Daily Investment Tips

George Soros is retiring from hedge funding business. The billionaire hedge fund manager is returning money to outside investors in his $25.5 billion firm, ending a career as hedge-fund manager that spanned more than four decades.

Soros, will hand back the money, less than $1 billion, by the end of the year. His firm will focus on managing assets solely for Soros and his family, according to a letter to investors.

George Soros Reason for Retiring

George Soros’s sons said they took the decision because new financial regulations would have made it necessary for the firm to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission by March 2012 if it continued to manage money for outsiders.

George Soros legacy

Soro’s will forever be remembered a speculator, who in 1992 made $1 billion betting that the Bank of England would be forced to devalue the pound.

In the last 30 years, he’s given away more than $8 billion to promote democracy, foster free speech, improve education and fight poverty around the world.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: 1 Billion, Assets, Bank Of England, Billionaire, Education, Fight Poverty, Free Speech, George Soros, Hedge Fund Manager, Investors, Legacy, Money, More Than Four Decades, Outsiders, Poverty Around The World, Reason, Retirement, Securities And Exchange, Securities And Exchange Commission, Speculator

On July 1, 2011, Zynga, the creators of Facebook games farmville, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $1 billion that will value the company at$20 billion.

As part of the IPO filing, Zynga provided financial data that shows why they think gaming company is is worth $20 billion. Whether you agree with the data is another matter, buying into an IPO is more of a gamble than a calculated move!

Abridged Zynga Financial Statement

• 232 million active monthly users
• In 2010 it posted a net income of $90.6 million
• In 2010 it posted revenue of $597 million

Another notable item on the prospectus was, “We rely on a small percentage of our players for nearly all of our revenue.”

Zynga Revenues 2011 projections

According to various online estimates Zynga revenues 2011 could double to $ 942 millions.  Just shy of $1billion mark.

For an infographic of Zynga financials visit, the atlantic.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: 1 Billion, 6 Million, Creators, Estimates, Financial Statement, Games, Gaming Company, Infographic, Ipo Filing, July 1, Net Income, Prospectus, Securities And Exchange, Securities And Exchange Commission

First, it was Groupon IPO and now Livingsocial says, Me too! LivingSocial, the biggest competitor to Groupon in the social-coupon space, has picked three banks to lead its forthcoming IPO.

According to CNBC business, the company is aiming to raise around $1 billion in the IPO, valuing the company at about $10 billion to $15 billion.

Livingsocial IPO date.

Having picked its underwriters, Livingsocial is likely to file for an I.P.O. in the coming weeks. Livingsocial IPO date and IPO price will be known after the company files for the IPO with SEC.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: 1 Billion, Banks, Cnbc, Cnbc Business, Competitor, Forthcoming Ipo, Ipo Price, Lead, Nbsp, Sec, Underwriters

Renren, the Chinese Facebook,  made a big start on it’s IPO debut. Renren IPO price was $15, the shares rose near 40% on the first day to settle at $19.

Despite critics arguing the company was overvalued, investors seemed to be very thirsty for new tech stocks. Renren, China’s answer to Facebook, raised $743m.

Renren valuation was 67X revenue, versus 25X revenue for Facebook’s private markets valuation.

Investors seems to have thrown caution to the wind. Currently ‘Chinese Facebook’ Renren has about 5 million users a month and the company continues to make a loss. The only way to justify this IPO is to say investors are betting on the company’s potential to rope 1 billion Chinese.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: 1 Billion, 5 Million, Bonanza, Caution To The Wind, China, Debut, Facebook, Investors, Ipo Price, Private Markets, Rope 1, Tech Stocks

An interesting list for 2011 is the ranking of top ten hedge funds manager. It is a list of largest generator of profits for investors among hedge funds. The ranking calculates how much profits a hedge fund manager has generated since he opened for business.

This is the list of top ten hedge fund managers as December 2010.

