"Tracking George Soros’s Portfolio – Q1 2012 Update"
"This article is part of a series that provide an ongoing analysis of the changes made to George Soros’s US stock portfolio on a quarterly basis. Soros Fund Management invests globally and the long positions in the US market reported in the 13F filings represent only ~20% of the overall portfolio. The US investments are diversified with a large number of very small positions and a small number of very large positions. As the small positions (<0.5%) are not an indication of a clear bias, the focus of the article is on the larger US long-portfolio positions.New stakes:CVR Energy Inc (CVI): CVI, a significant 1.5% stake, was purchased this quarter in the $18 to $30 price range. Carl Icahn agreed to buy the company at $30 per share and the majority of the shareholders accepted the deal as of early May. On a related note, investor John Paulson had positive remarks on CVI – he thinks Carl Icahn may be able to resell the company at ~$36 per share.Chevron Corp (CVX): CVS, a ~1.1% stake, was initiated this quarter in the $102 to $111 price-range. CVX currently trades at ~$98. The significant new stake signals a bullish bias.Macys Inc (M): M, a ~0.9% stake, was initiated this quarter in the $32 to $41 price range. M currently trades at around $35. The significant new stake indicates a bullish bias.SPDR Consumer Staples (XLP): XLP, a 0.5% position, was established this quarter when the price-per-share varied between $32 and $34. XLP currently trades at $33.50. The stake is too small to show any clear bias.Suntrust Banks (STI): STI, a 1.1% position, was introduced this quarter when the price-per-share varied between $17.70 and $25. STI currently trades at ~ $21.75. The noteworthy new stake indicates a bullish bias.Tesoro Corp (TSO): TSO, a 0.5% position, was picked up this quarter when the price-per-share varied between $22 and $30. TSO currently trades at the low end of that range. The stake is too slight to show any clear bias.Powershares QQQ Trust (QQQ) & SPDR Healthcare (XLV) PUTS: QQQ Puts, a large 4.3% position, was established this quarter when the price-per-share varied between $55.83 and $68.21. QQQ currently trades at ~$61. XLV Puts, a 1% position, was established this quarter when the price-per-share varied between $34.69 and $37.5. XLV currently trades at ~$36.Stake Disposals:Google Inc (GOOG):  GOOG, a large ~3.5% stake, was eliminated this quarter when the price-per-share varied between $568 and $655. It currently trades at $600. GOOG had figured many times in the portfolio since 2008. The bulk of the most recent stake was established in Q4 2011 when the price-per-share varied between $495 and $646. The stake disposal points to a bearish bias.YPF Sociedad Anonima (YPF):  YPF, 0.65% stake built up during 2011 when the price-per-share varied between $31 and $46.31, plunged sharply following the YPF nationalization announcement by the Argentine government. It currently trades well outside his purchase range at ~$12.50. Soros made his exit when YPF traded between $26 and $41 before the crippling price movement in mid-April following the announcement.Stake Increases:Comverse Technology (CMVT): CMVT, a 1.6% position, was increased by 10% during the quarter when the price-per-share varied between $6.03 and $6.91. It currently trades at around $6.20. The original stake was established in Q4 2011 when the price-per-share varied between $6.34 and $7. Soros is building a strong technology company bias into his portfolio and CMVT is an example of that trend – the small-cap software company ($1.33B market cap) is focused in billing and customer management of wireless, wire line, and cable services. For investors attempting to follow Soros, CMVT is a good option to consider.Express Scripts (ESRX): ESRX, a ~0.75% stake, was increased by around a third during the quarter when the price-per-share varied between $44.67 and $54.95. It was enhanced by a whopping 3.5 times in Q4 2011 when the price-per-share varied between $35.71 and $48.32. Protective puts placed for around 40% of the position as of Q4 2011 has also since been removed. ESRX currently trades at around $50. The significant stake enhancement along with the removal of the puts indicates a clear bullish bias.Dish Network (DISH): DISH, a 1% stake, was roughly doubled this quarter when the price-per-share varied between $27.64 and $33. It started out as a very small position in 2009 and was enhanced significantly to a 1% stake in Q1 2011 when the share-price ranged between $19.66 and $24.40. The stock currently trades at $28.48 which is at the low-end of the price-range Soros could have acquired the stake increase. Soros is definitely very bullish on DISH and for investors attempting to follow Soros DISH is a good stock to consider.Extreme Networks (EXTR): EXTR, a 0.5% stake established between Q2 2009 and Q4 2009 from a very low base when the share price varied between $1.61 and $3, was marginally increased this quarter when the