It's Mine!

The last few weeks and days were very volatile days for stock market traders, enthusiasts, investors and speculators. Some may have made money (given an equal amount of heightened risk); but, most, I believe, have lost money (or paper loss, depending on your circumstance).

Surprisingly or unsurprisingly for some, the mining index of the PSEi bucked the trend, albeit with the exception of the last few days of the week ending August 19.

In fact, a lot of the mining stocks have made 52 wk highs...

52 week highs -

LC hit 1.58 last August 19 (surprise!)

PX hit 28.95 last August 16

MA hit 0.072 last August 12

ZHI hit 1.37 last August 8

NI (special mention even though it didn't make 52 wk high, it's increased from 2.24 in August 1 to 3.43 this August 19)

ORE hit 5.12 last August 4

DIZ hit 11.76 last August 16

Did not make 52 wk highs

AT

NIKL

The list above is not extensive, but you should get the picture.

Most of the mining stocks with gold production or gold claims went up. Those with minerals meant for manufacturing like AT and NIKL (except NI and ORE) performed poorly vis-a-vis their mining peers because if the world should fall into recession then there'd be manufacturing slack. So there could be a rebalancing of portfolio by fund managers and investors.

I've no idea why NIKL is not performing given the good earnings report recently (sell on news perhaps?). NI and ORE outperformed the PSE index (and NIKL). ORE has just started reporting earnings (which obviously bodes well for a stock) and in fact if you read the news, there is FOREIGN BROKER coverage. What a big turnaround.. those of you might remember that after ORE listed, there were some questions about its mining claims. Going forward, should the uncertainty about the global economy subside, NIKL could be one big winner for those looking for quality mining stocks.

While NI. Hmm, I have to check more news on this one. NI was supposed to have some good story to tell but it never did materialize (i.e. no news). NI was part of the triumvirate of GEMINI speculation (i.e. GEO, MIC, NI) in the years 2006 to 2007.

There were other non mining issues which recovered well. Some index stocks just couldn't pick up though and instead fell through the roof. Have you seen MEG? Better not catch a falling knife.

If there's anything else that will be an offshoot of a successful mining industry renaissance, it would be the demand for geologists and engineers. Goodbye nursing hello engineering and geology? There could also be a demand for Chinese speaking translators as a big chunk of the demand for minerals would still be from China.

In the meantime, I think that a cautious approach is better especially if you are a trader. For investors, the time is almost ripe to continue to accumulate shares. If you can't stand the volatility, it's time you entrusted your funds to people more knowledgeable than you.

Until then, appreciate the (heightened) risk, then appreciate the capital!