1. George Soros – $35.2 billion

2. John Paulson – $32.2 billion

3. Ray Dalio’s of Bridgewater Pure Alpha -$22 billion

4. Seth Klarman of Baupost Group’s – $15.6 billion

5. David Tepper of Appaloosa – $14.5 billion

6. Bruce Kovner’s of Caxton – $13.1 billion.

7. Moore Capital Management Partners – $13 billion

8. Brevan Howard Fund – $12.5 billion

9. Farallon Capital – $12.2 billion.

10. Ed Lampert’s ESL Partners – $12 billion

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: 1 Billion, Appaloosa, Baupost Group, Bridgewater, Bruce Kovner, Capital Management Partners, Caxton, David Tepper, Ed Lampert, Esl, George Soros, Hedge Fund Manager, Hedge Fund Managers, Hedge Funds, Investors, John Paulson, Moore Capital Management, Profits, Ray Dalio, Seth Klarman

In January 2011 Groupon raised near $1 Billion from investors. In the same month dealbooks NYtimes reported Groupon was discussing with bankers about a possible IPO.

Groupon IPO Date.

The New York times reported Groupon may go public as early as this spring. (end of 2011). Making the young internet company one of the Tech IPOs of 2011.

Groupon IPO Price

The article further claim, bankers value the three-year-old online coupon distribution site at  $15 billion. This figure is no too ambitious if you keep in mind Groupon, was profitable after just eight months of operations.

The major risk about Groupon is that many people believe their business model of making money can easily be copied. Group is minimising this by going for scale, it has bought copy cats all around the world.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: 1 Billion, Business Model, Copy Cats, Coupon Distribution, Eight Months, Internet Company, Investor, Investors, Ipo Price, Ipos, Making Money, New York Times, Nytimes, Risk

Back in 1992 George Soros’ bet against the British pound.

George Soros bet (correctly) that the Bank of England would not support the pound participation in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) indefinitely by jacking up interest rates in an economy already in recession. Soros made $1 billion overnight when the Bank of England let the British currency devalue.

For indepth research on the events that led to pound devaluation and how Soros’ and other investor took advantage, read the following article, George Soros’the man who broke the bank of england

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: 1 Billion, Bank Of England, Bet, British Currency, British Pound, Devaluation, Economy, European Exchange, Exchange Rate Mechanism, George Soros, Interest Rates, Investor, Participation, Recession

George Soros is known as “the Man Who Broke the Bank of England” after he made a reported $1 billion during the 1992 UK currency crisis. He bet against the British pound and won big.

I came across a quote by George Soros, that seems to give an easy answer as to how the famous speculator makes money in a turbulent world.

The financial markets generally are unpredictable. So that one has to have different scenarios… The idea that you can actually predict what’s going to happen contradicts my way of looking at the market.

George Soros

It is clear what George Soros does, He evaluates multiple scenarios and takes position in each scenario. As the market unfolds he lets profits run on the correct scenario and cuts losses on wrong scenarios. At a single time he might be long on a position but still take a short position on the same.

To play this scenario game you need to use risk management tools such as options, futures and short sales.  For this kind of trading to be successful an investor needs to have sufficient capital to buy those tools.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: 1 Billion, Bank Of England, British Pound, Currency Crisis, Economic Predictions, Financial Markets, George Soros, Investor, Losses, Money, Options Futures, Profits, Quote, Risk Management Tools, Scenario Game, Scenarios, Short Position, Speculator, Turbulent World, Uk Currency

Another word for financial crisis is making money. Because during financial crisis clever investors roam like vultures looking for opportunity to make money.

History of Making Money In a Financial Crisis

Back in the early 1990? George Soros pounced on British financial crisis, shorting the British pound and walking away with a cool US$ 1 Billion in the process. In the late 90′s he rode the Asian crisis all the way to the bank. The then malaysian Prime Minister referred Soros as “A Criminal”

When the US housing market crashed back in 2007 many sub prime moergage borrowers were crying but one hedge fund manager was having a laugh. John Paulson a hedge fund manager in New York had bet against the sub prime market and made billions.

The two above investors made money by shorting the market. Talk to your financial advisor and see how you to can profit from fianancial crisis.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: 1 Billion, Asian Crisis, Billions, Borrowers, British Pound, Financial Advisor, Financial Crisis, George Soros, Having A Laugh, Hedge Fund Manager, Investors, Making Money, Malaysian Prime Minister, Money Back, Money History, Opportunity, Pounced, Shorting The Market, Sub Prime Market, Us Housing Market