"Tracking George Soros’s Portfolio – Q3 2014 Update"
"Soros' 13F portfolio increased ~1% from $13.27B to $13.40B this quarter. The number of positions decreased from 363 to 266.The huge SPY PUTS stake was reduced by ~25% this quarter to a still very large ~13% of the 13F portfolio.Alibaba and Yahoo stakes were added this quarter. YPF SA is still the largest individual stock position at 3.68%.This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to George Soros’s US stock portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on George Soros’s regulatory  filed on 11/14/2014. Please visit our  for an idea on how his holdings have progressed over the years and our  highlighting the fund’s moves during Q2 2014.Soros Fund Management invests globally and the long positions in the US market reported in the 13F filings represent only ~25% of the overall portfolio. The 13F portfolio increased ~1% this quarter from $13.27B to $13.40B. The number of positions saw a ~27% drop from 363 to 266. Very small stock positions and large debt holdings together account for over 32% of the 13F holdings. The US long investments are diversified with a large number of very small equity positions, a small number of large equity positions, and a few large debt holdings. As the small positions (<0.5%) do not indicate a clear bias, the focus of this article is on the larger positions.Consistent with Soros’s active trading style, among his larger positions, just seven remained untouched during the quarter. The top-three individual stock positions are YPF SA, Alibaba Group, and Teva Pharmaceutical.To learn about his distinct trading style and philosophy, check out his “” and other works.New stakes:Alibaba Group (BABA): BABA is a large 2.92% of the US long portfolio position established this quarter at prices between $87 and $94. The stock currently trades well outside that range at $111. It is Soros’ second-largest individual stock position after YPF SA.Yahoo Inc. (YHOO): YHOO is a medium-sized 1.54% of the US long portfolio stake established this quarter at prices between $33 and $43. The stock currently trades well above that range at $51.75.Powershares QQQ (QQQ) Puts & Exxon Mobil (XOM) Puts: These two short positions are very small at 0.59% and 0.66% of the 13F portfolio respectively. QQQ shares traded in the $94 to $100 range during the quarter and it currently sells for $104. XOM shares traded between $94 and $105 and it currently sells for $94.87.Stake Disposals:Halliburton Co. (HAL): HAL was a 1.21% of the US long portfolio position established in Q3 2013 at prices between $41.50 and $50.50. In Q1 2014, the position was reduced by 14% at prices between $48 and $60 and last quarter saw a further 37% stake reduction at prices between $57.36 and $70.37. This quarter, the remaining position was sold at prices between $63.66 and $74.02. The stock currently trades at $48.54. Soros expertly traded the trend before moving on.Select Section SPDR Energy (XLE) Puts: The XLE Puts stake was first established in Q4 2013 (large 3.38% position) but was reduced to an insignificantly small 0.24% position in Q1 2014. Last quarter, the position was built back up to 2.04% of the portfolio. The zigzag trading pattern continued this quarter as the entire stake was eliminated. The activity indicates a shift away from the short-side but it is partially offset by the XOM Puts position established this quarter.Stake Increases:American Airlines (AAL): AAL was a small 0.82% position last quarter. It was built-up to a 1.83% of the 13F portfolio stake this quarter at prices between $35 and $44. The original minutely small position was increased by over 150% last quarter as well at prices between $33.37 and $44.55. The stock currently trades just outside those ranges at $45.05.Dow Chemical (DOW): DOW was a very small 0.32% position last quarter. This quarter, the position was increased by just over 150% to a 1.14% stake at prices between $51 and $54.80. The stock currently trades at $52.07.Note: Dan Loeb established a huge ~14% of his equity-long-portfolio activist stake in Dow Chemical in Q4 2013 at around the mid-40s price-range.iShares MSCI Emerging ETF (EEM) Puts: EEM Puts  at 6.98% of the portfolio is the second-largest 13F position after SPY Puts. The vast majority of the stake was purchased this quarter when the share price traded between $41.56 and $45.85. The ETF currently trades at $41.22. The activity indicates a clear bearish bias toward emerging market equities.EQT Corporation (EQT): The original position in EQT was established in Q2 2012 at prices between $44 and $54.07. It was roughly doubled in Q4 2012 at prices between $56 and $63. In Q1 2013, the stake was again increased by 50% at prices between $57 and $69. By Q3 2013, the position was reduced by over one-third at prices between $65 and $93. Q4 2013 saw an about-turn as the position was increased by ~34% at prices between $81 and $91. The pattern reversed again last quarter - one-third reduction at prices between $97 and $110. This quarter, the zigzag trading pattern