Commodity HQ: Stocks To Buy For Hyperinflation

With the Federal Reserve firing up the presses for a third round of quantitative easing, it’s only a matter of time before more talk of imminent hyperinflation pops up. While calm discussions on the prospects of hyperinflation are rare (and there’s often a tinge of hysteria or paranoia around the topic), the reality is that the U.S. does have some disturbing trends working against it in terms of demographics, debt/deficits, and a policy of easy money that debases the fiat currency.



What’s more, thumbing through the history books shows that periods of extreme inflation or hyperinflation (definitions vary) are not all that uncommon around the world. Post-World War I Germany is probably the most oft-cited example, but a range of countries including Greece, Russia, Argentina, China, Brazil, and Zimbabwe (most recently) have seen stretches of inflation severe enough to call it hyperinflation.

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http://commodityhq.com/2012/how-to-prepare-yourself-for-hyperinflation/

Commodity HQ: GDX vs. SIL vs. CU - How They've Performed So Far In 2012

It has been an interesting year for investors and traders focused on the metals. While ongoing economic uncertainty and recent additional monetary stimulus from the Fed has kept gold in the news, silver has quietly had a strong run as well. Amidst that uncertainty, industrial metals like copper have not done nearly so well.



What has that background meant for the leading metal miner ETFs?

Please read more here:
http://commodityhq.com/2012/gdx-vs-sil-vs-cu-how-theyve-performed-so-far-in-2012/

Commodity HQ: Gold Stocks To Play QE3

With QE3 now an announced fact, gold has come back into the spotlight. While the actual historical performance of gold as an inflation hedge is more mixed than some goldbugs realize, the reality is that gold has done pretty well during most prior periods of monetary stimulus. Moreover, with the ongoing uncertainty regarding the economic health and future of Europe, the United States, Japan and China, gold’s demonstrated value as a hedge against uncertainty may also come into play.



Investors have a variety of ways to use gold to enhance or secure the performance of their portfolio. Here are five names to consider.

Please read more here:
http://commodityhq.com/2012/gold-stocks-to-play-qe3/

Investopedia: 2011 - A Look Back At Gold Stocks

This past year was a curious one for the gold sector. While a lot of attention seemed to go toward the daily ups and downs of gold prices, the incessant wrangling over debt and budgets in much of the developed world, and the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe, there were some interesting developments below the surface. Although the price of gold and the performance of gold miner stocks have never been in one-to-one lockstep, perhaps 2011 marks the beginning of an even greater independence in these trading patterns. (For more, see 5 Best Bets For Buying Gold.)

For Gold Itself, Not a Bad Year  
At the most basic level, gold had another strong year. While the year is not yet complete and the final tallies of the major market indexes are not yet written, it is all but inconceivable that 2011 will close without a fairly sizable performance gap in the favor of gold. As of this writing, the S&P 500 is basically flat for the year, while the SPDR Gold Shares (ARCA:GLD) is up better than 20%.

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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/2011---A-Look-Back-At-Gold-Stocks-GLD-NEM-IAG-GG-AUY-RGLD-JAG1226.aspx

Investopedia: 2011 In Review - The Best-Performing ETFs

With only two weeks to go, it looks like 2011 will go down in the books as a year where the market borrowed a page from Macbeth; "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Although the broader stock indexes look to end the year close to flat, that does not mean that investors could not find profits in particular areas of the market. In particular, there were a few areas where ETF investors found notable success in 2011. (For more, see An Inside Look At ETF Construction.)


Treasury Bond ETFs 
Although many market commentators and armchair economists believe that current Federal Reserve policies will ultimately end in tears, 2011 was nevertheless still a good year to hold certain Treasury bond ETFs. The PIMCO 25+ Year Zero Coupon U.S. Treasury Index ETF (ARCA:ZROZ) had delivered a 50% year-to-date total return as of the end of November; the single best performance of any ETF this year. Close behind was the Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury Index ETF (ARCA:EDV) at 47%. Both funds are alike, in that they focus their holdings on long-dated zero-coupon Treasury bonds; the bonds most sensitive to interest rates.


