Normally, I don’t follow political coverage in financial publications.
But this week, I found Jim McTague’s column — he writes the political coverage for Barron’s — rather fascinating. He looks at the financial holdings of Ron Paul via congressional financial disclosures:
“Gold-mining stocks, where Paul has the bulk of his money, have also hit pay dirt, albeit rising at a slower pace. Gold is up about 28% this year, through Thursday, to $1,823.80 a troy ounce, and 106.8% since 2009. In the same periods, the NYSE ARCA Gold Miners Index is down 2.9% and up 78.6%. The S&P 500 is down 9.3% and up 26.3%.
In his most recent financial disclosure, which covers the year 2010, Paul had $1.6 million to $3.5 million in gold- mining stocks. He also has a stake in three bear-market funds—and has for many years.
In all, Ron Paul’s portfolio amounts to a super bearish bet against the U.S. economy. If the country had defaulted on its debt earlier this month, he likely would have made a bundle. The congressman voted against House Speaker John Boehner’s plan to lift the nation’s $14.3 trillion spending cap.”
Rather intriguing.
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Pot of Gold: Ron Paul’s Top 10 Holdings
| Return* | Return* | Size of | |
| Company/Ticker | 1-Yr | 3-Yr | Holding |
| Goldcorp / GG | 19.13% | 17.00% | $500,001 – $1,000,000 |
| Barrick Gold / ABX | 12.24 | 15.49 | $250,001 – $500,000 |
| Newmont Mining C Stock / NEM | 1.12 | 12.02 | $250,001 – $500,000 |
| Agnico Eagle Mines / AEM | 1.13 | 5.88 | $100,001 – $250,000 |
| AngloGold Ashanti / AU | 2.02 | 19.33 | $100,001 – $250,000 |
| IAM Gold / IAG | 3.69 | 52.07 | $100,001 – $250,000 |
| Mag Silver / MVG | 39.97 | 9.75 | $50,001 – $100,000 |
| Pan American Silver / PAAS | 22.72 | 4.71 | $50,001 – $100,000 |
| Silver Wheaton / SLW | 74.51 | 49.54 | $50,001 – $100,000 |
| Virginia Mines / VGMNF.OTC | 28.05 | 31.11 | $15,001 – $50,000 |
| Gold | 48.34 | 31.61 | |
| S&P 500 | 6.04 | -1.25 | |
| *All returns are as of 8/18/11; three-year returns are annualized.
Sources: Bloomberg; OpenSecrets.org |
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Note that the inverse funds are not designed for long term positioning, and suffer from slippage and drift from the underlying index.
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Source:
Candidate of Doom and Gloom
JIM MCTAGUE
Barron’s AUGUST 20, 2011
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052702303822904576516114289723344.html
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