Soros Increases Mercury Computer Stake

In a 13G filed with the SEC recently, we see that George Soros' hedge fund Soros Fund Management is now showing a 5.11% ownership stake in Mercury Computer (MRCY). The filing was made due to activity on April 17th, 2009 and Soros currently holds 1,160,077 shares. These figures are a combination of Soros' 1,111,219 common shares as well as its 48,858 shares issuable from its 2% Senior Convertible Notes due 2024. This is not a new holding for Soros, as the fund held Mercury when we last looked at Soros' portfolio. However, it looks like it has added to its tally of common shares recently.

Soros is good to track because of his excellent macro sense and formidable track record as an investor. His thoughts on the current financial landscape are detailed in his latest book, The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means. Soros sees a vast consolidation in the hedge fund space in the near future, as we noted when we recently checked in on Quantum Fund ex-partners Jim Rogers & George Soros. If you want to get a better sense as to how Soros formulates his investment theses, we highly recommend reading his first book, The Alchemy of Finance. This book is a staple in our recommended reading list and after you read it, you'll understand why. We like to track Soros since he has a solid track record and a great macro sense.

Soros is famous for his stellar returns with partner Jim Rogers when they ran their Quantum fund. (We recently covered Jim Rogers' portfolio here). Now, Soros has carried his investment style over to his own firm, Soros Fund Management. Whether it be equities, bonds, currencies, debt, or commodities, Soros Fund is more of a global macro player, seeking investments in whatever market it can gain an edge. Soros' experience is vastly evident with his appearance on Forbes' billionaire list, as well as on the top 25 highest paid hedge fund managers.

2008 was an interesting time to be investing, to say the least. Recently, Soros detailed his thoughts about his portfolio from 2008 and it makes for a good read. His fund finished '08 up 8% as noted in our hedge fund year end performances post. His success in 2008 came from making correct bets on the US dollar and betting that short term interest rates in the UK would decline. Interestingly enough, Soros was down for much of the year, until he fought his way back with overtrading. And, as such, Soros Fund Management is now ranked #8 in the 2009 hedge fund rankings. We've covered the rest of Soros' portfolio here.

Taken from Google Finance:

Mercury Computer Systems, Inc "designs, manufactures and markets high-performance computer, signal and image processing systems and software for embedded and other specialized computing markets. The Company’s primary market segments are aerospace and defense, which includes systems for radar, electronic warfare, sonar, command, control, communications, computers and intelligence and electro-optical; life sciences, which includes systems for medical diagnostic imaging and advanced visualization; semiconductor, which includes systems for semiconductor wafer inspection, reticle inspection and mask writing; geosciences, which includes software for oil and gas exploration, and telecommunications systems."

Comments

[Ricard:]

Thanks for the profile.

I must comment though that this article needlessly repeats itself on more than one occasion. The information is much appreciated, but for the sake of readability, I'd recommend a good proofread before posting.

Apr 30 01:49 AM

[Mike10613:]

I'm reading The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means.By George Soros and it's a really good. He not only gives an insight into markets but shares his flexicity philosophy of looking at investments based on fact and not rumour in the local Starbucks coffee house.

Apr 30 05:23 AM

[Mike10613:]

I'm reading The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means.By George Soros and it's a really good. He not only gives an insight into markets but shares his flexicity philosophy of looking at investments based on fact and not rumour in the local Starbucks coffee house.

Apr 30 05:37 AM

[Market Folly:]

Ricard, thanks for the comment but curious as to where the article repeats itself? Maybe I'm biased since I wrote it but I'm just not seeing the repetitiveness?

First paragraph deals with the portfolio changes, second paragraph deals with Soros' books, third paragraph deals with Soros as an investor, and the fourth paragraph details his track record and notable position changes.

Hmm, not really sure what we could have cut out?

Apr 30 02:31 PM

[Ricard:]

Perhaps it's a style thing, but here goes:

2nd para:

"Soros is good to track because of his excellent macro sense and formidable track record as an investor."

"Soros sees a vast consolidation in the hedge fund space in the near future, as we noted when we recently checked in on Quantum Fund ex-partners Jim Rogers & George Soros."

3rd para:

"Soros is famous for his stellar returns with partner Jim Rogers when they ran their Quantum fund. "



When I was reading it, I felt like I got a double-helping of who Soros's partner was (Jim Rogers), and why he was famous (his track record at the Quantum Fund).

Regardless, your article is a great starting point for anyone seeking a good understanding on the man. I've read "Soros on Soros" and found it to be an excellent book - I began another of is books (I think Crisis of Global Capitalism) and found that it too repeated a lot of what I had already read in the prior book. Maybe people discussing Soros are doomed to repeat.

Apr 30 02:56 PM

[Market Folly:]

Ahh ok gotcha I see it now. Thanks for the feedback Ricard, definitely appreciated!

May 01 12:01 AM