George Soros

[winston]

by Chinaman » Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:10 pm

Billionaire investor George Soros warned that Europe faces almost inevitable recession next year and years of stagnation as policymakers' response to the euro zone crisis causes a downward spiral.

The euro's lack of a correction mechanism or provision for countries to leave it could be a fatal weakness with the potential to destroy the EU.

European banks had bought large amounts of the sovereign bonds of weaker euro zone countries and now, these banks have a loss on their balance sheets that is not recognised and it reduces their credibility.

Source DBS Vicker

[winston]

Soros says Germany could cause euro collapse

BERLIN (Reuters) - German's budget savings policy risks destroying the European project and a collapse of the euro cannot be ruled out, billionaire investor George Soros said in a newspaper interview released on Wednesday.

"German policy is a danger for Europe, it could destroy the European project," he told German weekly Die Zeit.

Soros, who earned $1 billion in 1992 by betting against the British pound, added that he "could not rule out a collapse of the euro."

"If the Germans don't change their policy, their exit from the currency union would be helpful for the rest of Europe," he said.

Chancellor AngelaMerkel unveiled plans earlier this month for 80 billion euros ($107 billion) in budget cuts over the next four years -- a package she hopes will bring Germany's structural deficit within European Union limits by 2013.

"Right now the Germans are dragging their neighbors into deflation, which threatens a long phase of stagnation. And that leads to nationalism, social unrest and xenophobia. Democracy itself could be at risk," he said.

"Germany is globally isolated ... Why don't they let their salaries rise? That would help other EU states to pick up."

Merkel on Monday defended her budget cut plans after U.S. President Barack Obama preached patience in clamping down on public spending. A German government official said on Tuesday Berlin did not expect to come under pressure at a G20 summit in Toronto this weekend to provide fresh stimulus measures.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6 ... orethebell

[profittaker]

It is a long article, a fantastic one.

George Soros delivered the following speech at Humboldt University in Germany. He discussed the future of the euro and Germany's role.

Soros on future of Euro

http://www.georgesoros.com/interviews-s ... niversity/

[winston]

Soros favoured gold in Q2, cut US equities

Gold now represents the billionaire investor's fund's biggest holding by dollar value and with the sale of so many other holdings, gold ETFs now represent almost 13% of the firms total equities

Author: Aaron Pressman (Reuters)

Opinion: Soros and Paulson are in gold - you should be too!

Soros fund has $663 million in SPDR gold ETF
Soros Fund buys more and more PotashCorp shares

BOSTON (Reuters) -

Billionaire investor George Soros in the second quarter stuck with his big bet on gold but slashed his holdings in dozens of major U.S. companies from Verizon Communications to Pfizer.

Soros also may have sold his entire holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA) (PBR.N).

In a quarterly securities filing on Monday, Soros Fund Management reported owning substantially fewer U.S. listed stocks than three months earlier.

The fund listed $5.1 billion of equities as of June 30, down 42 percent from $8.8 billion at the end of March.

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/min ... &sn=Detail

[millionairemind]

George Soros slashes exposure to US equities
George Soros has slashed the amount of money he is willing to gamble on the fortunes of the US stock market in the second quarter as market volatility increased.

By James Quinn
Published: 7:08PM BST 17 Aug 2010
2 Comments

The legendary investor's Soros Fund Management – which has approximately $25bn (£16bn) under management – reduced its equity investments by 42pc to $5.1bn by the end of June, down from $8.8bn at the end of March.
The asset allocation decisions were made during a period in which the Standard & Poor's 500 index – the broadest US equity index – fell 12pc.

The fact that Mr Soros – best known as the man reputed to have made $1bn by "breaking the Bank of England" during the 1992 fiscal crisis – has decided to make such a concerted shift out of equities will send a clear message to other investors.

Gone are Soros's investments in Petrobras, Brazil's oil giant, with investments in bellwether stocks such as Wal-Mart, JP Morgan Chase and Pfizer drastically reduced, cut by 99pc, 97pc and 95pc respectively.

Of those equities that do remain, the fund's holding in a gold exchange traded fund constitutes his largest investment, some 13pc of the equity portfolio, worth $638m.
Although neither Mr Soros of his fund typically do not explain their quarterly investment decisions, it is likely some of the money has been shifted into government bonds, as well as investing in commodities and other safe havens.

The quarterly report – filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission – details investments only in US-traded shares and related derivatives, and the fund does not have to detail overseas shares or cash or commodities held.

A spokesman for Mr Soros did not comment.

[winston]

Soros blames Germany for Europe "deflation spiral"
By Walter Brandimarte

NEW YORK | Tue Oct 5, 2010 4:43pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor George Soros blamed Germany for leading the implementation of austerity measures that will throw the euro zone into a "deflation spiral."

