The global credit-strategy fund that returned over a 100 per cent last year, bought four US airline stocks and raised his Citigroup Inc. stake by as much as by 73 percent in the fourth quarter.

David Tepper of Appaloosa Management achieved a stupendous 117.3 percent return for the nine months ended September 30, after faltering in the year before, making it the best-performing hedge fund with over $1 billion in assets. Bottom fishing of banks, virtually destroyed in market rout of early 2009, paid well when the financial industry recovered in second half of 2009.

According to the Form 13F filing with SEC, Tepper's firm - Appaloosa Management LP's holdings in Citigroup rose to 138.1 million common shares at year end from 79.7 million shares at September 30. Appaloosa's hedge funds also bought into four US airline companies for the first time during the quarter, which includes - AMR Corp., Delta Air Lines Inc., UAL Corp. and US Airways Group Inc.

The firm's shares in the airlines had a combined market value of about $133 million at year end.