Dollar General

With Paulson's star long gone down, there are few remaining "new generation" hedge fund wunderkinds, especially in a world in which the best performing hedge fund is Federal Reserve Capital LLC - Onshore Fund. One among them is Third Point's Dan Loeb, who continues to be one of the best performing hedge fund managers for the 4th year in a row. He just filed his Q1 13F, amounting to $5.3 billion in disclosed long equity positions, which are summarized below. Of note are the following changes:

• New stakes in Virgin Media ($538MM), Tiffany ($188MM), Anadarko ($105MM), Thermo Fisher ($99MM), Cabot Oil and Gas ($84MM), Hess ($72MM) and others. Some of these overlap with the initiations of David Tepper and David Einhorn especially Hess: did some "idea dinners" take place in Q1 we were not aware of?
• Fully exited stakes in Tesoro, Morgan Stanley, Nexen, Symantec, Herbalife, Illumina, Coke, PVH, Abbott Labs and others.
• Reduced positions in Yahoo, AIG, New Corp, Murphy Oil, Delphi, Lyondell and others
• Added to stakes in International Paper, Abbvie, Dollar General, Constellation, and Ariad

This is what the most brand name US hedge funds bought and sold in the third quarter.

Standing in Legoland in Carlsbad, California in 2011, fulfilling a promise to my then eight-year-old son William, it hit me. I was strolling around a Blackstone-owned property. We'd woken up in a Homewood Suites, owned by Blackstone-backed Hilton. We'd driven to the park in a rental car from Hertz, owned by private-equity firms Carlyle and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. Practically every time I'd opened my wallet that day, it had been to a company owned by private equity. Even on vacation, I couldn't escape. A few months later, I had dinner with Greg Brenneman, who'd held top positions at Continental, Burger King, and Quizno's, all private-equity-owned at the time he was involved. Brenneman is now the chairman of CCMP Capital, whose investments have included 1-800-Flowers.com and Vitamin Shoppe. We talked at length about the ubiquity of PE ownership -- my J. Crew sweater, the Dollar General store in my wife's hometown in the Catskills. I started a running list on my BlackBerry that quickly grew to dozens of examples. Brand names piled up, from Toys "R" Us to Petco. The more I looked, the more I found it.  The numbers are staggering. Private-equity firms globally and collectively had almost $3 trillion in assets at the end of 2011. The companies they own account for about 8 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product by one estimate.

• Canada GDP prints at -0.4% on expectations of 0.0%, first contraction since Q2, 2009
• Italy Living on Borrowed Time (WSJ)
• Choice for EU: Bail Out Greece or Bail Your Banks (WSJ)
• Economy Deeply Divides Fed (Fed Mouthpiece)
• SEC Lawyer Blew Whistle Before (WSJ)
• Noda promises action on surging yen (FT) ... again... always
• White House could unveil mortgage plan next week (Reuters)
• Greek Bailout Talks Face Hurdles (WSJ)
• Panama Canal upgrade sparks US ports battle (FT)
• Japan Finds Radiation Spread Over a Wide Area (WSJ)

• High pressure on Sarkozy-Merkel talks (Reuters)
• Noda to "watch" "one-sided moves" in the USDJPY to parity soon enough - Yen to Reach Record Amid ‘Downfall’ of West, Sakakibara Says (Bloomberg)
• Eurobond Debate Rises in Germany, France (WSJ)
• China official paper calls for widening of yuan trading band (Reuters)
• China Economy Slowing ‘Significantly,’ Conference Board Says (Bloomberg)
• BOE's Miles: No Need for More QE (WSJ)
• Christine Lagarde: Don’t let fiscal brakes stall global recovery (FT)
• Zoellick: Governments should deal with global debt woes (Reuters)
• On Midwest Bus Tour, Obama Jabs at GOP (WSJ)
• U.S. debt still safest place for China reserves: top banker (Reuters)

But things are G-R-E-A-T for the top .1%!

All you need to know by www.thetrader.se

Jim Chanos is short China and solars. I say it's time to short Chanos...

John Maynard Keynes once said of inflation:

"There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose."

• Ireland downgraded to BBB+ by Fitch, outlook stable, market yawns
• Asian stocks, Aussie gain on jobs growth, better-than-forecast Japan GDP.
• Bank of Korea leaves benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.5%.
• EU fines Taiwanese, SKorean LCD panel makers €649M on price fixing charges.
• India's inflation holds above 'tolerance level,' Indian Central Bank Chief says.
• Japan’s Q3 GDP grew at an annualized 4.5% - faster than the 3.9% reported last month.
• Greek loan repayment extension possible in early 2011.
• More than half of Americans want Fed reined In or abolished: Bloomberg survey.

• Asian stocks, oil rise as China output, retail sales expand; Yen declines.
• Banks worldwide face stiffer capital requirements as Basel forges accord.
• British unions warn government that public spending cuts will spark wave of strikes.
• China set Yuan's reference rate at 6.7509 vs USD - lowest level since 1980s.
• China shares, led by tourism, rise amid stronger economic indicators for August.
• China's Industrial production rises 13.9% in August, betters 13.4% growth of July.
• Economy recovering faster than expected across the European Union, but remains fragile.
• Hong Kong housing risks may exceed 1997 on rising rates, HKMA's Chan says.

• Asian stocks rise on China manufacturing, Australia's growth; Yen weakens.
• Australian economic growth accelerates more than estimates; Currency gains.
• China's manufacturing expands at faster pace in Aug - rises to 51.7 from 51.2.
• Currency trading tops $4 trillion a day as dollar's share drops, BIS says.
• FDIC finds more than a tenth of U.S. banks - 829 - at risk.
• Pennsylvania's capital of Harrisburg to skip a $3.29M payment on its debt.
• Treasuries decline as Asian stocks advance, US to announce auction size.
• US consumer confidence rose just 2.5 points in August, to 53.5.

Toronto-based Onex and the CPPIB have not launched a formal bid but have proposed a deal, worth more than $4-billion, for Tomkins PLC. Due diligence on the company is now “at an advanced stage,” Tomkins said in a statement Monday.

• China May retail sales surge 18.7% from year-ago.
• China's consumer inflation breaches 3% level- govt's annual target.
• 'Circuit Breaker' set; rules to ease stock volatility on S&P 500 to begin today.
• ECB plans new loans, raises 2010 f'cast.
• Euro climbs to $1.2103 after ECB expanded efforts to make credit available.
• Geithner says China yuan policy is 'impediment' to global economic growth.
• Loans in Fed Reserve program aimed at easing European crisis fall to $1.24 billion.

• Asian shares were modestly higher with resource stocks leading, but for China.
• Bank of Korea keeps rate at record low 2 percent amid strong recovery.
• Bernanke: US recovery on track despite European crisis, high unemployment.
• Brazil central bank lifts rate to 10.25%, meeting expectations.
• China posted a trade surplus for a second straight month in May on higher export growth.
• Euro climbs to $1.2039 on Bernanke remarks, raising hopes in global economy.
• EU's Internet chief warns states against choosing proprietary software as standards.