Priceline, Other High Flyers Likely Driving Heebner’s Recent Gains (CGMFX, PCLN, CTRP, LUV, FCX, TCK, BWA, MGA, AZO, F, C, BIDU)

Earlier today, we noted that Ken Heebner, well-known for his once high-flying CGM Focus Fund (CGMFX), has been seeing success in his flagship fund after a long period of struggles. Now investors can see the moves Heebner made during Q3 that helped fuel those gains.

After a wild 2008 that ended on a sour note, Heebner’s 2009 wasn’t much better. His Focus Fund moved up 10% last year, compared to a 26% gain by the S&P 500, a move that followed a gut-wrenching -49% decline in 2008. So far in 2010, the Focus Fund is up about 12%, while the S&P 500 is up about 9%. While it’s too early to know if the fund’s recent run presages a return to the world-beating 80% gains the fund put up in 2007, Heebner has undoubtedly been adept at picking out market trends in the past.

CGM’s top holdings from the start of Q3 across all of its funds are available at tickerspy.com.

During the quarter, Heebner was rotating into some high-profile travel names, opening new positions in Priceline.com (PCLN), Ctrip.com International (CTRP), and Southwest Airlines (LUV). He also turned his attention to the mining sector, where he opened new positions in Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) and Teck Resources (TCK). Auto parts firm BorgWarner (BWA) also popped up in the CGM portfolio during Q3.

Other automotive stocks where Heebner was putting money to work included Magna International (MGA) and AutoZone (AZO). Meanwhile, Ford Motor (F), where Heebner has been a bull for several quarters, was the largest holding in the CGM portfolio.

Elsewhere, Heebner was trimming stakes in widely held names Citigroup (C) and Baidu (BIDU).

Looking at tickerspy.com’s graph charting the performance of CGM’s end-of-Q3 holdings so far this quarter, one can see that the holdings are beating the market. However, Heebner is known for high turnover in his portfolio, so the composition of his positions may have already shifted since the end of September, the date of these holdings. Investors can visit tickerspy.com to see all of CGM’s top holdings and a chart of their combined performance. Members of the site can also track the aggregate performance of CGM’s holdings throughout each market day.

Pro portfolio performance is based on institutions’ top-15 holdings as disclosed in quarter-end filings with the SEC. Pro performance does not take into account additional holdings beyond the top 15 nor does it include positions that are not required to be disclosed by the SEC. As such, Pro portfolio performance should be considered an approximation and not a precise record of how an institution has performed over time.

Tags: AZO, BIDU, BWA, C, CGMFX, CTRP, F, FCX, LUV, MGA, PCLN, TCK