market folly

Lee Cooperman's hedge fund firm Omega Advisors just filed a 13G with the SEC regarding their position in McMoRan Exploration (MMR).  Per the filing, Omega has disclosed a 7.5% ownerships take in MMR with 12,417,655 shares.

This marks an increase of almost 70% in their aggregate amount of shares owned since the end of the third quarter.  The filing was made due to activity on December 6th.

It's also worth pointing out the fine print of Omega's filing: Their 7.5% ownership stake includes their position in McMoRan's 5 3/4% convertible perpetual preferred stock.

Readers will recall that Cooperman pitched McMoRan Exploration at the Great Investors' Best Ideas conference in late October. 

On December 5th, Freeport McMoran (FCX) announced it had agreed to buy McMoRan Exploration for a cash sum of approximately $2.1 billion where MMR's shareholders would also receive 1.15 units of a royalty trust.  The stock traded massively higher up to $15.xx on this news and it appears as though Cooperman added to his position.

Per Google Finance, McMoRan Exploration is "is engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas in the shallow waters (less than 500 feet of water) of the Gulf of Mexico and onshore in the Gulf Coast area of the United States. McMoRan’s oil and gas operations are conducted through McMoRan Oil & Gas LLC (MOXY), its principal operating subsidiary. The Company has acreage positions in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf Coast areas."