David Tepper Flies High With Airline Stocks and Hamptons Parties

Summer for the well-heeled means posh, star-studded parties at the Hamptons, many for good causes, and the better the causes, the more high-profile the guests.  When not making successful trades for his hedge fund, head of Appaloosa Management, David Tepper was attending various functions including a Party for Pink, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and a benefit for the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Tepper was seen schmoozing with Richard Perry as Taylor Dayne sang “Prove Your Love, ” before talking about bike trips with Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn and going to Ron Perelman’s estate in East Hampton. The various events featured a dance-off between Chris Christie on John McCain, performances by Sting and Pharell Williams and sightings of Jack Nicholson, Paul McCartney and Robert De Niro.

But back to Appaloosa. Tepper added to his collection of airline holdings with the purchase of American Airlines (AAL), which rose following the news of Tepper’s purchase. He got into the airline sector when it was still beaten down with stakes in U.S. Airways (LCC) and Delta Airlines (DAL) in the first quarter. Forbes called Teppers’ timing “uncanny.” At the beginning of the year, he bought 7, 419, 026 shares of U.S. Airways and 6, 740, 189 shares of Delta. The airline sector was strong, pulled back in the second quarter, and has now taken flight again on declining oil prices.