market folly

George Soros' hedge fund firm has just filed a 13G with the SEC regarding shares of Verigy (VRGY). Per portfolio activity on November 18th, Soros Fund Management has disclosed a 7.24% ownership stake in VRGY with 4,681,790 shares. This is not necessarily a new position for Soros if you drill down the specifics.

The hedge fund disclosed ownership of Verigy 5.25% senior convertible notes due 2014 at the end of the third quarter in their 13F filing. This most recent SEC disclosure notes that Soros owns 6,100 common shares of VRGY and that the other 4,675,690 shares they 'own' are represented should Soros convert their senior notes. So, the hedge fund purchased new common shares recently but still owns convertible notes as well.

Interestingly enough, David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital disclosed a new position in Verigy (VRGY) in the most recent quarter as we already noted in the new issue of our newsletter that was released early last week. You can view the rest of Soros' portfolio in our new issue as well.

Lastly, keep in mind that while Soros Fund Management bears his name, George Soros has recently confirmed that he has no involvement in the day-to-day activity at the fund as those responsibilities fall to Chief Investment Officer Keith Anderson. Soros' sons, as well as other managers, are also responsible for the portfolio activity you see disclosed. For thoughts from George himself, we recommend reading one of his books: The Alchemy of Finance or his other title, The New Paradigm for Financial Markets.

According to Google Finance, Verigy "designs, develops, manufactures and sells advanced test systems and solutions for the semiconductor industry. The Company offers a single platform for each of the general categories of devices being tested: its V93000 Series platform, designed to test System-on-a-Chip (SOC), System-in-a-Package (SIP) and high-speed memory devices; its V6000 Series platform, which is the successor to the V5000 platform, designed to test both flash memory and dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices, and its V101 platform, designed to test devices, such as 4, 8 and 16-bit micro-controller units (MCUs)."

Other recent portfolio activity from Soros includes boosting its stake in InterOil (IOC) and buying other positions as well.