Having a Bad Year? Check Out Einhorn’s Top 3 Positions

First, let me preface this article with a few facts.

David has had a rich career investing for others. So rich, in fact, he’s a billionaire. Also, he’s probably one of the most down to earth guys you’ll ever talk to, considering his net worth and personal achievements. So I am not posting his losses in order to feel better about myself or point fingers and laugh “look at that guy.” Please. We’ve all been there, myself included. You get in a rut and it just seems like the world is working against you, every step of the way.

According to recent filings, here is Greenlight’s top 3 holdings.

I actually own 2 of those 3 stocks and completely understand why he bought them. He’s a value guy, with a large amount of money to manage, which makes his selection process limited to a small group of stocks. My only question is, how did he permit these stocks to trade down over 50%?

Answer: passive investing.

Passive investing has worked wonders for lots of smart people for a long, long time. One could argue that the law of averages caught up to David and now he is enduring what so many have before him, while he was basking in his green light. As a student of the market, I am much more interested how great investors fall off track. We all know the great success stories and how Warren Buffett became a billionaire from the confines of his tub, while drinking cherried coke. But we don’t really pay attention to the failures, since we’re more interested in mocking them–pretending that it could never happen to us.

His most recent filing declared a position in KORS, another dog, down big for the year. It will be interesting to see if he could dig himself out from the 17% hole he’s in right now.