Ron Paul: Über Bear ?

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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