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Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Stryker Corp., Synergetics USA, Inc., Zimmer Holdings, Conmed Corporation and Smith & Nephew – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:50:57 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 13, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Stryker Corp. (SYK), Synergetics USA, Inc. (SURG), Zimmer Holdings (ZMH), Conmed Corporation (CNMD) and Smith & Nephew (SNN).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Stryker Strikes Acquisition Deals

Stryker Corp. (SYK) is on a takeover spree having made three acquisitions recently. The company acquired OtisMed Corp., Mutoh Co. Ltd. and certain of its affiliates, and Synergetics USA, Inc. (SURG). Financial terms of these transactions include $67 million in upfront payment as well as potential future milestone and royalty payments of up to $36 million. These acquisitions are expected to be completed by the end of 2009.

Mutoh Co. Ltd. is a Japanese company and a leading provider of equipment, products, instruments and services to the medical and scientific communities. On the other hand, Synergetics USA, Inc. is a leading supplier of precision microsurgery instrumentation.

Mutoh and Synergetics acquisitions give Stryker access to different assets used to produce Sonopet Ultrasonic Aspirator control consoles, hand pieces and accessories as well as the rights to market and sell these products globally. Post the completion of the acquisition, Stryker will incorporate these two companies into its Instruments division.

The acquisitions widen Stryker’s product portfolio and will boost its top-line. Stryker is one of the world’s largest medical device companies operating in the global orthopedic market. In the orthopedic space, Stryker faces competition from major players like Zimmer Holdings (ZMH), Conmed Corporation (CNMD) and Smith & Nephew (SNN).

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Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

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Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518.

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Zacks Investment Research

Stryker Strikes Acquisition Deals – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:11:01 +0000

OtisMed Corp. is a privately held software technology firm that focuses on customizable instrumentation complementing Stryker’s Triathlon Knee System, as well as other Stryker implants. Stryker will incorporate OtisMed as part of its Orthopaedics division.

Mutoh Co. Ltd. is a Japanese company and a leading provider of equipment, products, instruments and services to the medical and scientific communities. On the other hand, Synergetics USA, Inc. is a leading supplier of precision microsurgery instrumentation.

Mutoh and Synergetics acquisitions give Stryker access to different assets used to produce Sonopet Ultrasonic Aspirator control consoles, hand pieces and accessories as well as the rights to market and sell these products globally. Post the completion of the acquisition, Stryker will incorporate these two companies into its Instruments division.

The acquisitions widen Stryker’s product portfolio and will boost its top-line. Stryker is one of the world’s largest medical device companies operating in the global orthopedic market. In the orthopedic space, Stryker faces competition from major players like Zimmer Holdings (ZMH), Conmed Corporation (CNMD), Smith & Nephew (SNN), Johnson & Johnson/DePuy (JNJ), and Wright Medical (WMGI).

Read the full analyst report on "SYK"
Read the full analyst report on "SURG"
Read the full analyst report on "ZMH"
Read the full analyst report on "CNMD"
Read the full analyst report on "SNN"
Read the full analyst report on "JNJ"
Read the full analyst report on "WMGI"
Zacks Investment Research

Stryker Meets Expectations – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:15:00 +0000

Stryker Corporation (SYK) yesterday reported third quarter earnings per share of 69 cents, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate and higher than the year-ago earnings of 66 cents. Net sales were flat year over year at approximately $1.7 billion. An unfavorable foreign exchange translation (FX) negatively affected net sales in the quarter.

Excluding FX, net sales increased 1.2% year over year. On a geographic basis, U.S. sales contributed roughly 65% of total sales and increased 0.2% year over year. International sales declined 0.3% year over year. In terms of business segments: Orthopaedic Implants sales increased 5.5% year over year to $1.0 billion. Growth was contributed by all the products, such as Hips, Knees, Trauma, Spine, and Craniomaxillofacial.

MedSurg Equipment sales declined 7.7% year over year to $637 million. The decline can be primarily attributed to lower capital spending by hospitals due to the current economic turmoil. Gross margin increased 20 basis points (bps) year over year to 67.4% primarily due to a favorable product-mix. Research and development expenses as a percentage of sales declined 50 bps year over year to 5.1%, and were within the company’s target range of 5% to 6%.

Selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of sales declined 10 bps year over year to 38.9%. Stryker incurred $67 million of restructuring charges in the reported quarter due to termination of certain third-party general agent agreements in Europe and discontinuation of sales of certain products across both its business segments.

