|
The
following essay is derived from selected newsletters starting with our May
2006 letter, which began with the following quote:
Quote:
"High Ho, Silver! Away!"
~The Lone Ranger
For those not familiar with The Lone Ranger, the story centered on
a masked man, who, with his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, led the
fight for law and order in the Old West. When the Silver-Investor.com Web site
was first established it was indeed lonely. In fact, it took nearly six months
for our first subscriber to sign up. This indicates just how tough it is to
get any interest into a market at a bottom.
In fact, we had what we perceived as a very important marketing piece at the
time. We were promoting a way for investors to actually purchase silver and
gold bullion below spot price. We received some very critical e-mail messages
at the time, letting us know just what kind of scam artists we were. The important
fact however was simply that Central Fund of Canada (CEF on the Amex) was selling
for a 12 percent discount at the time. Moreover, we addressed our critics with
the facts, and yet not even one sent us an apology.
Regardless, we have been proven correct about the huge potential in the silver
market, and this month we have seen just how quickly silver can move. As we
have stated in our radio interviews and seminars, it is much easier to call
a bottom in a market than a top. We still think that silver and gold have much
farther to go, but at this point we must pay particular attention to what the
market itself is telling us.
Again for clarity this was in May 2006:
We sent out an e-mail alert, stating that those who were inclined to
trade a portion of their holding might consider lightening up near the
$11.50 area; we also stated that we were usually early and silver might
go to $15.00. We sent another alert to our e-mail subscribers and emphasized
that profit taking might be considered. This would be on a portion of your
holdings perhaps twenty-five percent
Certainly looking back it was prudent to lighten up on your positions during
the May time frame. We went on to say, "For those who are willing to take partial
profits here, we suggest you look at which companies hold up best under the
selling pressure we see ahead. These are the companies that will snap back
the fastest when this consolidation ends. Some investors think that buying
the laggards is the best way to play "catch up," but our experience tells
a different story."
In our May issue we had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. James of www.financialsense.com some
of our subscribers thought his insights on the economy, oil, and the metals
were worth the price of a year's subscription alone. Regardless, all readers
should be tuning into the weekly metals report each week.
In our June issue we stated the following,
"We sent out an alert to our e-mail subscribers on the 19th of May and
gave a buy signal, not knowing if this would be a short-term trading bounce
or a more significant move to the upside. At this time, all indications
are that we had a tradeable bounce here and we sent out another alert on
May 31st stating to either sell this short term trade or sell at least
part of your "trading" position."
Of course this essay mainly focuses on timing yet there is much more to being
a successful investor/trader in the resource sector. Sometimes it pays to buy
right and sit tight and we do wish to re-emphaize that extremely important
point. The "problem" is from a bigger picture perspective is many investors
are just now coming into the market or perhaps came in at the top in May 2006
and are still frustrated.
We like to find what others refer to as discovery investments and in the June
issue provided information on a company that had just located a geophysical
conductor that bears a striking similarity to the Voisey's Bay Nickel Deposit
in Labrador. For those that are not familiar with the Voisey Bay story "Diamond
Fields" was looking for diamonds and discovered one huge nickel discovery.
The stock started at around eighty five cents and topped our near $300.00 AFTER
splitting two for one. It doesn't take many of these types of speculations
to make investors smile!
Additionally in the June issue we were able to uncover a company that many
of our subscribers have pestered us about and that was "what company" was Mr.
Puplava talking about on his radio show, here I cannot take credit one of our
astute readers found the information and did an excellent write up on this
company for us here at The Morgan Report.
Moving on to our July issue we stated,
"As the market has been trying to find a bottom, the top-tier companies
such as Glamis Gold (GLG) and Silver Wheaton (SLW) have had very solid
performances, making gains of well over 20% off the recent low. We wish
to affirm this important fact to our readers because the safest and, most
of the time, easiest money can be made by placing funds into these investments
and speculating with the juniors only.
We do not wish to belabor the point that the right junior can make up for
lots of mistakes, but it is the most difficult area to analyze and access risk.
The way to approach the junior sector is to place "small bets" on companies
we feature or are of your own choosing. This is money you can afford to lose.
There are several ways to obtain this "play" money, but let me share one example.
We went on to give and example of what could be achieved with one stock from
our Asset Allocation Model, where the right amount of trading volume and institutional
support made this a good selection as would any of the others in this classification.
In the August edition we wanted to affirm the bigger picture especially looking
at the institutional side and how it will influence precious metal demand going
forward.
"We thought that the second leg up in the metals would be due to increased
participation by the retail investor, but at the same time the institutional
investment community would start to understand the importance of having
this exposure, and I made a commitment to work more on the institutional
side over the next few years.
