March 7, 2010

Trust Your Gut


I had owned the stock for years. I liked the business, I liked the assets and in particular, I really liked the CEO. He was a hard worker and he had the bags under his eyes to prove it. He lived and breathed his job. I remember seeing him at an industry party with the same bottle of warm beer for hours. He wasn’t Read More
Categories: General
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March 7, 2010

What To Look For In Small Company Management


When you are investing in a mature company, you are investing in a brand. You are investing in a business. For the most part, unless the guy running it is a criminal, it just doesn’t really matter that much who is in charge. Even if the CEO quits, there is a strong pool of talent to choose from and it is unlikely that a Read More
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March 7, 2010

Mining-worse than airlines


Quick, what’s the world’s worst investment sector? Airlines? Autos? Biotech? Give up? Junior mining is way worse. Airlines limp on for years in quasi-bankruptcy—so do autos. A few companies like Toyota even do well. Biotech companies sometimes find something interesting. Even if your junior mining company finds something, you still will probably lose money. Junior mining companies span the universe from a guy with Read More
Categories: General
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February 16, 2010

Mining Services Part II


In Part I, I made the case for mining services companies and in particular for those that are focused on greenfield projects. Now, I want to talk about two companies I own, Aeroquest (AQL: Canada) and Energold (EGD: Canada). To summarize what I wrote in Part I, the mining industry is not spending enough to replace annual depletion, much less grow production. The majority Read More
Categories: Investments
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