Gold News

Rising gold, rising gold stocks

Four key reasons to focus on junior explorers today...

THERE ARE a number of ways to play rising gold prices – not least buying and holding physical gold outright.

   But my personal favorite has to be the higher-quality junior precious metals exploration companies. Those are companies with a high-risk profile (few will ever actually make a discovery that's economically viable). You can, however, apply analytical screens to them that greatly lower that risk...leaving some truly extraordinary upside.

   How extraordinary? One extreme example is Consolidated Stikine Resources. Riding on the back of its Eskay Creek discovery, the stock went from 10 cents per share in 1988 up to a high of $73 in 1990 – a stunning 70,000% gain all told!

   These junior exploration stocks do well during periods of crisis, such as we're living through today, for several reasons. Mainly, it's because they are such a small sub-set of the financial landscape that even a fractional increase in interest sends them soaring.

   This time around, I believe we are going to see the high end of the range that these stocks are capable of. That's why the team here at Casey Research are tracking the sector so closely. Underpinning this move, we believe, are four key factors:

Increase in Equity Trading Accounts
Thanks in no small part to the dot-com boom, never before have more North American households been involved in equity markets.

   As the gold story filters through to them, they'll find it highly appealing. Retail investors will now have the ability to act immediately.

   Furthermore, such people are trend followers; they know nothing except to buy stocks that have a positive chart. For the first time since the Internet Bubble, they're going to have a real tiger by the tail. In other words, for the very first time in their history, gold stocks are going to have not only the "smart money" of those in the know, but also the great unwashed mass of investors piling in, too.

   The bull market will be breathtaking when this gets underway.

Meteoric Rise in Hedge Funds
In a similar vein, we now have the whole new phenomenon of hedge funds, which have grown like knotweed all over the financial landscape. They were a non-factor in earlier bull markets, but now number over 12,000 and manage on the order of $1 trillion.

   Moreover, the majority of these hedge funds are run by twenty- and thirty-somethings with little experience in a real bear market. They are herd-like and aggressive to boot. Gold is increasingly finding favor as an asset class with the hedgers.

The Rise of the AIM
Thanks in no small part to incessant meddling by US regulators, London's Alternative Investment Market is increasingly becoming the "go to" market for resource companies.

   AIM offers these companies exposure to a wider audience than the less trafficked Canadian markets which have traditionally been home to the junior exploration companies.

Higher Gold Prices Converging with New Discoveries
Perhaps most important is that, for the first time ever, we should witness a round of economic mineral discoveries against the backdrop of a major bull market in gold (and silver) prices.

   The trickle of financings for precious metals exploration that began soon after gold's 20-year bear market came to an end in April of 2001 has turned into a small flood. In fact, according to the Metals Economic Group, in 2006 the amount of money raised for exploration topped $7.6 billion, the fourth year in a row that there has been an increase, and the highest total since they began tracking the numbers in 1989.

   All that exploration money, much of it in the hands of teams headed by experienced pros who left the large gold companies during the long bear market, has set off a massive number of new and fast-moving exploration initiatives. Using the latest technology they're squarely focused on the world's most prospective geological addresses.

   It is not a matter of "if" there will be significant discoveries, but "when". If all unfolds as it can, and likely will, then for the first time ever, we'll benefit from a concurrence of a discovery market with much higher precious metals prices.

   Toss in a lot of investors with a lot of cash, nervous about the outlook for global financial markets and looking for a trend to fall in love with, and you have all the elements necessary for you and me as early investors in the resource sector to pull down truly extraordinary gains.

   Don't get overly greedy, and don't mortgage the house to buy gold stocks. But do make sure that you move toward being fully invested...which, depending on your willingness and ability and level of risk tolerance, might take you up to 20% - 25% of your portfolio.

   You're going to find good reason to love gold stocks. But I hope you won't fall in love with them. Although I'm a philosophical gold bug, I'm not always a gold bull. I always keep in the back of my mind that gold shares aren't heirlooms, they're burning matches.

   And while I still think this market will see gold's biggest run in history, when it's over these stocks will lose 90% of their value...as does any class of stocks when a mania ends.

   The good news today, however, is that this mania hasn't even begun.

Doug Casey, the famous contrarian investor, public speaker, author, and chairman of Casey Research, has just launched BIG GOLD, a monthly newsletter dedicated to concise and fast-reading analysis of today's accelerating gold and silver bull markets – plus in-depth information on the world's leading gold mining companies, gold ETFs, precious metals mutual funds, and much more.

To enjoy a 3-month trial – with moneyback guarantee – click here now...

Doug Casey is a world-renowned investor and author, whose book Crisis Investing was #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for 29 consecutive weeks, a record at the time.

He has been a featured guest on hundreds of radio and TV shows, including David Letterman, Merv Griffin, Charlie Rose, Phil Donahue, Regis Philbin, NBC News, and CNN; and has been the topic of numerous features in periodicals such as Time, Forbes, People and the Washington Post.

His firm, Casey Research, LLC., publishes a variety of newsletters and web sites with a combined weekly audience in excess of 200,000, largely high net worth investors with an interest in resource development and international real estate.

See full archive of Doug Casey articles

Please Note: All articles published here are to inform your thinking, not lead it. Only you can decide the best place for your money, and any decision you make will put your money at risk. Information or data included here may have already been overtaken by events – and must be verified elsewhere – should you choose to act on it. Please review our Terms & Conditions for accessing Gold News.

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