>>> Carl Icahn discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: Increases HT

Carl Icahn discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: Increases HTZ / HLF positions
Highlights from 2016 Q4 filing as compared to 2016 Q3 filing:
  • Increased positions in: HTZ (to ~29.26 mln shares from ~12.94 mln shares), HLF (to ~22.5 mln from ~19.61 mln)
  • Maintained positions in: IEP (~130 mln shares), XRX (~99.03 mln shares), CVI (~71.2 mln shares), AIG (~45.64 mln shares), PYPL (~33.4 mln shares), LNG (~32.68 mln shares),ARII (~11.87 mln shares)
  • Closed positions in: VLTC (from ~4.74 mln shares)
  • Decreased positions in: FCX (to ~91.24 mln shares from ~104 mln shares

>>> US Close Dow +0.45% S&P +0.40% Nasdaq +0.32% Russell +0.31%

Closing Market Summary: Afternoon Optimism Outweighs Morning Caution

Afternoon optimism outweighed morning caution on Tuesday as investors pushed the major averages to fresh record highs. The Dow (+0.5%) led the advance while the S&P 500 (+0.4%) and the the Nasdaq (+0.3%) closed just a tick behind.
Markets were in wait-and-see mode leading up to Fed Chair Yellen's semiannual monetary policy report. Ms. Yellen did not raise any eyebrows in her prepared statement, but she did provide some interesting insight during the Q&A session that followed.
Specifically, Senator Toomey asked Chair Yellen why the Fed didn't really bump up its growth projections at all at the December meeting when many other bodies, like the IMF, have bumped up their 2017 growth prospects based on a belief that the implementation of fiscal stimulus in the U.S. will have a positive effect on growth. Ms. Yellen responded by saying that most of her colleagues refrained from doing so because they wanted greater clarity on the timing, scope, and composition of any fiscal changes before making assumptions about the growth outlook.
That's an important revelation because the Fed, without the benefit of knowing what fiscal changes will look like, still projected three rate hikes in 2017 at the December meeting. That forecast, then, is based on its view of how the economy will evolve without -- at the Fed Chair's admission -- the benefit of any fiscal stimulus.
The fed funds future market still projects the next FOMC rate hike to occur in June with an implied probability of 70.7% (from 65.4% yesterday). The implied probability of a March rate hike has also ticked up following today's monetary policy report, but it remains relatively low at 17.7% (from 13.3% yesterday).
Treasuries retreated following the Fed Chair's testimony, while the stock market waited until after the Q&A session to make its expedition into the green. Financials (+1.2%) led the equity market's advance, profiting from the uptick in interest rates. The benchmark 10-yr yield finished its trading session four basis points higher at 2.47%.
The health care space (+0.7%) also finished Tuesday solidly higher following a couple of broken large-cap mergers. Aetna (AET 125.81, +3.76) and Humana (HUM 205.97, -0.73) announced a mutual agreement to terminate their proposed merger this morning. Then, in the afternoon session, Cigna (CI 146.68, +0.83) confirmed the termination of its agreement and plan of merger with Anthem (ANTM 163.32, -0.20). Additionally, CI announced that it has filed a lawsuit against ANTM.
Consumer discretionary (+0.6%) also outpaced the benchmark index, while technology (+0.3%) underperformed the broader market. The consumer discretionary sector received a nice bump from General Motors (GM 37.24, +1.72) after French automaker Peugeot confirmed that it is currently in talks with GM regarding a potential acquisition of GM's Opel brand. Shares of General Motors jumped 4.8% in the wake of the news.
Lightly-weighted sectors populated the bottom of today's leaderboard with utilities (-0.7%), real estate (-0.5%), and telecom services (-0.1%) all closing Tuesday lower. Rate-sensitive utilities' last place finish was secured by the uptick in interest rates following Fed Chair Yellen's testimony.
Today's economic data was limited to January PPI:
  • January producer prices increased 0.6%, which is above the consensus of 0.3%. The prior month's reading was revised to 0.2% (from 0.3%).
  • Core producer prices increased 0.4% while the consensus expected an increase of 0.2%. The prior month's reading was revised to 0.1% (from 0.2%).
    • The key takeaway from the report is that the headline shock for January has been overshadowed by the more restrained year-over-year readings. On a year-over-year basis, the index for final demand is up 1.6%, unchanged from December. The index for final demand, excluding food and energy prices, is up 1.2% year-over-year versus 1.6% for the 12-months ending in December.
Wednesday will see a slew of economic reports including MBA Mortgage Applications Index at 7:00 ET, January CPI (consensus 0.3%), January Retail Sales (consensus 0.1%), and February Empire Manufacturing (consensus 7.0) at 8:30 ET, January Industrial Production (consensus 0.0%) and Capacity Utilization (consensus 75.5%) at 9:15 ET, December Business Inventories (consensus 0.4%) and February NAHB Housing Market Index (consensus 68) at 10:00 ET, and December Net Long-Term TIC Flows at 16:00 ET.
  • Nasdaq Composite +7.4% YTD
  • S&P 500 +4.4% YTD
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average +3.8% YTD
  • Russell 2000 +2.9% YTD

