market folly

Bret Barakett's Tremblant Capital Group has filed an amended 13G with the SEC due to their activity on January 28th, 2009. In it, they have disclosed a 5.71% stake in Chipotle (CMG) with 1,052,735 shares, up from their previous 558,000+ shares they showed back in their last 13F filing disclosing their entire portfolio. Chipotle shares have fallen a lot recently, and Tremblant obviously sees opportunity there. Keep in mind that this hedge fund typically doesn't take larger than 5% stakes in companies (which requires a 13G filing), so they definitely like this name, as this is the first major filing from them in quite some time.

If you're unfamiliar with Tremblant, here's what you need to know: This hedge fund is ran by Bret Barakett. If his last name sounds familiar, its because his brother, Timothy Barakett, manages fellow hedge fund Atticus Capital, whom we also track. Taken from their site, Tremblant Capital Group's objective is "to achieve superior risk adjust returns for our investors through our focused and disciplined investment process." Tremblant is a $4.1 billion hedge fund based in New York and is run by Bret Barakett, who is a former portfolio manager at Moore Capital Management (the hedge fund run by the great Louis Bacon, whom we also track). So, as you can see, despite having a great mind of his own, Barakett has worked with some of the best in the macro game. But, as we noted in September, Tremblant has had a rough year. In the past, Tremblant has also disclosed a 5.2% stake in Advanced Medical Optics (EYE) and a stake in PharmaNet (PDGI).

Taken from Google Finance,

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (Chipotle) "operates fast casual, fresh Mexican food restaurants serving burritos, tacos, bowls and salads. As of December 31, 2007, the Company had 704 restaurants in 33 states throughout the United States and in the District of Columbia."