Friday, May 16, 2014

Soros Fund Management Sells the Major U.S. Banks (JPM; BAC; C)

While 13F replication strategies are difficult to design (and impossible to execute in real time) there are insights to be gained from keeping track of folks with proven expertise in one sector or another. Soros on finance is one example.
Plus, yesterday was the filing date for a majority of the funds, so we have something to post in early pre-market. Follow the link for other manager's actions.
From MoneyBeat:

Soros Sells Out of J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Citigroup 
Soros Fund Management LLC sold out of holdings in several banking giants in the first quarter, including J.P. Morgan ChaseJPM -1.56% & Co., Bank of AmericaBAC -1.99% and CitigroupC -1.29%.
The exits come only a quarter after the fund had purchased stakes in J.P. Morgan and Citi. In all, the fund had owned about 2.8 million shares of J.P. Morgan as of Dec. 31 and 2.3 million shares of Citi. Shares of both banks are down more than 7% year to date.

The prominent fund also eliminated its stakes in AlcoaAA -1.80% and J.C. PenneyJCP -2.87% in the period ended March 31, and decreased its stakes in Liberty GlobalLBTYA -0.27%, ZyngaZNGA -4.61%, MicrosoftMSFT -1.62% and General MotorsGM -1.69%. The fund’s move with General Motors follows a hard quarter for the car maker, while the decreased stake in Microsoft comes just two quarters after the fund had increased its stake significantly....MORE
Previously:
A Strategy of Replicating Carl Icahn's 13D/F Filings Would Actually Work (IEP)
In a Hedge Fund13F Replication Strategy, Does the Delay Matter?
More ETFs Play Hedge Fund Copycat
9% Alpha with Munger & Van Gogh (Hedge Fund 13F Replication Strategies)