Soros Fund Lowers Gold, BofA, JPMorgan Stakes; Adds To Citi, Wells
May 16 2011 - 6:32PM
Dow Jones News
Billionaire investor George Soros's hedge fund sharply lowered
its stake in several gold investments and large commercial banks
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC)
in the first quarter. Soros loaded up on shares of Citigroup Inc.
(C) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC).
Soros decreased his holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), a
gold-backed exchanged-traded fund, by 4.7 million shares to 49,400
shares, valued at $6.9 million at March 31. The fund also cut its
stake in mining company NovaGold Resources Inc. (NG) by 9.4 million
shares. The position was valued at $45.4 million on March 31. Soros
disclosed these position changes in a filing with the Securities
and Exchange Commission late Monday.
Soros, who famously dubbed gold "the ultimate asset bubble," was
one of several big money managers who loaded up on gold, silver and
other precious metals over the past two years amid weakness in the
U.S. dollar. Earlier this month, however, the Wall Street Journal
said Soros and some other leading investment firms sold gold and
other metal stocks.
Soros had bought gold to protect against possible deflation, or
a sustained drop in consumer prices, though the $28 billion fund
now believes there is a reduced chance of such a condition, the
Journal said, citing people close to the matter.
Soros slashed his stakes in financials including Bank of America
and J.P. Morgan. The fund lowered its Bank of America holding by
1.2 million shares and now owns 29,400 shares. Soros sold 378,050
shares of J.P. Morgan, leaving him with 624,600 shares.
In contrast, his firm tripled its stake in Citigroup to 29.4
million shares. Soros' stake in Wells Fargo climbed six-fold to 3.5
million shares.
Many investors that manage more than $100 million are required
to file with the SEC Form 13-Fs disclosing their stock holdings
within 45 days of the end of a given quarter, giving the public its
freshest possible glimpse into the portfolios of well-known money
managers. The first-quarter deadline was Monday.
-By Brett Philbin, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2173;
brett.philbin@dowjones.com
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