Technical Analysis of Apple (AAPL): Price Target & Key Levels

Given that Apple (AAPL) just reported blowout earnings, Adam over at MarketClub wanted to take a look at the stock and sent out a technical analysis video on AAPL. In it, he pulls up the monthly candlestick chart and identifies $80 and $200 as key levels. From 2008 until early 2010, Apple traded in this range as it sold off hard throughout the crisis but then rebounded stronger. He says this area has created an 'energy field' as the stock consolidated (but that's quite a wide consolidation if you ask us).

The reason he outlines those two levels is to establish a price target. Subtracting the $80 level from the more recent $200 level, you get a 120 point move. Tacking that on top of the $200 level, he feels that a logical price target for Apple is $320 (200 + the 120 point consolidation). On a fundamental basis, this price target could be reasonable (after all, the company is firing on all cylinders.) However, we're not quite sure the technicals set up for such a move as you have to realize Apple has essentially run straight up from $80 to $258 with only one major pause. You can view Adam's video on Apple here.

We think the most notable bit of information to takeaway regarding AAPL's technicals is the $215-220 area. This level was previously an area of resistance and Apple has since blasted through it. Look for that level to serve as support going forward. In an ideal situation, this would be a great place to enter AAPL shares long if you ever see a pullback. Adam doesn't think shares will trade below that level and we'd concur. There's no denying Apple is a monster of a company right now. Not to mention, tons of hedge funds we track hold AAPL as one of their top positions. And you can bet they're not long for the technicals; they're in it for the fundamentals. Click below to watch the technical analysis video on Apple:

Goldman Sachs' VIP List: Most Important Stocks For Hedge Funds

Given our focus on following hedge fund movements, we thought it would be prudent to post up Goldman Sachs' VIP list. The 'VIP' stands for 'Very Important Positions' for hedge funds that employ fundamental strategies rather than technical or trading. In essence, these are the 50 stocks that most frequently appear among the top ten holdings of hedge funds. In our hedge fund portfolio tracking series you may have noticed various stocks popping up over and over again in their top 10 holdings. This is simply an aggregation of a larger set of data and stems from our previous coverage of the top ten hedgie holdings.

This basket of stocks returned 40% in 2009 versus 27% for the S&P 500. Goldman also notes that this list has, "outperformed the S&P 500 by 81 bp on a quarterly basis since 2001, with a Sharpe Ratio of 0.29." Quarterly turnover on this list is typically around 15 positions out of the 50. Those of you with Bloomberg Terminal access can look it up via GSTHHVIP.

Goldman has aggregated data from 487 funds based on the recent slew of 13F filings so these were the most popular stocks owned as of December 31st, 2009. Again, they focus on fundamentally focused hedge funds but have taken a much broader view of hedge fund land than we typically have. We instead focus on a select list of funds to track that are ideal due to their strategy and portfolio concentration. What's most interesting about the data Goldman has assembled is that many of the positions have actually been down year-to-date for 2010. We found that intriguing given that these are essentially 'groupthink' or consensus picks.

Below you will find Goldman Sachs' VIP List with the name of the stock followed by the number of hedge funds that own that stock in their top ten holdings.

