Hedge Fund Billionaires John Paulson And David Einhorn Lost $640M In Gold Market Collapse
Source: Forbes
The gold bloodbath that hit the market over the past two trading sessions has definitely caused a dent in the portfolio of billionaire hedge fund managers. John Paulson and David Einhorn suffered combined losses of more than $640 million since Friday, according to their latest SEC filings, with the bulk concentrated in the formers massive position in the SPDR Gold ETF. Einhorns Greenlight took a big hit on its holdings of the gold miners ETF.
An implosion that appears to have started in the gold market last Friday spread throughout the commodities complex on Monday, with everything from crude oil to soybeans falling. Physical gold lost more than $200 per ounce, sliding nearly 15% over the past two trading sessions.
Violent And Panicky Gold Selling Collapse Bullion And Commodity Markets Agustino Fontevecchia Agustino Fontevecchia Forbes Staff
The Gold Bloodbath Nathan Vardi Nathan Vardi Forbes Staff
The 40 Highest-Earning Hedge Fund Managers And Traders Nathan Vardi Nathan Vardi Forbes Staff
Players in the gold market got hurt, and among those are some of the worlds most high-profile investors. John Paulson, of the eponymous hedge fund with approximately $20 billion under management, took a big hit. Just with his positions in gold miners Paulson lost more than $171 million over the past two trading sessions, if his latest disclosed holdings remained unchanged. Add an additional $430 million in losses from his 21.8 million stake in the SPDR Gold Trust, and total paper losses climb to $601 million.
Among his individual gold equity positions, Paulson took the biggest hits in AngloGold Ashanti, Freeport McMoran (which has exposure to several other metals including copper and silver), and Novagold. Paulson & Co. is AngloGolds largest shareholder, with more than 7% of the shares, and lost $93 million on that stake. Novagold, where the hedge fund titan owns 11.36% of shares outstanding, delivered losses worth $13.3 million, while Freeport McMorans losses added to $31.7 million.
FULL STORY AT LINK.
Read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2013/04/15/hedge-fund-billionaires-john-paulson-and-david-einhorn-lost-640m-in-gold-bloodbath/
John Paulson took a big hit on his gold holdings
benld74
(9,888 posts)in the gold market and the SEC NAILS them but good.
I know its a fairy tale but I can dream,,,,,,
Lobo27
(753 posts)He got thousands of people to buy gold, and I'm sure he profited somehow.
mucifer
(23,373 posts)mazzarro
(3,450 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)reteachinwi
(579 posts)On the heels of the SEC director's statement that hedge-fund manager John Paulson would not be charged with any wrongdoing for the 2007 deal it made with Goldman Sachs in which the firm agreed to allow the hedge-fund manager to structure a bond both parties knew would fail, but neglected to mention that to the investors it sold it to Paulson and Company has issued a statement.
It can pretty much be summed up as "Goldman's clients aren't our problem."
As the SEC said at its press conference, Paulson is not the subject of this complaint, made no misrepresentations and is not the subject of any charges.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2010/04/paulson_and_company_responds_t.html
Common Sense Party
(14,139 posts)and ended my job with them.
yortsed snacilbuper
(7,939 posts)joshcryer
(62,265 posts)It'll probably go back up though because the world loves that almost worthless metal (contact points and jewelry = mostly worthless).
waddirum
(976 posts)Gold is also used for dental crowns, electronics, aerospace, and many other uses.
A small amount of gold is used in almost every sophisticated electronic device. This includes: cell phones, calculators, personal digital assistants, global positioning system units and other small electronic devices. Most large electronic appliances such as television sets also contain gold.
http://geology.com/minerals/gold/uses-of-gold.shtml
joshcryer
(62,265 posts)And that includes gold used in jewelry. The lions share of the worlds gold is hanging around the neck of Indian people. As a useful element its uses are few and far between. The amount of gold used in electronic devices is minuscule in comparison to the amount of gold available.
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)but its high price precludes its widespread use for most of its potential applications.
"Gold is the most malleable of all metals; a single gram can be beaten into a sheet of 1 square meter, or an ounce into 300 square feet. Gold leaf can be beaten thin enough to become transparent. The transmitted light appears greenish blue, because gold strongly reflects yellow and red.[20] Such semi-transparent sheets also strongly reflect infrared light, making them useful as infrared (radiant heat) shields in visors of heat-resistant suits, and in sun-visors for spacesuits.[21]
"Gold readily creates alloys with many other metals. These alloys can be produced to modify the hardness and other metallurgical properties, to control melting point or to create exotic colors (see below).[22] Gold is a good conductor of heat and electricity and reflects infrared radiation strongly. Chemically, it is unaffected by air, moisture and most corrosive reagents, and is therefore well suited for use in coins and jewelry and as a protective coating on other, more reactive metals. However, it is not chemically inert. Gold is almost insoluble, but can be dissolved in aqua regia."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold
Purveyor
(29,876 posts)olddots
(10,237 posts)bluedigger
(17,077 posts)kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)Walmart greeter for minimum wage.
wordpix
(18,652 posts)Initech
(99,914 posts)Crowman1979
(3,844 posts)ThoughtCriminal
(14,010 posts)may some day allow us to create a violin almost small enough, but I do not think we will ever be able to assemble structures on a sub-atomic scale.
Occulus
(20,599 posts)MrSlayer
(22,143 posts)It's like having twenty bucks and losing fifty cents while pitching quarters. It's annoying but it doesn't really hurt.
onehandle
(51,122 posts)Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)Not "basement dwellers", not ultra-right-wingers, but ordinary Americans.
I have no idea why you think it is "anti-American" to own it, especially considering that gold products are an important source of income for the US Mint.
wordpix
(18,652 posts)totally destroys rivers and tributaries, land where it's mined
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)I will agree, however, that gold mining can be a dirty business. A lot of big gold miners have gotten into trouble in South America and elsewhere for their environmentally unsound practices. And local artisan miners also tend to use environmentally damaging methods. But then again, that can pertain to mining for any metal or mineral, including the metals in everything around us. In fact, it may have been a dirtier process to get those rare earths for your computer/cell phone/other technogadget because the ores for those rare earth metals, such as monazite, usually also contain radioactive minerals that have to be treated or disposed of in some way, and they are usually strip mined to boot.
MoreGOPoop
(417 posts)Thanks for the smile, Omaha.
Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)William Seger
(10,742 posts)You haven't really "lost" anything unless you actually sell for less than you paid.
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)Physical gold that is owned outright can be held indefinitely.
ETFs are a different story.
William Seger
(10,742 posts)Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)hatrack
(59,439 posts)Those poor, poor billionaires!
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)MrScorpio
(73,626 posts)A very good time
cbdo2007
(9,213 posts)It's one of my golden trading rules and has saved me many, many thousands of dollars.
City Lights
(25,171 posts)Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Bucky
(53,795 posts)Confidence artists, stoking baseless Obamaphobia, have been hyping so much gold for so long to the rubes, the price had to be inflated. Buying gold was basically betting against America. Guess what, ya dumbasses? America always wins... and this time: you lose!
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)Because the United States Mint sells a lot of gold coins to Joe Public.