By Sam Forgione
NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - David Einhorn's hedge fundGreenlight Capital rose 4.3 percent in the third quarter,bringing the fund's net return for the year to 11.8 percent,according to an investor letter released on Tuesday.
The $8-billion hedge fund also said it added to its shortbet against Green Mountain Coffee Roasters GreenMountain shares were down 4.5 percent at $65.82 at the close oftrading Tuesday.
While Greenlight's returns are better than the average hedgefund, which gained about 5.6 percent through September, the fundis trailing the broader S&P 500 stock index, which is upmore than 17.9 percent this year. The S&P rose 4.7 percent inthe third quarter.
"Virtually every long position in our portfolio" wasprofitable in the third quarter, Einhorn said, highlightinggains in the shares of Apple and Vodafone.Greenlight is one of Apple's top shareholders. Apple's sharesrose more than 20 percent over the quarter.
But Einhorn's short bets proved less successful over thequarter.
"Even in conventionally valued stocks where the fundamentalshave largely gone our way, it has been hard to make money onshorts," he said. "In many cases we've lost money."
Einhorn said the fund added a position in Germany's OsramLicht AG during the third quarter, while it exitedsuccessful long positions in Norwegian insurer GjensidigeForsikring and Oaktree Capital Group.
Einhorn, one of the most closely watched hedge fundmanager's in the $2.25 trillion industry, reiterated his opinionthat the Federal Reserve's bond-buying stimulus "is actuallythwarting the recovery."