This has primarily resulted in lower operating and net margins in the quarter. Operating margin declined 320 bps year over year to 18.8%. Net margin declined 270 bps year over year to 13.9%. Stryker’s cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled approximately $2.9 billion, considerably higher than $2.4 billion recorded in the prior quarter. The company has no outstanding debt at the end of the reported quarter.

Cash flow from operations continued to be strong at $465.8 million, compared to $182.4 million provided in the last quarter. Stryker has provided guidance for full fiscal 2009. For 2009, earnings per share should be in the range of $2.90 to $3.00. Excluding FX, net sales are expected to increase between 1% and 2%.

Stryker Corporation is one of the world’s largest medical device companies operating in the global orthopedic market. In the orthopedic space, Stryker faces competition from major players like Zimmer Holdings (ZMH), Conmed Corporation (CNMD), Smith & Nephew (SNN), Johnson & Johnson/DePuy (JNJ), and Wright Medical (WMGI).
Read the full analyst report on "SYK"
Read the full analyst report on "ZMH"
Read the full analyst report on "CNMD"
Read the full analyst report on "SNN"
Read the full analyst report on "JNJ"
Read the full analyst report on "WMGI"
Zacks Investment Research

Stryker’s Q2 Results Disappoint – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:13:23 +0000

Stryker Corporation (SYK), one of the world’s largest medical device companies operating in the global orthopedic market, reported its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2009. Net sales in the quarter were $1,634.3 million, a decline of 4.6% year over year. The company was hurt by a slowdown in MedSurg businesses and foreign currency (FX) headwinds. Excluding FX, net sales were roughly flat, compared to last year.

In terms of business segments: Orthopaedic Implants sales were roughly flat year over year at $1,014.2 million. The company witnessed strong U.S. sales buoyed by higher shipments of reconstructive, trauma, spinal and craniomaxillofacial implant systems. However, international sales were lower due to currency headwinds. MedSurg Equipment sales declined 11% year over year to $620.1 million. This segment was hurt by the global economic slowdown with patients delaying their surgical operations. Lower shipments of surgical equipment and surgical navigation systems, endoscopic, communications and digital imaging systems etc. were witnessed across this segment.

On a geographic basis, the U.S. represented approximately 64% of net sales in the quarter and was roughly flat on a year over year basis. The company’s international operations declined 11%.

Gross margin was 67.2%, a decline of 170 basis points (bps) year over year, due to higher investments made by the company in its compliance initiatives and slowdown in some of its manufacturing plants as a result of the present economic turbulence. Selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) as a percentage of total sales declined 180 basis points year over year due to the various cost control initiatives adopted by the company in response to the slowing economy. Lowered operating expenses, as a percentage of sales, resulted in higher operating margin (↑50 bps year over year) at 23.9%. However, lower non-operating income ultimately dragged down the company’s net margin (↓10 bps year over year).

Management expects EPS for 2009 in the range of $2.90 to $3.10, compared to an adjusted EPS of $2.83 last year. Furthermore, it expects net sales for the year to decline roughly 2% to 3% on a reported basis and to increase 1% to 3% on a constant-currency basis.

For the next year, management expects net sales to decline roughly 1.5% to 2.5% on a reported basis.

Stryker faces competition from major players like Zimmer Holdings (ZMH), Conmed (CNMD), Smith & Nephew (SNN), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)/DePuy, and Wright Medical (WMGI). The company has faced several headwinds of late. They include the current economic uncertainty, delayed capital spending by hospitals, an increase in the uninsured population stemming from higher unemployment, and weaker foreign exchange and pressures from international markets.

Based on the company’s performance in the quarter, we continue to rate Stryker a ‘Hold’.

Read the full analyst report on "SYK"
Read the full analyst report on "ZMH"
Read the full analyst report on "CNMD"
Read the full analyst report on "SNN"
Read the full analyst report on "JNJ"
Read the full analyst report on "WMGI"
Zacks Investment Research

TranS1 Lowers Expectations – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:14:33 +0000

TranS1 Inc. (TSON) announced that it expects revenue to be roughly in the range of $7.9 million to $8.0 million in the second quarter of this year, lower than its previous guidance of $8.7 million to $9.0 million but approximately 33% higher than the revenue in the year-ago quarter.