1. Apple (AAPL): 67 hedge funds hold it as a top ten holding
   
2. Pfizer (PFE): 45
3. Bank of America (BAC): 37
4. Google (GOOG): 37
5. JPMorgan Chase (JPM): 36
6. Microsoft (MSFT): 36
7. Mastercard (MA): 29
8. DirecTV (DTV): 27
9. Wells Fargo (WFC): 27
10. CVS Caremark (CVS): 24
11. Citigroup (C): 23
12. Hewlett Packard (HPQ): 23
13. Monsanto (MON): 23
14. Visa (V): 23
15. Cisco Systems (CSCO): 21
16. Walmart (WMT): 21
17. Oracle (ORCL): 18
18. Qualcomm (QCOM): 18
19. Exxon Mobil (XOM): 18
20. Ebay (EBAY): 17
21. Wellpoint (WLP): 17
22. Intel (INTC): 16
23. Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN): 16
24. Merck (MRK): 16
25. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): 15
26. Liberty Media (LSTZA): 15
27. Amazon (AMZN): 14
28. Apache (APA): 14
29. EMC (EMC): 14
30. Express Scripts (ESRX): 14
31. Ford Motor (F): 14
32. IBM (IBM): 14
33. Lear (LEA): 14
34. Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA): 14
35. Yahoo (YHOO): 14
36. Crown Castle (CCI): 13
37. McDonald's (MCD): 13
38. Transocean (RIG): 13
39. Barrick Gold (ABX): 12
40. SBA Communications (SBAC): 12
41. US Bancorp (USB): 12
42. Anadarko Petroleum (APC): 11
43. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B): 11
44. Philip Morris International (PM): 11
45. Transdigm Group (TDG): 11
46. Target (TGT): 11
47. Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO): 11
48. American Tower (AMT): 10
49. Comcast (CMCSA): 10
50. Freeport McMoran (FCX): 10
    

Of the stocks mentioned, there are a handful that are brand new additions to Goldman's VIP list. This means that enough hedge funds have brought their stakes in the company up to a top 10 position in their respective portfolios. Positions that hedgies added largely to in the fourth quarter include: Wells Fargo (WFC), Mead Johnson (MJN), Merck (MRK), Liberty Media (LSTZA), Amazon (AMZN), Apache (APA), IBM (IBM), Lear (LEA), Crown Castle (CCI), SBA Communications (SBAC), US Bancorp (USB), Anadarko Petroleum (APC), Target (TGT), American Tower (AMT), and Freeport McMoran (FCX).

Readers will take note that all three major tower stocks are included as we've been harping on this for some time now. We've highlighted how hedgies had increased exposure to AMT, CCI, and SBAC as demand for wireless data service continues to grow. Overall, an insightful list and now you can easily follow the smart money with these consensus plays. For more research from Goldman Sachs, head to our other post which covers an extensive look at the top hedge fund holdings. And don't forget that you can also get specific hedgie portfolio updates by heading to our tracking series where we specifically focus on bottom-up stockpickers.

Bill Ackman & Pershing Square's Kraft Presentation (KFT)

We recently covered that Bill Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management had a new largest holding: Kraft (KFT). While Ackman gave us some insight as to his rationale for owning KFT in his recent interview, we now have a more detailed look into Pershing's bullishness. Ackman gave the presentation below last week at the Boys and Girls Harbor Investment Conference. (This morning, we posted up some other investment presentations from the event as well).

Pershing bought shares of KFT before its acquisition of Cadbury (CBY). They believe this is a solid acquisition at a fair price that "will be transformational." Kraft is the second largest food company in the world and Pershing thinks the addition of Cadbury will improve Kraft's business quality and organic growth. Not to mention, it has a nice 4% dividend yield. Embedded below is Bill Ackman's presentation on Kraft:




You can download the presentation via .pdf here.


For more investment insight and presentations from Bill Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square, head to their analysis on General Growth Properties (GGWPQ), Bill Ackman's recent appearance on television, as well as all our previous coverage of Pershing.

Carl Icahn Buys More Take Two Interactive (TTWO)

In an SEC Form 4 filed on shares of Take Two Interactive (TTWO), we see that rabblerouser Carl Icahn has boosted his stake. On February 2nd, Icahn through his various investment vehicles added 78,681 shares at a price of $9.21 per share. Then, on February 4th, Icahn added 280,000 more shares at a price of $9.24. After all his purchases, Icahn now owns 10,572,233 shares of Take Two Interactive. This activity comes after Icahn exercised calls on TTWO a few weeks ago and ramped up his initial stake.

Additionally, in late January Icahn's three board nominees were added to Take Two's slate of nominees for the 2010 annual shareholder meeting. Although portfolio disclosures are about to be updated, we see that some other prominent hedge funds hold large stakes in TTWO in addition to Icahn. Mario Gabelli's GAMCO Asset Management owns 2,516,000 shares and Larry Robbins' Glenview Capital Management owns 3,370,723 shares. Last week we presented Robbins' thoughts on global equities from a hedge fund panel.

