Potash Gets a Soros-Led Boost

By Simon Avery

Shares of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT) hit a five-month high and led the Toronto Stock Exchange to higher ground Tuesday, after the hedge fund of billionaire investor George Soros increased its stake in the company by nearly 50%.

Soros Fund Management LLC purchased 970,368 shares of the world’s biggest fertilizer producer in the third quarter, bringing its total stake to 2.95 million shares, or 1% of the company, according to a report filed Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Potash Corp. shares jumped 6% to $115.81, making the company the biggest gainer among the S&P/TSX index. The benchmark rose 11.86 points to trade at 11613.12 late in Tuesday’s session.

Potash Corp.’s stock hit a 52-week high of $135 in the spring, off a low of $61.81 last December. Recent speculation that Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd. could buy the company has helped lift the shares in the last month.

Soros Fund was the 19th largest shareholder as of Sept. 30. The biggest was Capital World Investors, a division of Capital Research & Management Co., which held 14.7 million shares, representing about 5% of the company.

Comments

[yellowhoard]

Soros is the megalomaniacal gazillionaire that must be paid attention.

This is just a rumor, but I hear that he holds meetings in a concrete bunker style room with a white cat in his lap.

His lieutenants are known only by numbers and he always has an escape pod nearby.
That's what I'm hearing on the streets.

2009 Nov 17 05:01 PM

[Hot Richard]

You look a bit like him, YH.

2009 Nov 18 09:48 AM