These are from all over the silver and gold (and energy) map:
- As price gains for silver outpace those of gold this past week, shares of several miners also are topping the percentage rise charts. Endeavour Silver (AMEX: EXK; TSX: T.EDR, Stock Forum), featured in Ticker Trax this month after I met with the company’s CEO, has gained more than 48% in five days. CEO Bradford Cooke’s modus operandi for the Mexican miner: searching for neglected or undercapitalized properties in that country’s Sierra Madre silver belts. Also helping Endeavour this week: our neighbor and sometimes lunch companion here in Tiburon, Calif., Jim Dines, featured the company in his service The Dines Letter. (I do not own shares of Endeavour.)
- This just in from Doug Casey’s Las Vegas conference: Keynote speaker Robert M. Friedland discussed his two publicly traded companies, Ivanhoe Mines of Mongolia and Ivanhoe Energy (TSX: T.IE, Stock Forum; NASDAQ: IVAN). Because of a snow storm (see below), I was forced to postpone a scheduled interview with Mr. Friedland (pictured here) at his home in Tiburon-Belvedere, Calif., after the Vegas show. (My family and I also live in Tiburon.) Robert one year ago took on the reins of CEO at Ivanhoe Energy, the heavy oil company. The company’s activities in Ecuador, Canada, California and China are, Robert Friedland tells me today, “worth watching.” Investors are starting to feel the same way. The company’s shares have risen more than 60% in the past two weeks. I will be rescheduling my interview with Robert Friedland for sometime this spring.
- More from the Casey conference from Karen Roche, president of Streetwise Gold Report, who was on hand along with my good friend publisher and winemaker Gordon Holmes, who operates Lookout Ridge Winery on the Oakville Grade separating California’s Napa and Sonoma. Please excuse the elliptical phrasing: “Gold going up due to dollar devalue … gold mining stocks more upside … gold is securing wealth; equities build wealth; you need equities in your portfolio … oil also going up … alternative energy: watch for good companies as most won't be profitable … uranium will have its day again … best speaker was professor from George Mason University’s Thomas Rustici, who got a standing O.” Rustici’s talk was called “Tearing Down the Wall.” Rustici, by the way, used to run a grocery store and now writes about free-market economies. He is pictured here. Thanks Karen!
- OK. So I was snowed in this past weekend with Jason Hommel of Silver Stock Report. Seriously. My family and I, snowboarding at Tahoe in California’s Sierra, were staying with Jason and his family at their cabin in Homewood when the storm delivered almost two feet of glorious powder. It was blissful. The trip home, however, was delayed. (See attached photo from Jason’s brother, Ted.) So I was a willing and captive audience for Jason, who sells silver one-ounce rounds via SeekBullion.com and other venues. Like Jason, I see silver’s gains outpacing those of most precious metals as commodity prices resume their appreciation in coming weeks, months and years. Jason Hommel and members of his family, including his mom, Joyce of Mom’s eBay Silver Shop, are adept at buying physical silver in large amounts and minting them in custom designs that feature a range of colorful one-ounce “rounds” -- 99.9% silver.
Some of Jason Hommel’s tips on buying actual silver for the basement, or the lockbox in the garage, include finding a coin shop dealer: find-your-local-coin-shop.com. If you are into size, as in tens of thousands of ounces and more, you can try wexfordcoin.com, a major "dealer's dealer" on the East Coast.
“Amark.com is the largest silver distributor, with a minimum transaction size of $50,000, but has frequently run out of silver recently, showing the tightness in the silver market,” Jason told me as we all watched the film “Idiocracy,” and the snow kept falling and falling.”
I asked Jason what happens when silver has quintupled in price, more, and the astute buyer of junk silver (90% silver and the rest copper -- such as old Mercury and Berber USA dimes), sterling silver (92.5%) and 99.99 fine silver (bars, rounds, sovereign coins), want to sell. “Well, even now, it is easy to sell any amount of silver, as it is its own currency,” he said between sips of blueberry smoothie something-or-other. “Amark, for example, is capitalized enough to buy nearly any sized order, as they are Johnson Matthey's primary dealer to deal with the public.”
Jason added that in orders of 25,000 to 250,000 ounces, “You can sell directly to Johnson Matthey, who will not deal with the public. Johnson Matthey is the largest refinery in the United States and can always buy silver in large size, because they can always refine any kind of silver into 1,000 oz. silver bars to sell them to the COMEX via futures.”
Warren Buffett the investor, Jason said as we (and the kids) all started on the banana chips and packaged strawberries, “apparently managed to sell silver, his entire 130 million ounces that he purchased in 1997. . . . Thus, there is always somebody big enough to buy however much silver you want to sell.”
I’ll have more about silver in coming days, weeks and months.
In the meantime, I am off to an investment conference in Nassau, where I will be searching for Planetary Prospects for Ticker Trax subscribers and giving a presentation. Please visit www.bahamasinvestmentconference.com.
Our most recent Ticker Trax Update was delivered to our secure archives late last week.
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THOM’S STORY: Thom Calandra during 27 years of road work has helped his audience find value in a quagmire of investment choices. Thom co-founded CBS MarketWatch, MarketWatch.com and FT MarketWatch in Europe. As the voice of Thom Calandra's StockWatch and The Calandra Report, Thom fancied $300-ounce gold before that metal became an investment rage. Thom visited bioscience companies, metals mines and energy companies in a search for reliable sources and fine planetary prospects. Thom's novel PABLO BY NUMBERS was completed in 2008.
HOLDINGS: Thom’s cosmos of holdings is listed for all Stockhouse members on www.Stockhouse.com under the “portfolio setting” for user TCALANDRA. It is public and free to view. He and his family also own recently minted gold and silver coins that they purchased with their own money. They have no stake in Ivanhoe Energy or Ivanhoe Mines of Mongolia and receive no compensation.
Ticker Trax™ is published by Stockgroup Media Inc. Ticker Trax is an information service for subscribers and neither Stockhouse nor Thom Calandra is a broker or an investment advisor. None of the information contained therein constitutes a recommendation by Mr. Calandra or Stockhouse/Stockgroup Media that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. Ticker Trax does not purport to tell or suggest the investment securities subscribers or readers should buy or sell for themselves. Subscribers and readers of Ticker Trax should conduct their own research and due diligence and obtain professional advice before making any investment decisions. Ticker Trax will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a reader’s reliance on information obtained in the reports. Subscribers and readers are solely responsible for their own investment decisions. Opinions expressed in Ticker Trax are based on sources believed to be reliable and are written in good faith, but no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, is made as to their accuracy or completeness. All information contained in Ticker Trax should be independently verified. The editor and publisher are not responsible for errors or omissions or responsible for keeping information up to date or for correcting any past information. Ticker Trax does not receive compensation of any kind from any companies that may be mentioned in the report. Any opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. Owners, employees and writers may hold positions in the securities that are discussed in Ticker Trax. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL THOM SEEKING PERSONALIZED INVESTMENT ADVICE, WHICH HE CANNOT PROVIDE. Copyright 2009 all rights reserved.
