With sovereign debt crises in Europe and record deficits in the US, speculation in gold is on the rise. Add to the mix, record low interest rates in the US and speculators are jumping back into gold. Let's look first at the bullish side:

• Billionaire, George Soros, increased his holdings in the SPDR gold trust by 152%.
• Bloomberg analysts predict prices will increase to $1,300 per ounce this year.

Continue reading Soros Sees a Gold Bubble Underway

Soros Sees a Gold Bubble Underway originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to a piece in the Wall Street Journal [a paid publication], a variety of top-flight hedge fund managers have been going aggressively to cash. Some of the names include Paul Tudor Jones, Israel Englander, John Paulson, David Slager and Steven Cohen. In fact, it looks like Cohen is 50% cash and Paulson is about 75% cash.

These actions may reflect some technical factors. After all, hedge funds are likely to receive an avalanche of redemptions. Something else: the recent changes in short-selling rules have made things much more complicated (hey, when might the SEC decide again to ban the practice?)

Yet, these hedge fund managers have stellar long-term track records and have weathered the recent declines fairly well.

Besides, we have seen a recurring theme of a plunge/surge cycle-which is far from normal. If anything, it's a sign of irrationality. And if this is the case, how can you really make solid investment decisions?

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.

Hedge fund titans head for the hills originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 14 Oct 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.