TranS1 believes that its revenue is likely to be affected by the reimbursement uncertainty surrounding its AxiaLIF procedure. The company expects to release its second quarter results on July 30, 2009, after the close.

TranS1 is engaged in designing, developing and marketing minimally invasive products that utilize its proprietary TranS1 surgical approach to treat degenerative disc disease affecting the lower lumbar region of the spine.

TranS1 is badly hurt by a reimbursement uncertainty surrounding its AxiaLIF procedure. We believe expected near-term reimbursement changes would make the pre-certification and administration process time-consuming and could create some revenue pressure. The company has addressed this issue and hired a Director of Reimbursement and added two reimbursement specialists to minimize the administrative burden.

TranS1 addresses a vast and expanding lower lumbar spine fusion market, which was valued at over $1.4 billion in the U.S. in 2006 and is expected to grow in the mid-single digits to over $1.8 billion by 2011 (Source: Millennium Research Group). In the U.S., over 6 million people annually are affected by lower back pain but only about 4% seek surgical treatment (Source: Millennium Research Group).

TranS1 faces significant competition from much larger companies in the spine market including Medtronic (MDT), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Stryker (SYK) and Zimmer Holdings (ZMH). Based on the company’s performance in the last quarter, we have reiterated our Hold rating for TranS1.
Read the full analyst report on "TSON"
Read the full analyst report on "MDT"
Read the full analyst report on "JNJ"
Read the full analyst report on "SYK"
Read the full analyst report on "ZMH"
Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Stryker Corp., Zimmer Holdings, Conmed, Smith & Nephew and Wright Medical – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:06:06 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 10, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Stryker Corp. (SYK), Zimmer Holdings (ZMH), Conmed (CNMD), Smith & Nephew (SNN) and Wright Medical (WMGI).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Stryker Strikes Advanced Medical Deal

Stryker Corp. (SYK) recently signed a deal for global marketing and distribution rights of Advanced Medical Solutions Group Plc’s LiquiBand wound closure products that are used in cranio-maxillofacial (CMF) surgeries.

LiquiBand is a tissue adhesive used to close minor surgical wounds and trauma. The product would be launched in European markets this month and would be followed by a phased roll out in the rest of the world.

The deal is going to be a win-win for both the companies. Stryker will earn commissions that will take care of the company’s bottom-line during these testing times of global recession. Advanced Medical can leverage Stryker’s global presence and its brand equity.

Stryker is one of the world’s largest medical devices companies operating in the global orthopedic market. The company currently has two segments: Orthopedic Implant and MedSurg Equipment. The Orthopedic Implant segment includes hip, knee, shoulder and spinal implants and associated instruments; trauma-related products; bone cement; and Stryker Leibingers (plate and screw systems for hand, face, and head procedures). The MedSurg Equipment segment is comprised of three main divisions: Stryker Instruments (powered surgical tools), Stryker Endoscopy (powered surgical instruments and viewing aids) and Stryker Medical (specialty stretchers).

Stryker faces competition from major players like Zimmer Holdings (ZMH), Conmed (CNMD), Smith & Nephew (SNN) and Wright Medical (WMGI).

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Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5517

About Zacks

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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312-265-9380
Visit: www.zacks.com

Zacks Investment Research

Stryker Strikes Advanced Med Deal – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:58:10 +0000

Stryker faces competition from major players like Zimmer Holdings (ZMH), Conmed (CNMD), Smith & Nephew (SNN), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) /DePuy and Wright Medical (WMGI).

The company has been facing several headwinds of late. These include current economic uncertainty, delayed capital spending by hospitals, an increase in uninsured population that is stemming from higher unemployment, weaker foreign exchange and pressures from international markets. Based on the company’s performance in the first quarter of 2009, our recent report on Stryker has a Hold rating for the company’s stock.

Zimmer Holdings (ZMH) – Bear of the Day

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (ZMH) is a global leader in the design, development, manufacture and marketing of reconstructive implants, and trauma and related orthopedic surgical products.

We believe the increase in unemployment will reduce the number of insured patients. As a result, procedures may be subject to delays, reducing revenue growth in the near-term.