continued with a ~19% increase at prices between $91 and $107. The stock currently trades at $93.58.General Motors (GM) & Calls: GM & Calls were a minutely small position in Q3 2013. It was increased to a fairly significant 2.19% position in Q4 2013 at prices between $34 and $42. In Q1 2014, the position was reduced by around 46% at prices between $34 and $41. Last quarter, the stake was increased by ~15% at prices between $31.93 and $37.09 and this quarter saw another ~8% increase at prices between $31.94 and $38. The stock currently trades at $32.27.iShare Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) PUTS: The 0.63% of the US long portfolio nominal short position was established in Q1 2014 when IWM shares traded between $109 and $120. It was reduced by 26% last quarter and increased by 54% this quarter. The ETF currently trades at $116.The last time Soros had a significantly large short position in IWM through put options was in 2011 - the nominal size of that position peaked at almost 30% of the entire portfolio in Q3 2011 - most of that was liquidated in Q1 2012.Level 3 Communications (LVLT), Phillips 66 (PSX), & Tibco Software (TIBX): These positions were built up to over 1% of the portfolio each over the last two quarters. Most of the 1.85% LVLT stake was purchased at prices between $36.37 and $47.50 and the stock currently trades outside that range at $49.46. The majority of the 1.44% PSX position was established at prices between $76.75 and $87.51 and the stock currently trades below that range at $73.96. The 1.20% TIBX stake was purchased at prices between $18.84 and $23.65 and the stock currently trades just outside that range at $23.68.Abbvie Inc. (ABBV), Allegion PLC (ALLE), Baidu Inc. (BIDU), Centerpoint Energy (CNP), Delta Airlines (DAL), Hubbell Inc. (HUB.B), Monsanto (MON), Motorola Solutions Inc. (MSI), Nice Systems (NICE), Polycom Inc. (PLCM), Valeant Pharma. (VRX), Walgreen Company (WAG), & Western Refining (WNR): These are very small (less than ~1% of the US long portfolio) positions that were increased this quarter. The position sizes are still too small to have much of a portfolio impact.Stake Decreases:Apple Inc. (AAPL): AAPL position was reduced from 1.38% to 0.47% of the US long portfolio in Q1 2014. It was built back up to 1.28% of the portfolio last quarter at prices between $74 and $94. This quarter saw a 38% reduction at prices between $92.93 and $103. The stock currently trades at around $115.Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR): The bulk of the CHTR stake was purchased in Q1 2012 and Q2 2012 at prices between $56.15 and $70.78. In Q1 2013, the position was increased by around 16% and the following quarter the stance reversed as the stake was reduced by ~20%. Q3 2013 saw further selling: ~14% stake reduction at prices between $120 and $136. Q1 2014 saw a ~10% increase at prices between $121 and $139. The pattern reversed again last quarter: ~19% reduction at prices between $118 and $158. This quarter, the remaining 1.54% position was almost eliminated at prices between $151 and $164. The stock currently trades at around $155. Soros successfully navigated the trends.DISH Network (DISH) & Calls: DISH was a minute 0.20% of the US long portfolio position as of Q1 2013. In Q2 2013, the stake was increased substantially to a 1.83% position at prices between $36 and $42.50. In Q4 2013, there was an additional ~45% stake increase at prices between $45 and $58. Q1 2014 saw an about turn as ~26% of the position was sold at prices between $54 and $62 and last quarter saw an additional ~32% reduction at prices between $56 and $66. There was only marginal selling this quarter. The stock currently trades at $67.85. It now accounts for 0.77% of the US long portfolio. Soros is starting to move on after having played the uptrend successfully.Energen Corporation (EGN): EGN has been in the portfolio since Q1 2013. In Q3 2013, the position was increased by just over 15% at prices between $52 and $77.50. Q4 2013 saw another 50% stake increase at prices between $66 and $85. Last three quarters saw relatively minor activity and the stake is currently at 1.06%. The stock currently trades at $66.56. It returned ~55% in 2013 but is down around 6% YTD.Google Inc. (GOOG) (GOOGL): GOOG is a good trading stock for Soros and he has previously done several roundtrips on it. The position was first purchased in Q3 2012 at prices between $285 and $378 (split-adjusted) and was increased by close to 80% in Q1 2013 at prices between $350 and $420. Q2 2013 saw a 17.5% stake increase at prices between $382 and $458. Q3 2013 saw a turnaround, as ~60% of the position was eliminated at prices between $423 and $463. Q1 2014 saw another ~25% stake-cut at prices between $550 and $610. This quarter, the position was reduced again by ~56% at prices between $563 and $596. The stock currently trades at around $535 and the remaining position is very small at 0.37% of the portfolio. Soros harvested gains and is moving on.Herbalife (HLF): HLF was a 2.30% of the US long portfolio position