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Gold/Mining/Energy : RON STRUTHERS: BEST STOCK PICKER -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ron Struthers who wrote (77)	9/24/1999 7:57:00 PM
From: Ron Struthers	Respond to of 151

RSA Comments on Metals Sept. 8th Resource Stocks Advisory V5 # 5.0 September 8 1999 GOLD and the METALS The current market with gold at 20 year lows and commodities just bouncing off 20 year lows provides with a once in a life time opportunity to by the best mining stocks at cheap cheap prices. RSA has an adequate number of senior picks and I would now like to add some picks that have high leverage to rising gold prices but have strong balance sheets and exceptional exploration potential. This months pick is about as good as you can find and provides a very unique opportunity. Two world class discoveries and exploration programs in full swing despite the poor metals market. This company has almost $7 million in cash and 5 JV agreements where partners will spend a combined US$190 million to gain their full earn-in interest in some exceptional properties. Base metal prices are recovering from very low levels with strong economic growth in the U.S. and expected recoveries in Asia and Japan. Three month Nickel hit it's highest price since August 1997 at $7,400 a tonne, up 87% from the January low. Aluminum is at a 18 month peak and copper at a 14 month high and we are just entering the fall period which is typically strong for metals. I expect the rally will continue, but in the longer term, I suspect this will just end up being a good bear market rally. However there are some metals that could continue stronger than the rest and the two metals with the best fundamentals for large price increases are silver and zinc. Zinc inventories are at their lowest level since May 1992 and are at a critical low level of 282,425 tonnes. Prices have recently improved to a 21 month high with much further price increases likely in the next couple of years. Cominco CLT on Toronto is the largest zinc producer and would benefit. Inco and Falconbridge are well position for higher earnings in the last half of 1999 and 2000. Noranda Inc. would also benefit from improvement in zinc and nickel prices and has a nice 3.8% dividend yield. GOLD My last update on gold on Aug 4th talked about some positive signals I was seeing and a chance for a good move in the gold price. Gold has moved several dollars and our Barrick call options and other gold stocks have done very well. Of the seniors Barrick has been about the best performer, other than Kinross Kinross closing prices Hi Low Close Chg Vol 19990813 T 3.82 3.65 3.77 +0.04 1171862 19990812 T 3.75 3.60 3.73 +0.18 1909199 19990811 T 3.60 3.32 3.55 +0.19 613066 19990810 T 3.41 3.11 3.36 +0.24 969794 19990809 T 3.15 3.03 3.12 +0.12 184244 We can see that Kinross picked up $0.77 this week or almost 26% They reported some positive exploration results on one project, the stock was a steal at such low prices with gold rising and there has been some acquisition rumors. <A HREF="http://chart.canada-stockwatch.com/sw/chart.dbm?symbol=k"> Kinross Chart</a>

To: Ron Struthers who wrote (77)	9/24/1999 8:04:00 PM
From: Ron Struthers	Respond to of 151