>>> Soros Fund Management (George Soros) discloses updated portfolio positions i

Soros Fund Management (George Soros) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New INVN IMOS NEWS GDS P positions
Highlights from 2016 Q4 filing as compared to 2016 Q3 filing:
  • New positions in: KEG (~1.85 mln shares), INVN (~1.31 mln), IMOS (~1.28 mln), NEWS (~1.11 mln), GDS (~0.76 mln), P (~0.6 mln), KSS (~0.6 mln), FITB (~0.52 mln), DV(~0.5 mln), MXL (~0.48 mln)
  • Increased positions in: ALLT (to ~3.33 mln shares from ~2.4 mln shares), CRC (to ~2 mln from ~1.24 mln), TMUS (to ~0.69 mln from ~0.21 mln), TSX:EXF (to ~1.31 mln from ~0.87 mln), SIGM (to ~1.57 mln from ~1.18 mln) EXA (to ~1.38 mln from ~1.05 mln), MDLZ (to ~0.46 mln from ~0.31 mln) MMYT (to ~0.68 mln from ~0.53 mln),
  • Maintained positions in: AGRO (~11.92 mln shares), LBRDK(~8.32 mln shares), TIVO (~3.89 mln shares), CHDN (~0.39 mln shares)
  • Closed positions in: ABX (from ~2.85 mln shares), PBR.A(from ~0.99 mln), DXJ (from ~0.8 mln), AMAT (from ~0.71 mln), INTC (from ~0.69 mln), CSAL (from ~0.67 mln), LILAK(from ~0.66 mln), FXI (from ~0.63 mln), PBR (from ~0.58 mln)
  • Decreased positions in: QTM (to ~10.07 mln shares from ~11.93 mln shares), EXAR (to ~0.31 mln from ~1.37 mln),WMB (to ~2.35 mln from ~3.17 mln), CACQ (to ~5.71 mln from ~6.51 mln), ABEO (to ~0.9 mln from ~1.46 mln), VMW(to ~0.05 mln from ~0.48 mln), CZR (to ~2.96 mln from ~3.3 mln)

>>> Devon Energy beats by $0.07, reports revs in-line

Devon Energy beats by $0.07, reports revs in-line
  • Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.25 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.18; revenues fell 2.7% year/year to $2.81 bln vs the $2.8 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
    • The company's significantly improved profitability in the fourth quarter was attributable to higher commodity prices and an improved cost structure.
    • Total companywide production in the fourth quarter reached 537,000 oil-equivalent barrels (Boe) per day, exceeding the midpoint of guidance by 2,000 Boe per day.
  • In 2017, with strong growth expected from EnLink, Devon projects its midstream operating profits will advance to a range of $900 million to $950 million. Based on the midpoint of guidance, this estimate represents approximately a 10 percent increase compared to 2016.
  • In 2017, Devon expects to further accelerate activity in its U.S. resource plays to as many as 20 operated rigs by year end. With this level of planned activity, the company expects to invest between $2.0 billion and $2.3 billion of E&P capital in 2017, with nearly 90 percent of the capital devoted to U.S. resource plays.
    • Devon's upstream capital plans are expected to drive 13 to 17 percent oil production growth in the U.S. during 2017 compared to the fourth quarter of 2016, which marks the low point of Devon's production profile. This resumption of growth in high-margin production will begin in the first quarter of 2017.
    • Excluding EnLink, first quarter capital expenditures are expected to range from $525-$595 million, while full-year capital expenditures are expected to range from $2.285-$2.690 billion
  • The operational momentum created by accelerated drilling activity in the STACK and Delaware Basin in the upcoming year is expected to advance light-oil production in the U.S. by approximately 20 percent in 2018 compared to 2017. This rapid growth in high-margin production, combined with a significantly improved cost structure, positions Devon to deliver peer-leading cash flow expansion at today's market prices.

