EUROZONE : Soros Says Euro Member Exit...Is "Probably Inevitable."

BLOOMBERG

Billionaire investor George Soros has joined a growing number who believe that Greece and perhaps other nations...will exit the Eurozone.

He said it’s “probably inevitable” that weaker euro-region economies will need to exit the single currency.

“We are on the verge of an economic collapse which starts, let’s say, in Greece, but it could easily spread,” Soros, 80, said in Vienna. “The financial system remains extremely vulnerable.”

"I think most of us actually agree that” Europe’s crisis “is actually centered around the euro,” said Soros. “It’s a kind of financial crisis that is really developing. It’s foreseen. Most people realize it. It’s still developing. The authorities are actually engaged in buying time. And yet time is working against them,” he said.

EUROZONE: Soros Calls Germany "Main Protagonist" In Euro Crisis.

BLOOMBERG/     Germany “is the main protagonist” in the euro’s crisis and EU deflation risk is probable because Chancellor Angela Merkel insists on budget austerity, claims billionaire investor George Soros. “As the strongest and most creditworthy country it is in the driver’s seat. As a result Germany objectively determines the financial and macroeconomic policies of the euro zone without being subjectively aware of it. When all the member countries try to be like Germany they are bound to send the euro zone into a deflationary spiral.Unfortunately Germany does not realize what it is doing. It has no desire to impose its will on Europe; all it wants to do is to maintain its competitiveness and avoid becoming the deep pocket to the rest of Europe.”

Soros Criticizes EU For Faulty Latvia Financial Rescue.

REUTERS/
"The pressure for them to reduce government spending -- the problem is in the private sector -- is the wrong kind of policy, which ought to be avoided," billionaire investor George Soros said.
"I think that the European Union countries ... ought to help Latvia more than they are currently doing."

Billionaire George Soros Cuts Stake In Petrobras.

BLOOMBERG.

Billionaire George Soros' hedge-fund,Soros Fund Management LLC, sold 22 million U.S.-listed common shares of Petrobras(ADRs) while buying 5.8 million of the company’s U.S.-traded preferred shares.

"Soros is taking advantage of the spread between the two types of U.S.-listed Petrobras shares, said Luis Maizel, president of LM Capital Group LLC, which manages about $4 billion. The common shares were 21 percent MORE expensive than preferred today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“He knows he held a voting right in the common shares that would never translate to actual power,” Maizel said in an interview from San Francisco. “He’s just playing the spread.”