Daily Investment Tips

Soros Fund Management’s 13F filing reveals that the money management firm continues to bet on gold, even while calling the metal “the ultimate bubble” for the past year.

At the end of 2010, the fund held $774 million worth of ETFs that owned gold, about the same as the previous quarter’s gold holdings.

In Q3, the fund reduced its position on some gold mining stocks, but Soros held onto its 12.9 million shares of NovaGold Resources in Q4, the same amount owned at the end of the previous quarter.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: 13f, Bet, Etfs, George Soros, Gold Fund, Gold Holdings, Gold Investment, Gold Investments, Gold Mining Stocks, Gold Stocks, Investment Holdings, Investment Management, Money Management Firm, Novagold Resources, Q3, Soros Fund Management

When Soros said Gold was a bubble, we thought the hedge fund manager was going to start shorting Gold but the money manager seems to have done the opposite. According to Soros Fund Management’s 13F filing for Quarter ending Dec 2010 it reveals that the money management firm continues to bet on gold.

George Soro Top Five Holdings

SPDR Gold Shares – 13% of portfolio

InterOil – 6% of portfolio

Monsanto – 5% of portfolio

Delta Airlines – 4% of Portfolio

Nova Gold Resources – 4% of portfolio

In George Soros complete filing it shows the man holds over 800 stocks. Diversified across technology stocks, financial stocks, ETF stocks, health care stocks, telecommunication stocks, & industrial stocks. See a complete list at Guru Stocks.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: 13f, Amp, Bet, Complete List, Delta Airlines, Financial Stocks, George Soros, Gold Resources, Gold Shares, Guru, Health Care, Hedge Fund Manager, Industrial Stocks, Money Management Firm, Money Manager, Monsanto, Portfolio, Soros Fund Management, Technology Stocks, Telecommunication Stocks

According to the most recent filing of Billionaire hedgde fund manager, John Paulson own investment firm, Paulson & Co. Inc. The following were John Paulson portfolio holding for 2010.

John Paulson Top Five Portfolio holdings

John Paulson Gold Holdings

SPDR Gold Trust

Anglogold Ashanti Ltd.

Mr. Paulson invested heavily in gold on the belief that the dollar would lose value in the coming years. His gold investments are primarily done via a gold exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Shares.

John Paulson Stock Portfolio Holdings

Citigroup

Bank of America

Anadarko Petroleum

That bet on bank stocks was perfectly timed to take advantage of the massive fiscal stimulus.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Anadarko Petroleum, Anglogold Ashanti Ltd, Bank Of America, Bank Stocks, Belief That, Bet, Billionaire, Citigroup, Exchange Traded Fund, Fiscal Stimulus, Gold Exchange Traded Fund, Gold Holdings, Gold Investments, Gold Shares, Gold Stock, Investment Firm, John Paulson, Portfolio Holdings, Spdr, Stock Portfolio

Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson will forever be remembered for $4 billions he made in 2007. When the housing market was burning the money manager was making billions.

The latest news is John Paulson did it again by earning an estimated $5 billion in 2010 thanks mainly to bets the economy would recover. This is better than the $4 billion haul made off the subprime bet.

How John Paulson Makes Money

John Paulson runs his own hedge fund investment firm, Paulson & Co. Inc. (PCI). It is an employee owned hedge fund sponsor, primarily providing services to pooled investment vehicles. He is earns money through commissions on funds under management plus a share of profits.

John Paulson Investing Strategy

The firm manages separate client-focused portfolios, employing merger arbitrage, long/short, and event-driven strategy to make its investments. Paulson & Co. Inc. utilizes fundamental analysis to make its investments, benchmarking the performance of its investments against the S&P 500 Index.

John Paulson Investment Philosophy

In a Wallstreet Journal interview this is how he summarizes his investment philosophy: “The flexibility of having long and short exposure across the capital structure allows us to optimize performance across market cycles. Our goals are capital preservation, above average returns over the long term, and low correlation to the markets.” As the market recovers from its shortfalls of the past years, Paulson is betting on strong economic growth in the recovery: “it is time to be in the stock market,” he says, and that now is not the time “to be under-invested”.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Amp, Bet, Bets, Billionaire, Billions, Capital Preservation, Capital Structure, Commissions, Driven Strategy, Economy, Fund Investment, Fundamental Analysis, Hedge Fund Manager, Housing Market, Investment Firm, Investment Philosophy, Investment Vehicles, Investments, John Paulson, Market Cycles, Merger Arbitrage, Money Manager, Portfolios, Profits, Shortfalls, Stock Market, Wallstreet Journal

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

The Yen has been on the rise and like everyone interested in the world of finance I was curious to know why the Japanese Yen was so strong.

