BUZZ-View from the buyside: Jupiter's Clunie shorting consumer staples stocks

** Jupiter's James Clunie sees some of the best current short opportunities in consumer staples names, with valuations becoming stretched

** Manager of the £259 mln Jupiter Absolute Return fund says there are a number of overpriced stocks in the sector

** Lack of yield available in bond markets, as well as volatility among cyclical equities, has made staples stocks a popular holding among investors

** Clunie's current short positions include Diageo (LSE: DGE.L - news) , Portugese food retailer Jeronimo Martins (Other OTC: JRONY - news) and Polish FMCG co Eurocash (LSE: 0LTM.L - news)

** All three stocks above their long-term P/E averages, with Jeronimo and Eurocash pushing 10-year highs. Chart: http://reut.rs/1px84Jp

** Shorting all three stocks a relatively contrarian bet: just 0.5 pct of Diageo shares out on loan, according to Markit (NasdaqGS: MRKT - news) , among the lowest on FTSE 100

** Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) out in Eurocash and Jeronimo 1.8 pct and 1 pct respectively

** Clunie sees contrarian long opportunities in oil and resources sector: has bought into Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO.L - news) , South32 (Berlin: 32Z.BE - news) and Statoil (LSE: 0M2Z.L - news)

** Fund currently has 67 long positions and 114 shorts, according to its latest fact sheet

(RM (LSE: RM.L - news) : alasdair.pal.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)