Are You a High-Stakes Speculator?

I attended this year's New Orleans Investment Conference along with Doug Casey, Marin Katusa, and Casey Research's CEO, Olivier Garret. It was fun to see many old friends among the attendees and other speakers, but the most interesting thing was an experiment I conducted as part of my speech.

You see, there had been a talk earlier in the conference on picking "ten-baggers" (stocks that go up 1,000%). Now, there's nothing wrong with shooting for ten times your investment in a highly volatile stock. It's neither a crazy nor a hyped-up claim – we've had many ten-baggers in our portfolios, including Silver Wheaton (SLW) and First Majestic (AG). But it's not easy, and many of the nano-cap stocks that offer that sort of potential do the opposite and drop 90% – if not all the way to zero.

So I asked the audience to raise their hands if they wanted ten-baggers in their portfolios. About three-fourths of the audience put their hands up. I didn't take time to count the hands, but it was a lot of people – several hundred.

I then explained the realities involved: Continue reading "Are You a High-Stakes Speculator?"

The Bottom Line on Gold, the Dollar, and the Euro

By Louis James, Casey Research

One of the points we've made several times over the last year is that traders stuck in an old paradigm are frequently selling gold for the wrong reasons.

The most egregious (or just plain silly) example is that gold often drops when the euro drops.

This happens, not because there's anything wrong with gold at such times, but because gold is priced in dollars. Instead of being thought of as a store of value in many investors' minds, gold is viewed as a hedge against weakness in the dollar.

But what are dollars priced in? Continue reading "The Bottom Line on Gold, the Dollar, and the Euro"

How Is Dr. Copper Feeling?

By Louis James and Andrey Dashkov, Casey Research

Copper is sometimes referred to as "Dr. Copper," because the metal is used in so many industrial applications and is essential for many different sectors of the economy, from infrastructure to housing to consumer electronics. That usually makes its price action a good indicator of the state of the global economy.

The chart below illustrates the degree to which copper follows economic health – as opposed to gold, which is a traditionally a contra-cyclical commodity. Have a look. Continue reading "How Is Dr. Copper Feeling?"

"This Is the Bottom for Gold" - John Hathaway

In an interview with Louis James, John Hathaway discusses the US's economic outlook and why he's delighted by the current bearish sentiment toward gold.

[To be a successful speculator, one must be willing to go against the mainstream investment trends, as John is. There's no better way to get a primer on contrarian investing than by sitting in on the recently concluded Casey Research Recovery Reality Check Summit – and you can do that by ordering the Summit Audio Collection today. Every presentation, every chart and graph, and every actionable investment tip can be yours, in either the instantly available MP3 files, or in CD format.] Continue reading ""This Is the Bottom for Gold" - John Hathaway"