>>> Appaloosa (David Tepper) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing

Appaloosa (David Tepper) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: new RF JCP TEVA PFE MYL MU SUM positions
Highlights from 2016 Q4 filing as compared to 2016 Q3 filing:
  • New positions in: RF (~7.34 mln shares), JCP (~5.08 mln),TEVA (~5.05 mln), PFE (~4.81 mln), MYL (~3.28 mln), MU(~3.25 mln), SUM (~1.69 mln), AAL (~1.29 mln), CMA (~1.15 mln)
  • Increased positions in: AGN (to ~4.26 mln shares from ~1.22 mln shares), PNC (to ~1.95 mln from ~0.61 mln), FB (to ~2.18 mln from ~1.48 mln), LUV (to ~1.19 mln from ~0.58 mln), QCOM (to ~1.4 mln from ~0.9 mln) KMI (to ~4.06 mln from ~3.65 mln),
  • Maintained positions in: ETP (~11.96 mln shares), WPZ(~9.49 mln shares), OC (~2.72 mln shares), GOOG (~0.48 mln shares)
  • Closed positions in: SYF (from ~4.16 mln shares), BAC(from ~4.14 mln), HDS (from ~2.82 mln), USFD (from ~0.62 mln), VMW (from ~0.38 mln), DVMT (from ~0.33 mln), C(from ~0.1 mln), HAIN (from ~1.02 mln), DAL (from ~0.24 mln)
  • Decreased positions in: GT (to ~0.24 mln shares from ~0.86 mln shares), WHR (to ~0.57 mln from ~1.16 mln), ALL (to ~2.59 mln from ~3.12 mln), YHOO (to ~1.35 mln from ~1.8 mln), AAPL (to ~0.45 mln from ~0.8 mln)

>>> Egerton Capital (John Armitage) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F

Egerton Capital (John Armitage) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing; new positions in BAC, MS, increased position in PX, decreased position in ATVI, closed position in MCO
Highlights from 2016 Q4 filing as compared to 2016 Q3 filing:
  • New positions in: BAC (~20.36 mln shares), MS (~2.23 mln), AAP (~0.43 mln)
  • Increased positions in: PX (to ~2.12 mln shares from ~0.8 mln shares), MA (to ~4.01 mln from ~3.08 mln), SPGI (to ~5.74 mln from ~4.99 mln), MHK (to ~1.39 mln from ~1.12 mln), ALB (to ~1.71 mln from ~1.49 mln)
  • Maintained positions in: CMCSA (~11.46 mln shares), SCHW (~10.01 mln shares), JPM (~4.26 mln shares), CHTR (~4 mln shares), MSFT (~3.61 mln shares), CP (~2.45 mln shares), STZ (~2.25 mln shares), GOOG (~0.73 mln shares)
  • Closed positions in: MCO (from ~1.59 mln shares), HD (from ~1.16 mln), LVNTA (from ~0.92 mln)
  • Decreased positions in: ATVI (to ~3.75 mln shares from ~11.12 mln shares), LUV (to ~6.76 mln from ~12.16 mln), V (to ~1.69 mln from ~4.58 mln), FB (to ~2.98 mln from ~4.49 mln), NVDA (to ~0.81 mln from ~2.09 mln), MLM (to ~0.76 mln from ~1.01 mln)

>>> Sandell Asset discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New BRCD

