Soros

Bearish Soros Stashes Cash in Gold, Ag, and Energy Names
11/17/09

Hedge fund pioneer and high-profile billionaire George Soros was adding to stocks in a variety of sectors during Q3, including continued accumulation in commodity-oriented stocks. The news comes not long after Soros made bearish comments about global economic prospects.

Last month, according to Bloomberg, Soros said the economic recovery is “liable to run out of steam,” and he is forecasting a “double-dip” led by the United States. As for the stock market, Soros told the Financial Times, “right now we are enjoying the confidence multiplier,” which will disappear when the V-shape recovery investors are hoping for does not come to fruition.

Soros has turned much of the control of Soros Fund Management over to his two sons, Robert and Jonathan. However, the firm’s moves are still closely watched.

With that in mind, investors can take a look at Soros’ top U.S.-listed, equity holdings at the end of Q3 to see where the billionaire has felt comfortable putting his money. During the quarter, Soros opened a new stake in recent IPO, medical-billing company Emdeon (EM).

He was also accumulating shares in agriculture and fertilizer stocks Monsanto (MON) and Potash (POT), oil equipment and services company Wetherford International (WFT), Canadian oil-sands miner Suncor Energy (SU), oil refiner Hess (HES), and telecom giants AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ). Soros ended the quarter with significant exposure to gold via the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD).

Elsewhere, Soros was cutting his stake Brazilian oil giant Petrobras (NYSE: PBR, PBR-A).