NYSE: ABX Archive


Alexander Green: ‘Enormous Opportunity’ in Blue-Chip Gold Stocks

by Alexander Green, Investment U Chief Investment Strategist
Monday, March 25, 2013: Issue #1997

For the last two years, I’ve been encouraging investors to reduce their gold holdings. But today we have an enormous opportunity developing in blue-chip gold mining shares. And there is one easy way to play it.

Let me begin by detailing a few of the many reasons to have gold in your portfolio. There are seven key reasons that “the barbarous relic” has long been sought after as a store of value:

1. Unlike wheat, corn or rice, it is durable.

2. Unlike artwork, it is divisible.

3. Unlike lead or copper, it is convenient.

4. Unlike real estate, it is consistent.

5. Unlike paper, it possesses value in itself.

6. Unlike aluminum or copper, the supply is greatly limited.

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Gold Stocks: The Biggest Buying Opportunity in 25 Years

by Mike Kapsch, Investment U Research
Thursday, January 31, 2013

Don’t look now but gold stocks are cheap, really cheap.

Just take a look at this chart:

(*Proven gold reserves calculated with gold price at $1,655/oz.)

Today, a number of major gold miners trade for even less than the actual amount of gold they have on hand. That excludes probable reserves.

It also leaves out any other mineral reserves these companies have. For instance, Goldcorp produces silver, copper, lead and zinc – in addition to gold. Meanwhile, Yamana also mines silver, copper, zinc and molybdenum.

The bottom line: Right now could be one of the best buying opportunities you’ll ever find for some of the world’s biggest gold miners.

In fact, as The Wall Street Journal reports, “The price of an ounce of gold today would buy more stock in gold-mining companies than at any point in a quarter century.”

But what has kept gold stock valuations so low? And what makes gold stocks a worthy investment to consider today?

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Investing in Gold Royalty Companies

by Mike Kapsch, Investment U Research
Tuesday, August 7, 2012

I know, you’ve probably heard it a thousand times by now…

Investing in gold 10 years ago would’ve been one of the greatest decisions you could’ve ever made.

And it’s true.

Since August 2002, gold prices have exploded as much as 418%.

However, momentum has certainly slowed.

Over the last two years, gold prices have climbed 35%. Per year, that’s almost 7% slower than its average growth rate over the last decade. Still not horrible.

But the slowing growth has been tragic for gold mining companies

If you had simply invested in the two largest gold producing companies – Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) and Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) – over the last two years, you’d actually be down by an average of 20%.

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The Three Best Gold Stocks for 2012

by Luke Burgess, Investment U Research
Tuesday, March 6, 2012: Issue #1723

Gold Stocks

The gold mining industry is watching its production costs surge amid rising energy prices, inflation and increasing labor costs.

In 2012, Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX), the world’s largest primary gold producer, says its total cash operating cost could increase 13% to 22%. Meanwhile, Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM), another key gold stock, expects to see a 6%-to-14% rise in costs applicable to gold sales.

The industry is hoping that rising gold prices will buoy the hike in production costs. An annual survey of industry predictions by the London Bullion Market Association forecasts gold could top $2,000 an ounce this year.

The outlook – made by 26 leading precious metals analysts from the world’s largest bullion-dealing banks and trading houses – underscores bullish speculation of gold prices in the broader market.

All but two forecasters predicted that gold would surpass $1,900 an ounce this year, while 73% of those surveyed believe gold will top $2,000 an ounce.

Even though the expectations for gold prices are high, many of the larger gold mining stocks – including Barrick and Newmont – aren’t taking steps to significantly increase output in 2012. That’s partially because the gold industry has already ramped-up overall output over the past few quarters, and could be currently operating at near capacity.

Global gold production increased nearly 4% last year, reaching an all-time high. According to the World Gold Council, miners pulled 2,810 tonnes of gold from the ground last year – that’s nearly 100 million ounces, worth over $170 billion at current prices.

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A Green and Silver Holiday

by Carl Delfeld, Investment U Senior Analyst
Thursday, December 29, 2011

You should have seen the look of shock on their faces…

Christmas morning is always a big deal for my kids, who look forward to a boatload of gifts under the tree.

But this year was quite different. There were a few presents from friends and relatives, but only two from Santa – a small gift box and an envelope.

In the envelope were stock certificates for the Green Bay Packers.

In the box were some Silver Eagle coins.

What a Scrooge

Let me explain. We are big Packer fans (see my son’s book on the Packers) and I thought this was a chance to make them NFL owners – not just spectators. The bragging rights alone were worth the price.

I also thought it was time to launch what will hopefully become a lifelong habit of investing in coins and hard assets.

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A Bear Market in Trust: Good for Gold Stocks

by David Fessler, Investment U Senior Analyst
Monday, December 5, 2011

The world markets held their collective breaths over the political spectacle regarding raising the U.S. debt ceiling. Ultimately, a half-baked plan that essentially kicks most of the cans down the road emerged.

