Rare Earth metals = a solid investment?

[Razor Sharp]

Starting to look that way, at least to my untrained eye:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101215/bs_nm/us_usa_rareearths_energy

Any of you trader cats rolling the dice on this?

 

[squirrels]

I am by no means a "trader"...but the thought that comes to mind is how China can threaten damage to the US economy when they are the single biggest holder of US debt.

 

[Julius_Seizeher]

I'm long on rare earths. There were snippets here and there about potential squeeze in that sector, but China let the cat out of the bag when they cancelled REE shipments last summer. They have since retracted (damage control), but it's too late-the West has woke up to find our REE supply chains where we left them thirty years ago. We have some REE deposits in America, but Canada is a natural resource bonanza, including REEs.

I didn't mess with the Molycorp IPO last summer because REEs were the talk of the town and they seemed overheated. It was a good call at the time, despite the performance that Moly has given. You invest, you lose, you learn.

 

[Razor Sharp]

@squirrels, funny but true. Though you have to wonder how long that will hold water, seeing that they have dropped the dollar as a standard and their economy is making insane strides that this country hasn't seen in many decades. China is definitely THE country to watch over the next decade. If the trend continues they are poised to be the next superpower while the States crumbles into a pile of debt, low-productivity and corruption.

@Julius, Thanks for the tip bro. I will continue to follow this story and research a bit before making my mind up. BTW I am curious what else you are long on, but maybe that's worth its own thread...or maybe a whole nother forum (suggestions are welcome)

 

[Julius_Seizeher]

It may surprise you, but I am long on America.

The debts, the wars, the erosion of our jobs and middle class, the crash of 08, all these events have served to wake us up and we live today with absolute knowledge of the challenges we face. Before, in times of plenty, all these things were easily ignored. Now we have the opportunity to face them head on, and kick their teeth in, because we are awake.

America will turn it around, you watch.

As for China, I believe China will be the biggest bubble in history. They are playing the role of an economic and industrial superpower, but it's a house of cards. Investors are throwing their money at Chinese stocks, despite the fact that China has absolutely no fiduciary or reporting standards for these companies and they might as well be putting their money in Zao's superduper free checking account. IMO, China has gotten WAYYYYYYYYYYY too big for its britches, and I have heard the same sentiment expressed by anyone who has gone there. They are trying to have their cake and eat it too; government-owned capitalism? I think it's unsustainable as hell, and you won't see my money anywhere near that sh!t. Plus, I simply don't trust them.

As for where I am long, I am long on commodities. Specifically gold, copper, uranium, REEs, potash, and oil. I don't buy the commodity, I buy the miner or the driller who digs it out of the ground. That's where I have made the most effort to educate myself, the arena of mining. Big risk, huge rewards.

That's my main investing squeeze, but I see where it's a stock picker's market now. I look for fundamentally strong companies with a beat down price, and then I start watching, maybe to take a position down the road. You can learn alot about investing just by watching stocks over a period of time.

I have a portfolio of miners, drillers, an oddball bank or two, and an upstart biotech that I am (too much) in love with.

 

[Razor Sharp]

Haha, long on America. That's priceless. I do see your point about China being a bubble. If history serves as a lesson it's that communism cannot function indefinitely, it's only a matter of time before the experiment fails. Point taken

I could see America turning things around, but only when people wean themselves off cheap labor and start actually producing goods in this country. The term "Made in the USA" has become somewhat of a joke on the international stage (unless you are talking weapons) Europe got hit just as hard with the crisis, but Germany for example is already out of recession and seeing record gains, simply by applying tariffs on all imports and providing incentives for local production.

Great advice overall, thanks for sharing - this is all still pretty new to me.

 

[BigJimbo]

China is less communistic than America. It is the ultimate capitalistic state. So sad that Americans believe the B.S. in America. Russia is much more free in 2010 than America. Don't believe me? Most of you can't drink, gamble, etc. in free America. Yet, you can go get your faces burned off in a war that means little to you. In Russia if you have money you can do whatever it is you want to do. That is pure capitalism to me.