Resource World Magazine

J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 9 www.resourceworld.com 31 At the Market by Rodney Blake A fter 33 years in this chair I've decided to move on from Canaccord and see what other adventures or opportunities may lay ahead. I have no real plans so if you have any ideas please feel free to send them to me. That said – I thought this last column might be a good time to reflect on my secu - rities journey to date. I missed the stock market crash of 1987. I didn't miss the effects of the crash, but I missed the actual event. You see – back in the day there wasn't the 24/7 instant access to events such as we have now. I was travelling, and I left home before the markets opened that fateful Monday in October 1987. There was very limited radio reception along my route, so I didn't know anything was amiss until I reached my destination late in the afternoon after the markets had closed. The Bre-X Minerals gold fraud: In the mid-1990s, a Calgary-based junior explo - ration company started to release large intersections of diamond drill hole gold assays from their project in Indonesia. Bre-X stock went from a few cents to – if memory serves me well – over $275 a share before it was proven that the core samples had been salted – with placer gold no less. The most fascinating part of the scam was not so much the astronomical rise in the stock price and the later plunge to reality. What I found most fascinating was how almost all of the large sophisticated Toronto-based and bank-owned security firms bought into the story. Even send - ing their own analysts to the property to give first hand analysis of the discovery. And then, when it proven to be a fraud, they simply washed their hands of it and called it a "typical VSE (Vancouver Stock Exchange) fraud," – even though it was in Alberta. The dreadful Japanese tsunami of 2011 showed investors just how much one natu - ral event could affect a market. Before the tsunami, the price of uranium had risen to a record high of about US $105 a pound. The day after, the price of uranium plum- meted to about US $25. Why? Japan, if not the world's largest, was one of the world's largest users of uranium for their nuclear reactors. Four of their reactors were destroyed and the country immediately shut down their entire grid of nuclear power generators which, in turn, killed the price of uranium and uranium stocks. The price of yellowcake and uranium securities remains depressed some eight years later. We now are in what looks to me like a marijuana mania which, unfortunately, seems to have taken much of the enthu - siasm away from the traditional resource sector. To me, there seems to be an inor- dinate amount of companies trying to supply a relatively limited demand for their products. Like most manias – this one will probably end in due course – but there will be winners and losers along the way. Of course, there were many more events and stories over these long years that captured the flavor of the resource mar - kets – but due to page constraints I'll end it here. I'd like to thank Resource World magazine and particularly its publisher Ellsworth Dickson for giving me a small space in this fine magazine in which to offer my comments with my At the Market column. n Rodney Blake is an Investment Advisors with Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management, a division of Canaccord Genuity Corp, Member- Canadian Investor Protection Fund. The information contained in this article is drawn from sources believed to be reliable, but the accuracy and completeness of the informa - tion is not guaranteed, nor in providing it does Rodney Blake, Canaccord Genuity Corp, or its subsidiaries, or affiliated companies, assume any liability. This information is cur- rent as of the date appearing in this article, we do not assume any obligation to update the information or advise on further develop- ments relating to these securities. This article should not be considered personal investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell securities. Canaccord Genuity and holdings of its respec- tive directors, officers and employees and their associations, from time to time may buy or sell any securities mentioned herein. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Canaccord Genuity Corp. He can be reached at 604-643-7567 or rod. blake@canaccord.comUsual Canaccord/Blake disclaimer Reflections of a journey travelled circumstance. Neither the author nor MRCC accepts liability whatsoever for any loss arising from any use of this article or its contents. Information may be available to MRCC which is not reflected herein. This article is not to be construed as an offer to sell or a solicitation for an offer to buy any securities. The information contained in this article is not intended to constitute a research report. Stew Vorberg and Doug Wood are not beneficial own - ers of the company highlighted in this article.

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