The Rich Get Richer as George Soros Makes Bank Again (or Could Own One)

George Soros, the Hungarian-American investor and philanthropist, was reported recently to have wagered $1 billion on the foreign exchange market, with the insight that the rates would be cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Reports state that from this massive wager came a nice profit of $60 million for investor.

Insider Information?

The billionaire, well-known for his political activism and financial generosity which has seen him donate more than $8 billion to human rights, public health and education causes, placed three separate bets with Asian foreign exchange brokers, all totaling $1 billion combined, and each paying out around $18.65 million after the transaction fees. Such an enormous bet really raises questions of what kind of information Soros might have been privy to which the rest of us weren t, and where can we find this information? That really is the $60 million question.

The recent announcement from the Reserve Bank of Australia isn t the first time Soros has made a bundle from the foreign exchange; he also made a mint of nearly $2 billion back in 1992.  That earnings windfall came from the exchange between the Great British Pound and the German mark during Black Wednesday, when he earned the title of The Man Who Broke the Bank of England .

Most of us probably shouldn t look at Soros success and all start placing bets on the foreign exchange, hoping to have the same kind of success. For starters, it s unlikely that any of us will have $1 billion to spare; more importantly, 82-year-old Soros receives up-to-the-minute financial analysis, giving him more insight than the average person gets from the Financial Times, that s for sure.

You Bet

For those who fancy taking the risk and attempting to follow in Soros footsteps, (albeit to an infinitely smaller degree), currency exchange wagers can be placed each and every month via sites like Sportingbet, who do offer the opportunity to place wagers based on announcements from the Reserve Bank of Australia.

By doing this, you can place small wagers which could begin to give you an insight into the market, without taking huge risks. Bear in mind that even financial experts who spend their daily lives surrounded by the statistics of the world s currency exchange market find it difficult to predict with any certainty what the market may do, due to such a huge number of affecting factors.

Ever tried to get the best exchange rate for your buck before you jet off to sunny pastures, only to find yourself out of pocket? It s a pretty similar shot in the dark for those of us who do not have the same information at our disposal as Soros.

Enter at your own risk.