I did Google search on why the Japanese yen was strong and on Google page one was an article from 2007 Japanese Yen The Biggest One-Way Bet of All Time by Jack Crook. Jack Crook is Yen currency expert and writes for a free daily investment newsletter from Martin D. Weiss and Weiss Research analysts

It was the kind of article you read and you ask yourself, Why did I not see this before? The article is spot on predicting the rise of the Yen.

Jack Crook analysis the Japanese Yen.

During the Japanese recession interest rates dropped to zero. Hedge funds and large investors took advantage of zero interest rates by borrowing in Yen and converting the Yen into dollars and Euros. The new money was invested European and US stock exchanges for higher returns.

What is happening now is that those investors are selling their Euro & US investments and buying Yens to repay the debt. This Yen buying has created a demand for Yen that is driving the Yen upwards.

The whole article is a Gem.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Amp, Bet, Currency Prediction, Google, Hedge Funds, Interest Rates, Investment Newsletter, Investments, Investors, Jack Crooks, Japanese Recession, Japanese Yen, Japenese, Martin D Weiss, New Money, Research Analysts, Stock Exchanges, Weiss Research, Yen Currency, Yens, Zero Interest

For investors who had the courage to buy Apple stock back in 1997 when Steve Jobs made a return, they have had a ride of their life. Back in 199os Apple stock was trading in the single digits, there was talk of bankruptcy and Michael Dell famously said he thought the company should just be broken up and the money divided among shareholders, but today Apple stock is in the $250s range.What a ride!

Can Apple stock continue rising? Some investors think Apple stock best days are behind it but some investors believe Apple stock rise is just starting and that Apple will continue blowing past expectations.

Four Reasons Why Apply Stock may continue rising

MSNBC has an interesting article as to why investors should invest in Apple.The factors driving Apple are software, design, ecosystem and underrated market.

Apple will become the most valuable company in the world. Bet on it. In fact, go out and sell all your personal belongings, liquidate your 401(k), and buy Apple stock with every last dollar you own.

OK … on second thought, I wouldn’t advise that — it’s a bit rash. But there are ample reasons to believe that the company’s rise is just starting and that Apple will continue blowing past expectations.

The author of the article shows a scenario forecasting/predicting  how Apple revenues and profits will look like in 2014.

Read the full article at MSNBC

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Apple Software, Apple Stock, Bankruptcy, Bet, Courage, Digits, Ecosystem, Last Dollar, Michael Dell, Msnbc, Personal Belongings, Profits, Rash, Second Thought, Shareholders, Software Design, Steve Jobs, Stock Prediction, Stock Rise, Stock Trading

John Meriwether is a good example of why many investors never learn from their mistakes. Investors delude themselves thinking “This time its different”

John Meriwether was the co-founder of Long Term Capital Management, together with two future Nobel Prize winners, Myron Scholes and Robert C. Merton. With this two brainys on board it seemed this hedge fund was a sure bet.

The fund got off to a flying start, it raised $1.01 billion from high net worth individuals. It delivered annualized returns of over 40% (after fees) in its first years. Nothing could go wrong.

But when the Russian crisis hit in 1998, it lost $4.6 billion in less than four months. With mounting losses and a bailout from the FED the fund was closed in early 2000.

You would have thought John Meriwether had learnt from his mistakes. But immediately after LTCM closed shop Meriwether launched JWM Partners. A fund that would continue many of LTCM’s strategies. He managed to convince investors to invest in him by promising them this time he was going to use less leverage.

Whoever said lightening doesnt strike twice was wrong, just like the Russian Financial crisis of 1998 killed LTCM, the 2007 Credit crisis struck JWM partners. JWM Partners LLC was hit with 44% loss from September 2007 to February 2009 in its one of its fund. As such, JWM Hedge Fund was shut down in July 2009.

Never buy into the idea “This time it is different.”

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Bailout, Bet, Co Founder, Credit Crisis, First Years, Four Months, Hedge Fund, High Net Worth Individuals, Investors, John Meriwether, Jwm Partners Llc, Leverage, Long Term Capital, Long Term Capital Management, Losses, Myron Scholes, Nobel Prize Winners, Robert C Merton, Russian Crisis, Russian Financial Crisis

John Paulson famously made a cool US 3.5 billion in 2007. He was among the few who had seen the housing boom was built on sand and bet against it.

How did he see it.

In a Wall street journal interview, I found this Paulson quote

“Where is the bubble we can short?” He was asking his staff. They found it in housing.

I think that is the one example on how to make money. Find a bubble and short it!

In the same interview Paulson gave a vague assessment of the market

He’s also betting against other parts of the economy, such as credit-card and auto loans. He tells investors “it’s still not too late” to bet on economic troubles.

Not to fast that was way back in January 2008.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Auto Loans, Bet, Credit Card, Economic Troubles, Economy, Housing Boom, How To Make Money, Investors, John Paulson, Market Predictions, Quote, Wall Street, Wall Street Journal