Hedge fund manager John Paulson continues to astonish. The latest is that he personally made $5 billion in 2010 on a massive bet on the price of gold.

How big was his bet? "His firm, Paulson & Company, owns securities that represent the rough equivalent of 96 metric tons of the metal. It is an outsize wager by almost any standard," notes the New York Times. "Mr. Paulson's firm does not actually own all that gold. But if it did, it would be sitting atop more gold than the Australian government. Mr. Paulson himself would be holding more gold than Bulgaria."

This continues a winning streak that has made Paulson the envy of the industry. He put himself on the map in 2007 by making a massive bet against sub-prime real estate loans at just the right time, earning $3 billion ($4 billion by some estimates). He then turned around and went long on banks. He made $1 billion on a Citigroup long bet apparently. And now his gold bet.

Truth be told, his gold fund was for much of the year the only true bright spot in his collection of funds, even though the other funds have recovered a bit.

Now, the big issue for Paulson may be when to reverse his bet. The price of gold has dipped a bit, and the bulls may be starting to think about the end of this historic price run-up. If Paulson correctly calls the top, his legend will only grow.

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