eBay, Facebook and General Motors attract hedge fund buyers

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss (Reuters) – Top U.S. hedge fund managers in the fourth quarter focused on the consumer sector, with investment plays ranging from high-end auction house Sotheby's to eBay Inc, the multinational Internet consumer-to-consumer corporation. General Motors also became the flavor of the quarter with many hedge funds as the U.S. government exited its position. The quarterly disclosures of manager stock holdings, in so-called 13F filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, are always intriguing for investors trying to divine a pattern in what savvy traders are selling and buying. As a result, the public filings don't always present a complete picture of a manager's stock holdings.