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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/2011-In-Review---The-Best-Performing-ETFs-ZROZ-BNO-GLD-IHE1216.aspx

Investopedia: The Haunted Houses Investors Won't Enter

Depending upon your point of view, the financial markets offer either an endless variety of ways to make money or lose money. No one can follow everything, and the wise investor does not even try. So while many savvy investors have decided that they do not have the time, interest, or skills to approach certain areas of the market, others base those decisions on fear. So afraid are some investors, that they turn entire investment categories into something more like haunted houses than financial instruments. 


Gold
Writing about gold is a little like throwing meat into a hyena cage - good or bad, it's going to produce a ruckus. Few investment options seem to carry the emotional baggage of gold; its advocates often claim to own nothing else, while it detractors spare no scorn for it.

Why should investors fear gold? For starters, it produces no income. A gold mining operator like Newmont (NYSE:NEM) may pay a dividend, but gold bullion and gold ETFs like SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD) do not. While that may be a concern for investors who derive all of their income from their investment portfolios, gold is hardly unique in not paying dividends.


Read more here:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/The-Haunted-Houses-Investors-Wont-Enter--GLD-NEM-BRK-A-MSFT-AMGN-RIG-PBR1028.aspx

Investopedia: Odyssey Leads Investors On Treasure Hunt

Sell-side analysts desperate to add a little flair to dry research reports will try to spice things up by talking about "hidden treasure," "deep dives," or "plumbing the depths". Well, there is a company that actually does all of that. Odyssey Marine Exploration (Nasdaq:OMEX) is primarily in the business of finding and salvaging wrecked ships and it may be one of the strangest companies that trades on U.S. exchanges.

What They Do
Odyssey Marine operates several simultaneous and overlapping businesses. The core of what the company does is the use of advanced underwater technologies to find, characterize and salvage shipwrecks - often ships from the Age of Sail that sank with ample amounts of gold or silver on board. That is not all that the company does, though. Odyssey Marine also assists in more conventional salvage and recovery operations, conducts deepwater mineral exploration projects, and operates a museum exhibit that highlights some of the artifacts that the company has recovered from shipwrecks.


Click the link for the full piece:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Odyssey-Leads-Investors-On-Treasure-Hunt-OMEX-GLD-SLV-NEM-ABX-RTP-BHP0927.aspx

Investopedia: Here We Go Again - Markets Continue To Move On Governments

Those who believe that the best government is unobtrusive and nearly invisible have probably ground their teeth to dust by now, but as markets open again on Monday it looks like governments on each side of the Atlantic continue to call the tune in the markets. While Europe tries every trick in the book to keep Greece afloat, politicians in the U.S. seem committed to elbowing each other aside in a rush to drill more holes in the bottom of their boat. 

A Government Shutdown?  
If the politicians in Washington continue to court a government shutdown and play a massive game of chicken with each other, the general public may stop caring and the markets may just decide to install a semi-permanent "knucklehead premium" on U.S. government securities. In the meantime, though, investors should expect another spate of debate, controversy and wall-to-wall talk about whether Congress can come together and agree on another short-term funding measure to keep the government working.

Read more here:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Here-We-Go-Again--Markets-Continue-To-Move-On-Governments-TLT-SHY-GLD-DB-UBS-MS-GS0926.aspx

Investopedia: Small Gold Miners Could Produce Big Returns

Gold is still the hot trade. While it's not that hard to remember when gold was an afterthought, squeezed between a quick summary of bonds and commodities during financial programming, it is now a leading investment class. Whether an investor's interest in gold is fueled by fears of inflation, economic and political turbulence, technicals, or even just a "greater fool" theory, the reality is that it has been a winning trade.

By now any investor with even a passing interest in gold knows a little something about the myriad of investment choices. People can choose to own actual bullion or numismatic gold, resource mutual funds, specialized ETFs like SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD), or mining stocks - and those are just the most popular options. (For more, see Is There A Right Way To Invest In Gold?)

Given that mining companies are the only entry on the list that can actually grow from internal strategic decisions, they are worth a serious look. This time, it is time to consider some of the smaller miners. Small miners can offer substantially more bang for the buck than larger miners like AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) and Kinross (NYSE:KGC) or highly diversified mining giants like Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO).

A Quick View From Above 

What is interesting about mining companies is that they don't necessarily track gold prices, and that is particularly true for smaller miners. For small miners, performance is often significantly influenced by the company's efforts to bring mines into operation and increase gold production. Investors should also note that many (if not most) analysts expect gold prices to peak in the next year or two and then decline. Those analysts could be wrong, but the possibility is worth considering all the same. (For more, see Does It Still Pay To Invest In Gold?)

