Soros doubles bet against the S&P, goes for gold

[MikeWB]

Billionaire investor George Soros, who made a fortune betting against the British pound in 1992, on Monday disclosed a big bet on gold during the first quarter and doubled the wager against the S&P 500, according to a regulatory filing.

The 85-year-old's fund disclosed a 2.1-million-share "put" option in an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P stock index.

Meanwhile, Soros — who has been warning of a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis, this time with China at the center of the storm — bought a 19-million share stake in Barrick Gold Corp., the world's largest gold producer, along with "call" options in about 1 million shares in a gold-backed ETF set up by the World Gold Council.

Read: Soros Fund reveals stakes in Apple, Fitbit, Yahoo; trims stakes in Google, Facebook

Put options, which bet on a the stock market falling, grant the buyer the right to sell stock at a set price within a specified time. They generally rise in value as the price of underlying stocks fall relative to the strike price.

Call options, which bet the market will rise, grant the buyer the right to buy the stock at a target price within a specified time.

The holdings were disclosed in a 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a quarterly requirement for investors managing more than $100 million. The report indicates the number of shares held and the value of each stake at the end of the quarter.


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/soros-doubles-bet-against-the-sp-goes-for-gold-2016-05-17