On the upcoming call, we are listening for whether the stronger dollar will reverse the tailwind revenues have received over the past few years, if efforts to increase financial leverage during the recent credit crisis may have met obstacles, and if efforts to control prices of commodity inputs (futures) may pressure gross margins as prices have since retreated. Zacks Investment Research

Health Care Analysts Stock Picks

CEO Blogger — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:38:01 +0000

Pharmaceutical stocks were winners today on the earnings front, and CNBC guests say they can be winners on the portfolio front as well.Robert Hazlett, pharmaceuticals analyst at BMO Capital Markets, says the sector is a good bet for the very near term. “These companies have reasonably good fundamentals, you don’t have to take out a new [...]

Maverick Capital Management 13F | Lee Ainslie Hedge Fund Holdings Analysis

Richard C. Wilson — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:41:00 +0000

Maverick Capital

Maverick Capital Management Holdings Analysis

This post is being written as part of HedgeFundBlogger.com's Investment Securities Tool which analyzes the holdings of hedge fund managers.

Lee Ainslie started Maverick Capital back in 1993 with $38 million. Nowadays, the fund is worth $10 billion. Ainslie, like many of the other fund managers I've profiled, has a background rooted in learning from legendary great Julian Robertson at Tiger Management. So, due to the fact that these proteges learned from the best and have had great success running their own hedge funds, I continually try to find a reason not to follow these funds. And, needless to say I'm never successful. Some contacts over at Maverick have explained that their hedge fund strategy is straight up stock picking, both long and short. They made it clear though, that they do not employ pairs trades. Although, some of their long/short setups might be in the same sector. They try to hedge their positions like a true hedge fund by picking out the shining stars in certain sectors, as well as identifying the pieces of garbage. Now, of course, this presents us with a problem in that the 13F filings only show long positions (unless they're holding puts on a name, we can see those). So, a good amount of Maverick's portfolio (the entire short side) is unbeknownst to us, because they have reported zero put positions. But, let's look on the bright side in that we can see all their long positions. Maverick uses a value approach (obviously learned from Julian) and one of their most popular metrics is finding companies and comparing their enterprise value to sustainable free cash flow.

So, now that we've got a little background on Maverick, let's see what they were up to. The following are Maverick Capital's current holdings as of June 30th 2008, as released in their most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The positions in this most recent 13F were compared to last quarter's 13F and here are the changes made to their portfolio:

New Positions:
First Solar (FSLR): 1,202,118 shares. This position is 2.93% of Maverick's portfolio.
Lorillard (LO): 3,820,856 shares. This position is 2.36% of Maverick's portfolio.
CVS Caremark (CVS): 5,912,073 shares. This position is 2.09% of Maverick's portfolio.
Netapp (NTAP): 9,331,862 shares. This position is 1.81% of Maverick's portfolio.
ITT Educational Services (ESI): 2,422,090 shares. This position is 1.79% of Maverick's portfolio.
Macy's (M): 9,008,174 shares. This position is 1.56% of Maverick's portfolio.
Hansen Natural (HANS): 5,712,952 shares. This position is 1.47% of Maverick's portfolio.
Polo Ralph Lauren (RL): 2,431,244 shares. This position is 1.36% of Maverick's portfolio.
Dicks Sporting Goods (DKS): 7,589,473 shares. This position is 1.20% of Maverick's portfolio.
Cigna Corp (CI): 2,931,045 shares. This position is 0.93% of Maverick's portfolio.
Digital River Inc (DRIV): 1,974,144 shares. This position is 0.68% of Maverick's portfolio.
Viacom Inc (VIA): 2,442,500 shares. This position is 0.67% of Maverick's portfolio.
Forest Labs (FRX): 1,789,900 shares. This position is 0.56% of Maverick's portfolio.
Lamar Advertising (LAMR): 1,542,918 shares. This position is 0.50% of Maverick's portfolio.
Visa (V): 565,005 shares. This position is 0.41% of Maverick's portfolio.
South Financial Group (TSFG): 50,000 shares. This position is 0.38% of Maverick's portfolio.
Athena Health (ATHN): 1,245,819 shares. This position is 0.34% of Maverick's portfolio.
National City Corp (NCC): 6,625,176 shares. This position is 0.28% of Maverick's portfolio.
Sohu.com Inc (SOHU): 170,485 shares. This position is 0.11% of Maverick's portfolio.
MSCI Inc (MXB): 287,186 shares. This position is 0.09% of Maverick's portfolio.
Universal American (UAM): 1,004,391 shares. This position is 0.09% of Maverick's portfolio.
Comscore (SCOR): 436,640 shares. This position is 0.09% of Maverick's portfolio.
Citizens Republic Bancorp (CRBC): 937,500 shares. This position is 0.02% of Maverick's portfolio.

