Soros favoured gold in Q2, cut US equities

By Aaron Pressman (Reuters): Billionaire investor George Soros in the second quarter stuck with his big bet on gold but slashed his holdings in dozens of major U.S. companies from Verizon Communications to Pfizer.

Soros also may have sold his entire holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA) (PBR.N).

In a quarterly securities filing on Monday, Soros Fund Management reported owning substantially fewer U.S. listed stocks than three months earlier. The fund listed $5.1 billion of equities as of June 30, down 42 percent from $8.8 billion at the end of March.

After a terrible quarter for the stock market that saw the Standard & Poor's 500 Index plunge 12 percent, Soros may have been anticipating further turbulence ahead....read on