bauposts seth klarman found a few buying opportunities among smallcaps during the first quarters volatile market while cutting his stakes in a dozen spacs that have been hit particularly hard amid rising rates the longtime value investor added about 13 million shares of gray television  worth 285 million at the end of march according to a recent 13f filing with the securities and exchange commission the atlanta georgiabased television broadcaster has a market cap of 19 billion and its shares have fallen about 3 this year outperforming the wider market klarman often compared to warren buffett also added small bets on breakfast cereal maker post holdings and its spinoff bellring brands  with his stakes worth 262 million and 111 million respectively at the end of the first quarter according to the filing both companies have a market cap below 5 billion post holdings has rallied nearly 8 this year while the consumer staples select sector spdr fund is little changed bellrings stock has risen about 1 since its march spinoff the hedge fund manager drastically reduced his exposure to risky spacs in the first quarter as the once redhot market took a beating klarman exited a 150 million position in bill ackmans pershing square tontine holdings  and lowered the number of warrants in the spac here are 13 other spac and spac warrants he trimmed in the first quarter advantage solutions altimeter growth corp 2 warrant aurora innovation inc dragoneer growth opportunity corp ii grab holdings joby aviation warrant joby aviation liberty media acq co warrant pershing square tontine holdings warrant redball acq corp svf investment corp warrant svf investment corp warrant vertical aerospace ltd spacs often speculative stocks with no or little earnings have been crushed this year in the face of rising rates as well as elevated market volatility the proprietary cnbc spac post deal index  made up of spacs that have completed their mergers and taken their target companies public has plunged more than 40 year to date as of the end of march half of klarmans top holdings were tech names including intel alphabet  qorvo  fiserv and viasat  notably klarman increased his holding in on alphabet by 7 to a stake worth 678 million at the end of march he also significantly ramped up his position in fiserv the investor also liked dropbox in the first quarter raising his bet by 30 to a stake worth 246 million klarman said in an investor letter earlier this year that surging inflation poses a real danger to the markets and hes hedging against outsized price gains