If You Thought Ron Paul's Investments In Big Gold Miners Were Doing Badly, Check Out His Investments In 'Juniors'
Earlier today we revisited former Texas Congressman Ron Paul's precious metal-heavy portfolio.
Paul is one of the most famous advocates of gold as an investment, so we took a look at how his 64 percent precious metal portfolio was handling the recent crash in the price of gold.
We took a look at the three major mining stocks that the Wall Street Journal described as the largest of Paul's holdings. Here's what has happened to them in the past six months:
Newmont Mining Company: –24.17%
Goldcorp Holdings: –24.21%
Barrick Gold: –27.14%
While those were reported as his largest holdings, Paul did report owning shares of a swathe of "junior" mining companies, considered smaller and riskier bets.
We took a look at how those mining companies performed in the past six months. The result is a series of brutal losses:
Agnico Eagle Mines : –20.6%
Allied Nevada Gold Corp: –49.03%
Alumina Common: +51.28 %
Anglo Gold Ashanti Ltd. –29.55%
BrigusGold Corp. Com MPV: –23.39%
Claude Research Inc: –46.67%
Coeur D'Alene Mines Corp: –24.92%
Hecla Mining Co: –26.94
El Dorado Gold Corp: Not Listed
IAM Gold Corp: –54.54%
Kinross: – 17.42%
Lexam Explorations Inc: – 29.41%
Mag Silver Corp: –17.39%
Metalline Mining Co: Not Listed
Pan American Silver: –17.55%
Silver Wheaton Corp: –15.57%
Virginia Mines Inc: +5.15%
Vista Gold Corp. –48.32%
Viterra Inc +0.62%
Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd: –38.21%
Looking at the twenty-one publicly listed mining companies in the Ron Paul portfolio, the average return on investment was a dismal –22.62% over the past six months.
Given that the Wall Street Journal reported that Paul's portfolio was worth between $2.44 million and $5.46 million — and that 64 percent of his assets were in these precious metal stocks — a very loose estimate is that Ron Paul has lost between $353,204 and $790,366 over the past six months, based on the average loss of his mining holdings.
The moral of the story: don't just be in gold related assets.
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