DELTA, BC - November 5, 2009 - www.InvestorIdeas.com reports the hottest selling investor tools include the mining stocks directory and the renewable energy stocks directory, each directory listing over 900 publicly traded companies on the TSX, TSX Venture, OTC, NASDAQ, AMEX, NYSE, ASX, AIM and other leading Stock Exchanges.

China has stopped stockpiling metals, according to reports in the Chinese media. Will this put the cap on the recent strength in base metals prices? The AFP reports that, “China has been building its inventories of metals, including 235,000 tonnes of copper, over recent months, Caijing magazine reported on its website over the weekend, citing Yu Dongming, an official with the state economic planner.”

“China also bought 590,000 tonnes of aluminium, 159,000 tonnes of zinc, 30 tonnes of indium and 5,000 tonnes of titanium, said Yu, who works in the National Development and Reform Commission’s industry department.” Now that metals prices have rebounded, though, will the stockpiling continue, even at high prices? Or was it a case of bargain shopping at everyday low prices?

There are several components of demand. There’s real economic demand (you need the stuff to make other stuff). There is investment demand (you’re buying it in order to

...

Simple question: how do you invest during an inflationary boom? Today, some concrete ideas. And the simplest idea of them all-when you consider soaring government deficits-is to sell government bonds and buy beaten down, world-class equity.

Mind you, this is if you want to be in the equity market at all. There is a very good case to be made for NOT being in the equity market this year, or only being in those asset classes and single stocks you think will appreciate (or grow earnings) faster than the rate of inflation.

But let’s be more direct and say that this is still a bear market. The bear market began in 2000 with the popping of the tech bubble. The Fed fought back in 2003, setting a low-interest rate policy the rest of the dollar-pegged world followed. This kicked of leveraged booms in residential housing, credit derivatives, and stocks, bonds and commodities.

All

...

Adele Ferguson | October 18, 2008 Article from:  The Australian

IN 2002, legendary investor Warren Buffett warned that derivatives were time bombs and “financial weapons of mass destruction” that could harm not only their buyers and sellers, but the whole economic system.

Instead of heeding this oracle’s warnings, financial institutions rejoiced in these ticking bombs, which have now blown up, leading to estimates that the global banking system will lose up to $1.4 trillion before the crisis is over.

The world financial system is leveraged beyond comprehension. It is estimated that between $US500 trillion ($732 trillion) and $US700 trillion worth of derivatives are outstanding.

Compare this with the total economic activity (GDP) of the world, which is about $US50 trillion, and even a 5 per cent drop in the value of the derivatives is beyond the rescue capability of the world’s central banks, according to financial author Bert Dohmen in his Prelude to Meltdown.

These

...

Adele Ferguson | October 18, 2008 Article from:  The Australian

IN 2002, legendary investor Warren Buffett warned that derivatives were time bombs and “financial weapons of mass destruction” that could harm not only their buyers and sellers, but the whole economic system.

Instead of heeding this oracle’s warnings, financial institutions rejoiced in these ticking bombs, which have now blown up, leading to estimates that the global banking system will lose up to $1.4 trillion before the crisis is over.

The world financial system is leveraged beyond comprehension. It is estimated that between $US500 trillion ($732 trillion) and $US700 trillion worth of derivatives are outstanding.

Compare this with the total economic activity (GDP) of the world, which is about $US50 trillion, and even a 5 per cent drop in the value of the derivatives is beyond the rescue capability of the world’s central banks, according to financial author Bert Dohmen in his Prelude to Meltdown.

These

...

Sometimes you have to just stand back and admire the extremes a real bubble can produce. What you have now, as Bill explained last night at the Doomer’s Ball, is the last greatest bubble of them all, the bubble in U.S. bonds. It’s reaching staggering levels.

How do you measure these things? In yields. This, by the way, is how you’ll know the bubble is popping. When that happens (bond yields rise like a rocket ship) it’s going to unleash financial chaos. But for now, the bubble just keeps on getting bigger and yields on short-term U.S. bonds keep approaching-and even reaching-zero.

“The Treasury sold $27 billion of three-month bills yesterday at a discount rate of 0.005 percent,” reports Bloomberg. It’s, “the lowest since it starting auctioning the securities in 1929. The U.S. also sold $30 billion of four-week bills today at zero percent for the first time since it began selling

...

Welcome to the first edition of Guinness Peat Group Watch. The Watch will be published on a regular basis because of serious concerns over the governance, performance and strategy of the widely held investment company.

The first point to note is that GPG has been one of the worst performing NZX companies in the two years to 31 August 2008 with a negative gross return of 29.4%. GPG was the second worst performing company, after F&P Appliances, when compared with the NZX10 Index component companies (see below).

GPG is listed on three stock exchanges and they performed as follows over the same two year period: the NZX fell by 4.5%, the ASX rose by 2.7% and the London Stock Exchange declined by 4.6%.

The other issue is the remuneration of GPG’s top four executives Gary Weiss, Tony Gibbs, Blake Nixon

...