Minefinders (AMEX:MFN) 

Minefinders is perhaps the riskiest name on this list, as the company has only one producing asset at present - the Dolores mine in Mexico. Dolores has very attractive production costs right now and good expansion potential; the company is due any day now to provide an updated reserve number for this property. Minefinders also considered its options with the La Bolsa asset and putting this into production could allow for a sizable jump in production within three years.

To continue, please click below:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Small-Gold-Miners-Could-Produce-Big-Returns-GLD-AU-KGC-MFN-NGD-NXG-RIO0429.aspx

Investopedia: Can Smaller Miners Become Big Winners In The Gold Rush?

Gold is still the hot trade. While it's not that hard to remember when gold was an afterthought, squeezed between a quick summary of bonds and commodities during financial programming, it is now a leading investment class. Whether an investor's interest in gold is fueled by fears of inflation, economic and political turbulence, technicals, or even just a "greater fool" theory, the reality is that it has been a winning trade.

By now any investor with even a passing interest in gold knows a little something about the myriad of choices for investment. People can choose to own actual bullion or numismatic gold, resource mutual funds, specialized ETFs like SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD), or mining stocks ... and those are just the most popular options. (For more, see What To Do About Gold Now.)

Given that mining companies are the only entry on the list that can actually grow from internal strategic decisions, they are worth a serious look. Here, we'll consider some of the smaller miners, which can offer substantially more bang for the buck than major miners like Barrick (NYSE:ABX) and Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM).

A Quick View From Above 

What is interesting about mining companies is that they don't necessarily track gold prices, and that is particularly true for smaller miners. For small miners, performance is often significantly influenced by the company's efforts to bring mines into operation and increase gold production. Investors should also note that many (if not most) analysts expect gold prices to peak in the next year or two and then decline - that does not preclude successful investments in small miners and those analysts could certainly be wrong, but it is a detail to consider all the same. 

Please continue via the link below:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Can-Smaller-Miners-Become-Big-Winners-In-The-Gold-Rush-GLD-ABX-NEM-IAG-EGO-AUY-GG0429.aspx

Investopedia: 5 Stocks To Get In On The Gold Rush

Gold is still the hot trade. While it's not that hard to remember when gold was an afterthought, squeezed between a quick summary of bonds and commodities during financial programming, it is now a leading investment class. Whether an investor's interest in gold is fueled by fears of inflation, economic and political turbulence, its technicals, or even just a "greater fool" theory, the reality is that it has been a winning trade.

By now any investor with even a passing interest in gold knows a little something about the myriad of choices for getting in on this investment. People can choose to own actual bullion or numismatic gold, resource mutual funds, specialized ETFs like SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD), or mining stocks ... and those are just the most popular options.

Given that mining companies are the only entry on the list that can actually grow from internal strategic decisions, it is worth a look at some of the major mining companies.

A Quick View From Above 

What is interesting about mining companies is that they don't necessarily track gold prices. True, they follow the same general path, but there can be notable breakouts above (and below) the price of gold as investors react to news about production, operating costs, new discoveries, and so on.

Another interesting detail is that, despite the inflationary pressures popping up around the world, most analysts still expect gold prices to peak in 2011/2012 and then decline. That could put a premium on production growth, resource growth and operating costs and there are wide discrepancies between the major miners in those variables. All things being equal, it can be more effective to own miners with high cost structures during periods of rising prices (and vice versa), although production growth is almost always welcome.

To read the full piece, please go here:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/5-Stocks-To-Get-In-On-The-Gold-Rush--GLD-AEM-AU-ABX-GG-NEM0428.aspx

2010 - The Year Silver Caught Up

Gold has a special hold on the minds of some investors; so much so that sometimes other precious metals are left behind in the rush to buy the yellow metal. While silver spent much of the recession rally lagging gold, 2010 was a little different and silver dramatically outperformed gold. Just how well has silver done? Within Morningstar's industry lists, only one industry has done better than silver, and the one-year appreciation is better than 90%. 