Added to:
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B): Increased position by 1412%. Position is now 0.45% of their portfolio.
Gmarket (GMKT): Increased position by 317%. Position is now 0.19% of their portfolio.
Infinera (INFN): Increased position by 171%. Position is now 0.54% of their portfolio.
American Capital (ACAS): Increased position by 141%. Position is now 0.30% of their portfolio.
Nordstrom (JWN): Increased position by 136.61%. Position is now 2.79% of their portfolio.
America Movil (AMX): Increased position by 129.88%. Position is now 3.91% of their portfolio.
Lexmark (LXK): Increased position by 109.39%. Position is now 1.42% of their portfolio.
Citrix (CTXS): Increased position by 109.36%. Position is now 2.20% of their portfolio.
Bank of New York Mellon (BK): Increased position by 55.42%. Position is now 3.15% of their portfolio.
Baxter Intl (BAX): Increased position by 51.69%. Position is now 2.90% of their portfolio.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): Increased position by 45.89%. Position is now 2.87% of their portfolio.
Raytheon (RTN): Increased position by 41.72%. Position is now 2.58% of their portfolio.
Fidelity National Info (FIS): Increased position by 40.56%. Position is now 2.05% of their portfolio.
Covidien (COV): Increased position by 32.99%. Position is now 2.32% of their portfolio.
Liberty Media Corp (LMDIA): Increased position by 28.09%. Position is now 1.59% of their portfolio.
Resmed (RMD): Increased position by 26.46%. Position is now 0.74% of their portfolio.
Burlington Northern (BNI): Increased position by 22.73%. Position is now 1.83% of their portfolio.
Google (GOOG): Increased position by 22.27%. Position is now 1.72% of their portfolio.
Genentech (DNA): Increased position by 21.38%. Position is now 1.40% of their portfolio.
Zimmer Holdings (ZMH): Increased position by 20.28%. Position is now 1.73% of their portfolio.
Cypress Bioscience (CYPB): Increased position by 19.98%. Position is now 0.20% of their portfolio.
Apple (AAPL): Increased position by 19.45%. Position is now 4.09% of their portfolio.
Research in Motion (RIMM): Increased position by 15.41%. Position is now 4.08% of their portfolio.
MetroPCS Comm (PCS): Increased position by 13.6%. Position is now 0.77% of their portfolio.
Home Inns & Hotels (HMIN): Increased position by 7.72%. Position is now 0.54% of their portfolio.
Gilead Sciences (GILD): Increased position by 6.66%. Position is now 2.37% of their portfolio.
Marvell Technology (MRVL): Increased position by 5.24%. Position is now 3.08% of their portfolio.
Newstar Financial (NEWS): Increased position by 5.21%. Position is now 0.14% of their portfolio.
Cardinal Health (CAH): Increased position by 3.33%. Position is now 1.56% of their portfolio.
Amylin Pharma (AMLN): Increased position by 2.84%. Position is now 0.58% of their portfolio.
Discovery Holding (DISCA): Increased position by 1.74%. Position is now 1.21% of their portfolio.
Palm (PALM): Increased position by 1.40%. Position is now 0.51% of their portfolio.
Lumber Liquidators (LL): Increased position by 1.14%. Position is now 0.26% of their portfolio.
China Nepstar (NPD): Increased position by 0.75%. Position is now 0.18% of their portfolio.
First Advantage (FADV): Increased position by 0.65%. Position is now 0.15% of their portfolio.
Under Armour (UA): Increased position by 0.17%. Position is now 0.83% of their portfolio.
Mylan Inc (MYL): Increased position by 0.06%. Position is now 1.09% of their portfolio.
Monsanto (MON): Increased position by 0.04%. Position is now 1.68% of their portfolio.
Potash (POT): Increased position by 0.03%. Position is now 2% of their portfolio.

