We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
Gold Through $960!
Comments
-
-
Are we talking real gold (where you hand it over to man with the real gun), or virtual gold (where the man with your cash legs it to Rio at some point), or sort-of gold (where the man with the baked beans charges you umpty gazzilion quidsworth for a tin), or psuedo-gold (where if you haven't the skills to grow your own food puts you in squatsville)..?0
-
I am taking an opportunist punt on Meryl Lynch Gold and General until I switch my Prot rights pension to H&L SIPP in Oct as the Meryl Lynch fund happens to be one available to me from a limited selection.
It is working out well at present.0 -
Deleted_User wrote: »Totally agree; the bubble's going to burst for sure. Like I said in my last post; it'll probably peak somewhere between $1100/$1200 during this year; and then plummet.:eek:
The link/article I posted recently is quite key. I don't know where Gold is going to go but at this point in time everything is positive for gold (obviously volatility will continue).
The key point is that gold hasn't really spiked and it will be this significant spike which will signal the end.
cloud_dogPersonal Responsibility - Sad but True
Sometimes.... I am like a dog with a bone0 -
I just got this by email, which has an interesting viewpoint regarding the mining stocks. The usual caveats and DYOR apply, as always!
In a gold bull market, you'd expect the profits on gold stocks to be a multiple of those to be had from just owning gold bullion.
That leverage comes from simple arithmetic: Once a gold producer covers its production costs, each 1% rise in the price of gold can translate into a 5%, 10%, or even richer improvement in the bottom line. For Barrick, the world's largest gold producer with 125 million ounces in proven and probable reserves, even a $1 increase in the price of gold can mean big money.
And so we see that between January 2002 and last week, gold stocks gained 612%. So far, so good.
Yet, gold stocks have stalled in recent months;between August 1, 2007, and February 21, 2008, gold rose 42%, but gold stocks were up just 37%.
What's going on? Is it that, in their concern over the broader equity markets, people have forgotten gold stocks are associated with gold? Or is something else at work here? The answer is "something else."
While there are several reasons why gold stocks are lagging, the true explanation reaches much farther into the past. It's that the managements of the gold producers have only recently escaped the state of fear they operated under during gold's 20-year bear market.
As recently as 2002, gold was trading at $280. Against that number was a production cost (called "cash costs") of around $250 per ounce for a typical company. That cost figure is about as low as the number could go.
As gold began its upward move in 2002, it did so in an industry still in mothballs and still run by managers whose primary skills were cost cutting and frugality. Managers of gold companies were skeptical of gold's rise, cautious of hiring new employees, and hesitant to build new mines.
Once the turning point came – when management finally realized the bull market was for real – the industry scrambled to catch up... which meant hiring and training lots of people, buying or refurbishing the equipment needed to reestablish production, upgrading facilities, and building expensive new mills.
The rebuilding of the gold mining industry really only began over the past few years. As would be expected, the costs associated with the rebuild sent big hits to the bottom line, resulting in ugly financial metrics that repel institutional investors.
We believe now that the biggest costs related to restarting their industry are behind them, the big gold companies are poised to take off. The proof should come in rapidly improving profit margins... which we're already seeing in the quarterly reports now being released.
Just last week, Goldcorp announced fourth-quarter profit nearly quadrupled over the same quarter the year before. Kinross Gold announced that it, too, had a record quarter. Meanwhile, Barrick reported that net profit for 2007 was 28% ahead of 2006. Barrick is also feeling sufficiently flush (and optimistic) that it's buying out Rio Tinto's 40% interest in the Cortez Hills joint venture for $1.7 billion in cash.
It won't be long before other investors see the improving bottom lines of the big gold companies. The investment herd is coming, and it's coming soon. So how do we profit?
First and foremost, you want to be moving into the established producing companies right now. All of the big producers I just mentioned should do well.
Secondly, you should seriously consider buying several of the higher-quality junior exploration stocks. These are the companies that find the gold and partner up with large producers to build and operate the mines.
History has proven that, absent an exciting discovery story, the big gold stocks must get in gear before investor sentiment can reach the critical mass needed to ignite the "juniors."
History also shows that as profitable as the big gold companies are in a bull market, returns on the juniors can blow those away. During the big gold stock bull market in the mid-1990s, for instance, Cartaway Resources gained over 25,000%. Arequipa Resources gained 5,692%. The list of thousand-percent winners goes on an on.
The missing element of the recent gold rally has been that, until recently, the majors didn't have enough free cash to make those acquisitions. That is about to change. As the cash flows I mentioned above enter the coffers of the majors, we expect those companies to go on a spending spree. This means big buyout premiums for junior explorers.
I will also say that I have never been more bullish than I am now on the gold mining sector as a whole, especially well-run exploration companies.
David Galland
David Galland is the managing director of Casey Research, publishers of Doug Casey's monthly International Speculator advisory.In case you hadn't already worked it out - the entire global financial system is predicated on the assumption that you're an idiot:cool:0 -
Does anyone know if ML Gold & General has a significant interest in juniors, or just the big guys?
Same for JPM Natural Resources?0 -
mr_fishbulb wrote: »Does anyone know if ML Gold & General has a significant interest in juniors, or just the big guys?
Same for JPM Natural Resources?
ML are invested mostly in the big guys - I was just looking at their portfolio this morning. However, it was mentioned in their last accounts statement that they were looking at some of the "juniors". E.g. An unquoted mining company in Siberia?In case you hadn't already worked it out - the entire global financial system is predicated on the assumption that you're an idiot:cool:0 -
mr_fishbulb wrote: »Does anyone know if ML Gold & General has a significant interest in juniors, or just the big guys?
Same for JPM Natural Resources?
Investec Gold is currently outperforming Meyrl Lynch Gold and General
http://www.h-l.co.uk/fund_research/security_details/sedol/B12B5S0.hl
It may be that Investec has less prominence for the big guys.0 -
0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 349.9K Banking & Borrowing
- 252.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453K Spending & Discounts
- 242.8K Work, Benefits & Business
- 619.6K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.4K Life & Family
- 255.7K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards