"For the period ending March 31, Soros boosted his stakes in Microsoft (MSFT: news, msgs) and fellow software maker Oracle (ORCL: news, msgs); American Online (AOL: news, msgs), the world's biggest Internet-access provider; and personal-computer makers Compaq (CPQ: news, msgs) and Dell (DELL: news, msgs)."
Soros realigns portfolio amid losses
Dumps telecom, communications and bank stocks
cbs.marketwatch.com
By Matt Andrejczak, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 5:43 PM ET May 17, 2000 SEC filings
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Legendary hedge fund investor George Soros, through his Soros Fund Management LLC, has substantially increased his position in blue-chip U.S. computer companies while turning away from well-known telecom providers.
For the period ending March 31, Soros boosted his stakes in Microsoft (MSFT: news, msgs) and fellow software maker Oracle (ORCL: news, msgs); American Online (AOL: news, msgs), the world's biggest Internet-access provider; and personal-computer makers Compaq (CPQ: news, msgs) and Dell (DELL: news, msgs).
The Hungarian-born and New York-based Soros, who is currently building up his cash reserves after suffering steep losses in technology stocks the past several months, decreased his holdings in Nextel Communications (NXTL: news, msgs), Qualcomm (QCOM: news, msgs), Sun Microsystems (SUNW: news, msgs) and DoubleClick (DCLK: news, msgs).
Market toll
The value of Soros' investments during the first quarter shed more than 3 percent to $8.34 million vs. $8.62 billion as of Dec. 31, 1999, according to a 13-F document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week.
Some of Soros' notable buys in the first quarter included 1 million shares of Home Depot (HD: news, msgs); 835,300 shares of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ: news, msgs); and 500,000 shares of Goldman Sachs (GS: news, msgs).
He unloaded all of his shares of Clear Channel Communications (CCU: news, msgs); Echostar Communications (DISH: news, msgs); Reynolds Metals Co. (RLM: news, msgs); and UAL Corp (UAL: news, msgs), the parent of United Airlines. Soros also sold off well-regarded banks Wells Fargo (WFC: news, msgs) and SunTrust Banks (STI: news, msgs).
Charles Gradante, chief investment officer of Hennessee Hedge Fund Advisory Group, a hedge fund tracking firm, said there is nothing unique to Soros' current holdings.
Nothing unique
"It's a typical portfolio ... (there is) nothing in there that other hedge fund managers don't own," Gradante said in an interview with CBS.Marketwatch.com.
"There are no golden nuggets," he added.
Interestingly, it appears that Soros is still in the midst of raising cash because 50, or about 14 percent, of his 365 investments are valued at less than $1 million -- somewhat unusual for an $8 billion fund.
Last month, Soros announced that he was refashioning his flagship Quantum Fund into the Quantum Endowment Fund. It will focus on more-stable positions in the financial markets and reliable streams of income.
Matt Andrejczak is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com.
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