4 Mining Experts Share Stock Picks and Advice for 2019

Nick Hodge, Brent Cook, Peter Spina and David Morgan discussed their resource outlook and investment ideas at this year’s VRIC.

Many investors interested in the junior mining space are wondering what 2019 will bring to the sector and how to win when investing in times of political and economic uncertainty.

One of the most popular panels at this year’s Vancouver Resource Investment Conference was led by Kitco News’ Daniela Cambone and featured newsletter writers Nick Hodge of the Outsider Club, Brent Cook of Exploration Insights, Peter Spina of GoldSeek.com and David Morgan of the Morgan Report.

Read on to learn more about what these thought leaders had to say about the current mining industry environment and how to succeed against all odds. If you missed the show, you can also read our notes from the floor for day one and day two, and view our full playlist of video interviews here.

How to make money in 2019

To kick off the panel discussion, Cambone asked each expert where they think sentiment is at in the mining space right now.

The Outsider Club’s Hodge said he isn’t extremely positive, carrying over his sentiment from late 2018, but that means it is a good time to choose winning stocks.

Speaking about sentiment, Hodge says we’re not seeing the improvement needed for equities to move – but that’s not a bad thing; can spend time now on due diligence #VRIC19
— Resource Investing (@INN_Resource) January 22, 2019

“It’s nice to see a focus back on precious metals,” said Spina, remembering how last year the spotlight at the conference was on cryptocurrencies. “I am currently in the process of resetting my portfolio and seeing what to invest in this year,” he added.

For Cook, last year was certainly a tough year, and he is not optimistic about the outlook for base metals in 2019. His bet for this year is precious metals, with a particular focus on early stage discoveries.

“I am not bearish on the sector, but it is really tough to find new economic deposits. I am more realistic and critical when looking at companies and projects,” he added.

Commenting on metals, Cook says he’s not “terribly positive” on base metals – but confidence in the US dollar is waning and will continue to wane, which is good for #gold. He adds that money will be made in new discoveries #VRIC19
— Resource Investing (@INN_Resource) January 22, 2019

Similarly, Morgan said this will be a favorable year for junior explorers. “It’s been tough to make money in the sector, but sentiment has gone as low as it is going to get,” he said.

In Spina’s opinion, investors should look at the producers to make money this year.

“The exploration sector is very difficult right now, but as far as producers go it is easy to see there’s some value out there,” he added, saying gold is setting the market up for a big move.

On the exploration side there is also money to be made, according to Cook, if investors do their due diligence and if they are willing to bet on long-term investment ideas.

But how do you avoid all the noise around the projects if you are new to the space?

The panelists suggested that investors look at whether a company has solid management, and also consider the history of the project they are looking at. Share structure and breakthroughs, along with out-of-the-box thinking are also important.

When asked about how to choose winning companies the panelists point to solid management, project history (is it an old project that’s failed before?), share structure and out-of-the-box thinking #VRIC19
— Resource Investing (@INN_Resource) January 22, 2019