As I’ve discussed previously on this blog, there are many challenges to short selling (see “Do I recommend short selling common stock? No!“). These problems get worse as more and more short sellers pile into the same stocks.
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Month: December 2013
Betting on a Potashpocalypse
I’m attracted to cheap options and this is the main reason why I am long Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (POT) put options. The LEAP puts are trading with implied volatility in the mid 20s. Potash pricing could collapse due to (A) a wave of excess capacity coming online and/or (B) the potash cartel breaking down. While I have no special insight into whether or not this will happen, the expected return on this trade should be positive as long as the chance of a decline is high enough.
(This is not a high conviction trade for me.)
Chatham Rock Phosphate
If you can short New Zealand Alternative Market (NZAX) stocks, you should probably look into this company.
My current thinking on mining stocks (Dec 2013)
This (long) post details my thinking on how I currently approach the industry.
Sam Antar: I haven’t been impressed with him lately
Sam Antar is the convicted felon CFO of Crazy Eddie, a retail fraud back in the 80s. His website whitecollarfraud.com is actually excellent and worth reading as it explains his participation in the fraud. Currently, Antar is a “reformed” fraud fighter that writes about fraud and “educates” others on how to spot a fraud. I am highly skeptical of his current work on his blog at whitecollarfraud.blogspot.com.
In Antar I see shades of his (former?) buddy Barry Minkow, a “reformed” fraud fighter who decided to commit fraud again and landed in jail for a second time.
Corporate waste at Baja Mining
Baja Mining has beautiful headquarters. Check out the website of the company that helped decorate it:
This is the kind of nonsense that goes on in the junior mining world.
Baja Mining is currently a penny stock. Its shares literally trade for a penny.
*Disclosure: No position.
Rex Energy Part 2: Infrastructure problems
I could be completely wrong here, but Rex Energy is forced to limit production on some of its wells because the area lacks the right infrastructure.