Reduced positions:
Thermo Fisher (TMO): Reduced their position by 4.91%. Position is now 1.68% of their portfolio.
Western Union (WU): Reduced their position by 10.2%. Position is now 2.08% of their portfolio.
Marsh & Mclennan (MMC): Reduced their position by 12%. Position is now 1.55% of their portfolio.
Textron Inc (TXT): Reduced their position by 18.93%. Position is now 1.44% of their portfolio.
Wyeth (WYE): Reduced their position by 20.6%. Position is now 1.46% of their portfolio.
Leap Wireless (LEAP): Reduced their position by 23.40%. Position is now 0.39% of their portfolio.
Trubion Pharma (TRBN): Reduced their position by 24.38%. Position is now 0.04% of their portfolio.
Dish Network (DISH): Reduced their position by 27.75%. Position is now 1.13% of their portfolio.
Avon Products (AVP): Reduced their position by 33.23%. Position is now 1.36% of their portfolio.
JP Morgan Chase (JPM): Reduced their position by 38.68%. Position is now 0.89% of their portfolio.
Cognizant (CTSH): Reduced their position by 42.97%. Position is now 0.85% of their portfolio.
DirecTV (DTV): Reduced their position by 49.69%. Position is now 0.83% of their portfolio.
Suntrust Banks (STI): Reduced their position by 50%. Position is now 0.16% of their portfolio.
Gamestop (GME): Reduced their position by 51.64%. Position is now 0.81% of their portfolio.
Corcept (CORT): Reduced their position by 57.49%. Position is now 0.01% of their portfolio.
Bluefly (BFLY): Reduced their position by 90%. Position is now 0.11% of their portfolio.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A): Reduced their position by 95%. Position is now 0.66% of their portfolio.

Removed Positions (Positions Maverick sold out of completely):
Hanesbrands (HBI)
Autozone (AZO)
Bankrate (RATE)
CNET (CNET)
Crocs (CROX)
Cumulus Media (CMLS)
Harmonic (HLIT)
Loews (L)
Move Inc (MOVE)
Nucor (NUE)
OfficeMax (OMX)
Qualcomm (QCOM)
Salesforce (CRM)
Sandisk (SNDK)
Sears (SHLD)
Starbucks (SBUX)
UnitedHealth (UNH)

Positions with no change:
VMWare (VMW). Position is 0.59% of their portfolio.
BPW Acquisition (BPW). Position is 0.18% of their portfolio.
FIrst Marblehead (FMD). Position is 0.05% of their portfolio.
Ultra Clean Holdings (UCTT). Position is 0.01% of their portfolio.
Vivus (VVUS). Position is 0.01% of their portfolio.

Top 20 holdings by % of portfolio:
1. Apple (AAPL): 4.09% of the portfolio
2. Research in Motion (RIMM): 4.08% of the portfolio
3. America Movil (AMX): 3.91% of the portfolio
4. Bank of New York Mellon (BK): 3.15% of the portfolio
5. Marvell Tech (MRVL): 3.08% of the portfolio
6. First Solar (FSLR): 2.93% of the portfolio
7. Baxter Intl (BAX): 2.90% of the portfolio
8. Advanced Micro (AMD): 2.87% of the portfolio
9. Nordstrom (JWN): 2.79% of the portfolio
10. Raytheon (RTN): 2.58% of the portfolio
11. Gilead (GILD): 2.37% of the portfolio
12. Lorillard (LO): 2.36% of the portfolio
13. Covidien (COV): 2.32% of the portfolio
14. Citrix (CTXS): 2.20% of the portfolio
15. CVS Caremark (CVS): 2.09% of the portfolio
16. Western Union (WU): 2.08% of the portfolio
17. Fidelity National Info (FIS): 2.05% of the portfolio
18. Potash (POT): 2.00% of the portfolio
19. Burlington Northern (BNI): 1.83% of the portfolio
20. Netapp (NTAP): 1.81% of the portfolio

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Breakdown: Maverick changed up their portfolio a decent amount over the past quarter. Most notable are their changes within their top 10 holdings. Hedge fund favorite Qualcomm (QCOM) was Maverick's 3rd largest holding last filing. This filing, they no longer even hold a position. Additionally, they were selling off chunks of other top 10 holdings from last quarter. They sold off 33% of their position in Avon Products (AVP), which was their 4th largest holding just one quarter ago. They also sold over 51% of their Gamestop (GME) position, which last quarter was their 7th largest holding. With those positions vacating their place in the top 10 holdings of Maverick's portfolio, new holdings obviously took their place. America Movil (AMX), another hedge fund favorite, was Maverick's 9th largest holding last time. This time, they increased their position by 129% and it is now their 3rd largest holding. They obviously used the weakness in this name to add to their position, just like fellow 'Tiger Cub' fund Lone Pine Capital. Maverick also added heavily to Nordstrom (JWN), increasing their position by 136% and making it now their 9th largest holding.

