Amazon's annual filing reveals it loaded up on private company stock while scaling back acquisitions last year — a change that may help as regulators crack down on the tech giant (AMZN)

· Amazon spent roughly $2.2 billion in cash on minority investments last year, nearly quadrupling from the year-ago period, according to company filings.
· It now owns a record $2.6 billion worth of private company stock, an over six-fold increase from the previous year, filings show.
· Meanwhile, Amazon cut back on...