Commodities & Metals
Is George Soros Betting on Gold or Gold Bugs?
Published:
Last Updated:
Billionaire investor George Soros reported Monday that his investment company, Soros Fund Management, has taken large positions in gold stocks. This is even as other big-time investors, including John Paulson who cashed in big on the last bull market in gold, sold some of their stake in the yellow metal. Someone’s going to be right and someone else is not.
The return to gold was accompanied by a return to gold mining. Soros bought 1.05 million shares of the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSEMKT: GLD) and 19.42 million shares of Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX). These were valued at for $123.5 million for the ETF and $263.7 million for Barrick. It is unknown what he paid for these during the first quarter.
So, is Soros betting on gold or gold bugs? He once called gold the “ultimate bubble,” and gold bugs have been selling a story for a long time now about gold’s safe haven status when equity markets are weak and volatile. Gold, they say, offers a better chance at profit than many other investments in times like this. And with negative interest rates affecting some 20% of global markets, the argument for investing in gold gains added force.
Combined with his gold buying, Soros also reported put options on 2.1 million shares of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: SPY). That move is worth $431.3 million and more than offsets the other side of his bets on gold.
24/7 Wall St.Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Editors' Picks
