The article below has an arrogant tone and mocks all shareholders of PM stocks. This is the signature of da boyz that have been emboldened by the recent SEC protection order. In fact, this might be Nadler's writer or at least one of them.

The article also indirectly highlights the plan of the gold cartel and that is to channel funds into the ETF's and away or out of PM's and PM shares.

And just what was this author's background prior to writing these illustrious articles: " Sergeant then joined the investment banking sector in order to acquire an inside view of how overall capital markets really worked." Too bad he did not share his knowledge on naked shorting!

Those tentacles - VHF

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Did your grandmother steal sheep?

Did she also steal the thunder from the stock price performance of 252 listed gold, platinum and silver stocks?

Author: Barry Sergeant
Posted: Tuesday , 05 Aug 2008

JOHANNESBURG -

A survey of 252 listed stocks around the world focused on exploring for, developing, and mining, gold, platinum and silver, paints a picture of proverbial carnage. The story is perhaps captured by the stock price development of Vancouver-based Goldcorp, not the world's biggest gold miner, but in many senses its self-professed leader in a number of other senses.

Goldcorp's high flying stock price peaked out in mid-July this year, just weeks ago, at USD 52.25 a share; since then, it has declined by more than a third, surrendering more than USD 10bn in market capitalisation. By contrast, the dollar gold bullion price has declined by a relatively modest 14% since its all-time record early in March this year.

Silver bullion and also platinum metal prices peaked at the same time, and have since retreated by 21% and 32%, respectively. There has been a rout in anything to do with commodities since mid-May, which developed an especially voracious pace from mid-July, when the dollar crude oil price hit blow off levels just short of USD 150 a barrel.

The net result is that investors in many kinds of listed resources stocks have lost fortunes; even oil stocks have been hammered. Measured over the past 12 months, a composite and weighted investment in listed gold stocks would now be rendering a negative return of -12%; a similar investment in platinum stocks would be negative to the tune of -17%, and if in silver stocks, a hugely negative -40%.

Measurements computed on the same basis show that investors in the broader listed resources sector have achieved positive returns in bulk commodities produced by listed stocks in potash, coal and iron ore. The sting in the tail for long time fanciers of precious metals miners is that investments in gold and silver exchange traded funds (ETFs), or more specifically exchange traded commodities (ETCs), have done fairly well.

These ETCs offer proxy investments in gold and silver bullion; the returns of gold and silver ETCs have been similar to returns from straight investments in gold and silver bullion. Investments in ETCs, like investments in bullion, eliminate the human management risk factor, and other risks, from the investment equation.