| David Einhorn (Bloomberg) |
David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital lost 2.6 percent in March. As a result, the New York hedge fund firm is down 1.8 percent for the first quarter.
This was worse than the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, which fell 1.74 percent in March — 1.58 percent if you include dividends — and eked out a slight profit of 0.44 percent for the quarter, or 0.95 percent with dividends.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3 percent for the quarter, while the Nasdaq Composite Index posted a 3.48 percent gain for the three months.
Meanwhile, Einhorn has apparently turned much more cautious.
At the end of March, Greenlight was 104 percent long and 88 percent short, or just 16 percent net long. This compares with a 31 percent net long position the previous month, according to data posted by Greenlight Re, a Cayman Islands reinsurer whose investment account is managed by DME Advisors, which is affiliated with Greenlight Capital.
Greenlight’s March loss nearly offsets the 3.4 percent gain posted in February.
It is not yet known exactly which investments caused Greenlight to lose money last month. However, virtually all of its largest positions as well as several of its newer investments retreated last month.
For example, five of its six largest disclosed longs declined in price in March. They were led by chip maker Micron Technology, which fell 11.5 percent in March alone and more than 22 percent for the quarter, and Consol Energy, a coal and natural gas producer, which fell 10 percent in March and more than 17.5 percent for the three months.
In addition, Resona Holdings, the largest Japanese regional bank and a major holding of Greenlight’s for a year or so, lost 11 percent last month, although just a little more than 2 percent for the quarter.
Apple fell more than 3 percent in March but is still up nearly 13 percent for the year.
The only stock to make money for both the month and quarter was utility SunEdison, up 8.4 percent and 23 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, among Greenlight’s major new positions, regional bank Citizens Financial Group (being spun off by Royal Bank of Scotland) was down 2.9 percent for both the month and the quarter.
Keysight Technologies, a maker of electronic test and measurement equipment, dropped 1 percent last month but is still up 10 percent for the year.
Meanwhile, Greenlight left unchanged its short position in the yen versus the dollar for both periods.
And while shares of its high-profile short of United StatesSteel Corp. were up nearly 2 percent last month, they are still down nearly 9 percent for the quarter.
