In investing, you don’t make the big money by buying cheap stocks—frequently, these things destroy your capital. The market always pays for growth and in a no growth world, you must look further afield for new themes. Unfortunately, many of the best themes are priced for this growth. Who doesn’t realize that the US population is rapidly aging? Or that technology will race ahead? ... Read More

Yesterday, Fibrek Inc. (FBK: Canada) received an unsolicited takeover offer for its shares. This takeover substantially undervalues the company. As this offer is unsolicited, there’s a reasonable chance that the acquirer sweetens the offer in the next few months. Unfortunately, I think the best case scenario is that shareholders get a few pennies more. While you wait for those pennies, Mercer International (MERC: NASDAQ) ... Read More

I apologize in advance for posting a currency piece on this site. The Mongolian Togrog is illiquid and difficult to acquire, but it is the first currency that I’ve seen that has the potential to double or triple in price over the next decade. While you wait, you make around 15% in interest. If you know anything about carry-trading, you’ll probably find a way ... Read More

Over the years, I’ve invested in all sorts of companies around the world. Some investments have worked, some haven’t. At all times, I try to learn from my mistakes—the more expensive, the more memorable. If you do not learn, you will continue making the same mistakes. Which brings me to a comment from a successful friend, also smarting from Barclays Bank PLC iPath Inverse ... Read More

I’ll be quick as there’s a lot of stuff to follow today. As long time readers know, I have a short position in Barclays Bank PLC iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Index Futures ETN (VXX: AMEX). It is a product structurally designed to decay to zero. The problem with being short VXX is that from time to time, it spikes substantially. When that happens, even a ... Read More

Accounting is backwards looking—as investors, we have to be forward looking. That said, past numbers are usually a good starting point for estimating future earnings. Numbers only tell you part of the story—the reason why the numbers are how they are, is often much more important than the actual numbers. Unless you can understand the moving pieces involved in the final numbers, you cannot ... Read More

Back in June, I wrote about Apex Minerals’ Wiluna mine (AXM: Australia). At the time, it was a struggling restart of an old underground mine. I felt that after a number of false starts, the company was taking the right steps to finally achieve profitability. The mill was working at half of capacity so the expensive stuff was paid for. The company just needed to get ... Read More

When I was in China this summer, I was a bit disturbed by the bathroom facilities in the rural areas—the communal poo rag had not yet been replaced by toilet paper. Even in tourist locations like the Great Wall, the restrooms had a rag attached to the wall to be used for wiping your ass. I had to ask our tour guide for confirmation ... Read More

It’s time for the year end position review. As you can see, it’s been a good year for the home team. My strategy of focusing on a small handful of companies has once again paid off with a lot of winners.  I would have liked to have made more investments, but you can only work with what the market gives you. Throughout the year, ... Read More