3 Stocks George Soros Is Betting on in 2010 Tweet

BALTIMORE -- With economic concerns continuing to weigh on the market, it's no surprise that some of Wall Street's most-storied investors are increasing their cash positions right now. Take George Soros, for example: The billionaire investor's firm sold off $182 million in stocks last quarter, closing out holdings in more than 140 companies. But as bleak as that snapshot may look, more important are the stocks Soros is adding to his fund. Here's an analytical look at three key stocks Soros Fund Management is buying right now.

Through the Quantum Fund, which he founded with Jim Rogers in 1970, Hungarian-born Soros became a well-known proselytizer of international investing. It's a strategy that worked out well for Soros, netting him an estimated $14 billion in the years since, including an estimated $1.1 billion on Black Wednesday 1992 alone by betting heavily against the pound sterling.

Since that time, investors have clung to Soros' investment precepts in hopes that they could replicate his success. We'll take a more direct route today by investigating some of the specific stocks that Soros and his investment team are bullish on in 2010.

Just as overseas stocks arguably made Soros' fortune, his fund continues to take big positions in overseas companies. Take Nokia(NOK), for instance. The Finnish mobile device company was one of a handful of new positions opened by Soros Fund Management in the last quarter. Nokia has long been a key player in the highly competitive cellular phone market, having captured roughly a third of the global cellular handset market.

The company has done that effectively by putting tremendous efforts into both its low-cost entry-level phone offerings, which are extremely popular in emerging-market economies where cellular phones are still seeing steady growth, and its next-generation smartphone products. The next step for the handset manufacturer is transactional and service-based revenues. Taking a page from Apple's playbook, Nokia's Ovi platform offers the company's handset users a mobile media store that could spur significant top-line growth in the coming quarters.

A tumbling Euro is actually panning out well for the Finnish firm. Because Nokia's Euro-denominated business is so big worldwide, the company should recognize material currency conversion gains. And while that's a scenario that's less attractive for the company's 9 billion euros in the bank, at least any devaluation is offset by a devaluation of Nokia's already-manageable debt load. Soros Fund Management thinks the situation will be favorable in 2010; the group picked up $16.9 million worth of Nokia shares to open its position in the company.

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