Carl Icahn runs hedge fund Icahn Partners and focuses on activist investing where he seeks to implement change at various companies. We've covered his movements on the site in the past and back in October he laid out the idea to short real estate. In the past, we've also detailed some of his portfolio activity and his additional insight from his guest lecture at Yale.

Taken from Google Finance, Take Two Interactive is "a global publisher, developer and distributor of interactive entertainment software, hardware and accessories. The Company operates in two segments: publishing and distribution."

John Griffin's Blue Ridge Capital Reveals Short Position

Disclosures of short selling in UK financial companies by hedge funds have been few and far between during the last six months. However, we've been able to track down a short sale because we follow hedge fund disclosures in UK markets.

Yesterday, the London Stock Exchange news service revealed that John Griffin’s Blue Ridge Capital was short 0.24% of Legal and General's common shares (FTSE: LGEN) on the 8th of January. This is a rare glance into a prominent hedge fund's short book as these firms typically keep these positions closely guarded. However, when they are required to file a disclosure (as is the case here), we get an occasional taste. You can view the rest of Blue Ridge's portfolio here.

Blue Ridge is not the only hedge fund shorting Legal and General as London based hedge fund manager Meritor Capital also held a 0.37% short position on the 8th of January. Meritor are fundamental stock-pickers that place emphasis on understanding businesses at ground level and meeting regularly with company management. They support this process with retained advisers, industry consultants and field visits.

Fellow UK hedge fund firm Lansdowne Partners have also had a short position in Legal and General fairly recently as they were short 1.76% of LGEN's shares on the 11th of November 2009. See our coverage of Lansdowne's portfolio here.

Just yesterday we talked about the fact that many hedge funds took it on the chin from their short positions in 2009 and examined the common link in companies they were shorting. There has always been an aura of mystique around short selling given the high level of secrecy. So, when we finally get a chance to see what they're shorting, it's exciting. We've gotten tastes of this recently when we saw some short positions from Whitney Tilson's hedge fund T2 Partners, and in the past through Bill Ackman's short of Realty Income, and David Einhorn's short of the ratings agencies. We'll continue to reveal these positions as we find them.

From Google Finance - Legal & General Group Plc is "a provider of risk, savings and investment management products in the United Kingdom. It operates in five segments: Risk, Savings, Investment management, International, and Group capital and financing. The Risk segment includes individual and group protection, individual and bulk purchase annuities, and general insurance, together with estate agencies and the housing related business conducted through its mortgage network. The Savings segment comprises non profit investment bonds, non profit pensions, individual savings account, retail unit trusts, and all with-profits products. The Investment management segment comprises institutional fund management and institutional unit trust business. The International segment comprises businesses in the United States, France, the Netherlands and emerging markets. On June 5, 2008, the Company acquired Suffolk Life Group Plc."

Bill Ackman's General Growth Properties Rebuttal: A Detailed Response To Hovde's Short Thesis

A week or so ago we posted up hedge fund Hovde Capital's short thesis on General Growth Properties (GGWPQ). Immediately following that, we saw Todd Sullivan over at ValuePlays.net issue a rebuttal. Hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson of T2 Partners also issued a rebuttal. And finally, you now have one of the largest shareholders in Bill Ackman issuing a rebuttal on behalf of his hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management.

In summary, Ackman has provided a wide range of GGWPQ's equity value based upon fellow REIT valuations. He comes up with a price target of $24-43 per share which excludes the MPC segment of General Growth. He feels that high quality US malls will continue to do well and he even recently laid out an entire presentation on the US mall REIT industry. Ackman and Pershing Square are obviously refuting Hovde's presentation since they have been long the equity and unsecured debt of General Growth since back when the stock was trading below $0.40 per share. You can see Pershing Square's original GGWPQ presentation from when they first entered the name.

General Growth has been evaluating all options to reduce leverage and have been considering "all indications of interest in the company." Ackman sits on the board of General Growth and obviously has been very close to this entire situation.

