Precious metals dive amidst reports Soros is selling

May 04, 2011 09:13 AM

High-flying billionaire investor George Soros'reportedsale of some of his stockpile of gold and silver has pushed down prices of the precious metals' futures.

The Wall Street Journal reports some investors view Soros, who has been aggressively purchasing the commodities during the past two years, and his associates' actions as signaling the good fortune and rallying is approaching a critical juncture.

"We haven't seen this much volatility in decades," according to metal trader Robin Rodriguez of Central Virginia, who said he is aware of fellow investors also liquidating their assets. "We have such large profits built in."

At 9:49 a.m. on Wednesday,gold futuresedged downward 0.06 percent, a $1 drop to $1,539.40 per troy ounce. At 9:48 a.m.,silver futuressank 3.78 percent, a $1.35 slip to $41.235 per troy ounce.

By contrast, since the precious metals never lose all of their value and are likely to gain back losses in the future, another investor advised purchasing at this time is not a bad idea.

"Some small, speculative players had to trim their silver positions as they couldn't afford to pay for such margins," Jerome Berset, a portfolio manager at Palaedino Asset Management in Geneva,told Bloomberg. "For long-term players with fundamental views, this may be a good time to get in for both silver and gold."