Quote from SethArb:
but if they are actively trading in and out of hundreds and thousands of names on a daily basis
I don't think they are actively trading in and out of the names
in the 13F. The holdings are too large and are often consistent
from quarter to quarter. For example they held $79 milllion in
Aetna in the Dec 13F and $83 million in the Mar 13F. These
look like longer term holdings to me.
If you look at their full filing history you see that they also file
13G's when their holdings go above 5%. If they were trading
in and out even on a monthly basis wouldn't they be filing
multiple 13G's over time on the same companies? Full filing
history is here:
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1037389/
Much of what Simons says is misdirection, it's intended to
confuse. I have been watching the Renaissance phenomenon
for years and each Simons interview seems to contradict the
previous one. Every article raises more questions than it
answers. Take this quote from the article:
Quote from Joe Nocera:
He took a drag from a cigarette, the second of three he would smoke in the course of a long interview...
Wait a minute, you can't smoke in offices in New York City!
The fines start at $1000. That's per cigarette! And the fine
doubles at the third cigarette. Plus, if you smoke in an office
you are setting yourself up for a lawsuit for exposing your
employees to second-hand smoke or creating a hostile
work environment. I know if I or my partners tried to smoke
in our office we would be evicted from the building.
I'm not sure that Simons actually smoked during the interview
or if Nocera just made it up. Surely, as a WSJ reporter, Nocera
knew how strict the law is in that regard.
And how about this quote:
Quote from Joe Nocera:
...loafers with no socks...
The article is dated mid-November. It's cold in New York in
November, no one goes without socks. If he wasn't wearing
socks he took them off in the other room before the interview
started -- for effect, maybe to make it look like he was
channeling Victor Neiderhoffer. Simons has a PhD in perception
management, half of what he does he does to throw people
off the scent.
.