Access Investments-European Union- ROMANIA

 Billionaire George Soros has cut his investments by almost 40% in shares of US-listed companies, in the first quarter of 2016, and has instead bought a USD 264 million stake in the world's biggest gold maker, "Barrick Gold" Corp., according to Bloomberg. The agency notes that the worth of the holdings of Soros' fund, Soros Fund Management, has decreased 37% between January and March 2016, to 3.5 billion dollars.   Soros has acquired 1.7% of "Barrick", a company headquartered in Toronto, whose shares have more than doubled this year, amid cost cutting and debt reduction measures. Just since March 31st, "Barrick" shares have risen 39%.  Soros also revealed he holds "call" options on 1.05 million shares in the SPDR Gold Trust, an ETF which tracks the price of gold. The American billionaire, who has built a fortune of 24 billion dollars through market investments, is turning to gold as the global economy is faced with risks. Soros recently warned about the risks China's economy could cause, saying that he was reminded of the crisis which affected the US in 2007-2008, generating a global recession.  In this context, investing in gold is seeing increased demand. June delivery gold futures prices rose 0.4% yesterday, at 10:17, on Comex New York, to 1,279.80 dollars an ounce. In early May, the price of gold passed 1,300 dollars an ounce, amid speculations that the US central bank would slow down the tightening of monetary measures, which have caused the dollar to weaken. According to "BNP Paribas" SA analysts, the price of gold will rise to 1,400 dollars/ounce this year, and "ABN Amro Group" NV predicts a price of 1,370 dollars/ounce.  Soros has sold a stakein"Level 3 Communications" Inc., which was worth 173 million dollars on December 31st, 2015, and a stake in "Dow Chemical" Co., which was worth 161 million dollars. The investor has also sold his stakes in "Endo International" Plc and "Delta Air Lines" Inc.
The price of spot gold has risen 16% in the first three months of 2016, the biggest quarterly rise since 1986, according to Bloomberg. The Bloomberg index which tracks the evolution of 14 major gold producers has doubled this year, after a decline of 76% in the 2011-2015 period.