What We're Reading ~ Analytical Links 10/9/13

Some big investors can't get enough of Europe's toxic assets [Quartz]

On cash flow and destiny [Horowitz]

5 things you need to know about Janet Yellen [WSJ]

For Yellen, a focus on reducing unemployment [NYTimes]

Invest in what Wall Street hates [Marketwatch]

Why does value investing work? [Turnkey Analyst]

On avoiding the next bubble [WSJ]

Verizon mega-bond could pave way for AT&T [Reuters]

A look at eBay's CEO John Donahoe [Barrons]

How Twitter's business model is just like broadcast TV, only worse [Buzzfeed]

A road map to high value healthcare delivery [Healthcare Transformation Institute]

A look at Tower Group [Aleph Blog]

Is Medifast a cry baby or corporate bully? [WhiteCollarFraud]

Nest Labs reinvents the smoke alarm [NYTimes]

Pat McCormack's Tiger Consumer Adds to Medifast (MED)

Patrick McCormack's hedge fund Tiger Consumer Management just filed a 13G with the SEC regarding shares of Medifast Inc (MED). Per the filing, Tiger Consumer has disclosed a 5.11% ownership stake in MED with 788,790 shares due to portfolio activity on September 7th, 2010. This marks an increase in their position as they previously held 553,191 shares back on June 30th. As such, Tiger Consumer has boosted its position size by 42.6%, buying 235,599 additional shares over the past two and a half months.

In terms of other portfolio activity from McCormack's fund, we detailed back in July that they started a position in Sonic Automotive (SAH). Tiger Consumer is one of the many funds seeded by Tiger Management founder Julian Robertson and you can view the proverbial Tiger family tree here.

Taken from Google Finance, Medifast is "engaged in the production, distribution, and sale of weight management and disease management products and other consumable health and diet products."

To see the other stocks that matter most to hedge funds, head to our coverage of Goldman Sachs' VIP list.

Roberto Mignone's Bridger Management Starts 2 New Positions

Roberto Mignone's hedge fund Bridger Management recently filed 13G's on The Princeton Review (REVU) and Medifast (MED). Due to activity on April 15th, Bridger Management has disclosed a 6.3% ownership stake in The Princeton Review (REVU) with 3,000,000 shares. Secondly, due to activity on April 16th, Roberto Mignone's hedge fund has disclosed a 5.1% ownership stake in Medifast (MED) with 787,144 shares. This position is interesting because back in March we revealed that Steven Cohen's hedge fund SAC Capital started a new position in MED. So, we now have two prominent hedge funds invested in this company.

The Princeton Review and Medifast are both brand new positions for Mignone's hedge fund as they did not own shares on December 31st when we detailed Bridger Management's portfolio. Somewhere in the last three and a half months they've assembled these stakes. In terms of other recent portfolio activity, we made note a few weeks ago of Bridger's new stake in Centene (CNC) as well.

Bridger is a $2.8 billion hedge fund focused on long/short & event driven strategies and often focus on healthcare related names. Prior to founding Bridger, Mignone co-founded Blue Ridge Capital with John Griffin in 1996. For more insight from Bridger, head to Mignone's thoughts at a previous hedge fund panel.

Taken from Google Finance, The Princeton Review is "a provider of classroom-based, print and online education products and services targeting the high school and post-secondary markets."

Medifast is "engaged in the production, distribution, and sale of weight management and disease management products and other consumable health and diet products. The product lines include weight and disease management, meal replacement, and vitamins. "

You can view the rest of Bridger Management's portfolio here.

Steven Cohen's Hedge Fund SAC Capital Updates Positions

We have a few portfolio updates out of Steven Cohen's hedge fund firm SAC Capital to update you on. But first, please keep in mind that SAC is primarily a trading fund and they move in and out of positions much faster than the funds we typically cover here on Market Folly. While these 13G filings typically signify a much larger position, you still need to take things with a grain of salt here as Cohen's firm by no means fits the normal long-term investment focus of the hedgies we like to track. That said, you can see below for the changes and also take note our previous post on SAC portfolio updates.

Firstly, they filed a 13G on shares of Medifast (MED) and now show a 6.4% ownership stake with 986,774 shares. This is a brand new position for them as they did not own it on their 13F filing which discloses positions as of December 31st, 2009. Secondly, a few weeks ago they also filed a 13G on shares of Skechers (SKX), showing a 5.3% ownership stake with 1,787,645 shares. This is a massive increase as they've added over 1.2 million more shares in this name since September of 2009. So, there you have it. Since Steven Cohen is so secretive and readers often want to hear what SAC Capital is up to, we thought we would oblige. SAC Capital finished 2009 up over 28% as noted in our post on hedge fund 2009 performance numbers.

Taken from Google Finance, Medifast is "engaged in the production, distribution, and sale of weight management and disease management products and other consumable health and diet products. The Company’s product lines include weight and disease management, meal replacement, and vitamins primarily manufactured in its modern, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved facility in Owings Mills, Maryland."

Skechers is "designs and markets Skechers-branded contemporary footwear for men, women and children under several lines. In addition to Skechers-branded lines, the Company also offers eight uniquely branded designer, fashion and street-focused footwear lines for men, women and children."