Volatility continues to rock the high-flying momentum stocks, many of which are favored by hedge funds. Netflix, which is still a big holding of Carl Icahn’s even though he recently said he sold a big chunk of the streaming video company, fell nearly 2 percent Friday and is now down 16 of the past 18 trading days. It has also lost one-fifth of its value during that period. Other momentum stocks also fell nearly 2 percent on Friday, including Facebook. However, it was one among a handful of tech favorites that rose on Thursday. On the other hand, Tesla Motors, which fell on Thursday, rebounded by more than 2 percent on Friday. Google and Priceline.com were also up on Friday, but each by less than 1 percent.
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Steve Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors — he has not yet officially changes his family office’s name to Point72 Asset Management as planned — has more than doubled its stake in Zynga to 39.9 million shares, or 5.3 percent of the total outstanding. It was disclosed in a 13G filing, meaning the investment is passive. Shares of the online social games provider closed down more than 1 percent on Friday, to $4.42. It traded over $14.00 just 13 months ago. Cohen also disclosed he established a 5 percent stake in Midstates Petroleum, an independent exploration and production company. He did not own any shares in the company at the end of 2013.
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Another hedge fund is shutting down. London-based OVS Capital Management, which manages $310 million, is closing after founder Sam Morland decided to retire, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek. The event-driven fund was up 2.78 percent this year through February. Morland, 48, was previously CEO of the European office for Dallas-based HBK Capital Management.
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J.C. Penney, which had surged nearly 80 percent from its February 4 nadir, cooled off a bit, dropping 1.67 percent.