Shares of Snap and Palantir have been on fire this year and are poised to move higher but always be careful buying any stock after a major run-up, it will retrace before reaccelerating up (I prefer Snap here, it's re-accelerating up but Palantir is in beast mode, no telling how high it can go).

Anyway, I've rambled on long enough, wanted to give you a lot of food for thought in this post. Before going to the top holdings of top funds, a couple of tweets below to make you think about where we are now:

The % of MSCI World stocks beating the index YoY is up to 39%.

The last 2X we fell to 32% before working higher was in May ‘99 & Mar ‘08.

An extreme narrowing of breadth usually occurs around mkt tops.

Add current valuations to the mix, & things look a lot like the early 00’s. pic.twitter.com/7m2P7jZYUu
— Julien Bittel, CFA (@BittelJulien) November 20, 2020

Uncertainty at record highs yet short interest at record lows. https://t.co/jeGochfx2O
— Bespoke (@bespokeinvest) November 21, 2020

Have fun looking at the latest quarterly activity of top funds listed below.

The links below take you straight to their top holdings and then click on the column head "Change (%)" to see where they increased and decreased their holdings (you have to click once or twice to see).

Earlier today, CNBC's "Halftime Report" team discussed how they're investing amid the market action and volatility.

Yesterday, Josh Brown, Ritholtz wealth management CEO, joined 'Fast Money Halftime Report' to discuss what markets will look like once we get the vaccine. He argues the world will go back to normal soon, and people will feel more emboldened to do more things that will drive up travel and leisure activities.

Third, earlier this week, Ariel Investments co-CEO John Rogers joined "Squawk Box" to discuss how he decided what investment moves to make in the beginning of the year as coronavirus began threatening the economy and markets. This guy is really good.

Fourth, on Monday, the 'Fast Money Halftime Report' team discussed the stocks they're watching and investing in as stocks rise on positive vaccine news. I find the women on this show have some of the best insights.

Fifth, CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" team is joined by Jeff Currie, global head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs, to discuss his outlook for commodities in 2021.

Lastly, The International Institute of Finance is warning global debt could reach $277 trillion by end of year. Mark Zandi, Moody’s Analytics chief economist, joined 'Power Lunch' earlier today to discuss the potential impact on the global economy.

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Pension Pulse

Top Funds' Activity in Q3 2020

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