Here is an interesting story that came down the Dow Jones feed this afternoon:

=WSJ BLOG/Market Beat: Big Funds Sticking With Gold

  (This story has been posted on The Wall Street Journal Online's Market Beat
blog at blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat.)

   Posted by Dave Kansas


  They still love Old Yeller, the barbarous relic.

  Continued unrest in the Middle East and a weakening dollar are combining to
push gold prices higher, rising to $1,372 an ounce on the Nymex. Also boosting
gold: the persisting big bets by big institutions and hedge funds.

  Looking at recent 13F filings that update holdings as of Dec. 31, most of the
big gold bettors are holding firm. The biggest positions in the SPDR Gold Trust
ETF, according to LionShares:

  -Paulson & Co. - 31.5 million shares (unchanged from Sept. 30, 2010)

  -Northern Trust Investments (NTRS) - 14.7 million shares (up 1.7 million)

  -BlackRock Advisors (BLK) - 8.2 million (up 665,000)

  -Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MS) - 5.9 million (up 86,000)

  -J.P. Morgan Securities (JPM) - 4.9 million (down 1.8 million)

  -Soros Fund Management - 4.7 million (up 25,000)

  Along with J.P. Morgan Securities, some other big players are leaving GLD
behind:

  -UBS Securities (UBS) - 391,000 (down 2.5 million)

  -Franklin Templeton (BEN) - zero (down from 2.3 million)

  -Shumway Capital - 330,000 (down 1.8 million)

  -Harbinger Capital - 2.3 million (down 750,000)

  LionShares reports that net positions in GLD are up 3.2 million shares,
according to its most-recent data, with 197.7 million shares held.


  -For continuously updated news from The Wall Street Journal, see WSJ.com at
http://wsj.com/.


  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  02-15-11 1328ET

  Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.