Entitled 'A Detailed Response To Hovde's Short Thesis on General Growth Properties,' below you will find Pershing Square's entire presentation, with a big hat tip to Todd Sullivan's ValuePlays for posting it up first:




You can download the .pdf here. It is clear the bulls are protective of this name, especially given that some of Hovde's analysis was labeled as questionable. Since hedge fund Hovde's short thesis presentation hit the internet, we've now seen three in-depth responses arguing against them.

The bulls clearly believe they've found a winner in GGWPQ. And, you can't fault them. Shares have risen from under $1 now to above $10. As General Growth Properties emerges from bankruptcy, the one question on everyone's mind is: how much is GGWPQ equity worth? We'll have to wait and see, but there have been plenty of educated guesses, that's for sure. For more on their bullish stance on GGWPQ, check out hedge fund Pershing Square's entire presentation on the US mall REIT industry. And of course, here's their original GGWPQ presentation.

The Short Case For General Growth Properties (GGWPQ)

Over the course of this year we've shared various presentations on the potential bullish prospects for mall REIT General Growth Properties (GGWPQ) courtesy of Bill Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management. These have included a recent outlook on the mall REIT industry, an update on their holding via Pershing Square's investor letter, as well as their previous presentation on General Growth. As one of the largest shareholders, Pershing Square has been at the forefront leading the charge. Today, we want to flip the tables and present the short case for General Growth Properties, courtesy of Hovde Capital Advisors.

Hovde Capital Advisors LLC is an investment manager that runs various hedge funds. They employ a "sector-specific, deep-value, long/short strategy" and utilize a combination of both top-down and bottom-up in their approach. Back in March of this year we actually covered President and CEO Eric Hovde's thoughts on the market as he thought we were in a depression and that commercial real estate defaults would hit as high as 25%.

There are always two sides to a trade and this is the perfect example. Hovde Capital prudently points out that many investors have been using Pershing Square's original GGWPQ presentation as a means for valuing General Growth Properties... a presentation that is now well outdated. In their analysis below, they update and expand upon Pershing's original model in order to provide a more current look at the situation from a bottom-up level.

They first examine the macro environment just as Pershing Square did in their recent Mall REIT presentation. While Pershing's highlights potential improvement, Hovde takes the other side and highlights how we are by no means out of the woods yet, citing a drop in consumer spending, a decrease in available consumer credit, and non-bullish trends for mall REITs in particular. Focusing next specifically on General Growth, Hovde believes that that a 7.5% capitalization rate is a far too optimistic assumption given that recent comparables have been higher than 8%. Additionally, they highlight that GGWPQ's cashflow is now more than 20% below the levels in 2008. While the fact that General Growth is extremely leveraged is well known, Hovde points out that rival Simon Property Group (SPG) has debt to EBITDA of 6x while GGWPQ is "in excess of 16x and would still be in excess of 12x even if all of the unsecured debt was converted to equity."

Potentially the most alarming to the bulls though is Hovde's focus on net operating income (NOI) sensitivity. They write, "applying Q3 annualized NOI to the Pershing Square valuation analysis, the implied equity value per share of the company today is NEGATIVE $5.03 at an 8.5% cap rate and +$5.73 at a 7.5% cap rate." Needless to say, they are decidedly bearish on GGWPQ. Going forward, one of the focal points in this whole scenario will be cap rates. Hovde feels an 8% cap rate is unrealistic given the reality of the economic situation and they argue that a cap rate of 8.5% or higher would be more appropriate.

Hovde are short shares of GGWPQ and think that equity investors will instead be disappointed upon GGWPQ's reorganization. Embedded below is the short case for General Growth entitled "Fool's Gold" in its entirety:




You can download the .pdf here. So there you have it: "Fool's Gold," the bearish argument for General Growth Properties (GGWPQ). We thought it would be interesting to examine both sides of the trade as we'd previously examined the long case for GGWPQ and then today we shared the short case with you. We'll continue to watch this intriguing situation unfold as hedge funds wager on the impending outcome. As always, don't shoot the messenger.

