As reported on Bloomberg TV: “Barrick Gold Corp was back in favor with fund managers last quarter, before the world’s biggest bullion producer reported disappointing earnings and rising costs…Billionaire investor Stan Druckenmiller’s Duquense Family Office LLC bought 2.85 million shares in Barrick” in the 1st quarter.
Apparently Templeton and Druckenmiller have not done their home work on mining stocks. Anyone with any knowledge and experience investing in mining stocks knows that companies like Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX) and Goldcorp Inc (NYSE:GG) and are poorly managed, highly bureaucratic organizations. As such, they are terrible vehicles with which to express a leveraged view on the precious metals market.
Barrick has all kinds of problems that will affect its profitability, including a pile-on of class action lawsuits that hit recently. Anyone with experience in this sector already knows this. Rather than investing in the largest mining stocks, the best returns in the sector will be made by investing in the companies that will be acquired by these large caps. A good example is the recent takeover of Exeter Resource Corporation (NYSE:XRA) by Goldcorp:
If Stanley Druckenmiller had been a subscriber to the Mining Stock Journal, he would have known to buy XRA in early September (presented in the Sept 1, 2016 issue) at $1.16. The stock popped up to $1.80 when XRA and Goldcorp Inc (NYSE:GG) announced the merger. That’s a 55% ROR in 7 months. MSJ subscribers were also shown Mariana Resources in the December 22, 2016 issue at 82 cents. Mariana agreed to acquired by Sandstorm Gold in a deal valued at $1.41. Because of the heavy stock component, SAND traded lower and Mariana traded up to $1.24. A 51% ROR in four months. The new stock idea presented in mid-April is up 19% and has a lot more room to run.