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Did Famous Money Managers Miss the Coronavirus Bottom?

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Welcome to Episode #225 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast.

Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life.

This week, Tracey was joined by Zacks Senior Stock Strategist Kevin Cook, who is also the editor of Zacks Healthcare Innovator and TAZR portfolios, to discuss the 13-F filings by the big hedge fund and money managers.

If you recall, the big funds must report their trades to the SEC using the 13-F form within 45 days of the last day of the quarter. This year, that was May 15.

Berkshire Hathaway Didn’t Buy in Q1

We already knew from the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in early May, that Berkshire didn’t buy anything in the first quarter, despite the big market sell-off in March 2020.

It did sell during that time, however, including exiting nearly all of its Goldman Sachs holding and finally selling out of General Motors and Travelers, which were small positions.

Did other managers time it right and buy in Q1 and, if so, what were they diving into?

Hot Stocks Remained Hot

If you’re looking for safety while the global economy is shutting down, you might be like David Tepper, manager of Appaloosa Management, who bought Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) in the first quarter.

He also bought a new position in Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) and a bunch of others. Tepper was definitely adding in the first quarter, but it’s impossible to know if he bought near the bottom in March, or not.

Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn bought a new position in Disney (DIS - Free Report) , among others.

There was 4% in net buying in restaurant chain Chipotle (CMG - Free Report) , as its online orders have soared, and the shares have jumped off the March lows.

And Shopify (SHOP - Free Report) remained popular with investors in Q1 even though it’s now trading at 40x sales.

What else should you know about what the money managers were buying in the first quarter, just as the coronavirus shutdowns began?

Listen to this week’s podcast to find out.

[In full disclosure, Tracey owns shares of MSFT in her personal portfolio.]

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