Whale Watching: Gold Getting Big Backers

The price of gold rebounded sharply on Wednesday as the unexpected move by the Federal Reserve to buy up to $300 billion worth of long-dated U.S. government debt rejuvenated the appeal of this precious metal as a hedge against inflation.

Does the action in gold surprise you?

It probably doesn’t surprise some of the biggest names on Wall Street. Hedge fund whales are making bullish bets on gold and have been for a while – and they’ve been doing it despite the fact that this precious metal has proven itself to be a long-term loser since 1970.

For your consideration -- John Paulson. As Fast Money series producer John Melloy first told you in his blog, the hedge fund manager, just bought a stake in AngloGold Ashanti, a South African gold miner. And he already holds a $450 million stake in Kinross Gold Corp .

Then there’s David Einhorn – he reported stakes in the SPDR Gold Shares ETF and the Mkt. Vector Gold Miners ETF last month.

With two big whales swimming in these waters, should you trade in their wake?

If you’re going to play gold, I think you need to be in it long-term, says Joe Terranova. It’s something to place in your portfolio and hold.

Gold is for diversification, echoes Pete Najarian. Never chase it.

And this is what gold does, adds Guy Adami. It whips around and quite frankly more people will lose money trading gold than make money.

What do you think? Tell us now!

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Trader disclosure: On Mar. 18th, 2008, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money traders; Seymour Owns (AAPL), (BAC), (EEM), (FXI), (GG); Seymour Is Short (X); Adami Owns (AGU), (C), (GS), (INTC), (MSFT), (NUE), (BTU); Terranova Owns (AMZN), (BP), (KCE), (JPM), (X), (POT), (WYNN), (XBI), (HESS), (INTC), (BRCM), (DELL), (JOYG), (FXC), (XOM); Terranova Owns (COP) Calls; Terranova Owns (DIS) & (DIS) Calls; Terranova Owns (AMGN) & (AMGN) Puts; Terranova Owns MACI Oil Futures; Terranova Owns (IBM) Spread; Najarian Owns (C) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (FCX) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (GDX); Najarian Owns (GD) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (GLD) Put Spread; Najarian Owns (JPM) & (JPM) Calls; Najarian Owns (MS) & (MS) Calls; Najarian Owns (MSFT) & (MSFT) Calls; Najarian Owns (ORCL) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (TGT) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (X) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (WFC) & (WFC) Puts; Najarian Owns (XHB) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (WDC) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (SMH) Calls