as of last quarter. It was first purchased in Q2 2013 at prices between $35 and $50. The stake was reduced by 36% in Q4 2013 at prices between $61 and $81. Q1 2014 saw a 53% increase at prices between $50 and $82. This quarter the pattern reversed as the position was sold down to a 0.62% stake at prices between $40.21 and $67.77. The stock currently trades at $38.32.There is a lot of hedge fund activity with HLF - Pershing Square is short 20M shares while Carl Icahn is long ~17M shares. The company disclosed in March that they are being investigated by the FTC (Civil Investigative Demand - CID).Liberty Global (LBTYA) (LBTYK): Liberty Global was a 0.86% of the US long portfolio position as of last quarter. The original position was increased by ~75% in Q2 2013 as a result of the acquisition of Virgin Media (VMED) by Liberty Global - Soros held VMED shares that were replaced with Liberty Global shares and cash at an approximate ratio of 2:1 (stock vs. cash). The combined stake was reduced by around one-third in the following three quarters (after accounting for stock-splits). It was further reduced by 45% last quarter and the remaining position was almost eliminated this quarter. The activity indicates a clear bearish bias.Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): MSFT was a fairly large 4.63% of the US long portfolio stake established in Q3 2013 at prices between $31 and $36.50. It was reduced to a small 0.85% of the US long portfolio position in Q4 2013 at prices between $33 and $39. Q1 2014 saw further selling as the position was almost eliminated at prices between $35 and $41. Last quarter saw an about-turn as the stake was increased by over 400% to a still small 0.70% of the portfolio stake at prices between $39 and $42. This quarter saw a 31% reduction at prices between $41.67 and $47.52. The stock currently trades at $48.74.S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) PUTS: SPY Puts were increased by over 150% in Q4 2013 as SPY price-per-share varied between $165 and $185 - it was Soros’ largest 13F position by far at 11.12% (nominal value) of the US long portfolio. In Q1 2014, the position was reduced by ~77% as SPY price-per-share varied between $174 and $188. Last quarter, the stake was again built back up to a whopping 16.65% position. This quarter, around 24% of the position was sold when the shares traded between $191 and $202.S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) Calls: SPY Calls were a 3.10 % of the US long portfolio position first established in Q4 2013. Last quarter saw an increase but the position was eliminated this quarter.The net effect of the SPY transactions is a ~13% short position, almost the same as last quarter.Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA): TEVA is a 2.50% of the US long portfolio position established in Q3 2013 at prices between $37.50 and $41.50. The position was increased by almost 200% in Q4 2013 at prices between $36.59 and $41.70. Last quarter, the position was reduced by 30% at prices between $48.69 and $54.06 and the pattern continued this quarter with a ~14% reduction at prices between $50.94 and $55. The stock currently trades at $57.23. TEVA was in an extended slump due to “patent cliff” concerns and other issues - its ten-year stock performance stood at a depressing 33% as of Q1 2014. Soros was near perfect in anticipating and catching the uptrend with this trade.YPF SA (YPF): YPF is the largest equity long position at 3.68% of the US long portfolio. The original position was a small 0.87% stake established in Q3 2013 at prices between $14.80 and $21.57. It had since been consistently bought every quarter at prices between $20 and $36. This quarter saw marginal selling. The stock currently trades at $32.69 and has returned ~30% over the last year.Market Vectors Gold Miner ETF (GDX), Citrix Systems (CTXS), Consol Energy (CNX), Facebook Inc. (FB), Intel Corporation (INTC), Mack Cali Realty (CLI), Penn Virginia (PVA), SemGroup (SEMG), Stryker Corporation (SYK), Vipshop Holdings (VIPS), & Zoetis (ZTS): These are very small positions (less than ~1% of the US long portfolio) that were further reduced this quarter. As the stakes are too small, they do not indicate a shift in bias.Kept Steady:Adecoagro S A (AGRO): AGRO is a 1.70% of the US long portfolio position that was established prior to its IPO. The stock currently trades at around $9.18, well below the IPO price of $11. The position was marginally increased in Q2 2013 at prices between $6.05 and $7.95. For investors attempting to follow Soros, AGRO is a good option to consider for further research.American International Group (AIG), Caesars Acquisition (CACQ), Caesars Entertainment (CZR), Essent Group (ESNT), Leucadia National (LUK), and Loral Space & Communications (LORL): These are very small (less than 1% of the US long portfolio) positions that were kept steady this quarter. The position sizes are too small to have much of a portfolio impact.The spreadsheet below highlights Soros’s significant US long stock positions as of Q3 2014:"