hedge funds making big bets on gold

By Joseph Checkler
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Hedge fund firms Paulson & Co. and Lone Pine Capital made big bets on gold during the first quarter, becoming the No. 1 and No. 2 shareholders, respectively, in the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) exchange-traded fund, according to regulatory filings.

Paulson & Co. - run by John Paulson, who had already been beefing up his exposure to gold companies - bought 31.5 million shares of the ETF during the first quarter, according to its mandatory end-of-first-quarter holdings report with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That stake would be worth more than $2.8 billion if Paulson still holds all those shares at present.

Full article at http://www.smartmoney.com/breaking-news/on/?story=ON-20090518-000493-1519

My comment:
Having read the article I can't help but wonder why those hedge funds have not been buying gold on Comex and insisting on delivery. I wonder if behind the scenes they have received some friendly advice?