Stevie Cohen's Hamptons cottage

Hedge Fund genius, Stevie Cohen, bought a tiny cottage in The Hamptons. According to the New York Observer, It's a trifling 10-bedroom, two-acre estate at 96 Further Lane, listed for $19.95 million by Corcoran Group.

Cohen, whose net worth is about $3 billion, has had more good stock bets than bad ones. His investment in AC Moore Arts & Crafts Inc. (NASDAQ: ACMR) has risen 19% to $22.47 a share since I posted about it last September. On the other hand, his bet on Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. (Pink Sheets: BFTH) has not fared as well. I was right last November in calling it a good short -- it would be worth a 272% return if you closed off your $2.53 a share position at today's $0.68.

New York's elite is stunned by the modesty of Cohen's Further Lane real estate score. Although Cohen's new estate is "a schlep" from the water, "his schlepping" will be on a short, private ocean-access pathway. He decided not to buy a grander place because he decided that Further Lane will be his interim summer spot until he finds something a tad more spectacular on the ocean: "He didn't want to rent, and this is what he bought."

Even though he's made some bad bets, Cohen's net worth testifies to his fantastic track record. So what's a little schlep to the water?

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned in this post.