price-per-share varied between $2.91 and $3.96. Currently it trades at $3.43. The minor stake increase does not represent a clear bias as the overall stake is still very small.S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) PUTS: The SPY puts are a huge 7.5% stake that was increased by around 150% this quarter. The original stake was built during Q1 and Q2 2011. It was trimmed down to a ~3% stake as of Q4 2011. The large stake increase indicates that Soros has become bearish on the S&P 500, as that index and overall market rallied ~10%.Stake Decreases:Apple Inc (AAPL):  AAPL, a ~0.4% stake that had been in the portfolio since 2005, was reduced by 58% during the quarter. It was actively traded and in the last two years, the long position has varied between a low of 40K shares this quarter and a high of 305K shares in Q4 2010. The sizeable stake reduction reveals a bearish bias.Medco Health (MHS): MHS, a minute 0.2% stake, was reduced by around two-thirds during the quarter when the price-per-share varied between $55.90 and $67.64. The bulk of the original stake was established in Q4 2011 when the price-per-share varied between $45.64 and $58.11. The stock currently trades at around $70. The stake reduction signifies a mild bearish bias.Mercury Computer (MRCY): MRCY, a ~0.4% stake, was reduced by ~17% this quarter. It was built-up over the last four years and accounted for 0.67% of the US long portfolio in Q4 2011. MRCY traded between $13.29 and $15 during the quarter and is currently trading at around $11.80. The stake reduction shows a mild bearish bias.Wells Fargo (WFC): WFC, a ~0.2% stake, was reduced by over 60% this quarter when the price-per-share varied between $27.56 and $34.57. WFC stake was built to a sizeable ~2.5% of the US long portfolio stake in Q1 2011 when the price-per-share varied between $30.99 and $33.76. Around 80% of that was liquidated in Q2 2011 when the price-per-share varied between $25.36 and $32.40. WFC is currently trading at around $31. The major stake reduction indicates a bearish bias.Westport Innovations (WPRT): WPRT, a 1.8% stake aggressively built from Q2 2010 to Q1 2011 when the share price ranged between $15.15 and $20.25, was reduced by ~10% during the quarter. It currently trades at around $24, well outside the range Soros could have purchased the bulk of the stake at. The minor stake reduction suggests a mild bearish bias.DaVita Inc (DVA): DVA, a petite ~0.2% stake, was reduced by over 40% during the quarter. The bulk of the stake was established in Q1 2011 but was reduced by ~38% in Q4 2011. The significant stake reduction denotes a bearish bias.Interoil Corp (IOC): IOC, a 1.2% stake, was reduced by ~65%. The original stake was built between Q2 2009 and Q4 2010 and was trimmed by ~10% in Q4 2011. IOC traded in the $51.41 to $74.73 price range during the quarter and it currently trades around $55. The major stake reduction definitely points towards a bearish bias.Medicines (MDCO): MDCO, a minute stake established in Q3 2011 when the price-per-share varied between $12.52 and $17, was reduced by 80% during the quarter. During the quarter, the price-per-share varied between $18.29 and $22.28. It currently trades at around $21. The stake disposal implies a bearish bias.Motorola Solutions Inc (MSI): MSI, a 3.3% stake the bulk of which was acquired in Q1 2011 when the price-per-share varied between $37.15 and $44.40, was trimmed by ~25% this quarter when the price-per-share varied between $40.94 and $51.75. MSI currently trades at around $47. The position was trimmed by roughly the same percentage amount last quarter when the price-per-share varied between $40.62 and $47.41. The consistent stake disposal over two quarters indicates a bearish bias.iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) PUTS: This huge ~10% stake purchased in Q2 2011 was enhanced by ~20% in Q3 2011. The position was trimmed down to just ~1% of the US long portfolio in Q4 2011 and further reduced to just 0.5% this quarter. The share price varied between $60.97 and $84.41 during the last two quarters and currently trades at around $74.50. It is clear that Soros has become less bearish on IWM since Q4 2011.Adecoagro (AGRO), a pre-IPO investment was left untouched this quarter after a slight trimming in Q4 2011. It is a fairly large ~4% stake. The current share price is at $8.77 which is well below the IPO price of $11. EXAR Corp (EXAR) is a ~1% position that remained untouched during the quarter. The position was established in 2009 and was doubled in 2010 when the share price ranged in the $5 to $8 range. The stock trades now around $7.90. The rest of the positions are very small and as such does not signify a clear bias. The spreadsheet below shows 31 out of around 200 long positions that have an allocation greater than 0.5% of Soros’s US long portfolio as of Q1 2012:Please visit our  for an idea on how his holdings have progressed over the years and our  highlighting the fund’s moves during Q4 2011.02/19/2012"