So, I’m chatting with my good friend “Man in Black” and he lets me in on a bit of a chart secret; the Chinese Renminbi (CNY) is starting to look awfully similar to the Japanese Yen (JPY) right before it put in a massive move. Long time readers will recall that after stalking it for a few months, I captured the inflection point in the Read More

On Friday, Mercer International (MERC:NASDAQ) spiked 10%. It is now quite near to the price when I purchased it, and I think the time has come to exit this investment. There is nothing wrong with the stock, but the thesis just hasn’t played out as I thought it would–or at least not in my timeframe as an investment. One day, there will be an Read More

Gold means lots of things to lots of people. To some, it is a store of value, to others; it is a barbarous relic from a long-ago era of archaic finance. To some, it is a day-trading product, to others; it is meant for jewelry and little else. The issue with gold is that it has lots of personalities. Those personalities are the embodiment Read More

Over the last two days, I’ve pondered the extreme stupidity of the European Central Bankers. I know that I wrote about them on Sunday, but I simply cannot get over how their actions have forever changed the face of the banking system. In the past, scared depositors did nothing. They were stupid enough to trust their governments. They never will again. Going forward, a Read More

  If there is one inexorable rule of investing, it is that over time, governments will do everything and anything needed to increase their tax revenues—even if it means sacrificing the moral high ground that they previously defended during election time. Nowhere has this appeared more obvious to me than when it relates to internet gambling. When its election time, the politicos all claim Read More

Yesterday, I sold all of my Titan Machinery (TITN: NASDAQ) for almost a 40% gain in four months. I like the company, like the business model and think it’s a long term winner. At today’s valuation, it’s not particularly expensive or cheap. “Fairly valued” is probably the phrase that I would use. Throughout my career, I have made a whole lot of money buying Read More

All paper currencies are in bad shape. Some are worse off than others. In the race to the bottom, they will all win. We’ve now witnessed nearly a 10% drop in the Japanese Yen in a very short period of time. It was previously overvalued. It is still overvalued. The economic fundamentals of Japan are not good—however, currencies are political. I cannot imagine that Read More

It has been 10 months since I posted some position updates (I have meant to do this quarterly) and I thought it was useful to at least review where we are and what’s happening with the companies that I have mentioned on this site. AAG.V Price at Mention $0.56    Current Price $0.16     -71% Change Clearly I got this one wrong. I’m done with small Read More

I have always been of the opinion that when you buy something as a trade, unless you want to own it long term, you shouldn’t be greedy. Book them when you have them…. Clearly with Boart Longyear (BLY:AU) I have them… I sold most of mine last night. A 50% gain in three weeks (not including a very healthy dividend payment along the way) Read More