Our trust that politicians would come up with something productive went out the window. As a result, the credit rating of the U.S. Government was lowered. In response, central banks around the world stepped up their purchases of gold.

Trust is still the issue. Now it’s the European financial crisis that’s in the cross-hairs. That will keep a floor under gold prices through 2012, and we could even see the metal breach the $2,000 an ounce mark. Once that happens, the bull-run in gold will likely take off like a rocket.

You could play this rise in gold by buying physical bullion, but not everyone’s comfortable with having tens of thousands of dollars of gold coins or bars at home or even in a safety deposit box.

A better bet is a proxy for the metal itself. The easiest way to do that is via the popular SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSE: GLD). It holds the physical metal in a large underground vault in London. Shares are issued and are priced at roughly 10 percent of the current price of the metal.

The investment objective of GLD is to mirror the price of the physical metal. The custodian of the trust and the holder of the gold is HSBC Bank USA, N.A.

The Best Way to Play the Gold Boom: Gold Mining Stocks

While GLD rose 23 percent in the last year, many gold mining stocks underperformed the metal.

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Why Gold Mining Stocks Are About to Skyrocket…

by Mark Skousen, Investment U Research
Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Are you frustrated by the failure of gold mining stocks to keep up with gold?

I am.

While gold and silver are up 30 percent this year, the mining stocks continue to lag. Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) and Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM), the two largest gold producers in North America, are break-even for the year.

Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL), the country’s largest silver producer, is down 35 percent even though earnings have doubled.

The major South African gold stocks, like Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI) and AngloGold (NYSE: AU), are down for the year.

The Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) has been extremely volatile and is break-even for the year.

There are exceptions, but the overall trend is… well, trendless.

What gives?

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Gold Mining Stocks Still Look Undervalued

by Justin Dove, Investment U Executive Editor
Friday, August 12, 2011

It appears large-cap mining stocks haven’t quite caught up to the 2011 gold rush.

Stocks of companies like Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM), Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) and Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG) seem to be correlating with the S&P 500 just as much as they are with the price of gold. Even with margin requirements lowering gold from its record highs, the increased margins for these companies should push them higher.

Some could view this table and argue that gold mining stocks have little correlation to gold, and therefore aren’t good investments to track gold. While the table does show that they haven’t tracked gold very well this year, there’ll have to be a period of catch-up.

With gold prices so outlandish, the margins for these companies will be greatly increased over the next quarter. The question is, can gold margins remain this high?

Gold Prices Experiencing Parabolic Seizures

There’s a ton of news reporting that gold prices are going parabolic. It almost sounds like some sort of seizure.

But if you can, think back to algebra class. That big hump-shaped graph for the quadratic formula was called a parabola.

And what these technical analysts are saying is that gold’s price is increasing rapidly. Eventually, the graph will look like the hump of a camel. What we don’t know is where the peak will finally flatten out and when the prices will come back to earth.

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Global Supply Deficit Heating Up Copper Sector M&A Activity

by Matthew Carr, Investment U Research
Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Global Supply Deficit Heating Up Copper Sector M&A Activity

We’re all well aware by now that the world is facing a copper supply deficit. The price of the metal rose 30 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, London Metal Exchange (LME) copper inventories fell 25 percent – below what the world consumes in a single month.

Of course, the usual suspects are to blame: booming growth in the emerging and developing worlds. But the tight supply situation means there are plenty of opportunities for investors.

Demand, Demand, Demand…

Global demand for copper increased 8 percent in 2010, outpacing supply.

No surprise, China was the main driver behind the increases. Even U.S. copper exports to China surged 20 percent.

But the supply deficit is going to get worse.

This year, Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO) believes worldwide copper demand is going to increase at least 4.5 percent. That again outstrips new mine production output forecasts of 3 percent. This is why Barclays Capital believes the supply shortfall for 2011 will double from 2010 to 822,000 metric tons.

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Should You Start Hoarding Gold and Silver Right Now?

by Carl Delfeld, Investment U Senior Analyst
Thursday, December 2, 2010

Over the past decade, gold has trounced stocks across the board.

No big secret there, of course.

But the margin of the beating might surprise you…

Let’s get one thing straight, though: Despite the fact that gold prices recently broke through the $1,400 per ounce barrier and the mainstream media keeps referring to “all-time highs,” this is off the mark. Adjusted for inflation, the real gold price record was set 30 years ago at $2,318 per ounce.

Nevertheless, the current scorn over paper currencies and their assorted woes is fueling the gold rally. However, two key questions remain:

The Case for Gold’s Mojo

Let’s deal with Question #1 first by considering the catalysts that could keep the price of gold surging…

So what if – like me – you think that gold prices will keep chugging higher? You have a couple of options…

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