Maverick was out adding to tech across the board. Apple (AAPL) and Research in Motion (RIMM) are their top 2 largest holdings respectively, as they boosted their positions in both by over 14% each. Additionally, they added to their Marvell (MRVL) position, bringing it up to the fund's 5th largest position now. Maverick also continues to build a position in Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), as it now is their 8th largest holding.

Among their new positions this quarter are First Solar (FSLR), Lorillard (LO), and CVS Caremark (CVS). I highlight these three in particular because Maverick started large, new positions in all three names. First Solar (FSLR) was brought up all the way to the fund's 6th largest holding after not even owning shares last quarter. They started a new position in CVS Caremark (CVS) and brought it up to the fund's 15th largest holding. Also, they added heavily to Lorillard (LO) as well, making this new position their 12th largest holding. This position is interesting because we also saw Lone Pine Capital (ran by Stephen Mandel Jr.) start a new position in this exact same name. And, actually, this is not the only position that both Maverick and Lone Pine both started together. In this 13F filing, we see that Maverick started a position in Hansen Natural (HANS). And, Lone Pine recently disclosed that they have a 7.8% stake in HANS. It's definitely common to see many similar positions within the portfolios of various 'Tiger Cub' managers who now run their own funds because they all undoubtedly keep in touch and come from the same school of thought.

One last thing I would like to point out is Maverick selling completely out of various consumer related names. They sold completely out of their positions in Autozone (AZO), Hanesbrands (HBI), Sears (SHLD), Starbucks (SBUX), Crocs (CROX), and OfficeMax (OMX).

You can view their most recent 13F as filed with the SEC here.

Guest post by Market Folly

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Clarium Capital Management | Peter Thiel San Francisco Hedge Fund | Holdings Analysis

Richard C. Wilson — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:29:01 +0000

Clarium Capital Management

Clarium Capital | Peter Thiel Holdings Analysis

This post is being written as part of my Investment Securities Tool which analyzes the holdings of hedge fund managers.

Clarium is a $6 billion global macro hedge fund run by Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal. Although they had a rough July (-6.8%), Clarium is still up over 45% year to date. Assets under management have recently ballooned to the highest amount in Clarium's history. It will be interesting to see how effective Clarium will be at deploying this new capital.

Now, to the 13F. I actually hesitated even doing a 13F analysis on Clarium Capital simply because when I say they are a global macro fund, I really mean it. The 13F they filed with the SEC details only the equities held in their portfolio. And, all their equities combined only totaled a little over $93 million. And, considering they have over $6 billion AUM, we have a bit of a problem here. The bulk of their holdings/trades seem to be in the actual commodities, futures, and currency markets themselves. And, the 13F only details equities held. So, I just wanted to point that out to everyone before proceeding further. I still think its interesting to at least see what they hold. But, take it with a grain of salt because the majority of their capital is deployed in other financial instruments/markets.

The following are Clarium Capital's current holdings as of June 30th 2008, as released in their most recent 13F filing with the SEC. I've compared the positions in this most recent 13F to last quarter's 13F and here are the changes they made to their portfolio:

New Positions: (in no particular order)
Wendy's (WEN) 7,400 shares
Pinnacle Air (PNCL) 15,220 shares
Fairfax Financial (FFH) 15,000 shares
Nvidia (NVDA) 18,000 shares
NRG Energy (NRG) 9,776 shares
MFA Mortgage Investments (MFA) 50,000 shares
Marathon Oil (MRO) 10,000 shares
Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) 12,000 shares
ITT Corp (ITT) 35,000 shares
Istar Financial (SFI) 99,800 shares
Honeywell (HON) 17,700 shares
Conoco Phillips (COP) 107,900 shares
Chevron (CVX) 6,000 shares
Canadian Superior Energy (SNG) 500,000 shares
Black and Decker (BDK) 23,437 shares
Altria Group (MO) 52,639 shares
Aircastle (AYR) 23,400 shares

