All One River GIS

The Bull & Bear Financial Report arrived at someone else’s office this week and I borrowed it. Headline: “How Would You Invest $10,000 in 2008?”

‘Hmm,’ I thought to myself. ‘That’s a really good question.’

My first conscious answer to myself was, ‘I don’t think I would invest in any more upstart mining companies or junior ventures EVER AGAIN (if you go on how well my stock choices have done for me lately….) If I were to start from scratch, I think I would invest in plastic receptacles, or telepathic pet doctors, or water mitigation software – anything but mining.’

The reality of this question is that $10K is not enough money. If you want to see an impact from making the right decision at the right time, then you really need to start with, say, $100K – or, a quarter of a million would be better. And if it is in mining – then you are really going to need a couple to 6 million dollars U.S. to realize enough out come that will actually contribute to your financial abilities. By that, I mean $250 scrawny dollars profit is not going to make a difference in what steps you take next, whereas $2,500 profit overnight is something you can turn into more money.

Real estate. That’s an industry that never goes away. If the market is bad, you sit on it. Forget about it. Stick a couple of trailers out there and become a slumlord. That’s my retirement plan.

“HAY! Where’s my money? You’re late! Rent was due yesterday! That’s ten dollars EXTRA for every day late! Keep your kids off my lawn!” (That is if I haven’t retired to the Montana State Mental Hospital – a lovely venue across the road from a riparian habitat at the headwaters of the Clark Fork River… ahhh. Lovely.

$10K to invest in 2008? Hmmm, in my experience if you go to a booth where exploration guys are sitting in the trade shows and find the ones who are drilling, there is likely going to be a press release soon to follow. So, I go to trade shows, find the booths with exploration guys, and I ask them if they are drilling. If they aren’t, then I ask them if they will be and when? Same goes for major projects, such as say, a bio-ox treatment plant or a new metallurgical loop, or a new plant going in. I ask when it will be done. Then, I keep track of their status in a book by reviewing their websites. When they make a positive announcement, their stock usually goes up.

So, to answer Bull & Bear Financial Report’s question, if I had $10K to invest in 2008, no matter what came along, my best bet is to stick with something I know best: mining. And, it is a good idea to take notes, keep track of what exploration and mining companies are planning and doing, and never underestimate the potential of a 75’ single-wide trailer set in the path of progress on a $10K-an-acre lot. Now, I think I may utilize the B&B report for its B.T.U. potential in my stove. B-r-r-r-r.