Tom welcomes a new guest, John Lee, President and CEO of Silver Elephant Mining. John started his career as a programmer in Silicon Valley before moving to Vancouver, where he was exposed to the mining sector. He started trading as a retail investor dabbling in junior miners. He then started learning from others like James Turk and Ted Butler. These experiences led him to become a full-time gold and silver investor.
He bounced back from significant losses early in his career and outlines the fundamentals that he watches for in mining companies. He says, “It’s important to not get too connected to a particular story or management. Follow the money flow as it moves through the mining sector.” Everything is probability-based, including gold and silver, and much hinges on the dollar. The dollar has recently broken down, which is great for metals, but if it resumes its uptrend, that would be tamper silver expectations.
Silver’s bottoms are dictated by industrial demand, while investment speculation is always responsible for the peaks. The industrial users want low prices, but investors tend to buy more when costs trend higher. A lot of moves in silver can happen over just a few days, which is why watching momentum is key. John explains some of the parallels he sees today with the housing bubble and mortgage meltdown of 2008. There are similarities to where the dollar and markets peaked with what is occurring today. He believes once we pass $27.50, there will be a momentous event where silver launches much higher. He expects both gold/silver ratios and gold/platinum to decline as silver and platinum rise faster than gold.
These ratios will be driven by green energy and the growing demands of technology. He expects silver to move to a much lower ratio and stay in that range for the long term. Large companies are very behind on their capital spending, and they are going to want to find juniors with considerable resources. Make sure that the right employees and management are in position. You want to be sure the right people are in place for the phase of a project.
