The billion dollar gamble that paid $18.6m

George Soros has reportedly made $18.5 million in just 36 hours. Picture: WikiCommons Source: Supplied

HE is regarded as the man who broke the Bank of England, and soon, 82-year-old billionaire George Soros could be known as the man who made $18.65m profit in just 36 hours.

Rumours were rife yesterday that the Hungarian-American business magnate was planning a raid of our dollar ahead of the RBA interest rate cut announcement.

Speculation built further after it was rumoured a large number of trades shorting the dollar totalling $US1 billion being placed via Hong Kong and Singapore by the business magnate’s Soros Fund Management.

If the rumour is true, it would mean Mr Soros would have pulled off a gamble not once but in fact three times with different foreign exchange brokers in Asia, pulling in cool $US60million in total, Fairfax reports.

The Aussie dollar was trading $US1.0320 on spot markets at the time, but fell on the back of bad jobs and retail data.

Meanwhile the Australian dollar fell to a fresh two-month low during overnight trade, before recovering most of its lost ground amid gains on US share markets.

The currency fell to 101.55 US cents early this morning as traders in Europe and the US reacted to the Reserve Bank of Australia cutting its key interest rate to a record low of 2.75 per cent.

Shorting the dollar or short selling involves the practice of selling securities - in this case the Australian dollar - or other financial instruments that are not currently owned, with the intention of repurchasing them at a lower price.

Mr Soros is famously known as the man who broke the Bank of England after made a $1 billion profit when he shorted the British Pound in 1992, using the German Mark.

The billionaire is also regarded as a huge philanthropist having given away more than $8 billion to human rights causes.

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Telstra wins $1.1 billion Defence contract

TELSTRA has won a $1.1 billion contract with the Department of Defence that will lead to 350 new jobs being created at Australia's largest telco.

Under the six-and-a-half-year contract, Telstra will help integrate the department's fixed telecommunications with its satellite and tactical networks.

"This partnership will deliver Defence with robust and secure information communications technology, while creating greater efficiencies and lower costs," Defence chief information officer Peter Lawrence said.

"The project includes a major transformation program of work and the ongoing sustainment of Defence's telecommunications environment."

Telstra chief executive David Thodey said it was the largest customer undertaking in the company's history and would support military operations in Australia and overseas.

"We will create 350 new positions to help serve the contract, including recruiting some of the nation's leading IT, network and security experts," he said.

"The use of technology such as unified communications, advanced video conferencing as well as tablet and smartphone usage, will provide a vital link connecting troops, commanders, bases and allies around the world."

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Telstra wins $1.1 billion Defence contract

TELSTRA has won a $1.1 billion contract with the Department of Defence that will lead to 350 new jobs being created at Australia's largest telco.

Under the six-and-a-half-year contract, Telstra will help integrate the department's fixed telecommunications with its satellite and tactical networks.

"This partnership will deliver Defence with robust and secure information communications technology, while creating greater efficiencies and lower costs," Defence chief information officer Peter Lawrence said.

"The project includes a major transformation program of work and the ongoing sustainment of Defence's telecommunications environment."

Telstra chief executive David Thodey said it was the largest customer undertaking in the company's history and would support military operations in Australia and overseas.

"We will create 350 new positions to help serve the contract, including recruiting some of the nation's leading IT, network and security experts," he said.

"The use of technology such as unified communications, advanced video conferencing as well as tablet and smartphone usage, will provide a vital link connecting troops, commanders, bases and allies around the world."

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Investors cash in wiping $24 billion in sell-off

Beware of the latest share-buying spree Source: Supplied

TWENTY-FOUR billion dollars has been wiped off the value of Australia's top 200 companies today as investors cashed in on the stellar run.

Yesterday global markets soared after the Dow Jones reached five-year highs and local shares hovered around the 5100 mark.

But today the table turned as investors cashed in on profits.

The ASX200 closed down 118.6 points, or 2.33 per cent, lower at 4,980.1 while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 115.8 points, or 2.26 per cent, at 4,998.6 - wiping about $36 billion off Australian shares today.

"At some point there is going to be some profit-taking, " said Savanth Sebastian of CommSec. "If the market kept going the way it was going it would be up 68 per cent since the beginning of the year which isn't feasible."

A couple of triggers sparked today's sell-off which was the market's largest one-day decline in nine months.

Firstly, commodity prices tumbled overnight. This was due to rumours of a big commodity hedge fund in the US going into liquidation.

"This [rumour] leads to a slide in commodity prices and hits the big energy and material stocks," said Mr Savanth.

Gold stocks were heaviest hit, tumbling 4.38 per cent and materials stocks dropped 3.33 per cent.

Secondly, the unresolved issue of the "fiscal cliff" in the US which has been postponed from December 31 until March 1 is looming and weighing on the market.

"On 1 March $85 billion worth of tax cuts need to happen in the US unless they pass a new bill. That's also in the back of investors' minds." said Mr Savanth.

Overnight US stocks closed sharply lower after the Federal Reserve released minutes from its latest monetary policy meeting showing officials were split over its asset-purchases programs.

The Dow Jones was down 108.13 points (0.77 per cent) at 13,927.54 after reaching five-year highs the day before.

Miners and financials tumble
BHP Billiton lost $1.48, or 3.83 per cent, to $37.17, Rio Tinto slipped $2.09, or 3.01 per cent, to $67.30 and Fortescue Metals dipped 12 cents, or 2.44 per cent, to $4.80.

The spot price of gold in Sydney was $US1,561.20 per fine ounce, down $US46.17 from Wednesday's closing price of $US1,607.37 per ounce.

ANZ eased 76 cents to $27.98, CBA tumbled $2.04 to $64.81, NAB was $1.14 lower at $29.42 and Westpac fell 86 cents to $29.49.

A rare positive was Qantas, whose shares gained 4.5 cents, or 2.79 per cent, to $1.66 after posting first half net profit of $111 million, more than double the $42 million achieved in the prior corresponding period.

Preliminary national turnover was 1.9 billion securities worth $6.8 billion, with falling stocks outnumbering rising stocks by more than three to one.

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