Tips From The Master

TO HIGH-ROLLING CURRENCY SPECULATORS LIKE London-based billionaire George Soros, there is no sweeter music than the roar of an international exchange- rate crisis. In his latest orchestration, Soros reaped profits to the tune of $1 billion by staking seven-digit sums of leveraged cash on a future drop in the value of the lira and pound sterling. Amid Europe's ongoing currency flux, Soros could have easily come out a big loser. But when the pound tumbled, his risky triumph delighted investors in the Soros-run Quantum Fund and peeved officials in Western Europe's vulnerable central banks, who were forced to cough up billions to prop up slipping currencies. Perhaps the banks' anger was just; speculators can push a currency up or down as much as 15% an hour.