Since circulation of this presentation, Todd over at ValuePlays.net has penned a rebuttal to Hovde's presentation. Ironically, Hovde claims many are using outdated numbers from Pershing's presentation and Todd points out that Hovde themselves are also using outdated numbers. Interesting stuff. Secondly, hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson of T2 Partners has also penned a rebuttal as it seems Hovde has been called out on their conclusions. The battle of bulls versus bears continues on...

Hedge Fund Exposure Levels: Still Very Long Equities

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is out with some recent data on hedge fund portfolio positioning as of the first week of December. Per their hedge fund monitor report, we see that hedge funds were still very much long equities as they have overweighted that asset class as well as energy and precious metals. We also learn that they were covering shorts in 10-Year Treasuries and the US dollar index. Those two short positions have been widespread in hedge fund land for some time now as hedgies bet on inflation via rising rates and a weak dollar. While in the past we've covered specifics like what ten stocks are most popular amongst hedge funds, we're taking a step back today to highlight the broader picture.

Overall Exposure Levels

Long/Short Equity Hedge Funds: While most L/S funds typically have had 30-40% net long exposure historically, December kicked off with hedge funds net long by around ~45%. This comes after long/short funds had hit a multi-year high level of 50% net long in mid November. Some recent action by these funds suggest that their inflationary expectations are declining and they have been shifting from value and high quality names into small cap names.

(click to enlarge)

Market Neutral Hedge Funds: They note that market neutral funds have stuck to their name and have gone back to 'neutral,' having spiked in weeks prior. Overall, they are largely neutral on equities and have negative inflationary expectations.

Global Macro Hedge Funds: Additionally, global macro hedge funds have been in a 'crowded long' of the S&P 500 and have also been in an even more crowded long of emerging markets. Bank of America Merrill Lynch's readings on net long emerging market positions are at the highest they have been since August 2008. They also apparently have been selling 10-Year Treasuries and have been modestly covering shorts on the US dollar (a crowded trade).


Commodities

We also now want to turn to commodity exposure levels as they have taken center stage again with Gold's parabolic rise.

Gold: Their research indicates that in the first week of December, large speculators were selling gold. However, this is still very much a crowded trade to the longside. They note that gold completed what they call a 'head and shoulders continuation pattern that projects up to $1300-1350.' So, interesting to see their price targets on the precious metal as those levels fall largely in line with technical analysis price targets on gold that we've seen. Also, we've recently covered the latest offering from hedge fund icon John Paulson. Those interested in gold should read his rationale in our in-depth post on his new gold fund.

Silver: They are noting that large speculators were buying silver somewhat at the beginning of December and that it is stuck in a trend channel. Their target upside is in the $20 area and they see support in the $14-15 range. The long-term upside target on silver is an old high of $50.

Copper: Well, Dr. Copper was holding steady as large speculators pretty much left their net long position unchanged. They note that copper has an upside potential to $350 while they are identifying support in two areas: $290 as well as $260.

Platinum: Large speculators mildly increased their bets on this metal in the first week of December. After falling off last year due to weak automotive demand, the metal has bounced back and has support at $1250 and resistance at $1500 according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch's research.

Crude Oil: In this commodity, large speculators held their steady net long positions as of the first week of December, having been selling at the end of November. They note that crude has been trading in a sideways range of around $65-75 since July and a breakout above this area would obviously prove to be bullish. They end their note saying that the "crowded long position remains a contrarian negative." We also recently highlighted a technical analysis video on crude oil that identified a potential pattern in this commodity as well.

Natural Gas: This commodity has been on a deathspiral for some time and it looks set to continue. As of the first week in December, large speculators were holding their deep net short position. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has commented on current action, saying it "appears to be in a broad base-building process."


Fixed Income

Moving lastly to fixed income, we thought it would be prudent to check in on hedge fund positioning as it relates to US Treasuries. As we've detailed on Market Folly before, there have been tons of prominent hedge fund managers involved on the short side of this trade. Many prominent hedge funds and market gurus have previously warned of inflation and have shorted long-term US treasuries. One of the original hedgies Michael Steinhardt himself has called treasuries foolish. Legendary investor and ex-Quantum fund manager Jim Rogers shares this sentiment and dislikes treasuries. Hedge fund legend Julian Robertson is betting on higher interest rates and is doing so via constant maturity swaps (CMS).