Additional fiscal stimulus --and not fiscal discipline-- is the way out of the crisis for both Europe and the United States, Soros said in a speech at Columbia University on Tuesday.

"Deficit reduction by a creditor country such as Germany is in direct contradiction of the lessons learnt from the Great Depression of the 1930s. It is liable to push Europe into a period of prolonged stagnation or worse," Soros said.

Germany is unlikely to change its ways, however, because its economy is doing well and because the difficulties of other countries can be blamed on structural rigidities, Soros said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also gained the upper hand in a recent G20 meeting where she joined forces with Canada and newly elected Conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron to put pressure on other countries to adopt austerity measures, Soros noted.

As a result, President Barack Obama yielded to the majority and agreed to cut the U.S. budget deficit by half by 2013.

"This may be the right policy but it comes at the wrong time," Soros said.

Soros doesn't think Obama should extend the tax cuts pushed by his predecessor George W. Bush. Instead, he says, the government should direct the extra money coming from higher taxes into fiscal measures to stimulate investment, not consumption.


http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6 ... Name=usdai

[winston]

"Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux, and money is made by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected."

George Soros

[winston]

Soros: Conditions 'Pretty Perfect' for Gold to Rise

Billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros may be cutting back on his gold bets, but he says the precious metal still has some kick to it, as long as conditions like low interest rates prevail.

"The conditions for (high) gold are pretty perfect," he said during a speech in Toronto Monday evening to accept the Globalist of the Year award from the Canadian International Council.

"The big negative is that too many people know this and a lot of hedge funds are very exposed ... Gold has a tendency to go parabolic," he said, pointing at its tendency to fall as quickly as it rises.

In fact, gold fell for a third successive day on Tuesday to its lowest level in two weeks as a stronger U.S. dollar kept commodities under pressure, but spot gold was still above $1,300 an ounce.

Soros reduced some of his big bets on gold in the third quarter, trimming positions in miners including Barrick Gold Corp., Great Basin Gold and Newmont Mining. He left large positions in NovaGold Resources and Kinross Gold unchanged.

Soros also spoke on the changing geopolitical order, outlining his expectations for a rapid decline of the United States, equaled in speed only by the ascent of China's economy since the global economic crisis erupted.

China, he told his audience — which included Bank of Canada governors past and present and CEOs from banks and corporate giants like Research In Motion — has been unscathed by the crisis and now has a better working economy and a better working government than the United States.

The present world order is on the brink of breaking down, he said.
"There is now a rapid decline of the United States and a rapid rise of China," he said. "It is happening very quickly."

He said that China got to where it is today by looking out for its own interests, but he warned that the Asian powerhouse would have to start considering the needs of others if the new world order is to emerge intact.

"If they persist in their present course, it will lead to conflict," he said, adding that China's neighbors are already getting nervous about its rising global influence.


http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/Sor ... /id/377245

[winston]

Goldminers Dn; Rumor Suggests Soros Gold Selling

[winston]

What do you think Soros is doing ? Creating fear so he can cover his position ? I recall that he was very bearish on CNBC, just before the turnaround ....

"Probably inevitable" a country will exit euro: Soros

VIENNA (Reuters) - Billionaire investor George Soros thinks a country will eventually exit the euro zone and urged policymakers on Sunday to come up with a "plan B" that could rescue the European Union from looming economic collapse.

Soros, famous for making $1 billion by betting against the British pound in 1992, did not name any country he thought might exit the currency, but speculation is mounting about the fate of Greece as its politicians struggle to agree more austerity measures demanded by international lenders as the price for staving off bankruptcy.

Soros reiterated his view in a panel discussion in Vienna that the euro had a basic flaw from the start in that the currency was not backed by political union or a joint treasury.

"The euro had no provision for correction. There was no arrangement for any country leaving the euro, which in the current circumstances is probably inevitable," he said.

While he called survival of the European Union a "vital interest to all," he said the EU needed structural changes to halt a process of disintegration.

"There is no plan B at the moment. That is why the authorities are sticking to the status quo and insisting on preserving the existing arrangements instead of recognizing there are fundamental flaws that need to be corrected."

With a debt crisis in some peripheral members testing the EU's cohesiveness at a time of popular disquiet in wealthier countries over bailouts, he said leaders had to adopt measures now to remedy the situation.

"Let's face it: we are on the verge of an economic collapse which starts, let's say, in Greece but could easily spread. The financial system remains extremely vulnerable...

"We are on the edge of collapse and that is the time to recognize the need for change."

Some steps the EU could adopt included creating a larger central budget; directing some of the income from value-added tax or a levy on financial transactions to Brussels; having a European institution guarantee banks, and tripling the size of its bailout fund by topping it up with tax revenue, he said.

Source: Reuters US Online Report Top News