market folly

Philip Falcone's $13 billion hedge fund, Harbinger Capital Partners, has filed amended 13D's with the SEC recently. Firstly, they have disclosed a 20.9% stake in SeraCare Life Sciences (SRLS). They have 3,872,370 shares as per the latest amended 13D. You can view the rest of Harbinger's portfolio holdings here.

Secondly, in an amended 13G, Harbinger has disclosed a 13.5% ownership in Augusta Resources (AZC) with 11,991,339 shares.

Thirdly, they've disclosed that they've been selling some shares and now have a 10.63% ownership stake in Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF). We detailed the changes to this position before when we covered Harbinger's Form 4 and press release. They have continued to sell shares, with their latest Form 4 showing 10 large batches of sales on January 14th, 15th, and 16th at around $22 per share.

Fourthly, in an amended 13D, they've noted their current 7.5% stake in Cablevision systems (CVC).

Next, in an amended 13G, they've also shown their 9% stake in Navistar International (NAV).

Lastly, they have disclosed a 63.8% ownership stake in SkyTerra Communications (SKYT). In the filing, they may be deemed to beneficially own 43,466,176 shares. The filing itself is complex and full of many details, so we suggest reading it in its entirety to fully understand Harbinger's position in the company. You can view the rest of Harbinger's portfolio holdings here.

Taken from StreetInsider, Harbinger is "a disciplined value investor with an emphasis on intensive credit research. Its focus is on middle market companies that tend to be misunderstood or under-researched by the market. Investment approaches include: Restructuring/Bankruptcy, Turnaround, Liquidation, Event Driven, Capital Structure Arbitrage, Short Sale and Special Situations." At one point during 2008, they were up as much as 42%. But, their fortunes turned as they found themselves giving up those gains. One position that treated them nicely was their short of Wachovia (WB), which we detailed here.

Taken from Google Finance,

SeraCare "serves the global life sciences industry by providing products and services to facilitate the discovery, development and production of human and animal diagnostics and therapeutics. The Company’s portfolio includes diagnostic controls, plasma-derived reagents and molecular biomarkers, biobanking and contract research services."

Augusta Resource is "engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of natural mineral resource properties. The Company does not produce, develop or sell any products. The properties that the Company has interests in are in the exploratory stage."

Cliffs Natural Resources "formerly Cleveland-Cliffs Inc, is an international mining company, a producer of iron ore pellets in North America and a supplier of metallurgical coal to the global steelmaking industry. It operates six iron ore mines in Michigan, Minnesota and Eastern Canada, and three coking coal mines in West Virginia and Alabama. Cliffs also owns 80.4% of Portman, an iron ore mining company in Australia, serving the Asian iron ore markets with direct-shipping fines and lump ore. In addition, it has a 30% interest in the Amapa Project, a Brazilian iron ore project, and a 45% economic interest in the Sonoma Project, an Australian coking and thermal coal project. It is organized into three business segments: North America Iron Ore, North American Coal and Asia-Pacific Iron Ore."

SkyTerra Communications is "a holding company that owns 99.3% of Mobile Satellite Ventures LP (MSV) and 11.2% of TerreStar Networks. Its subsidiaries and affiliates operate in the United States and Canada. The Company offers a range of mobile satellite services (MSS) using two geostationary satellites that support the delivery of data, voice, fax and dispatch radio services."

Cablevision Systems is "a cable operator in the United States. The Company operates through its subsidiary, CSC Holdings, Inc. (CSC Holdings). The Company operates cable programming networks, entertainment businesses and telecommunications companies."

Navistar International "is a holding company that operates through its principal operating subsidiaries, Navistar, Inc. and Navistar Financial Corporation."