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Davos: George Soros on pound, bad bank

When you look at the Bloomberg home page and see an image of George Soros sitting on a snow covered hill in a winter coat, you know that the Davos circus is in full swing.

Soros talked to Bloomberg about the US' plans for a "bad bank", which he says won't increase bank lending (but "will bring some relief"), and how the falling price of oil will affect the major oil-producing nations (Venezuela, Russia, and Iran) and their regimes.

Soros also spoke about the British pound at Davos, saying that he had foreseen the fall in the UK's currency, but that he is no longer short the pound at these levels.

Hedge fund manager Peter Thiel, who apparently is also at Davos, disagrees with Soros. He thinks the British pound will continue to decline this year, while the US dollar and the yen appreciate.

Thiel seems to be echoing Jim Rogers' gloomy view on the currency and the UK as a whole, calling the country, "the worst country in the world at this point". Damn Peter, worse than Zimbabwe?

Related articles and posts:

1. Bad Bank of America - Breakingviews.com.

2. Soros stopped betting against pound - Bloomberg.

3. FT video: Davos 2009 - FT.com.
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