While Soros doesn’t worry about the consequences of his investment actions, there are many who do. They watch him with a keen eye, hoping to emulate him and the characteristics that have made him successful. Among his investment strategies, six principles are clear and include:

#1: Financial markets are highly dependent upon the human beings who buy and sell them

The theories of an open society, fallibility and relativity have given George Soros a solid system for selecting, buying, and selling investments. And he follows it religiously. That’s obvious, say experts, in the cool way that he monitors stock, bond, and currency prices. Simply, he leaves his emotions out of the equation but realizes that the crowd does act – often improperly – out of emotion. As Soros has noted, too many traders “react” instead of simply acting on cool and logical calculations. He believes the best opportunities are had by detaching from emotions. Instead, he believes investors should simply focus on market prices and value of underlining assets.

#2: The first priority: preserve capital

In a recent interview, Soros said he likes to avoid pure chance. While he has learned that surviving requires some element of risk, he’s said that it’s smart risk that makes the difference. So he only invests in what he understands and meets his criteria. He has no problems saying no. And he’s willing to wait for the right bet.

“I like to have a better understanding of the situation than the market and then I bet on my judgment so I know I can anticipate the future,” he stated. “So that’s not gambling. Now, you can’t avoid taking risks. But I only [do it] when I think I have a better and different perspective.”

Put another way, Soros does not believe he needs to place his bets on the table for every spin of the wheel. He will sit on the sidelines – with his capital secure – and wait for an opportunity. Then he pounces.

“George Soros has made his mark as an enormously successful speculator,” writes Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker in 2003 in the forward of Soros’ book, “The Alchemy of Finance.” “Wise enough to largely withdraw when still way ahead of the game.”

#3: Diversification is not what you think it is:

The general definition of diversification from most Wall Street advisors is to acquire many smaller holdings thus ensuring that all your investment nest eggs are not in one basket and that will protect you from large losses since your money is spread out. But Soros believes that just the opposite happens when you diversify too much, even if you amass a tidy profit in one area it will have little impact on your total overall portfolio’s worth. Instead Soros believes it is better to invest in a handful of strong companies that have the capacity to produce huge profits, thus offsetting any losses on other investments.

For example, compare two portfolios. The first is diversified among 100 different stocks; the second is spread among five stocks.

If one of the stocks in the first portfolio doubles in price, the value of the entire portfolio rises just one percent. The same doubling in the second portfolio pushes that portfolio’s performance up 20%.

For the investor in the first portfolio to achieve the same result, 20 of the stocks in his portfolio must double – or one of them has to rise 2000% -- an unlikely scenario.

In Soros’ view, it’s much easier to identify one stock that’s likely to double in price, or identify 20 stocks that are likely to double.

That’s the difference between average investors and investors like George Soros. Because Soros’ portfolio is concentrated, he focuses his energies far more intensely – and for more effectively – on identifying the right investments.

George Soros spends his time looking for high probability stocks that meets his criteria. When he finds one, he knows the risk of losing money is low.

So when Soros buys – he buys big.

#4: Fortune favors the brave

While Soros is a risk taker who also relies on reserves and intelligence, and not just verve, he also knows that luck is not the operative term for investing. Courage is. His activities in 1992 are a perfect example. The amount of money he invested in speculation that the British pound would be devalued represented a staggering proportion of his assets. And the result was fame and fortune.

Still, Soros himself calls that risk, in particular, an exaggeration, claiming the “odds were very much in his favor when he took that bet.” Otherwise he wouldn’t have boldly gambled it.

#5: Keep quiet about your investments, what others think is meaningless

You need only listen to his critics and watch him work two sides of an issue (i.e., reform global finances and create his own wealth) to understand the dichotomy that makes up his character. He is an investor for the times, a role model, and still a man who keeps his interests and activities close to the vest. He doesn’t let the court of public opinion sway him.

In fact, in June, 1981, when Soros was featured on the cover of Institutional Investor, he was depicted as “something of a mysteryman, a loner who never telegraphs his views, who even keeps his associates at a distance.”

Why such secrecy? Soros believes that if others find out what he’s doing, they’ll pile into the market and the price will run away from him. That actually happened in October, 1995 when a burst of speculation that Soros was shorting the French franc helped drive that currency down against the German mark. For a heavy hitter like Soros. Who often has huge short positions, it’s not a good idea to trumpet your market moves and thus risking squeezing yourself.

George Soros is also a man who doesn’t advertise his losses, if he can help it. And when he can’t, it doesn’t seem to tarnish his reputation. This was the case when the press leaked word of his multi-billion dollar losses in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Still, he remained a guru.

#6. Take advantage of chaotic markets

Soros’ theory of reflexivity drives his investing decisions. He believes that financial markets are chaotic. The prices of stocks, bonds and currencies depend on the human beings who buy and sell them, and those traders often act out of highly emotional reactions rather than coolly logical calculations. Opportunities can be found by carefully studying the value and the market prices of assets. Traditional global bourses and developing economies are two of Soros’ favorite targets.

For example, Soros and other big-name investors have recently been pouring money into Germany’s banks and financial institutions on the cheap, believing that Germany is in line as the next big global economic success story. With orders for goods and supplies flowing in from Eastern Europe and the Pacific Rim, Germany has now surpassed the United States as the world's largest exporter. Soros is betting that German banks will soon be crammed with cash after several lean years.

Another example is in another high growth success story. Soros has also been investing in real estate companies in India of late including Anant Raj Industries, Unitech, and GMR Infrastructure according to a recent article in the online edition of India Times. In a country where land development is akin to the U.S. in the 1950’s, Soros is right on the money in getting into Indian real estate early.

#7. Profits in life sciences

Soros has also recently bulked up in the biopharmaceutical sector in a big way. The life sciences sector satisfies Soros’ desire for a big score. The sector is ripe for opportunity, but typically so for investors like Soros who dig deep, leave no stone unturned, and figure out where opportunity actually lies.

To that end, Soros has made a slew of buys within the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical equipment sectors including: CR Bard Inc., Valley Forge Scientific Corp., Alcon Inc., MedImmune Inc., Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Allegan Inc., Celgene Corp., Human Genome Sciences Inc., Sanofi-Aventis, Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc., each accounting for around a third to a half of a percent of his total portfolio (0.35 – 0.56%).

He also added to his holdings in several high-tech and bio-tech firms including Ciphergen Biosystems, OmniVision Technologies, Affymetrix Inc., Mobile Telesystems OJSC, in addition to more diverse companies such as apparel retailers Bluefly Inc., specialty retailer Bombay Company, and real estate holding & development company McGrath Rentcorp.

To hedge his bets in life sciences, Soros also made buys in a variety of sectors adding the following companies: Petroleo Brasileiro, an exploration and production company. ConocoPhillips, an integrated oil & gas company, Fair Isaac Corp., a business support services company, Brooks Automation, a semiconductor company, Internet giant Yahoo, in addition to health care provider Aetna Inc., broadcast and entertainment powerhouse Liberty Media Corps Capital Common Series, specialty retailer GameStop Corp., gaming giant Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., telecommunications companies Sprint Nextel and Nokia.

Meanwhile he sold out his holdings in Verizon Communications, AT&T Corp., NASDAQ Stock Market Inc. and NYSE Group, Inc. common stock, health care provider WellPoint Inc., the consumer electronics giant Sony, and Internet giant Google, along with many other holdings in various biotech and high-tech sectors, investment services companies, specialty retailers, and oil equipment and services operators to name a few.

That's it -- seven steps to investment success from George Soros himself. Hey, we all can't have his money, but we can take a few pages out of his playbook -- and make a little money of our own.