ETF Bullion
As has been true in gold, investors have flocked to the convenience of a bullion-supported ETF. The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) now boasts over $10 billion in assets and holds 350 million ounces of silver in trust - enough to meet the industrial demands of the world for about a year. As it tracks the price of silver (minus a management fee and some ephemeral premium/discount from day to day trading), it is no surprise to see this ETF up more than 60% for 2010, trouncing the better-than 25% performance of SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) as of late December. (For related reading, check out Commodities: Silver.)

Market Digs the Miners
As miners are clearly leveraged to the underlying prices of the metals they mine, it is no great surprise to see that the miners did even better than the metal in 2009. Not only is this relatively typical within the industry (again, since miners are leveraged to the metal), but it may be even more so in silver as there are relatively few investable silver companies listed on U.S. exchanges. Even at the end of 2010, a phenomenally strong year for the sector, there are just eight stocks labeled as silver miners with market capitalizations in excess of $250 million.

Among the larger players, Silvercorp (NYSE:SVM), MAG Silver (NYSE:MVG) and Endeavor Silver (NYSE:EXK) led the charge. Even the worst-performing stock in the group, Silver Standard (Nasdaq:SSRI) handily beat the market for the year.


Please continue on to the full piece:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/2010-The-Year-Silver-Caught-Up-SLV-GLD-SVM-MVG-SSRI-PAAS-SLW1229.aspx

FinancialEdge: 7 Reasons To Pick ETFs Over Stocks

Apparently nothing can ever be simple on Wall Street. Take the case of a simple question like "should I invest in ETFs?" A beginning investor can spend less than 10 minutes on Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and learn (if that is the right word to use) that exchange traded funds (ETFs) are the greatest invention since fire, the worst thing since the Yugo, or "investing in ETFs involves risks and may or may not be appropriate for your individual situation; please consult an advisor." (For a background, see our Introduction To Exchange-Traded Funds.)

While it is true that everybody's financial situation is different, here are some advantages of ETFs relative to stocks and mutual funds for beginners to consider. 


Less Due Diligence

The iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (NYSE: IHI) contains 40 different stocks. It would take weeks for an individual investor to do proper due diligence on each of those names, and that is one of the advantages of ETF investing. Because the impact and importance of any one stock is relatively small, investors can spend their time thinking about which sectors and markets are poised to perform and make investment choices without being bogged down by an overwhelming amount of initial and ongoing due diligence. 



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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/7-Reasons-To-Pick-ETFs-Over-Stocks-GOOG-GLD-SPY-IHI-MRK-PFE1101.aspx

FinancialEdge: 5 Investment Ideas Heating Up Right Now

Give Wall Street a little credit - if there is a demand for a product, they will meet it. If there is no demand for a product, they will figure out how to create that demand. With investors back out of their bunkers and looking to put money to work, Wall Street and Main Street have been working overtime to meet that demand. While not all of these ideas are new per se, many are seeing a resurgence in investor interest, and new themes and sub-types are emerging to siphon off some of that demand. (To learn more, check out The Wall-Street Animal Farm: Getting To Know The Lingo.)

Gold
The idea that gold is pretty popular these days is hardly new, but gold bugs are getting increasingly inventive. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) has lagged the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) of late, but the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (Nasdaq: GDXJ) has been hot.

Going a step further, would-be investors are apparently trying to get more of the actual metal in their hands. Demand for minted gold coins continues to run hot, with many mints forced to limit order sizes to see that no customer goes away entirely empty-handed. And now this - gold-dispensing ATMs are on their way to the U.S. 


Please click the link for the full text:
http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1110/5-Investment-Ideas-That-Are-Trending.aspx

Five Gold Ideas Off The Beaten Path

No matter what an individual investor may think about gold these days, there is no denying that it is a major topic of conversation. The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD) is just one of several ETF options, and investors have been turning to funds, bullion, coins and miners of all shapes and sizes to make their plays on the shiny yellow metal that is once again so popular. (To learn more, see Why Gold Matters.) 

With such a significant interest in gold, it is difficult to find too many credible ideas that would really meet the standard of "overlooked" or ignored. Nevertheless, here are five ideas that investors may not always see in broader discussions of gold mining stocks. In particular, these are names that may attract the attention of larger miners looking to build their reserves through the checkbook instead of the drillbit.


To read the full piece, please go to:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Five-Gold-Ideas-Off-The-Beaten-Path-GLD-ANV-NEM-AZK-IAG0916.aspx