Billionaire David Tepper’s Long Term Picks Include Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)

Appaloosa slightly increased its holdings of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ:GT) to a total of more than 15 million shares. As with airlines, Goodyear is a fairly high risk/high reward situation: the sell-side predicts enough earnings per share next year to make for a forward P/E of 7, but there are considerable liabilities (including pension liabilities as well as debt) and the stock is highly exposed to the overall economy with a beta of 2.3. SAC Capital Advisors, managed by billionaire Steve Cohen, had 8.6 million shares in its portfolio according to its own 13F (see Cohen’s stock picks).

US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE:LCC) was another of Tepper’s long term picks, with the most recent filing disclosing ownership of close to 11 million shares. US Airways and American do share a number of frequent routes, potentially allowing for the company to gain pricing power there, though there are also integration risks from investing in US Airways as opposed to its peers. As with United Continental, the stock is cheap in terms of forward earnings estimates with a P/E multiple of 6 on that basis. Billionaire George Soros’s Soros Fund Management owned 7.8 million shares of the stock (find Soros’s favorite stocks).

Tepper has also been a long term owner of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Business has been up at Microsoft, with new versions of Windows and Office powering double-digit growth rates compared to a year ago on both top and bottom lines. Of course, this should be only a temporary boost to the company’s financials. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has recently announced a reorganization plan, and it may be worth following how effective this is in reducing costs. Fisher Asset Management reported a position of more than 17 million shares at the end of the first quarter of 2013; that fund is managed by billionaire Ken Fisher.

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.