Tag: streetwise interviews

Want to Avoid Oil's Gloom? Turn to the Sun, Says Outsider Nick Hodge

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The Energy Report: You call yourself an "outsider," and have founded an investment club of that name. In what sense are you an outsider?

Nick Hodge: Being an outsider stems from my upbringing. Both my parents were middle to lower middle class, and I never had anything given to me. I've always had to work for what I have, starting with a lawn-service business when I was 12 and working my way through college as a butcher. I look at the "mainstream" with a skeptical eye. I'm a contrarian. I'm not on the inside of big business, big banking and politics, and don't want to be.

The Outsider Club has been around for about a year now. I founded it after writing for several newsletters over the past decade about energy and speculative investments.

TER: What does being an outsider mean with regard to your views on energy?

NH: I'll give two examples. First is my belief in the peak oil theory. Second is my early adoption of a belief in renewable technologies, such as solar and smart-grid technologies.

TER: It would be safe to say you're not an admirer of our financial elite? Continue reading "Want to Avoid Oil's Gloom? Turn to the Sun, Says Outsider Nick Hodge" →

Is Market Sentiment Shifting to Gold?

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The Gold Report: Quite a few analysts believe 2015 will be a year of great economic volatility, as foreshadowed by what happened with oil in 2014. Do you agree?

Eric Coffin: I do think 2015 will be pretty volatile, with the potential for nasty financial surprises. We've already seen bond yields go negative in Germany, France and elsewhere, and we could see big moves in and out of different asset classes.

TGR: Could the oil price collapse be a leading indicator of a global economic slowdown?

EC: That's an oversimplification. Economic growth in China has slowed and will probably slow some more. And China is the 800-pound gorilla of commodity consumption. Estimates for worldwide growth in 2015 have recently come down but not enough to justify the drop in the oil price.

"Excelsior Mining Corp.'s Gunnison project has extremely good logistics."

The main reason for the oil price crash is oversupply. U.S. supply has grown massively due to fracking and horizontal drilling, while Libya and Iran have both added a million barrels a day. These events have disrupted the equilibrium.

TGR: Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), has famously boasted he will do "whatever it takes" to save the euro. Greece will hold an election Jan. 25, and the polls tell there is a good chance the new government will reject its current arrangement with the ECB. If this occurs, can the euro be saved? Continue reading "Is Market Sentiment Shifting to Gold?" →

Investing During the Era of Peak Gold Discoveries

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The Gold Report: Brent, you've quoted Goldcorp Inc.'s (G:TSX; GG:NYSE) CEO, Charles Jeannes, saying that we've reached peak economic gold production. What led us to this point?

Brent Cook: That's a big question that really goes back to what was happening in the global exploration sector 20+ years ago. I don't want to get into the peak gold production idea but instead focus on the discovery curve and what's behind the problem we are seeing in the gold sector.

Why aren't we finding as many gold deposits as we used to, or at least as many economic deposits? In 1995 or so, the discovery boom in the gold sector peaked and that success is largely tied to the opening of large areas of earth that were previously off limits to serious exploration. Since then, exploration success and new discoveries have trended down. However, in terms of gold production, it's taken about 20 years for all those discoveries to work their way through the system to come into full production.

So what Charles Jeannes sees is that in 2015 or so, gold production is going to be tapering off as opposed to expanding. That's especially true given the current gold price and cost structure. A lot of these companies aren't making much money, or any money at all. They'll be shutting down loss-making projects over the coming years.

TGR: Are we running out of gold in the world, or did we just not make an investment in a timely manner, say, 20 years ago? Continue reading "Investing During the Era of Peak Gold Discoveries" →

Marin Katusa: Winter is Coming, How Investors Can Win in the 'Colder War'

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The Energy Report: Your book, "The Colder War," is based on the idea that world domination will come through control of the energy economy, and that Russia is winning the fight. How is Russia using the petrodollar to achieve energy supremacy?

Marin Katusa: Under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin, Russia has reestablished itself as the alternative to the American superpower. Putin has aligned himself with nations like China to work in concert against U.S. interests globally. Furthermore, a new bank formed by the BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will attempt to assert itself as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund.

The Colder War will be a long battle, just like the first Cold War, but in the Colder War, judgment day of the petrodollar will be the critical battle. One must understand global politics and the Colder War to be a successful investor in the energy sector.

TER: What is China's role in this struggle? Continue reading "Marin Katusa: Winter is Coming, How Investors Can Win in the 'Colder War'" →

Rocks to Riches with Thomas Schuster

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The Gold Report: Thomas, the price of gold sank in October even as the stock market was rebounding. Can gold also rebound?

Thomas Schuster: Gold will rebound, it always has and always will. The mining market is almost violently cyclic. Deep lows are followed by spectacular highs. The tough question is when will the gold price rebound happen? There are a lot of nay-saying precious metal bears in the market right now. Many forecasters are predicting that gold will continue to trade within a narrow range around $1,1001,225/ounce ($1,1001,225/oz) over the next few years.

"Integra Gold Corp.'s project looks very promising."

But the fact is, on a global scale, we are not replacing reserves as fast as we're mining them. That simple fact supports only one outcome: higher prices. A recent report on gold production by SNL Metals Mining observes that when we look at the amount of potential future production from major discoveries made over the last 15 years, we could only replace, at best, 50% of gold produced during that same period. The report also points out that the average time to bring a newly discovered mine into production has been significantly increasing. For mines that went into production between 1985 and 1995, the average wait was eight years from discovery to production. For mines that went into production between 2006 and 2013, the average wait is 18 years.

There are many reasons for this more details are needed in feasibility work-ups, there are more stringent social and environmental standards, and more demanding permitting processes. Many of these mines are of lower grade. They are more remote, and require lots of capital for developing infrastructure and processing capacities. The capital market is poor at the moment; it is difficult to raise money and it takes more time to move into production than it did before.

TGR: Why was gold so high previously and what happened to the price, in your opinion? Why was it so high, and why did it fall so far? Continue reading "Rocks to Riches with Thomas Schuster" →