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Market Folly submits:Given our focus on following hedge fund movements, we thought it would be prudent to post up Goldman Sachs' VIP list. The 'VIP' stands for 'Very Important Positions' for hedge funds that employ fundamental strategies rather than technical or trading. In essence, these are the 50 stocks that most frequently appear among the top ten holdings of hedge funds. In our hedge fund portfolio tracking series you may have noticed various stocks popping up over and over again in Goldman's top 10 holdings. This is simply an aggregation of a larger set of data and stems from our previous coverage of the top ten hedgie holdings.This basket of stocks returned 40% in 2009 versus 27% for the S&P 500. Goldman also notes that this list has,Complete Story »

Market Folly submits:This is the third quarter 2009 edition of our hedge fund portfolio tracking series. If you're unfamiliar with tracking hedge fund movements or SEC filings, check out our series preface on hedge fund 13F filings.For the first time in our series we'll be tracking Matt Iorio's White Elm Capital. Previously, Iorio had spent six years at Stephen Mandel's Lone Pine Capital. Prior to that, Iorio graduated from the University of Virginia (McIntire School of Commerce) in 1993 and then went on to receive his MBA from Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. After leaving Mandel's fund, he started his own hedge fund and we are tracking him due to his contributions to Lone Pine's success in the past. White Elm uses a long/short strategy with the goal of outperforming the market indices with less risk. The hedge fund employs a fundamental, bottom-up investment process focused on company specific research, very similar to the process employed at Lone Pine (Stephen Mandel) and before that at Tiger Management (Julian Robertson).Complete Story »

Market Folly submits:This is the third quarter 2009 edition of our hedge fund portfolio tracking series. If you're unfamiliar with tracking hedge fund movements or SEC filings, check out our series preface on hedge fund 13F filings.Next up in our series is Thomas Steyer's hedge fund firm Farallon Capital. Thomas Steyer founded Farallon in 1986 and today it is a multi-billion dollar hedge fund that typically uses risk arbitrage strategies and invests in equities, private investments, debt, and real estate. Previously, Steyer was an analyst for Morgan Stanley in its Mergers & Acquisitions department and also an associate on Goldman Sachs' risk arbitrage desk. Steyer graduated Summa Cum Laude from Yale University and also received his MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business. In the past, Farallon was ranked third in Alpha's 2008 hedge fund rankings. In terms of recent portfolio adjustments from Farallon, we saw it was just adding to its Beacon Roofing (BECN) stake. For more recent activity out of Farallon head to our post on its portfolio and internal firm adjustments.Complete Story »

Ockham Research submits: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that aircraft parts supplier TransDigm Group (TDG) is planning to float $425 million worth of debt for the primary purpose of giving a special dividend to shareholders. Management has said that $360 million of the debt offering will be used to pay a special cash dividend expected to be $7.50 to $7.70 per share. The article in The Journal makes some points as to the rationale behind such a move. The added debt increased TransDigm’s borrowings to 4.3 times its earnings before interest and taxes, compared with 3.1 times before last week’s deal. The expected dividend of $7.50 to $7.70 a share is equal to nearly all of the net income that TransDigm reported since the end of fiscal 2003, according to Moody’s Investors Service.Complete Story »

David I. Templeton submits: One source of a wide variety of stock screens is the American Association of Individual Investors website. Access to the screens does require a membership in the organization.From time to time the AAII Journal will feature screens the editor believes might be of interest to its readership. In the July issue of the AAII Journal, the featured screen focuses on: Stocks With a Competitive Edge. According to the article, the thinking behind this featured screen is:Complete Story »

FP Trading Desk submits: Shares in Boeing Co.’s (BA) continued to tumble Wednesday after the Chicago-based plane maker announced its fifth delay to its new 787 Dreamliner program. The new aircraft was suppose to take to the sky in the coming weeks, but the manufacturer delayed the first flight Tuesday due to structural problems that could hamper its maneuverability.Boeing’s unwillingness, however, to give a new timeframe for the first flight is “concerning,” according to David Strauss, UBS analyst. Mr. Strauss said his contacts expect the delay could push the first flight out by two months, but he also noted that its airline customers are expecting a delay of as much as six months.Complete Story »