George Soros Hammered on Donald Trump Rally
Billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros lost nearly $1.0 billion in misplaced stock market bets after the election of Donald Trump as president, The Wall Street Journal has revealed. (Source: “Soros Lost Nearly $1 Billion After Trump Election, WSJ Reports,” Bloomberg, January 12, 2017.)
Soros was reportedly cautious on market prospects going into the U.S. election, and became more bearish—presumably placing a multitude of bearish bets—soon after Donald Trump was declared winner. This stance proved disastrous, as broad market indices launched into a multi-week rally after a brief initial sell-off.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rallied 257 points on post-election day, crossing its previous closing basis high and erasing substantial early losses. The Dow proceeded to rally an additional five days and never looked back.
It isn’t all bad news for George Soros, however. Due to his diversified investments in industrials and financials, Soros Fund Management LLC still gained about five percent on the year.
Still, one can’t help but wonder whether Soros’s entrenched ideological opposition to Trumpian politics inordinately influenced his desire to short the market, causing his fund to underperform the S&P 500.
After all, Soros’s aversion to Trump’s worldview is well publicized. Soros is perhaps the world’s most preeminent social financier, diverting a significant amount of personal wealth into various political organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) throughout the world.
Soros-supported organizations include the Center for Constitutional Rights, Media Matters, Moveon.org, Human Rights Watch, and many more left-of-center movements. According to U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, Soros was politically active during the U.S. presidential election campaign, committing more than $25.0 million to support the Hillary Clinton campaign, anti-Trump super PACs, and other Democratic Party causes.
Significantly, tactics employed by Soros-linked groups have become increasingly aggressive as time has progressed, transcending the political arena into civil disobedience. Moveon.org had previously taken credit for disrupting Trump campaign rallies throughout the country during the electoral campaign, and were the driving force behind multi-day street protests occurring after the election as well.
“The gatherings – organized by MoveOn.org and allies – will affirm a continued rejection of Donald Trump’s bigotry, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and misogyny and demonstrate our resolve to fight together for the America we still believe is possible,” said a Moveon.org press release. (Source: “Soros orchestrating color revolution against Trump: Analyst,” PressTV, November 13, 2016.)
George Soros has previously characterized Trump as a “con artist and would-be dictator” (Source: “Soros: Trump is a ‘con artist and would-be dictator’,” CNBC, December 29, 2016.)
But, with news of these profound financial losses having taken place, will Soros be further incentivized to disrupt the Trump presidency going forward? In other words, have things gotten personal?
We’ll get our first clue at the presidential inauguration on January 20. According to multiple sources, Soros-backed organizations are hiring a cadre of activists for the stated purpose of disrupting and preventing the inauguration from taking place. This is essentially the left’s last chance to unseat Trump from power before he’s officially sworn in.
While there’s next to zero chance of this happening, at the very least, a mass show of defiance will help galvanize anti-Trump activists by sending a message that they will not back down during his time in office. What better way to establish a rebellious tone than by turning Capitol Hill into one big battle royale.
Whether Soros finances a little extra ideological muscle to bring these goals to fruition remains to be seen. But if it’s true when they say “all business is personal,” expect the fireworks display to be a little more animated on East Capital Street come January 20.