Added to:
Frontier Oil (FTO): Increased their position by 1353%
Occidental Petroleum (OXY): Increased their position by 302%
CVS Caremark (CVS): Increased their position by 179%
American Express (AXP): Increased their position by 111%
Colgate Palmolive (CL): Increased their position by 77%
Oneok Inc (OKE): Increased their position by 75%
Sothebys (BID): Increased their position by 60%
Nucor (NUE): Increased their position by 49%
Cabot Oil and Gas COG): Increased their position by 42%
Foster Wheeler (FWLT): Increased their position by 22%
Walmart Stores (WMT): Increased their position by 21%
McDonald's (MCD): Increased their position by 14%
Royal Caribbean (RCL): Increased their position by 11%
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): Increased their position by 3%

Reduced Positions:
Mylan (MYL): Decreased their position by 25%
Procter and Gamble (PG): Decreased their position by 75%

Removed Positions (Positions Clarium sold out of completely):
Zimmer Holdings (ZMH)
Western Refining (WNR)
Viropharma (VPHM)
United Technologies (UTX)
McGraw Hill (MHP)
Lowes (LOW)
Lockheed Martin (LMT)
Leggett and Platt (LEG)
Heinz (HNZ)
General Motors (GM)
General Dynamics (GD)
Cisco Systems (CSCO)
Anheuser Busch (BUD)

Positions with no change:
Schering Plough (SGP)
Burlington Northern (BNI)

Top 10 holdings by % of portfolio:
1. Hewlett Packard (HPQ)
2. Conoco Phillips (COP)
3. American Express (AXP)
4. McDonalds (MCD)
5. Burlington Northern (BNI)
6. Occidental Petroleum (OXY)
7. Fairfax Financial (FFH)
8. Foster Wheeler (FWLT)
9. Royal Caribbean (RCL)
10. Frontier Oil (FTO)

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Breakdown: Clarium's portfolio really looks "plain jane," doesn't it? There's nothing ridiculously exciting going on. It almost reminds me of a portfolio Warren Buffett would put his stamp of approval on. AXP, BNI, COP, and MCD are for the most part just slow and steady names that chug along with consistent returns. Again, this is why I want to reiterate that Clarium takes the majority of their positions in the commodities, futures, or currency markets since they truly are a global macro fund. The equity holdings reported in this SEC filing represent just a small sliver of their assets under management. So, on the equity side of things, Thiel has focused mostly on larger cap names with international exposure.

Clarium is definitely heavily weighted in the energy sector. They brought Conoco Phillips (COP) in as a new holding and bumped it up all the way to their 2nd largest equity position. He was also out adding to his Frontier Oil (FTO) and Occidental Petroleum (OXY) positions in a big way. Keep in mind that these holdings were reported as of June 30th, 2008 (ie: Crude Oil hadn't started its rapid descent yet). So, we'll have to see next quarter whether he was building up long term positions in these names, or merely trying to ride the oil wave higher.

Thiel has a large bet on tech, but pretty much solely through Hewlett Packard (HPQ). He added some Nvidia (NVDA), but HPQ is the fund's top equity holding. I can't disagree with this choice, as HPQ has been firing on all cylinders with Mark Hurd really turning the company in the right direction. But, even though the company is performing well, the stock really isn't.

I also noticed that Thiel seems to also be playing the 'pooring of America' theme. His MCD and WMT positions give him exposure to the companies that offer everything on the cheap. But, what surprised me a little bit was his Royal Caribbean (RCL) stake being as large as it is. To me, this translates to a discretionary item since its a cruise/vacation after all. And, with the economy the way it is, you'd think that reservations would be down. But, Thiel obviously sees something here, so it might be worth looking at more in depth.

I also want to point out Thiel's position in American Express (AXP), now his fund's 3rd largest equity position. I'm seeing more and more funds pick up stakes in AXP. For the most part, funds have favored Mastercard (MA) and even Visa (V) for their payment processing business models. Now though, it seems more funds are rotating into AXP to get some credit exposure as well. While I think American Express (AXP) is a well run company and typically has a higher credit grade portfolio, I still question adding this name. The credit exposure will continue to provide headwinds for the company and I'm curious to see what these funds do with this position over time.

Lastly, I just wanted to mention Burlington Northern (BNI). If there is one other common theme amongst hedge fund holdings, it is the rails. No matter how small or large their position, practically everyone has at least some sort of exposure to the rails. For Thiel & Clarium, BNI is their 5th largest equity holding.

You can view Clarium Capital's entire 13F as filed with the SEC here.

Guest Post by Market Folly.

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