Reuters reports John Paulson’s Advantage Fund was down 1.24 percent for the quarter (-3.10 in March); the Advantage Plus Fund was down 1.74 percent (4.4 percent in March); and the Gold fund was down ‘a smidgen,’ losing 0.87 percent (-0.43 in March). Paulson Partners was up 3.86 percent for the quarter; Paulson Enhanced was up 6.94 percent; and the Credit Opportunities Fund was up 6.44 percent.

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

For the first anniversary of Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, Bloomberg rang up Oliver Stone to see what’s been a’ poppin’ with the director of late and pick his brain about how things have been going in the finance world since the premiere. The interview touched on the fact that the original script had Josh Brolin playing an evil hedge fund manager, before Stone realized that it was the banks that did most of the heavy lifting with regard to bringing the global financial system to its knees (“[Hedge funds] are just the tail,” the filmmaker says. “The dog is wagging them. The big dog is these seven banks”). “You can’t condemn the hedge funders for doing what they’re doing,” was Stone’s response to the question of whether or not the hedge fund industry is deserving of blame for the crisis, indicating rational, lucid thought, and not those of someone who’s been drinking. But he wasn’t finished.

Stone’s full quote was:

“You can’t condemn the hedge funders for doing what they’re doing. If they’re gonna be pigs they’re pigs, wrecking birthday parties and all that.”

So. Re: the birthday parties, and the notion of how they can be ruined, what kind of picture does he have going in his mind? Senor Robbins coming in and smashing cakes with a baseball bat? Paolo Pellegrini being hired to perform as a clown but getting high on the drive over and spending the whole time telling the kids about how he came up with the Paulson subprime trade? Does the “and all that” refer to general dickishness in life (changing lanes without signaling, going through the 10 items or less line with 16 items, etc) or is it still part of the birthday party scenario (bulldozing kids to get candy when the pinata breaks open, shouting “I have, it sucks” every time a present is unwrapped)?

‘Wall Street’ Director Stone Says Banks Still Selfish, Arrogant: Interview [Bloomberg via BI]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

$$$ Radioactive Water Found in 2nd Reactor at Japan Plant [Reuters]

$$$ Hedge Funds Crave Bonds That Almost Killed AIG [NetNet]

$$$ China detained Glencore trader in oil imports probe [Reuters]

$$$ John Paulson’s Sweet 16 (Billion) Party [Dealbook]

$$$ Julian Assange: Not A Great House Guest [NYT]

$$$ Kentucky Wins NCAA Basketball Title in Spending on Recruitment [Bloomberg]

$$$

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

In a piece today on John Paulson’s 2010 performance, the Journal notes that while pretty good, the hedge fund manager shouldn’t exactly be doing any victory dances in the end zone. Sure, 30+ percent returns, when you’re managing more than $30 billion, are “very rare” in the business. But, they’re just saying, JoPau probably shouldn’t be doing any bragging and may in fact want to think about where he went wrong, considering in 2007 he returned 590 percent. They don’t want to be critical! They’re merely pointing out: no one’s written a book about Paulson’s 2010 trades. Perhaps feeling a bit bad, or as though they’d gone too far, the Journal does charitably note that the $5 billion Paulson earned is a lot more than some people.

One way to view the size of Mr. Paulson’s $5 billion profit: It is nearly as much as the $6.4 billion that Forbes magazine last year estimated as the total net worth of Steven Cohen, the well-known head of $12 billion hedge-fund firm SAC Capital.

Uncalled for.

Trader Racks Up Epic Second Gain [WSJ]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

The investment in the former has made Paulson and Co over $1 billion since mid-2009 and the latter is on the up and up.

Citigroup was the fund’s most profitable bank holding last year, Paulson said in a letter to clients this month. “Citigroup demonstrates the upside potential of many of the restructuring investments we have added to our portfolio and our ability to generate above-average returns in large positions,” Paulson said in the letter. Paulson sold 82.7 million shares in New York-based Citigroup in the third quarter, leaving it with 424 million shares, according to filings. The bank was Paulson’s fourth- largest U.S. equity holding in the period.Paulson, which manages $35.9 billion, said it expects to see continued U.S. economic growth this year.

“We believe the U.S. economy is recovering and we anticipate continued growth,” the firm said in the letter.

Paulson Made More Than $1 Billion On Citigroup Stake [Bloomberg]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

According to Dow Jones: Paulson Advantage finished up 11% for the year (9% in December); Paulson Advantage Plus was up 17% (13% in December); Paulson Recovery was up 24% (14% in December); Paulson Enhanced was up 27% (11% in December); and the gold fund was up 35% (1.4% in December).

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

September 28, 2010: “If you don’t own a home buy one,” Paulson recommended. “If you own one home,* buy another one, and if you own two homes** buy a third and lend your relatives the money to buy a home.”

November 19, 2010: “John Paulson…just dropped $2.85 million on a two-bedroom spread at 641 Fifth Avenue’s Olympic Tower. ”

Like he’s going to live in some 2-bedroom shithole. Congratulations, long-lost cousin of John Paulson!

Hedge funder John Paulson picks up $3M Olympic Tower pad [The Real Deal]

*Which he does
**Ditto on that one.

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

According to Dow Jones, Paulson Advantage Plus posted a 2.55% return (it is now up 2.55% YTD), Paulson Advantage was up 1.72% (1.4% YTD), Paulson Recovery was up 0.5% (8% YTD), Paulson Partner Enhanced was up 7.36% (16% YTD), Paulson Credit Opportunities was up 3% (12.4% YTD), and the gold fund was up 3.57% (26% YTD). [DJ]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Who wants a nice ski lodge? Anybody interested in a place on the beach? Today’s your lucky day.

As this is the best time in 50 years to buy homes, Paulson advised a group at New York’s University Club, crowded into 3 separate dining rooms, to issue 30 year mortgages to buy a home as “your debt and interest payments get locked in at record lows, while the price of your home will rise.”

“If you don’t own a home buy one,” Paulson recommended. “If you own one home, buy another one, and if you own two homes buy a third and lend your relatives the money to buy a home.”

John Paulson: Sell Bonds; Buy Stocks; Double Digit Inflation Coming [Forbes via Portfolio]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Do not get your hopes up. This is completely unconfirmed. But:

ALLEGEDLY, we’re told, “Richard Gere is Jamie Dimon, Ed Harris is Hank Paulson, Ben Kingsley is Vikram Pandit and the role of Lloyd Blankfein goes to…Wallace Shawn.”

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker