Steve Tananbaum Discusses Economy, Gives Vote Of Confidence To Traditional Media

One of the many sectors caught up in that selloff was the traditional media sector, which Tananbaum threw his support behind, saying that at today’s prices the sector still offers strong value.

“Look at the media sector, it sold off. ESPN had some disappointing growth, and the whole sector basically sold off, and to us, we look at the trends and some of the secular changes and we don’t feel the selloff is justified and see some great opportunities. So broadly speaking, whether it’s a Time Warner, or even something like Tribune’s stock. […] We think it (Tribune) is a great value today relative to what it was a month or six weeks ago,” Tananbaum said.

Tribune Media Co (NYSE:TRCO) ranked as Goldentree’s seventh-most valuable long position as of June 30, with the firm holding a little over 510,000 shares worth over $27.24 million. Tananbaum was even more heavily invested in FairPoint Communications Inc (NASDAQ:FRP), a provider of cable television services, in addition to numerous other communications services such as broadband internet, telephone, and business communication services. Goldentree had the greatest equity exposure to the stock of any fund in our database at a little over 10%, holding over 2.50 million shares valued at $45.59 million as of June 30. The stock ranked as the firm’s second-most valuable long position.

American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACAS) and Ally Financial Inc (NYSE:ALLY) were the top and third-ranked equity investments of the firm respectively. While hedge funds were collectively selling out of Ally Financial during the first quarter, Tananbaum bolstered his position by 130%. Ally Financial gained nearly 7% in the second quarter before being hit by the market selloff in the third quarter and giving back those gains. Tananbaum did sell off 17% of his position during the second quarter on its strength, leaving with him just under 2.03 million shares at the end of it. In his top pick, Tananbaum held 4.10 million shares of American Capital worth $55.49 million, after having increased the position by 55% during the second quarter.

Disclosure: None