Coeur Mining (NYSE: CDE) invests C$146M into Victoria Gold (TSX: VGCX) as that Company nears commercial production
AngloGold (NYSE: AU) ratchets up interest in Corvus Gold (TSX: KOR) with a $20M loan, secures pole position for negotiating an acquisition
Rio Tinto Canada invests C$25.6M into Western Copper and Gold (TSX: WRN; NYSE-AM: WRN) as that Company nears a construction decision at its Casino copper-gold project

What we are seeing here is a trend in which major miners are taking strategic equity positions or ‘Toe Holds’ that often come with board positions and front-row seats to the development of these projects, prior to cutting 9- or 10-figure cheques. 

It also tells us they have the luxury to do this and that the competition for assets has not reached a fever pitch yet. It’s when that competition peaks that we’ll see the Billion dollar acquisitions.

Welcome to The Diary, the newsletter for essential small-cap investing intelligence, presented twice a month by Dear Retail. We hope you enjoyed our last issue – if you missed it, you can find it here.

Welcome to The Diary, the newsletter for essential small-cap investing intelligence, presented twice a month by Dear Retail. We hope you enjoyed our last issue – if you missed it, you can find it here.

 It was August of 2011.

 I was watching CNBC, and the talking heads were gushing about how $2,000-an-ounce gold was a done deal.

 Some were even calling for the yellow metal to hit $5,000.

 The air was thick with fear at the time – everyone was afraid the US would default on the national debt.

 (Remember that? The so-called “debt-ceiling” crisis?)

 The smart money – Wall Street pundits were saying – was buying up gold, gold ETFs and gold mining companies with both hands.

 The implications were clear – you’d better get in on precious metals, too… while there was still time.

Let’s say you’re in the market for a new car.

And since you want to ride the wave of the future, you visit your Tesla dealer to check out their EVs.

You love the Tesla Model S – it’s sporty and gets about 412 miles per battery charge.

Sounds good, right?

Then… sticker shock.

You see that this car costs US $81,190.

(And that’s for the stripped-down version!)

You just know there has to be a more affordable EV, so you go to an Audi showroom and take the Audi e-tron for a spin.

It rides nice and costs much less – about $55,000– but you discover it only gets 208 miles per charge.

That’s not enough driving range for you, so you head to your local Volkswagen dealer to check out the Volkswagen ID.4.

You find it’s a good value at $42,000, but its range isn’t much better– only 250 miles per charge.

See the problem with today’s EVs?

After two years of wallowing in the dumpster, the cannabis sector is off and running again.

A big reason? Cannabis laws are beginning to loosen around the world.

Take Mexico.

That country’s Chamber of Deputies approved a bill on March 10 that legalizes recreational cannabis.

The next step is for the Senate to vote on the bill.

Members are expected to pass it.

Once they do, it will then go to President Obrador (who has signalled support for the measure).

The time was 2008.

The place, a supermarket in DeSoto, Texas.

Anita Ortez had just finished shopping there and was ready to head home.

But as she started her Toyota 4Runner, she knew something was very wrong.

The stock market game is not for everyone and certainly not for the uninformed. However, someone with the right strategies and research skills can create wealth even in chaotic times. Some of the wealthiest investors have made their fortune trading in volatile micro-cap stocks.

But knowing where to invest, how much to invest, and when to sell or trade does not come naturally to most investors. You’ll first need to understand what kind of stocks are out there so you can build your own plan.

Was that Ed?

It was!

Ed was a friend of my dad’s who used to be CEO of a multi-million-dollar consulting firm.

I hadn’t seen him in years…

Until now…

At Walmart.

Welcome to The Diary, the newsletter for essential small-cap investing intelligence, presented twice a month by Dear Retail. We hope you enjoyed our last issue – if you missed it, you can find it here.