ECON Soros Sells Out of J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Citigroup

[SusieSunshine]

For fair use and discussion:

Soros Fund Management LLC sold out of holdings in several banking giants in the first quarter, including J.P. Morgan ChaseJPM -0.37% & Co., Bank of AmericaBAC -0.27% and CitigroupC -0.17%.

The exits come only a quarter after the fund had purchased stakes in J.P. Morgan and Citi. In all, the fund had owned about 2.8 million shares of J.P. Morgan as of Dec. 31 and 2.3 million shares of Citi. Shares of both banks are down more than 7% year to date.

The prominent fund also eliminated its stakes in AlcoaAA +0.98% and J.C. PenneyJCP +16.25% in the period ended March 31, and decreased its stakes in Liberty GlobalLBTYA +0.39%, ZyngaZNGA -0.30%, MicrosoftMSFT +0.58% and General MotorsGM -1.05%. The fund’s move with General Motors follows a hard quarter for the car maker, while the decreased stake in Microsoft comes just two quarters after the fund had increased its stake significantly.

The hedge fund, founded by billionaire investor George Soros, increasingly had lowered its stake in J.C. Penney in recent quarters as the retailer looks to revitalize its sales in a fiercely competitive apparel market.

Also in the quarter, Mr. Soros’s fund slightly increased its stake in HerbalifeHLF +0.39%, leaving it with 4.9 million shares as of March 31, up from 3.2 million a quarter ago.

Mr. Soros’s fund, which disclosed in 2011 it would return cash to outside investors, invests money for Mr. Soros and his family.

Investors who manage more than $100 million are required to disclose most securities holdings within a month and a half of the end of a quarter. The filings give the public a relatively fresh look at the portfolios of well-known investors. The fourth-quarter deadline was Friday.

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/05/15/soros-sells-out-of-j-p-morgan-bank-of-america-citigroup/

 

[LightEcho]

I could be wrong, but when "securities" (I hate that word in this context) are traded in milliseconds, a snapshot quarterly report is near worthless. These stocks could have been bought and sold dozens of times over and knowing what the holdings are afterwards is like playing guess that animal- when ten people are 50 yards away from an animal moving in a dense jungle and they make guesses by sight.

 

[Possible Impact]

I could be wrong, but when "securities" (I hate that word in this context) are traded in milliseconds, a snapshot quarterly report is near worthless. These stocks could have been bought and sold dozens of times over and knowing what the holdings are afterwards is like playing guess that animal- when ten people are 50 yards away from an animal moving in a dense jungle and they make guesses by sight.

This was a political announcement, as well as a "Market shaping" momentum direction pointer. (map for sheep to follow...)

 

[Hacker]

I'm surprised Soros took so long to cash out. We're seeing price deflation in a number of areas (Treasuries, for example) and I expect this deflation will spread - equities, real estate, etc. When this happens, it will drive down the value of these banks' balance sheets, particularly, making their stocks worth less.

I also think there is little stomach among politicians for another bailout of the banks; and thus they will not be "saved" beyond what the Fed will do.

And if you look at the entire picture, the Fed's balance sheet sucks - it's filled with junk securities that they've been purchasing from the banks (junk MBS, etc), which means the Fed is not in a good position to further bailout the banks. In fact, don't be too surprised if people start talking about the Fed's solvency, or lack thereof.

Of course, this is all just my opinion . . .

 

[dogmanan]

Who cares what Soros does I know I don't.

 

[dogmanan]

I'm surprised Soros took so long to cash out. We're seeing price deflation in a number of areas (Treasuries, for example) and I expect this deflation will spread - equities, real estate, etc. When this happens, it will drive down the value of these banks' balance sheets, particularly, making their stocks worth less.

I also think there is little stomach among politicians for another bailout of the banks; and thus they will not be "saved" beyond what the Fed will do.

And if you look at the entire picture, the Fed's balance sheet sucks - it's filled with junk securities that they've been purchasing from the banks (junk MBS, etc), which means the Fed is not in a good position to further bailout the banks. In fact, don't be too surprised if people start talking about the Fed's solvency, or lack thereof.

Of course, this is all just my opinion . . .

And a dam good opnion if I say so myself.

 

[Hacker]

This was a political announcement, as well as a "Market shaping" momentum direction pointer. (map for sheep to follow...)

I soooo agree with you on this.

 

[dstraito]

he either wants people to know this or he knows of a major impact to banks and probably has shorts on all of them

 

[Hacker]

he either wants people to know this or he knows of a major impact to banks and probably has shorts on all of them

I'm guessing that JPM has to go out every night and raise capital for the next days' business, ala Bear Stearns, etc. This will make it more difficult for JPM to do this . . .

 

[Flippper]

I know a wealthy someone who got information about a month ago, on a Saturday, and couldn't wait to contact his broker on Monday to 'rearrange' their financial holdings. I suspect they withdrew most of their investments in favor of metals and tangibles, I didn't ask, they didn't volunteer, but they were hot to trot and get things done.