Soros shorting the Australian dollar?

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From the SMH:

The Australian dollar fell in evening trade on the back of rumours that billionaire US investor George Soros is planning to short the currency.

The Aussie dollar slipped from $US1.0284 in late local trade to $US1.0253 in offshore trade as traders reacted to unconfirmed rumours that Mr Soros – who famously shorted the British pound back in 1992 – was planning a raid on the dollar ahead of Tuesday’s interest rate announcement.

A large number trades shorting the dollar totalling $US1 billion were placed via Hong Kong and Singapore late Monday, believed to be by Soros Fund Management.

“Someone … seems to be betting on a rate cut,” said one Sydney-based FX trader. “I’ve heard the George Soros rumour tonight. A billion dollars sounds like a lot, but it’s not enough to move the Australian dollar and it’s not a lot for George Soros, but there is a play happening in the FX market.

Who knows? When the fall in the dollar comes it will be quick!

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About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.