Investment/Trends

Cash in on the Secret Sigma Strategy

"Sigma consists of three different phases of growth. It starts with a modest and shallow growth. After a certain point, growth accelerates rapidly. Then growth starts to decline and the cycle reaches a mature stage, where there is little to no growth. In short, the pattern is this sequence of three different speeds of growth: slow-fast-slow. Growth in earnings and sales also follow that same predictable pattern. The sales of products, for example, will eventually slow down and reach a plateau after potential buyers have bought what they wanted. The key to making money in the financial markets with Sigma is to find companies that are just beginning to experience rapid growth." Continue reading →

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Mining Finance Drops 56% In June Quarter

"Mining companies continue to struggle to raise capital as a new report shows mining finance dropped 56% in the second quarter. Falling metal prices, nervous banks and risk-averse investors are the main reasons behind the lack of capital, said IntierreRMG. The company said that second quarter finance figures totalled $2.28 billion compared to $5.16 billion in the first quarter of 2013 and $6.12 billion in last year’s comparative quarter. The report stated that producers were the hardest hit with the fall of almost 65% from the largest companies; they saw financing drop from $3.71 billion to $1.24 billion." Continue reading →

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World’s top 10 gold deposits

"Today, we present the world's Top 10 producing Gold Mines. Compiling them was not easy because there are a few ways they can be ranked. A top 10 list can by compiled by annual production, or by the size of proven and probable reserves, or more generally by their measured, indicated & inferred resources (which include reserves). We ultimately decided to rank them based on the overall size of gold resources to give the viewer a truer sense of the deposits size and potential. Please enjoy our Top 10 List as we begin with the smallest and work our way to Number #1." Continue reading →

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A Treasure Hunt Within a Treasure Hunt

"There are thousands of mineral exploration companies, most of which have nothing and will never discover anything. Most of the money these companies raise in the market will be poured into the ground, and even if management is honest and competent, the odds are long against it ever doing any good. This makes identifying companies likely to make a significant, economic discovery before they do so extremely difficult—and hence enormously profitable. But when an exploration company announces rich enough drill results, share prices go through the roof. Pennies turn into dollars. Dollars turn into fortunes." Continue reading →

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Old Assets Revitalized by the Energy Boom

"The 'shale gale' energy boom is pumping billions of new dollars into otherwise old, worn-out economies. The results are stunning. For example, near Youngstown, the French company Vallourec has built a new plant to process oilfield tubular goods. The gigantic facility cost over $650 million to build. Now it cranks out 350,000 tons of steel oil pipe and related products per year. Even more impressive, this is no dirty, grimy old industrial shed, like those that formerly dotted the region for much of the past century. No, this Vallourec site is almost a 'clean room' environment, filled with high-tech jobs that pay impressive wages." Continue reading →

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3 Gold Facts You Can’t Ignore

"You might find these first two facts exciting. A potential gold comeback could mean a new trade—or even new life for an old position you had left for dead. But before you clear out a spot in your portfolio for a brand new gold position, there’s one last fact you must know. Out of everything I’ve already told you today, this piece of information is far and away the most important truth about gold today. Fact No. 3 is simple. It’s true. And it trumps every other analysis or assumption about gold. The third fact is this: Even as futures perk up this morning, gold remains stuck in a painful downtrend." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Moms & pops to be skinned again

"The idea is to buy low and sell high. Poor old mom and pop can't seem to get it right. They buy high and sell low. Dalbar, an outfit that tracks investment performance, calculates that $100,000 invested 20 years ago would have grown to $484,000 if you just left it in the S&P 500 and did nothing else. But the typical investor waited too long to buy and then sold out when stocks went down. At the end of 2012, he had only $230,000. And now that stocks have been run up - by the Fed's easy money policies - for 5 years, Mom and Pop can't help themselves. They're back in the stock market...ready to be skinned again." Continue reading →

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Doug French: So Where’s the Hyperinflation Already?

"The industry has shrunk to only about 7,000 institutions from 18,000 in 1985. The numbers won’t be growing as the FDIC is not issuing new bank charters. Proposed capital and regulatory requirements are forcing small to mid-sized banks to sell. Larger banks can’t grow organically so they are ready to buy. Lashley believes the industry will shrink further to 3,000 banks. While Lashley insists the industry is in much better shape than people think, a full five years after the financial crisis there are still 612 banks on the FDIC’s 'problem bank' list. None of this is bullish for increased lending." Continue reading →

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The Tax-Evaders Who Never Make The News

"You'll never hear peep about another group of tax evaders. This group flies under the radar every time. You see, when The Federal Reserve cranks out fresh copies of Bernanke Bucks, someone always gets their hands on the money first. These are the evaders of the insidious 'Inflation Tax'. Think Wall Street, The Defense War-Making Industry, and the multitude of crony companies that receive government subsidies. They take their hot-off-the-press Bernanke Bucks and start spending them (bidding up prices). These are the lucky 'winners.' For they have found a way to evade the Inflation Tax. The rest of us suckers get stuck with the bill." Continue reading →

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The Detroit (or New American) Yard Sale … Coming to a City Near You

"I can’t help but wonder what America’s auto barons like the Dodges, Firestones and especially Edsel and Eleanor Ford – whose donations and charitable support over the decades has created the cultural gem that is the Detroit Institute of Art – would think of their art being auctioned off to pay government debt. Will Disney one day own Yosemite National Park or Old Faithful? Will Six Flags own Mt. Rushmore? Will hedge funds buy up tracks of national forests and manage them like they would manage other timber assets? Those are legitimate questions, given a federal debt so large it cannot possibly ever be repaid." Continue reading →

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