There are also managers playing the other side of the trade as bond vigilante Bill Gross of PIMCO is betting on deflation and has been buying treasuries. What's interesting here is that technically, both sides of the trade can win. One side of the trade could profit from short-term ebbs and flows, while the other side of the trade could win out in the long-run. It will arguably take years for the final verdict to play out, but that doesn't mean money can't be made in the mean time.

Here is the latest hedge fund positioning on 30-Year Treasuries, 10-Year Treasuries, as well as 2-Year Treasuries:

(click to enlarge)

That wraps up Bank of America Merrill Lynch's coverage of hedge fund exposure levels as of the first week of December. While it's good to see overall hedge fund exposure levels, those of you wanting more specific positions can head to our post on the top ten stocks owned by hedge funds. It's interesting to see how hedge funds are positioned heading into the close of the year and we're sure they'll be adjusting once the new year starts as well. To see how hedge funds might position themselves for next year, check out ten investment themes for 2010.

Need Help From Readers: Which Hedge Funds To Track First?

Yep, it's hedge fund 13F filing season for the third quarter of 2009. We will have no life for the next week or two, but it's okay because let's face it... we love tracking hedge funds. Earlier this morning, we posted up a list of hedge funds whose portfolios we'll update.

We have two simple questions for you:

1. Which hedge funds do you want us to cover first?

2. Besides the ones already on our list, what other hedge funds do you want us to track?


You are the ones reading, so tell us what you want to see!

Site visitors, please click on the 'comments' button below this post and let your voice be heard.
RSS readers, come to the blog to post up your comment, or email us.
Email newsletter readers: Simply reply to the daily email you receive from us.
Twitter followers: Just '@' reply to us with your picks.

Thanks for your help!

Hedge Fund Activity In Norway: Passport Capital, Landsdowne Partners & QVT Financial

Hedge Fund Activity in Norway

Given that Market Folly covers hedge fund positions in US equities and in UK equities, we're always seeking to expand our hedge fund portfolio tracking coverage. Today we take you to the north European country of Norway. Every time noted hedge fund manager Julian Robertson has spoken in public recently he has sung the praises of Norway. We've covered Julian in-depth on the blog with his recent investment ideas from the Value Investing Congress, as well as his curve cap trade. In his recent FT interview he said that “It’s quite an amazing little country of great companies, great people and the proper type of, I’d say, spending by government.” Robertson pointed out that Norway also benefits from large oil resources and high per capita income.

With Robertson’s positive view on Norway in mind, we thought that it would be interesting to investigate whether hedge funds have significant holdings in companies that trade on Norway's stock market, the Oslo Borse. Large shareholdings of greater than 5 percent in companies registered on the Oslo Borse can be tracked through the Oslo Borse news service which is available in English and is free of charge. Readers that want to do further research on companies registered in Norway will find information on large shareholders can be accessed easily by entering the company name and selecting the “disclosure of large shareholdings” category.

So let’s get down to business and take a look at some of the companies that hedge funds are investing in via Oslo Borse.

Hedge Fund	Company	Ticker	Date	Shares	%
Cheyne Capital	Codfarmers	COD	13/10/2006	858706	5.57
			23/11/2007	n/a	10.58
			15/05/2009	1,540,706	9.97

London based Cheyne Capital Management specialise in convertible bonds, credit and asset-backed securities, equities, and event-driven investing. As well as holding nearly 10 percent of Codfarmers outstanding equity, Cheyne also hold 20,000,000 convertible bonds which convert to an additional 492,610 shares. Taken from Google Finance - Codfarmers ASA is a Norway-based company primarily engaged in the cod farming industry. Its principal activities comprise the production and sale of cod and related byproducts. The Company has licenses for cod farming in different locations in two clusters, the Gildeskal cluster south of Bodo and the Kjerringoy cluster north of Bodo, Norway. The Codfarmers ASA sales and administration departments are located in Oslo. In addition, the Company is engaged in fingerlings production, fish production, packing, and filleting, among others. The Company provides its own marketing with employees in Norway, France and Spain that have direct contact with the customers. The Codfarmers ASA operates through two wholly owned subsidiaries, Cod Juveniles AS, Bodo and Cod Processing AS, Meloy.

Landsdowne Partners Ltd

Cermaq ASA

CEQ

14/03/2008

4,863,000

5.26

London based Landsdowne Partners are primarily focused on UK and European long-short equities, although they have branched out a bit in recent years into global macro and long-only products as well. Taken from Google Finance - Cermaq ASA is a Norway-based company active in the field of aquaculture. It is mainly engaged in the production of feed for and farming of salmon and trout. The Company operates through three business areas: EWOS, comprising the fish feed business; Mainstream, for the fish farming business, and EWOS Innovation, for the research and development (R and D) activities. In addition, Cermaq ASA has a number of investments in non-aquaculture companies, such as Norgrain AS, a trading company that sells raw materials for the Norwegian feed and meal industry and provides logistic services, its subsidiary Denofa AS, delivering soy bean meal, oil and lecithin, Hordafor AS, which processes bi-products from the salmon industry and Uniol AS, responsible for building biodiesel plant in Fredrikstad, Norway. Cermaq ASA is present through its subsidiaries in Norway, Chile, Canada and Scotland.

Passport Management	Seajacks International	SEAJ	20/12/2007	807590	6.16
			13/06/2008	1,614,890	12.32
			22/08/2008	2,425,490	18.5

QVT Financial

Seajacks International

SEAJ

22/08/2009

923,000

7.04

Both John Burbank’s Passport Capital and QVT Financial hold large stakes in Seajacks. We cover Passport in-depth, recently noting their research on agriculture, as well as their curve steepener play. We haven't however covered QVT Financial, a New York-based multi-strategy hedge fund. Launched in 2003, the fund was born from a proprietary trading group at Deutsche Bank. They invest globally across multiple strategies, including various relative value-driven equity strategies. Taken from Google Finance - Seajacks International Ltd (Seajacks) is a Bermuda-registered company engaged, together with its subsidiaries, in the marine services and operations in the offshore oil and gas industry. The Company owns and operates offshore lift-boat vessels in the area of Southern North Sea. It owns two harsh environment installation vessels, Seajacks Kraken and Seajacks Leviathan. The Company operates through five wholly owned subsidiaries: Seajacks UK Limited, a vessel chartering company; Seajacks 1 Ltd and Seajacks 2 Ltd, which are shipbuilding contractors; Seajacks Merman Marine Ltd, a crew recruitment services provider, and Seajacks Crewing Services Limited that provides consultancy services.

QVT Financial	Scandinavian Property Development	SPDE	06/02/2008	8668826	10.83
			15/07/2009	137,776,826	17.66

QVT also have a large stake in Scandinavian Property Development ASA. Taken from Google Finance - SPDE is a Norway-based real estate company that focuses on the investment and development of residential and commercial properties. As of December 31, 2008, its property portfolio was comprised of three principal property projects in Norway and Denmark: Fornebu, Hinna and Odense. Fornebu is an area outside Oslo in Norway with a previous history as an international airport. It consists of residential and commercial properties, such as the Fornebu Senter shopping mall, as well as the K2 and Bilia office buildings. Hinna Park is a property project in the Stavanger region in Norway, including new infrastructure with railway station, Viking Football Stadium, approximately 600 houses and apartments and approximately 25,000 square meters of office buildings, among others. Odense is a part of a transformation in connection to Odense Harbor and Odense city center in Denmark, encompassing a total development potential of approximately 91,225 square meters.

That wraps up our glance at prominent hedge fund portfolio holdings in Norway. We'll continue to scour the globe for notable activity and in the mean time make sure you check out our coverage of hedge fund positions in US equities and in UK equities.