Oct 7th, 2008 |
By Chris Mayer |
Category: Economics
I was in France the last time the markets sold off. Every time I leave the country, the markets go in the tank. But seriously, I'm sitting here watching the market as if it were some drama reaching a climactic conclusion. We live in truly extraordinary times.
I have been thinking ...
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Tags: bear markets and recessions, credit crisis, John Templeton wisdom
Posted in Economics |
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Oct 1st, 2008 |
By Chris Mayer |
Category: Commodities
“Taking the long view, we are running out of dirt.” —David R. Montgomery, geologist
Over the summer, Iran bought a large amount — more than ONE million tons — of wheat from the U.S.
That’s something we’ve not seen in 27 summers. In Iran’s case, a tough drought cut the wheat harvest ...
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Tags: Agriculture Soil Shortages, global food supply, Iran's wheat harvest, shortage in fertile soil, shortage of quality topsoil
Posted in Commodities |
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Sep 15th, 2008 |
By Chris Mayer |
Category: Commodities, Emerging Markets, International
Frank Holmes is the CEO of U.S. Global Investors, a money management firm honed in on the commodity bull market. I had dinner with him recently at the Blue Water Cafe in Vancouver. Over salmon and flying squid, as well as an excellent local ale, we again hashed out the ...
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Tags: Asian Infrastructure, Asian retail sales, infrastructure materials, infrastructure megatrend
Posted in Commodities, Emerging Markets, International |
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Sep 10th, 2008 |
By Chris Mayer |
Category: Commodities
In just the last couple of months, commodity stock prices have melted like ice cream on a hot summer day. I’ve been burning the phone line and firing off e-mail to people in the field about what they see.
Over the years, I’ve developed quite a network of contacts. If I ...
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Tags: bottom in commodities, future of commodities, Gastown, Jeremy Grantham, vancouver
Posted in Commodities |
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Aug 28th, 2008 |
By Chris Mayer |
Category: Economics, Investing Strategies, Macro Economics
While in Vienna last month, I grabbed hold of the international edition of The Wall Street Journal. Over a classic Viennese breakfast of coffee, a boiled egg and pastry, I stumbled across an interview with Ted Forstmann, titled, “The Credit Crisis Is Going to Get Worse.”
I hadn’t seen Forstmann’s name ...
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Tags: Dr. Andre Homberg, financial cycles, real assets, Ted Forstmann
Posted in Economics, Investing Strategies, Macro Economics |
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Aug 25th, 2008 |
By Chris Mayer |
Category: Housing, Investing Strategies
“All a man has to do to get rich in America is find out where people are going, get there first and buy land.”
— Gen. Douglas MacArthur
Bob Hope, the great American comedian and Hollywood star, was actually born in England. He once quipped, “I left England at the age of ...
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Tags: Bob Hope's real estate, land banking, Land Banking in the Stock Market, land ownership, Las Vegas Valley land, Professional Land Corp
Posted in Housing, Investing Strategies |
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Aug 14th, 2008 |
By Chris Mayer |
Category: Currencies, Oil
When you have a lot of problems you also have a lot of opportunity. I want to start with some wise words from John Templeton. Templeton actually died a few weeks ago at the age of 95. His is a great story.
Born and raised in rural Tennessee, Sir John was ...
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Tags: John Templeton, money supply, paper money, price of oil
Posted in Currencies, Oil |
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Aug 8th, 2008 |
By Chris Mayer |
Category: Oil
The Adventures of Tintin is a comic book series started back in 1929. My nine-year-old son loves it. I enjoy reading it along with him because the hero of the series, a young Belgian reporter named Tintin, often finds himself in interesting historical settings and exotic places. (My favorite story ...
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Tags: Brazil oil, Carioca oil, Petrobras, Tupi oil, Underwater mining
Posted in Oil |
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Jul 28th, 2008 |
By Chris Mayer |
Category: Commodities
There is a map of the world on my office wall. What I like about this particular map is that the mapmaker paid particular attention to getting the scale right. That means Africa gets it proper gigantic sizing. It is truly a massive landmass.
It's also fitting that it sits close ...
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Tags: Africa natural gas, African oil companies, African resources, natural resources
Posted in Commodities |
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Jul 22nd, 2008 |
By Chris Mayer |
Category: Commodities, Emerging Markets, Oil
In investing, the prospect of crisis has always been a sort of summons for me. It’s like when I was a little boy and the ice cream truck’s jingle sent me running for loose change on a hot summer day. These days, I’m just trying to get at goodies of ...
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Tags: aviation industry, cobalt, fuel efficient airlines, price of oil, superalloys
Posted in Commodities, Emerging Markets, Oil |
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