Our initial step into this venue was our recent trip to New York City
at the Princeton Club on July 19 and 20 for the Triple Gold Investment
Conference. The first day was devoted to silver and the second day was
devoted to gold and oil markets. Jeff Christian from CPM Group gave an
overview of the silver market very similar to what we reported to you last
month.
My presentation focused primarily on the requirement for all investors,
especially institutions, to have exposure to physical metals with a weighting
of between 7% and 15%. The 7% exposure is a minimum for low-risk performance.
The basics are simple; precious metals are the only assets that correlate
negatively to all other investments, and therefore a small amount (7%-15%)
will protect a portfolio during any investment environment and increase
returns.
The reason it is especially important for managed money (institutions)
to have exposure to the precious metals is because now that a validated
study is available (Ibbotson Study), these people are responsible to take
prudent action. And in the event of a large general market breakdown, the
institutions are vulnerable to possible legal action. As the fund and money
managers throughout the world know of this report, it should generate more
interest in the sector."
More interest has come into the sector and will continue as tension increases
in the geopolitical and financial arenas. With energy prices abating recently
investors with clear fundamental understanding of today's world are staying
calm and holding or adding to their holdings.
In the September issue we wrote,
"Although your editor does a great deal of technical work, we focus
more on the fundamentals. But we need to step back, focus on the big picture,
and get clarity. If you look at a chart of Newmont Mining, from the bottom
in October 2000 near $17 per share, and connect all the bottoms, a very
clear picture emerges. Newmont could get as low as $40 per share and still
be in the major bull market. In fact, with Newmont's current price near
the $52 level, the stock is really in the middle of its current range forecast.
Many major analysts are looking for Newmont to trade near the $71 level
next year and we agree. The question of course is how it will get to that
level."
It wasn't much longer and we issued a BUY ALERT to our subscribers on October
5, 2006.
BUYALERT
October 5, 2006
As stated in the October report our analysis predicted that gold might touch
the $550 area, which is roughly the 300 day moving average. During yesterday's
trading gold traded very close to this level. Furthermore, in a recent issue
we made the case that Newmont Mining could hit the $40.00 area and still remain
in a major up trend.

Looking at the above chart we see that the past few trading sessions Newmont
fell rapidly on heavy volume. Much of the volume is short covering and should
be supportive of the price. Annotating this chart caught me a bit off guard
because the major up trend line did not intersect the $40.00 price exactly.
I had done this exercise previously (chart work) using another charting service
we have and the major up trend did intersect the $40.00 area precisely.
I want to point this out for a couple of reasons, first technical analysis
is only a tool and it can vary depending upon how the data is manipulated and
how the chart itself is structured. Specifically, what is the rise over run
(remember your graphing work from junior high)? The above chart is a semi-log
scale so the grid is compressed in the vertical axis. Secondly, we use technical
analysis basically to confirm our work on a fundamental level and by employing
both as objectively as humanly possible bring our readers the ability to anticipate
this very volatile market.
We are definitely in a range where aggressive buying should take place, but
please do not be in too big a hurry. Only looking backward will
we know if this is the best buying opportunity we have had in quite some time.
We are still a bit wary of the overall market and how much pressure may still
be available to make the precious metals look like poor performers through
the United States elections coming this November. As much as we all like to
buy at exact bottoms, it is actually safer to buy once a bottom is confirmed
and pay up to enjoy this level of comfort. Because we stated we would become
more aggressive during Phase 2 of this major bull market we are sounding the
buy alert now! BUT -- taking your time over the next few months is still
the best strategy in our view.
Silver has remained stronger that gold, which is hard to believe, based upon
the pounding the metal has taken recently. The reason this statement is correct
is that the gold/silver ratio has remained around the 53 area. If gold were
holding up better than silver the ratio would spread and we might expect to
see a 60 to 1 ratio for example. In fact we do not rule this possibility out
entirely and if it were to occur our thinking would be it is the final piece
of the puzzle to give us every confidence that the worst is over and we should
be fully invested.
Analyzing silver has always been more difficult than gold in my view and
with the new S-1 filing from Barclay's to increase the number of shares in
the I-shares Silver Trust this might have the effect of putting a floor near
the $11.00 level for silver.
Summary: This is a BUY ALERT
We want to see our readers move into this sector but with some caution. The
top tier stocks have not really signaled that the short covering, which has
begun, is completed. Secondly, the political pressure to keep the entire "commodity
sector" cool through at least the election period still exists. Very conservative
investors may simply observe the market from here and only add to positions
once the market has confirmed a bottom.
What are we saying now? Have we confirmed a bottom? We explore this issue
and many more in the November edition of The Morgan Report.
For those that would like to follow are work closely we suggest the following
actions.
|