Paulson exits Agnico Eagle, boosts International Tower Hill stake
John Paulson’s Paulson & Co. cut its portfolio to $2.58 billion in the second quarter, exited Agnico Eagle Mines entirely and lifted International Tower Hill Mines to 104.5 million shares, or 8.07% of assets.
Gold is capping off its best month since January, and one of Wall Street’s most famous gold bulls is positioned to benefit.
The precious metal is up roughly 10% in August, trading near $4,435 per ounce as of Monday after touching highs above $4,650 earlier in the month, according to Trading Economics.
The SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSE: GLD ), tracking the spot price of physical gold bullion, gained 9.84% for the month.
The rally has been fueled by a weaker dollar, compressed rate-hike expectations and a U.S.
Treasury Department plan to ramp up buybacks of longer-dated government debt, which stoked concerns over currency debasement.
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Paulson & Co.’s latest 13F filing shows the firm’s equity portfolio fell to $2.58 billion in the second quarter, down 17% from $3.11 billion in the first quarter.
Disclosed positions shrank to eight from nine after Paulson exited gold miner Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM ) entirely, unwinding a stake that had been part of his precious-metals bet since the 2008 financial crisis.
But where he trimmed, he also doubled down.
Paulson boosted his stake in International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. (AMEX: THM ) by nearly 4.9 million shares to 104.5 million total, pushing the position to 8.07% of the portfolio.
His holdings in NovaGold Resources Inc. (AMEX: NG ) and Perpetua Resources Corp. (NASDAQ: PPTA ) held steady at 6.31% and 26.07%, respectively.
Paulson has also been expanding his footprint in physical gold projects.
In July, NovaGold struck a deal to acquire Paulson’s 40% stake in the Donlin Gold project in Alaska in an all-stock transaction valuing the combined company at about $4.2 billion.
Speaking to CNBC that same month, Paulson said the gold bull market remains in its “early stages,” adding that, "As people lose faith in paper currencies, gold as an alternative will continue to grow." With bullion notching its strongest monthly gain since January, Paulson’s gold-heavy playbook looks well timed once again.
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