Business Insider reported Lopez Linette took a picture of David Einhorn and his wife Cheryl Strauss Einhorn at the Ira Sohn Conference.

Meryl Witmer (Eagle Value Partners) recommended Gildan Activewear (GIL) at the Ira Sohn Conference. Gildan Activewear is the second largest position in Witmer’s 13F portfolio. Eagle Value Partners had $10 million invested in the stock. The fund’s largest position is Macquarie Infrastructure (MIC). The fund had $12 million invested in MIC at the end of March.

Meryl Witmer also mentioned that she likes Viacom (VIA). Her fund had $3 million invested in Viacom,  one of her smaller positions.

Ospraie Management’s Dwight Anderson recommended Westlake Chemical Corp (WLK) at the Ira Sohn Conference. Unfortuantely, this recommendation doesn’t pass our smell test. Ospraie Management revealed a $2 million position in Westlake Chemical yesterday in its latest 13F filing. On the other hand, the fund had $118 million invested in Adecoagro (AGRO). Clearly they are more bullish about Adecoagro than Westlake Chemical.

Larry Robbins’ recommended for-profit hospitals at the Ira Sohn Conference because they have low PE multiples and investors stay away from the sector because of the uncertainty. Larry Robbins’ favorite picks are Tenet Healthcare (THC), Health Management Associates (HMA), HCA Holdings (HCA), and LifePoint Hospitals (LPNT).

Glenview Capital had $192 million in HCA, $50 million in LPNT, $76 million in HMA, and $135 million in THC at the end of March.

Last year David Einhorn recommended Microsoft at the Ira Sohn Investment Conference. The stock outperformed the market by 20 percentage points since then. You can read Einhorn’s presentation here. Last year we also published Bill Ackman’s speech. Bill Ackman recommended Family Dollar (FDO) and the stock outperformed the market by around 20 percentage points as well. Below, you can also read Jeff Gundlach’s Ira Sohn speech from last year: (more…)

We finished processing 95% of hedge fund 13F filings. Based on our preliminary analysis Apple is still the most popular stock among hedge funds, followed by Google (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT). The top 10 list is almost identical to our end of 2011 top 10 list (see 10 most popular stocks in 2011 Q4). We will update this list when we are done processing 13F filings. Please note that this ranking is based on the 13F disclosures of nearly 400 equity hedge funds that are tracked by Insider Monkey.

Here are hedge funds’ favorite 10 stocks at the end of March:

1. Apple

2. Google

3. Microsoft

4. Citigroup

5. Bank of America

6. General Motors

7. Wells Fargo

8. JP Morgan

9. Qualcomm

10. Pfizer

Warren Buffett couldn’t hire superstar hedge fund manager David Einhorn but the managers he hired can imitate Einhorn’s long stock picks and generate similar results. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire disclosed a $256 million brand new position in General Motors (GM) during the first quarter. David Einhorn was the most bullish hedge fund manager about GM at the end of the fourth quarter. He still had nearly $400 million invested in the stock at the end of March. Here is what Einhorn said about GM in his investor letter: (more…)

Bruce Berkowitz is truly one of the most unconventional stock pickers in the money management business. He bets billions in stocks that I couldn’t dare to invest a couple thousand dollars. Today Berkowitz filed a 13F with the SEC and disclosed his holding as of March 31st. Here are his top 3 stock picks:

1. American International Group (AIG): $2.82 billion in common stock, $261 million in warrants with an exercise price of $45

2. Sears (SHLD): $1.11 billion in common stock.

3. Bank of America (BAC): $984 million in common stock, $45.5 million in warrants with an exercise price of $13.3

David Einhorn, Greenlight Capital

Last year this time David Einhorn recommended Microsoft (MSFT) at the Ira Sohn Conference (read the details here). The stock returned more than 20% since then and outperformed the market by about 20% as well. However, David Einhorn‘s recent 13F holdings tell us that he now picks Apple (AAPL) over Microsoft (MSFT). David Einhorn had $876 million invested in Apple at the end of March. This is around 10% of Greenlight Capital’s AUM. It is a huge bet. On the other Einhorn’s Microsoft position was trimmed to $242 million.

Billionaire T. Boone Pickens’ favorite energy stock is BP Plc (BP). This is the largest position in Pickens’ 13F portfolio which was disclosed to the SEC this afternoon. We think this is an excellent choice. The stock currently trades at $38 and yields 5%. This is a much better choice than long-term Treasuries.

Boone Pickens also like Encana and National Oilwell Varco. Pickens also disclosed a $11 million position in Chesapeake Energy (CHK).

Paul Singer, Elliott Management

Billionaire fund manager Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corporation revealed its US stock/option positions this afternoon. The total value of its 13F portfolio is just shy of $4.5 billion. Paul Singer’s biggest bet is, by a large margin, Delphi Automotive (DLPH). Elliott Associates had $500 million and Elliott International had $800 million invested in the stock. The total value of the position is $1.3 billion and it is nearly 30% of Elliott Management’s 13F portfolio.