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Ben's avatar

For mining speculators out there, some of the smaller and mid-tier operators in South America are ripe for future profit creation. Lundin Gold, Aris Mining, Aura Minerals, G Mining Ventures, Lundin Mining, Solaris Resources, Abra Silver, LunR Royalties, Omai Gold Mines, Founders Metals, G2 Goldfields, etc.

Jay Bremyer's avatar

Lots of good lines in here like "perversion with teeth" and real wisdom and good counsel about having cash means opportunity and, in the worse of times, surviving. Good encouragement.

riffat.azad's avatar

"But we can remember that peace still isn’t Trump’s alone to deliver. It takes Iran too, and Iran’s leadership seems pretty messed up right now. Neither party in this deal has earned the confidence and trust of the other. As far as we know, so far, Israel hasn’t signed onto the promised peace deal. Although maybe it has. Who knows. And Hezbollah might lob a wrench into the works, just to keep things burning." You have this completely backwards, not sure if you dont know what your talking about or your pandering to you subscriber base. Irans leadershp seem messed up? Hezbollah might lob a wrench??? Trump and his admin are completely screwed up and its Israel that are already lobbing a wrench into the works. HOW could you have got this SOOOOOO wrong!

John Hunt, MD's avatar

Perhaps I should have said that the leadership in Iran has been in flux. I tried to be an equal opportunity critic. I don't tend to critique Trump more than other politicians, because he has plenty of others lobbing tomatoes at him all the time. I find reflexive Trump-hate dull. But nor do I consider either the leaders of Hezbollah or leaders of Iran or of Israel to be pinnacles of virtue, or adherents of Natural Law (which is what I consider to be the laws that allow for peaceful coexistence). I rarely ever come across a politicians who is a Natural Law guy. Closest is Milei. Keep reading. I hope you will see the purpose of the letter, which is not to trigger regional and ethnic defenses, but to recognize that this peace deal is fragile and that having cash--for many reasons--should not be forgotten. And that's true regardless of what ethnic group, tribe, nation, one comes from. Read the article on the Trump War Put. I think I hyperlinked it. You will likely appreciate when I more directly target Trump in that letter.

Attila Rebak's avatar

One observation I've made over the years is that many of the investors who have generated truly exceptional long-term returns are value investors. And despite the common criticism of "cash drag," most of them have often held meaningful cash positions, sometimes modest, sometimes very large.

What's interesting is that their long-term outperformance occurred despite carrying this apparent handicap. Cash reduced returns during bull markets, but it also gave them something far more valuable: patience, flexibility, and the ability to act decisively when opportunities appeared.

This is one reason why Berkshire Hathaway's current cash position catches my attention. Not because Buffett is predicting a crash, but because a cash balance of this magnitude, relative to Berkshire's market value, may be telling us something about the availability of attractively priced opportunities.

For value investors, cash is not a failure to invest. It is often evidence of investment discipline.

John Hunt, MD's avatar

smack on, Attila! By the way, other readers should check out Attila's substack. https://attilarebak.substack.com/. He is all Austrian economics, behavioral economics, value investing mentality, all presented so well, and with the internal consistency that helps assure that truth is there. Or another way to say it is that internal contradictions are confident indicators of a falsity that Austrian thinkers inherently avoid. Thanks Attila!

Attila Rebak's avatar

Thank you, John. I truly appreciate the kind words and the recommendation.

Your comment about internal consistency is especially meaningful to me. One of the reasons I was drawn to Austrian economics is its emphasis on first principles and logical coherence.

Thanks again for your generosity and support.