Bank of America looms large in the minds of hedge fund managers and traders right now. While high-frequency traders are pondering the stock's ability to take over as their trading darling, replacing the reverse-split Citigroup, other institutions are pondering the banks prospects as more of a buy and hold play.

Some very big hedge funds have some decisions to make. One CIO, who happens to be long the stock, offers an interesting rundown of some recent activity. Some of the brightest stars have sold out of their position. This group includes the likes of David Tepper, who has reportedly liquidated his entire position. He once owned more than 47 million shares. Leon Cooperman as well is said to have exited his position. But there are some bulls to offer another perspective.

Michael Price, for example, seems to be sticking with the stock. This brings us to none other than John Paulson, who has taken his lumps this year with his two big Advantage funds. The conventional wisdom is that he's been bailing out.

"He's been selling since Q1 2010, at which point he owned nearly 168 million shares. What his 13F says may not be important though, since it appears he has been selling shares since the end of the reporting period, June 30, as well."

The dust from the economic crisis will settle at some point, and once it does, we may get a truer sense of  what Mr. Market really thinks.

For more:
- here's the commentary via Seeking Alpha

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