An important, but surprisingly little commented upon, news story prompted me to think about this very critical topic. Since most commonly known mining stocks often have no small exposure to emerging markets, I decided to dig a little deeper for my readers. I also take a look at some individual stocks and present two ideas with “pure-play Tier 1” exposure to gold and silver.
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In recent months, I’ve been reading more and more about a hot new topic: helium production. Helium is an essential gas in medical as well as industrial applications. The key message being spread is that this so far opaque market is about to become more transparent, as many small exploration companies seem to be embarking on promising projects. Is this really the next sector you should bet on, or is it too much hot air that will deflate, bringing headaches like too much inhaled helium?
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A few weeks ago, I wrote about the overall investment environment of uranium. I concluded from a top-level perspective, that due to a stressed supply-demand situation, higher prices likely are more a question of “when”, not “if”. After publication, one of my readers and Premium Members wrote to me about a certain company that could benefit from the plan to not only build more, but also smaller, next generation nuclear reactors. I have put this idea under the microscope.
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Being dead and being alive are mutually exclusive conditions. But with stocks, there are companies that to a large extent fit into this scheme. Now facing a heavily toxic cocktail of likely higher interest rates and a slowing economy, many of these businesses will be tested for their survivability. Even if they do survive as a whole business, it is nonetheless dangerous to invest into equities of heavily indebted zombies – no matter how high the temptation might be.
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Physical retail stores as a whole in most developed countries have more likely than not reached their peak. However, there is a sub-category in this sector that is expanding quickly. More than that, the so-called “dollar stores” have even been beneficiaries of a diminishing middle-class. Are the respective stocks a good investment idea, especially as inflation is trimming budgets?
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Wouldn’t it be great if all evil was eliminated and only the good-natured, socially caring businesses remained for investments? At least this is the “mission” of funds and ETFs that focus their investments on ESG-compliant equities. The stocks of the “bad” companies aren’t bought anymore or even get sold, while the “good” entities form the bedrock of these investment vehicles. But how does it look under the hood? What stocks are held by these funds and how did they perform? And: What’s happening on the “dark” side?
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One of the most frequently asked questions among commodity investors is about uranium. This controversial commodity seems to finally have entered a new bull market after a decade and a half of pure disappointments. What followed the euphoria of 2007/2008 was a long stretch torture. What are the prospects now and will the uranium price shoot up again sustainably? Or is it just hyped and ready to fall into dust?
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Last week, I wrote about farmland and farmland stocks. But land can also be used for other purposes. While being asked about land, the most common answers will be farmland or land for housebuilding. Maybe also forestry. However, there is another sector that could prove to be a more valuable investment opportunity due to being less followed, but obvious in hindsight.
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If you ask people about inflation-proof investments, the answers are most likely energy, real estate, precious metals or nowadays maybe even cryptocurrencies or rare whisky bottles. What is less obvious and very underestimated is farmland. It has proven to be not only a very effective hedge against inflation, but also over the last 25 years outperformed the S&P500 while being less volatile. What about farmland stocks?
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While people over the last week were scratching their heads over whether cryptocurrencies are a scam with the implosion of the third largest crypto exchange FTX, the world is facing REAL problems. Exports of an estimated 20% of the world’s calories are currently restricted. Food protectionism and nationalism are on the rise. An investigation into this dangerous trend and a new research report due for my Premium Members, on Saturday.
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