Smart Money Analysis-Top plays by hedge funds in Q2

(For other stories in this series on hedge fund activity in the second
quarter, click on [ID:nN01502629])

Sept 2 (Reuters) - Many of the biggest hedge funds increased investments in
U.S. financial institutions in the second quarter quarter, betting on a rally
in a sector that had been associated with the biggest risks over the past
year.

The following tables show the biggest purchases and sales by 30 top hedge
funds in the quarter, with percentage changes compared to the first quarter,
according to data compiled by the Thomson Reuters Ownership Content Specialist
Group.
TOP 10 INCREASES IN EXISTING POSITIONS
ISSUER SHARE CHANGE % CHANGE % OF FIRMS

(Million) (Shares) INCREASING
Bank Of America Corp (BAC.N) 283.4 1,215.73 8
E*TRADE Financial Corp (ETFC.O) 105.3 481.21 4
Sun Microsystems (JAVA.O) 81.8 2,245.89 5
Schering-Plough Corp SGP.N 75.1 298.98 8
Regions Fin Corp New (RF.N) 70.8 2,752.75 5
Food Motor Co (F.N) 48.1 876.98 7
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd (ANGJ.J) 39.3 996.54 1
Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB.O) 29.7 295.27 5
Wyeth WYE.N 27.7 41.57 11
JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) 25.8 58.76 10
TOP 10 DECREASES IN EXISTING POSITIONS
ISSUER SHARE CHANGE % CHANGE # OF FIRMS

(Million) (Shares) DECREASING
Citigroup Inc (C.N) 44.8 -55.68 6
Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS.N) 27.4 -54.81 4
SPDR Gold Trust (GLD.P) 26.1 -39.77 8
Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) 20.8 -35.27 5
SLM Corp (SLM.N) 18.3 -65.68 5
Qwest Communications (Q.N) 16.2 -86.39 3
Carnival Corp (CCL.N) 15.9 -77.91 2
RRI Energy Inc (RRI.N) 15.4 -69.44 3
Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) 13.7 -29.69 4
TOP 10 NEW POSITIONS
ISSUER VALUE CHANGE # OF FIRMS

($million) BUYING IN
Johnson Controls Inc (JCI.N) 98.97 2
Solarwinds Inc (SWI.N) 87.24 8
Autoliv Inc (ALV.N) 81.87 3
Li Ning Co Ltd 2331-HK 58.89 1
iShares Inc EWC.N 38.95 3
AboveNet Inc (ABVT.N) 26.78 3
Retail HOLDRS Trust RTH.N 19.56 1
iShares Inc EWM.N 13.35 1
Digitalglobe Inc (DGI.N) 13.11 3
Government Properties (GOV.N) 11.24 2
TOP 10 SELL-OUTS
ISSUER VALUE CHANGE # OF FIRMS

($million) SELLING OUT
Comcast Corp (CCZ.N) 2.4 1
Motors Liquidation Co MTLQQ.O 100.14 6
Ebay Gmarket Co Ltd EBGMY.O 36.82 4
Select Sector SPDR XLI.N 26.39 2
Keycorp New (KEY.N) 25.04 1
SPDR Series Trust XRT.N 16.99 3
Diamonds Trust DIA.N 12.75 1
Infineon Tech IFNNY.O 11.02 5
General Growth Prop GGWPQ.N 10.94 4
Cleco Corp (CNL.N) 10.58 4

For a list of the top 30 hedge funds, go to
here

For a pie chart of the portfolio breakdown by sector, go to
here

For a graph on the change in market value by sector, go to
here
(Reporting by Oswald Blackwood in New York; Editing by Ted Kerr)