The latest Investing Matters Podcast with Jean Roche, Co-Manager of Schroder UK Mid Cap Investment Trust has just been released. Listen here.
Torreaguas, you are asking the right questions. I agree with Bottmzup that what he says seems to be way chart followers see situations. I am not keen on following charts in this way. I prefer to use RNS releases and read into them how I think the management are going about creating a multi £million success. I bought into JLP on this basis. Today's RNS tells me CB knows he is on to a winner at Creswick and is moving on with realising the assets. I also use video interviews; I like to see someone prepared to take risks and aim high. CB is not the best performer, Paul Johnson of POW is better.
It is worth bearing in mind that all the calculations are based on the figures contained in the past share prices. I look at the graph of share prices and draw my own conclusions without bothering with MACD and RSI calculations.
"also" should be ALS. I hate auto correct!
There is an article in MoneyWeek giving a qualified case for investing in gold. also is described as "extraordinary value at this price". At the time of writing ALS was at 60p. Is this what caused the recent rise in price?
Kums, I have been buying and holding for years. That makes sense for investment trusts but I am not sure about exploration companies on AIM like PALM. I would have made good money on ECR had I sold when it was 4p and bought a few days ago at 1.5p. The good news in the ECR's RNS did not raise the share price and today's PALM RNS may not do so here. I remain invested here because I prefer the CEO to most other explorers.
My ex makes it a policy and put me to shame. She sold all her shares, mostly at losses, to invest in EUA 18 months ago and turned her £180,000 into £1,600,000.
Just sold. I bought a year ago because what is in the ground looks promising. The minerals in Ireland and Finland still do look promising but it seems something else is wrong. Maybe the CEO.
There are many predictions that companies like this one will do well as the value of metals rises so I am transferring to another similar company. I will however keep a close eye on CGNR.
Many thanks to all the polite and constructive contributers here.
I agree. Some have too many posts to read and most are not worth reading. I have had MIGO and UIL in the past. My opinion is that one has to be quick and ruthless when it is time to sell. Buy and hold may not be the best strategy.
Lots of similar exploration companies have fallen today, although not as much as ECR. I am going to wait and hope for the best. I am no expert but I thought today's RNS was OK, most drillings will not find gold. ECR needs to find a large amount of gold once, it does not have to be today.
I was a technical manager/ chemical analyst in the electroplating industry for 40 years.
I found XRF to be fast, typical measurement times were 30secs.
A semi technical person has to set the method up and then anyone can get a result.
Gold shows up well. All heavy elements do because they have many electrons. Nickel, iron, copper also give signals but weaker than gold, platinum, tungsten. Gold gives a distinctive double peak.
The Xrays target a small area, mine looked at under a sq mm. In order to collect as many emitted Xrays as possible the detector had to be close, this limited the size of the measurement chamber and therefore the size of the sample. The Xrays penetrated several microns (millionths of a metre), I could not measure a thick sample directly. I could measure a wide area by moving the sample under the incident Xray beam but the sample had to be flat.
Usually there are no suitable standards. I mean a piece of ore containing a known amount of gold and comparable amounts of all the other elements. Without standards the analyst relies on the computer program to calculate the gold content based on assumptions the manufacturer made. If you want to dig up and process millions of tons of ore you have to get the drill samples into a laboratory. The results will be slow and expensive but reliable. If you want to know where to drill next, an XRF may be good enough.
The waste deposits at Phalaborwa contain 0.5%rare earths. That is 0.15% praseodymium and neodymium and 0.35% less valuable rare earths. 35m tonnes. At £74/Kg and £94/Kg respectively the value when refined will be £4,4140m, 50 times the market cap. On that basis I think there is room for a price rise. Is my thinking on the right lines? I hope so as I have just bought some.
As Greardo27 says, it is not for the faint hearted. I first bought 10 years ago and have been buying ever since. It is at a small discount now and I think is a buying opportunity. On average the past has been good and nothing has changed in the way SMT operates so I am prepared to remain invested.
Star managers fail from time to time. Someone mentioned Neil Woodford. I would add Nick Train. Maybe Baillie Gifford has got to grips with hubris and failure because there is more consistency in their range of investment trusts.
Capncarrot. If you like the idea of a company exploring several areas at once you have a look at Panther Metals, PALM. It has not been rising or falling much for many months but shows promise. At least, it does to an optimist. I hold both but more in POW.
Many thanks to Noobz, shortter and all those who took trouble to reply, all polite and constructive. My choice of ALBA was indeed based on recent RNSs and company websites. The professional IFAs advise against AIM companies because so many investors lose money. I am tempted by exploration companies though. In order to reduce the risk of large losses I bought six mineral explorers. They can go bankrupt, tick over going nowhere or find a fortune in the ground. Even after finding a fortune the share price rise might take months or years. I agree that one does have to be patient and not risk money you cannot afford to lose. At the start of the pandemic I sold many of my investment trusts and bought into mineral prospectors because I had a hunch that they may weather a financial crisis better. That hunch may well be tested later this year.
I have just bought nearly £5K. Here is my thinking. I am encouraged because a number of people are hopeful that the price is about to rise. That thought is tempered by the fact that similar thoughts abound on CGNR, ECR, POW, PALM and many others. Maybe we will all be lucky. The price has been falling so that too encouraged me to buy. The bid/offer spread is at 7.5% and that is lower that when I first tried to buy when it was 30%.
I tried to buy at 0.41p and Interactive Investors bought at 0.40p. That puzzled me but I did not complain.
I am not attracted by gold because its price can fall. Graphite and titanium have industrial uses which will always help to maintain their prices.
Several people have noticed the lack of info from the BoD but that does not mean that the company is being managed badly. I am inclined to wait, just as I am with my other penny stocks in the mineral exploration business.
The AGM invites us to vote. Normally I do not as I am put off by my ignorance of the legal aspects. The jargon does not make it any easier. However the recent shareholder revolt at Petropavlovsk (POG) sacked the board of directors and caused the share price to fall. As a result I am inclined to vote in future. Judging by the chat I read here I want to vote for EUA to continue as it is. Should I vote "For" to everything? I would appreciate a comment from a more knowledgeable person who understands the implications. We are asked to vote on EUA's new draft articles of association. They are on the website but it does not seem to be working.
I agree with 4kandles; the CEO does sound a bit uneducated and unrefined. Having a Christian name of Darren does not help. I also agree with mytton; that is insufficient reason to avoid PALM. I am waiting for a minimum price to top up. I think it was Paul Johnson of POW who advised investors to be wary of anything a CEO says.