Sandell Asset discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New BRCD position, closed out SVU / XLRE / KLAC positions
Highlights from 2016 Q4 filing as compared to 2016 Q3 filing:
  • New positions in: BRCD (~1.28 mln shares), NXPI (~0.2 mln), LVLT (~0.18 mln), HAR (~0.1 mln), WCIC (~0.1 mln), LW(~0.09 mln)
  • Increased positions in: BATS (to ~0.68 mln shares from ~0.14 mln shares)
  • Maintained positions in: VIAV (~2.53 mln shares), BOBE (~1.26 mln shares), YHOO (~1.08 mln shares), ALLY (~0.55 mln shares), CIT (~0.34 mln shares), CAG (~0.27 mln shares)
  • Closed positions in: SVU (from ~1.1 mln shares), XLRE (from ~0.03 mln), KLAC (from ~0.01 mln

>>> Eton Park Capital (Eric Mindich) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13

Eton Park Capital (Eric Mindich) discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New positions include NXPI, FITB, CMA, V, CHTR; Closed positions include TWTR, ADBE, MON, GOOG, and AMZN
Highlights from 2016 Q4 filing as compared to 2016 Q3 filing:
  • New positions in: RAI (~3.46 mln shares), NXPI (~3.37 mln), FITB (~2.3 mln), CMA (~2.07 mln), RSPP (~1.67 mln), V (~1.49 mln), CMCS.A (~1.28 mln), CHTR (~0.11 mln), ALR (~0 mln)
  • Increased positions in: WWAV (to ~5.86 mln shares from ~3.34 mln shares), FANG (to ~1.48 mln from ~0.83 mln), PXD (to ~0.43 mln from ~0.05 mln), CIE (to ~1.97 mln from ~1.6 mln), SYT (to ~0.97 mln from ~0.62 mln) IOC (to ~0.48 mln from ~0.27 mln), DVMT (to ~1.65 mln from ~1.45 mln)
  • Maintained positions in: WR (~2.02 mln shares
  • Closed positions in: TWTR (from ~3.38 mln shares), RAD (from ~3.08 mln), ADBE (from ~1.71 mln), AFI (from ~1.54 mln),GXP (from ~1.07 mln), SBAC (from ~0.95 mln), MON (from ~0.28 mln), GOOG (from ~0.08 mln), AMZN (from ~0.06 mln)
  • Decreased positions in: MSFT (to ~3.84 mln shares from ~6.37 mln shares), AWI (to ~2.31 mln from ~3.67 mln), CDK (to ~1.56 mln from ~2.26 mln), MHK (to ~0.42 mln from ~0.88 mln), HYG (to ~0.46 mln from ~0.79 mln), MOMO (to ~1.4 mln from ~1.56 mln), IMPV (to ~0.66 mln from ~0.82 mln)

>>> Tiger Global discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New FCAU S

Tiger Global discloses updated portfolio positions in 13F filing: New FCAU SYMC MSFT EDU TAL ZTO DPZ positions
Highlights from 2016 Q4 filing as compared to 2016 Q3 filing:
  • New positions in: FCAU (~52.7 mln), SYMC (~2.63 mln shares), MSFT (~2.12 mln), EDU (~1.57 mln), TAL (~1.27 mln), ZTO(~0.99 mln), DPZ (~0.61 mln), MELI (~0.55 mln)
  • Increased positions in: JD (to ~45.79 mln shares from ~33.46 mln shares), JMEI (to ~2.48 mln from ~0.53 mln), AWI (to ~1.53 mln from ~0.87 mln), V (to ~1.14 mln from ~0.6 mln), FLT (to ~2.92 mln from ~2.41 mln)
  • Maintained positions in: BABA (~5.28 mln shares), AMZN (~1.38 mln)
  • Closed positions in: AAPL (from ~3.61 mln shares), WUBA (from ~0.2 mln)
  • Decreased positions in: VIPS (to ~5.02 mln shares from ~7.3 mln shares), ETSY (to ~8.74 mln from ~10.32 mln), ONDK (to ~2.46 mln from ~3.83 mln), CHTR (to ~2.33 mln from ~3.32 mln), MA (to ~1.05 mln from ~1.9 mln), GOOG (to ~0.19 mln from ~0.28 mln)