Paulson on Financial Buying Binge

After profiting hugely from shorting financial stocks last year as the sector tanked, hedge fund guru John Paulson has been buying up beaten-down financials this summer.

Paulson has bought a stake of about 2% in Citigroup, the New York Post reports, citing sources. “One source said that Paulson sees Citi’s shares trading closer to its book value of $5 to $7 a share, and that he has been scooping up shares in the bank over the past several weeks,” the Post stated, adding that a Paulson spokesperson declined to comment.

Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Paulson bought 168 million shares of Bank of America in the second quarter, as well as 14.9 million shares of Capital One Financial Corp., 35 million shares of Regions Financial Corp., and smaller stakes in Fifth Third Bancorp and Goldman Sachs Group. He also made large investments in mining companies that deal with gold and in gold exchange-traded funds, the Journal reported, noting that Paulson had previously said he was bullish on gold.