Paulson's Paulson & Co. Remains Mum on Gold in Q3; Likes Pharmas Again, Drops Out of Viacom

John Paulson's Paulson & Co. hedge fund made some notable moves through the third-quarter of 2012. Paulson got soft on gold, selling some of his holdings in miners while simply maintaining stakes in SPDR Gold Trust, Agnico-Eagle, and others. The move on gold appears to be a good one, with the metal and stocks tied to the value having a rough October into November. Gold December contracts last traded to the lower-end of $1,700 per ounce, from highs near $1,800 per ounce at the end of September.

Paulson appears to be favoring pharma companies, communications, and entertainment, adding stakes of MetroPCS, Leap Wireless, and Jazz Pharma, while boosting AMC Networks, Gaylord Entertainment, and Life Technologies holdings. He also shifted out of Viacom, no doubt due to waning interest in "Jersey Shore."

Finally, Paulson exited Baxter and JPMorgan, two steadfast names. JPMorgan showed some peaking at the end of the quarter, while Baxter has made a little run higher since.

New Stakes
Amerigroup Corp. (NYSE: AGP) new 1,000,000 share position
Jazz Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq: JAZZ) new 1,000,000 share position
Leap Wireless International, Inc. (Nasdaq: LEAP) new 7,011,400 share position
MetroPCS Communications (NYSE: PCS) new 23,800,000 share position
Nexen, Inc. (NYSE: NXY) new 6,050,000 share position
Par Pharmaceutical Cos., Inc. (NYSE: PRX) new 615,000 share position
Robbins & Myers, Inc. (NYSE: RBN) new 1,000,000 share position
Shire pic (Nasdaq: SHPG) new 121,590 share position

Raised Stakes
AMC Networks (Nasdaq: AMCX) raised from 5,750,000 shares to 5,930,000 shares
Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) raised from 1,013,600 shares to 2,100,000 shares
Gaylord Entertainment Co. (NYSE: GET) raised from 2,000,000 shares to 3,800,000 shares
GenOn Energy (NYSE: GEN) raised from 31,571,989 shares to 44,071,989 shares
Grifols, S.A. (Nasdaq: GRFS) raised from 107,575 shares to 374,088 shares
Hillshire Brands (NYSE: HSH) raised from 2,963,808 shares to 4,260,366 shares
International Tower Hill Mines (NYSE: THM) raised from 5,103,500 shares to 8,949,654 shares
Life Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq: LIFE) raised from 4,977,792 shares to 13,513,800 shares
Post Holdings (NYSE: POST) raised from 830,300 shares to 1,230,300 shares

Lowered Stakes
American Capital Ltd (Nasdaq: ACAS) lowered from 8,584,700 shares to 5,384,700 shares
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. ADS (NYSE: AU) lowered from 1,125,044 shares to 995,544 shares
Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) lowered from 4,200,000 shares to 2,200,000 shares
CNO Financial Group (NYSE: CNO) lowered from 22,769,906 shares to 22,511,400 shares
Delphi Automotive PLC (NYSE: DLPH) lowered from 32,264,336 shares to 25,089,755 shares
Gold Fields Ltd. ADS (NYSE: GFI) lowered from 231,074 shares to 84,060 shares
Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG) lowered from 31,344,200 shares to 19,539,307 shares
Howard Hughes (NYSE: HHC) lowered from 572,900 shares to 315,000 shares
InterDigital, Inc. (Nasdaq: IDCC) lowered from 4,000,000 shares to 3,000,000 shares
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) lowered from 37,649,200 shares to 37,645,600 shares
NovaCopper, Inc. (NYSE: NCQ) lowered from 5,995,077 shares to 5,921,608 shares
POPULAR (Nasdaq: BPOP) lowered from 5,329,996 shares to 5,208,948 shares
Rock-Tenn Co. Cl A (NYSE: RKT) lowered from 1,931,695 shares to 1,310,000 shares
XL Group (NYSE: XL) lowered from 5,156,400 shares to 1,200,000 shares

Liquidated Stakes
AboveNet (NYSE: ABVT) liquidated
Baxter International, Inc. (NYSE: BAX) liquidated
Covidien (NYSE: COV) liquidated
Goodrich Corp. (NYSE: GR) liquidated
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) liquidated
Quest Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: QSFT) liquidated
Viacom (NYSE: VIA-B) liquidated

Maintained Stakes
Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM) maintained 1,016,600 share stake
Allied Nevada Gold (NYSE: ANV) maintained 1,509,221 share stake
Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) maintained 915,000 share stake
Boise (NYSE: BZ) maintained 7,016,300 share stake
Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) maintained 2,100,000 share stake
Caesar's Entertainment (Nasdaq: CZR) maintained 12,372,835 share stake
Cooper Industries Cl A (NYSE: CBE) maintained 1,000,000 share stake
Dex One Corp. (NYSE: DEXO) maintained 3,676,394 share stake
Fairpoint Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: FRP) maintained 998,895 share stake
Felcor Lodging Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FCH) maintained 5,000,000 share stake
HCA Holdings (NYSE: HCA) maintained 7,950,000 share stake
IAMGOLD Corp. (NYSE: IAG) maintained 3,881,900 share stake
Mylan, Inc. (Nasdaq: MYL) maintained 24,503,400 share stake
NovaGold Resources, Inc. (NYSE: NG) maintained 35,970,518 share stake
Prestige Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PBH) maintained 850,000 share stake
Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: RAH) maintained 1,500,000 share stake
Randgold Resources Ltd (Nasdaq: GOLD) maintained 930,502 share stake
Resolute Forest Products (NYSE: RFP) maintained 3,300,000 share stake
Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI) maintained 2,100,000 share stake
SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) maintained 21,837,552 share stake
State Bank Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: STBZ) maintained 1,262,200 share stake
Strategic Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: BEE) maintained 1,640,000 share stake
Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE: SHO) maintained 246,458 share stake
Supermedia (Nasdaq: SPMD) maintained 2,607,504 share stake
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) maintained 3,491,000 share stake

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