These Six Gold Companies Could Create Exceptional Wealth Sooner Than You Think

For smart investors watching the gold-Dow ratio rather than mainstream media headlines, this is an exciting time to be a precious metals investor. The world seems to be conspiring to push the price of gold higher, with continued zero interest rates, Chinese stock market volatility and more unrest in the Middle East. In this interview with The Gold Report, Gold Stock Trades Editor Jeb Handwerger lays out his short list of junior mining companies that have been actively adding value, and that will be in demand when all eyes are on the sector.

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The Gold Report: In your last interview with The Gold Report, you said that a Federal Reserve interest rate hike would be the best thing for gold. As we now know, the board decided to keep rates at almost zero. How does that impact your projections for precious metals? Continue reading "These Six Gold Companies Could Create Exceptional Wealth Sooner Than You Think"

Conspiracy Facts Show Metal Prices Have to Rise

Even in a frozen metals price market, it only takes one event to shake off the paper manipulation keeping prices below what supply and demand fundamentals of a free market would dictate. And when that correction comes, it could happen quickly. In this interview with The Gold Report, The Morgan Report Publisher David Morgan shares his favorite ways to own leverage to metal prices upside while protecting against junior mining risk.

Gold and Silver Bars

The Gold Report: You and David Smith recently wrote a piece titled "Gold and Silver: Heading for a Blue Screen of Death Event." You compared the gut-wrenching panic of suddenly facing a computer that stops working with a precious metals market that seems frozen, in the case of gold, in sub-$1,200/ounce ($1,200/oz) limbo. But then you suggested that, like a Windows operating system, the metal could be rebooted on its way to once again hitting $1,900/oz. What would it take for something like that to occur? How do you hit Control-Alt-Delete on a commodity? Continue reading "Conspiracy Facts Show Metal Prices Have to Rise"

No Fed Rate Hike Good For Gold, Bad Sign For Economy

The much-anticipated decision by the Federal Reserve Board at the Sept. 17 meeting to hold interest rates near zero was met in the resource community with a mixture of relief and disappointment. The 9-to-1 vote citing global economic pressure on inflation left open the possibility of a hike at the December meeting. The Gold Report asked the experts in the resource sector what this means for precious metals and oil prices, and what signs they are looking for that a different outcome will be announced in December.

Fed announcement

Joe McAlinden, founder of McAlinden Research Partners and former chief global strategist with Morgan Stanley Investment Management, was disappointed that the Fed "blinked." He called the decision irresponsible and attributed it to worries about China's growth. The veteran investor saw the status quo as bullish for precious metals and oil, but warned, "As the Fed continues to postpone moving towards normalization of interest rates, the potential for future inflation from years of excessive stimulation increases with every delay of the end of the zero interest rate policy."

He continued, "Based on today's decision, we now need to watch economic data from China and the performance of the markets themselves. I do not believe that the Fed's focus on those points is appropriate. Nonetheless, it is now clear that these will influence the timing of the next Fed move. Also, and more appropriately, we should be watching average hourly earnings, overall signs of strength or weakness in the U.S. economy, and the trend of the core PCE deflator." Continue reading "No Fed Rate Hike Good For Gold, Bad Sign For Economy"

Joe McAlinden Reverses View, Predicts Recovery for Gold, Oil and Housing

With the markets in whiplash mode, Joe McAlinden, founder of McAlinden Research Partners and former chief global strategist with Morgan Stanley Investment Management, believes volatility is going to stick around for a while, and we might see a correction double of what we've had so far. In this interview with The Gold Report, McAlinden bucks conventional wisdom to argue that an interest rate hike is good for gold and oil, and lays out his investing strategy for this period of market uncertainty.

The Gold Report: For more than a decade, you led Morgan Stanley Investment Management's global investment strategy; now you own your own research firm based on your observations of the industry for more than 50 years. How do you explain the volatility in the markets right now and how should investors position themselves to prepare for what is coming?

Joe McAlinden: It has been a wonderful bull market, a wild ride going all the way back to 2007 when the market made its top. That was followed by a horrendous plunge. We've not only made that back, but the market has reached highs that were 36% above the 2007 highs. I had been concerned recently, however, that price-earnings ratios have become elevated and we are seeing other spooky similarities to the conditions that prevailed prior to the 1987 crash, including the absence of a more than a 10% correction for three years and a breakdown of small-cap stocks. The market could be vulnerable to some kind of major shock. I believe that the big shock is only beginning to unfold and that as it does, this correction will get considerably worse, perhaps double what we've had so far and maybe even worse than that.

TGR: What do you think the market expects the Federal Reserve Board to do? Continue reading "Joe McAlinden Reverses View, Predicts Recovery for Gold, Oil and Housing"

What Tesla Needs to Know About the Graphite Sector

The Gold Report: What is the state of the current global graphite market and what impact might Tesla's construction of a battery Gigafactory in the desert in Nevada have on future demand for the mineral?

Blair Way: Because graphite is used in many energy-related applications (including electric vehicles, Pebble Bed Nuclear Reactors, fuel cells, solar panels and electronics ranging from smartphones to laptops), it has been categorized as a critical, strategic mineral by several governments including the United States and Europe.

What does this really mean? At this point in time it means nothing—graphite is in oversupply and prices are low. However, if China decided to stop supplying graphite to the world, then the West would be in trouble. This is highly unlikely to ever happen. As far as the impact of the Tesla plant on the greater market, that's yet to be defined in detail, but it will create more demand for graphite, both natural and synthetic.

TGR: How big is the graphite market? Continue reading "What Tesla Needs to Know About the Graphite Sector"