January 12, 2009
Dear Mining Insights Subscriber,
I have been looking for a way to be of service to our most loyal readers. Especially in this extremely difficult economy, we need trusted, experienced and knowledgeable advisors.
We are developing a way that I may be able to provide a unique service for a few of you: More on that later.
Let’s take a look back at 2008 and a look forward at 2009/2010 and see what we got right and what we missed, and how we should proceed in the coming years.
What we missed:
- We recommended a portfolio of mining shares in 2008 and they suffered large losses to date.
- We recommended too many high-risk companies with small treasuries that cannot sustain them through 2009.
- We overemphasized silver stocks – gold stocks did much better.
I apologize if this cost you money. While negative on the economy, I now believe even I was too early on the markets and most of 2008 was part of a different world that no longer exists. There were no bailouts. There were no multi-trillion dollar stimulus programs (yes, by the end of 2010 it will not be $775B; it will be more like $2.5T). I just thought things were horrible and getting worse; I didn’t know the roof was about to cave in. This was a time when TARP was merely a flexible, waterproof covering.
What we got right:
1. We warned of a recession and collapse in real estate in 2006 and in November 2007 warned that this would be the consensus view before September 2008.
2. We bought at the April and August lows; excellent timing for the first three quarters, and we did not buy in 2007 as many did at substantially higher prices.
3. We advised only 3-6% of portfolio total in mining shares.
4. While we advise holding core positions for the long-term, we recommended the sale of all other mining shares at the TSX Venture signal at 1444 in late September 2008. The index is now about half that. (Core positions include Animas, Canplats, Rare Element, Silver Wheaton, Intl Tower Hill, et al. per previous Mining Insights)
Where we are today:
Except for our core positions we still advise being out of the market.
It pains me say this, but while we have spoken about passing the early 1980’s double recession and the 1973/74 recession a while back, we have now made enough of a mess to say we have passed the Panic of 1907 and are fast approaching the Panic of 1893. While I am not a scholar in the field, the Panic of 1893 is considered this country’s most damaging depression with the exception of the Great Depression. This depression is starting to look in many ways like and echo the 1893 -1898 depression. It is unlikely that we will find a “bottom” for the economy before mid 2010 and if we keep putting the day of reckoning into the future like Japan did in 1990 (to today, continuing), we may see 11-16% unemployment and a bottom in 2013 or later.
My biggest question mark is how long this deflationary period will last. My work cannot see whether it ends in 3 months or lingers for 3 years. Certainly, whenever it ends, years of high inflation (hopefully not hyperinflation) will follow. The human costs, market costs and financing predicaments will be immense. Please don’t listen to those who think this is all going to pass by June to October of 2009. The next layoff response is still months away (and it may not be the last) and the best day for a laid-off person is the actual day they are laid-off. Months later, when jobs are still hard to find and money is scarcer, it is much worse.
We expect the markets to do better than the economy. There will be some significant rallies, and while we do not expect the November 2008 low in the general stock market will hold, it might.
One thing we said in 2008 that we still believe is that when we compare the TSX Venture Exchange Index highs between now and March 2010 with the average of the April and August 2008 TSX Venture lows where our purchases were made, the profit potential will be extraordinary.
For the time being we are in a continuing bear market in precious metals mining stocks that I expect to end by September 2010 (and possibly by August 2009). The bottom will be indicated in one of two ways. Either a bottoming formation will be made in 3 to 6 months or the GDX (Gold stock ETF) price of $34.46 will be exceeded.
What will work now:
- Buying for the long term at significant bottoms over the next 6-30 months
- Trading for two week to two month timeframes
- Equal dollar amount Long/Short investing
For those of you who would like my assistance, I may be associating with a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) over the next few months and hope to offer separately managed accounts (SMAs) through brokerage firms in each of the three winning strategy areas listed just above.
Please send a note to darrell@ResourceDevelopment.com for further info in this regard, as it develops.
I will be speaking at the Vancouver Cambridge House Conference Jan 25-26 and look forward to seeing some of you there. Visit Cambridge House