David Tepper has sharply cut back his exposure to stocks.
Tepper's Appaloosa Management reported holding roughly $5.7 billion in its U.S. long stock positions at the end of September, according to the hedge fund firm’s latest 13F regulatory filing. That's down more than $3 billion from the more than $8.7 billion Appaloosa held at the end of the second quarter.
The reduction is about 21 percent of the firm’s total assets of $14 billion. It is not known how the rest of Appaloosa’s portfolio is positioned. The firm’s main hedge funds are down slightly for the year through October, according to an investor.
Appaloosa and its founder Tepper declined to comment.
Tepper has been cautious for some time. In a mid-September interview with CNBC, Tepper said the stock market was at “fair value” and in the eighth inning, though he added that baseball games sometimes go into extra innings.
Tepper predicted at the time that markets could go up 8 percent next year if there were no new tariffs instituted. Four days after the interview was conducted, President Donald Trump announced his 10 percent tariffs against China with the pledge to raise them to 25 percent at the beginning of next year.
In the third quarter, Appaloosa pared its equity portfolio by sharply cutting back many of its positions. The firm reduced stakes in its seven largest longs, mostly by around 30 percent to nearly 50 percent, according to the 13F filing. The hedge fund trimmed its ownership in other long bets, as well, and liquidated 14 positions.
Appaloosa sold more than 4.5 million shares of Micron Technology, the firm’s largest long position, the filing shows.
Tepper, who is supportive of Trump’s bid to rein in China’s theft of intellectual property, reaffirmed his commitment to Micron in the CNBC interview, asserting, “The Chinese stole technology from Micron.”
While shares of Micron have plunged since late May, Tepper believes Micron will eventually be a winner because it is an oligopoly. Several years ago, he made big bucks on the airlines based on similar beliefs.
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Major financial firms were among the stocks that Appaloosa exited in the third quarter, including UBS Group, Wells Fargo & Co. and Ally Financial, according to the filing.The firm also established three new longs, including financial giant State Street Corp.