RSA comments gol/gold stocks Aug 15th RSA Update, BAY, Gold V5 # 4.6 Aug 15 1999 Excerpt from Aug 15th update GOLD My last update on gold on Aug 4th talked about some positive signals I was seeing and a chance for a good move in the gold price. Gold has moved several dollars and our Barrick call options and other gold stocks have done very well. Of the seniors Barrick has been about the best performer, other than Kinross Kinross closing prices Hi Low Close Chg Vol 19990813 T 3.82 3.65 3.77 +0.04 1171862 19990812 T 3.75 3.60 3.73 +0.18 1909199 19990811 T 3.60 3.32 3.55 +0.19 613066 19990810 T 3.41 3.11 3.36 +0.24 969794 19990809 T 3.15 3.03 3.12 +0.12 184244 We can see that Kinross picked up $0.77 this week or almost 26% They reported some positive exploration results on one project, the stock was a steal at such low prices with gold rising and there has been some acquisition rumors. <A HREF="http://chart.canada-stockwatch.com/sw/chart.dbm?symbol=k"> Kinross Chart</a> One gold stock I like on the RSA list that hasn't moved much yet is Black Hawk Mining, BHK on TSE Recent Price $-0.12 Entry Price $0.16 Opinion - buy The stock has been trading around $0.12 to $0.13 and is at around break even at US$280 gold which means the stock has very good leverage to a rising gold price to $280 and above. Black Hawks' unaudited financial results for the first six months of 1999 include a net loss of $1,115 (one cent per share) on sales of $16,300,000 compared with a net income of $1,051 (one cent share) on sales of $12,455,000 during the comparable period of 1998. During the period, 57,222 ounces of gold were sold at $285 per ounce, compared with 37,088 ounces at $336 in 1998. Cash operating cost in the period was $230 per ounce in 1999, compared with $222 in 1998. The 1998 period included six months of Keystone production at a cost of $213 per ounce and one month of production from El Limon at $284 per ounce. Blackhawk has some other good exploration projects and other gold reserves that become economic at $300 gold. <A HREF="http://chart.canada-stockwatch.com/sw/chart.dbm?symbol=bhk">Chart</a> Gold continues to show positive signs for a further price rise. Recently the gold price has stabilized around US$255 and the market volatility readings have dropped to unprecedented lows. Lease rate (the cost of borrowing gold) has risen for the 12months from 1.2% to around 4%. Demand is very strong with shorts in the market have been stalled and a wave of commercial and speculative buying has come in. The contango on future contracts has shrunk indicating near term demand and buying pressure is high. The statistics released during JUNE show that South Korea's imports of gold skyrocketed to 72 tons from 44 tons a year ago. (one month only -- June) The January-to-June total for this year for Korea gold imports is 264 tons, up 38 percent over the same period last year. In Taiwan, JUNE was 94 tons, twice that seen in May of this year, and more than twice the previous year. Some gold producers have been buying back hedge positions. The chart of gold is resting against the downtrend resistance, and gold stocks are moving strongly, clearly suggesting the market is expecting a rise in gold prices, and institutions as exotic as Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch have called for a recovery in prices and are buying!!!! "Goldman says COMEX gold grab normal business relations" "New York, Aug 12 (Reuters)- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and Co. said on Thursday that its recent stockpiling of gold through the New York gold futures exchange did not reflect any unusual activity for the firm. According to figures available to the public from the COMEX, a division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the firm has apparently amassed about 15 tonnes of gold in August, owning half the gold stocks in exchange warehouses, while the troubled gold market gossips about the ramifications. "Goldman Sachs is one of the largest and most active participants in the market and this is all within the normal course of business," a spokewoman for the firm told Retuers. "We are seeing very strong demand for the physical metals." Goldman, which trades through it commodities arm J. Aron and Co., has so far this month taken about 95 percent of the metal offered by other players for physical delivery against short futures positions. Of the 4,995 100-ounce Comex contracts to be delivered as of August 12, the investment bank will receive gold from 4,735 contracts. This amounts to 473,500 troy ounces of bullion--14.7 metric tonnes-- or about 50 percent of the 948,973 ounces now held in Comex warehouses. "That is what you call accumulation," said Don Tierney of Pell Brothers Trading. That has obviously helped the market up and also put the strength in the nearby (futures contracts)," he said. "They have taken a long position and they now own half of the gold in the COMEX bank. This isn't short covering." Goldman has been known to be one of the short players in the past so this news has more significance. There has been rumors of a hedge fund, short gold being bailed out (Tiger Management!!) I am still expecting a decent move in gold prices short term and we could see a very large move in the last half of the year, especially if we see weakness in the general equity markets and bonds along with Y2K fears that draw closer. However we cannot rule out further surprise announcements of huge official sector sales to try and contain the market. Another important point is the evidence that continues to build and seep out about the strong demand for physical gold. This leads me to believe that the BOE sales could be mostly about supplying physical gold to a market that was running very low and becoming illiquid. It certainly is the most interesting and most bizarre times I have seen in the gold market and strongly believe that the combination of 5% actual bullion and 10% in precious metal stocks in one's portfolio is very wise and prudent position. In fact I am actually contemplating increasing this allocation in the model portfolios from 15% to 20%.

To: Ron Struthers who wrote (77)	9/24/1999 8:07:00 PM
From: Ron Struthers	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 151

RSA/Future Tech Market comments Sept 19th RSA Update V5 # 5.1 September 19 1999 Excerpt from Sept 19th update MARKETS Main Street USA is in love with Wall Street. Is this a mania or what? According to Edward Wolff, an economist at New York University, 43% of American households own stock, either directly or through mutual funds and pension accounts, up from nearly 25% in 1983. The poorest 40% of U.S. households now invests an average of $1,600 in stocks, up from $300 (in today's dollars) in 1962. The wealthiest 10% of Americans still dominate Wall Street, owning 82% of the value of all stocks. There are now more than 108 new business and finance magazines in print, nearly triple those of the early 90s. There are nearly 7,500 Web sites geared towards investing. The number of amateur investment clubs has doubled since 1995 to 37,000 The most amazing one to me is that the poorest 40% of US households, which includes all those living in poverty, now invests an average of $1600 in the stock market. That is amazing because you know that the people who can least afford to lose it, are playing Wall Street hoping to make a quick profit. Internet Mania As you know, one of the reasons I believed the Internet bubble popped was because of excess supply coming onto the market (IPOs). Hang on, because there is still lots on the way. Another wave of Internet IPOs is due to hit in September and October with an expected 90 companies expected to go public. The numbers this week All eyes were on the Consumer Price Index Wednesday morning, which came in at 0.3%, and 0.1% for the core CPI, versus expectations of 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively. The markets rejoiced, with the Dow Industrials jumping 100 points at the opening bell August's US retail sales gains were the strongest since a 1.7% rise in February, and marked the eleventh increase in retail sales in the past 13 months. Americans are buying everything from cars to clothes, pushing the total value of retail sales up 1.2% to a seasonally adjusted $252.39 billion. This outstrips the expected rise of a 0.8% forecast by economists in a Reuters poll and the initial report of a 0.7% rise. Sales at clothing stores were 1.3% higher at $11.42 billion. Conclusions: Strong retail sales means more Interest rate hikes and the Government statisticians have now mastered containing the inflation numbers no matter what happens to prices. Warning: Perhaps prices can be controlled with the PPI and CPI numbers but it is going to show up big time in the US Trade Deficit. These numbers are going to blow the street away and pound the US$ over the next several months. I hope to go into more detail with a few charts on how and why this will happen in another update.