Resource World Magazine

j u n e / j u l y 2 0 1 5 www.resourceworld.com 23 You can feel it I can feel it. Like a soft breeze on the cheek before the wind comes or the first few drops of rain on the forehead before the rainstorm. Or maybe, even better in this case, the slight rumbling under my feet before the stampede of bulls comes over the hill. Yes, I can feel it. The first telltale signs of the approaching resource bull market. And what are these signs? How about the price of copper near a five-month high of US $2.90/lb? Or zinc at a nine- month high of US $1.09/lb? Even lowly base metal lead is now at a seven-month high of US $0.95/lb. Lagging somewhat, but still off its multi-year lows is uranium at US $38.50/lb and a good $10 above its US $28 low of last summer. Gold bullion keeps nudging up to test US $1,200/oz before falling back a few dollars, but at US $1,191/oz is well above its recent March low of US $1,142/oz. On the petroleum side, crude oil, after testing its US $45 per barrel low for a sec- ond time earlier this year, is trading at a five-month high of US $60 per barrel while natural gas, at US $2.88/mmbtu, seems to holding above its recent lows of US $2.60/ mmbtu. Add to this that copper and zinc inventories are at multi-year lows and that crude oil inventories are finally starting to ebb. All together you have a CRB Spot Commodity Index that has moved up off its low of 413 to a three-month high of 428. Meanwhile, the TSX Venture Exchange, the benchmark for resource stocks, seems to be holding above its multi-year low of 657 and at 693, is only a few points or a sustained rally away from its 2015 high of 707. And trading volumes on the Venture Exchange, while still not robust, are trend- ing up. From lows of well under 100 million shares-a-day at the end of last year, trad- ing volumes are now consistently around 150 million shares-a-day and on a few days have pushed up over 175 million-a-day. Now, I know it's May and resources and resource stocks traditionally don't fair very well going into the summer months. But I also know that we are in month 51 of this resource bear market that began suddenly in March 2011 when that devastating tsu- nami hit the shores of Japan and caused the price of uranium to tumble from its bullish price of well over US $100/lb. I don't recall a resource bear market, even the extreme post Bre-X bear of 1997, ever going much beyond 48-months. As I said, I can feel it. The new resource bull market is beginning. It might take a few months, perhaps after a quiet summer, before we get broad-based confirmation, but get it we will. And when it comes it may be a bull like we have never seen before, as never have resources been so out of favour. Take a good long look at your resource holdings and I'm sure you will feel it too. 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 devel- opments relating to these securities. This article should not be considered personal investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell securities. Canaccord Genuity and hold- ings of its respective directors, officers and employees and their associations, from time to time may buy or sell any securities men- tioned herein. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Canaccord Genuity Corp. Rodney Blake can be reached at 604-643-7567 or rod.blake@ canaccord.com at t h e m a r k e t R o d B l a k e

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