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d e c e m b e r / j a n u a r y 2 0 1 6 www.resourceworld.com 21 at t h e m a r k e t R o d n e y B l a k e I 'm looking forward to a happy New Year in 2016 because gold bullion… oh wait. Gold is down by 10% so far this year. OK, forget gold. I'm excited about 2016 because copper is...oh dear. Copper is off by 26% in 2015. Well then, 2016 will be a great year because crude oil is… wrong again. Crude oil has plunged by 30% so far this year. How can I be optimistic about 2016 when clearly there little or no optimism for gold, copper, oil or for that matter resources in general? I'm encouraged going into the New Yew year with the fact that while two of these bellwether commodi- ties, namely gold and copper are struggling to establish and hold multi-year lows, the third, crude oil is so far holding slightly above the six-year low it established earlier this summer. With crude oil holding, I'm hoping that copper and gold will finally bottom this year and then recover, hopefully into the New Year. And isn't that what the New Year celebration is all about – optimism and hope for the year ahead. I'm also optimistic for the New Year because I've never experienced such nega- tivism towards resources and resource stocks. Whether it's the media, politicians, analysts or clients, I've never come across such a broad spectrum of people that say the commodity cycle is dead and will stay that way. It's as if none of the record number autos being produced will ever need metals or petroleum, or that there will never be a need to build or upgrade a road, railway or airport, or that everyone in the world has a perfectly good home and that industry will never have to modernize. No, it seems that the building blocks of modern life are considered to be of no value while the market gets overly excited because a new app company is going public. Yes, I'm optimistic because, as a contrar- ian, it's been my experience that when a trade is overly weighted to one side that the pendulum will eventually swing the other way – hopefully early in 2016 for commodities and resource stocks. Interestingly, while most commodi- ties sold off hard during 2015, there was one that managed to actually rise in price. Uranium, the price of which virtually collapsed overnight after the disastrous Japanese tsunami in April, 2011 has recov- ered by 2% this year to about US $36/lb. Uranium was the first commodity to enter the current resource bear market almost five years ago. If the price of U 3 O 8 yel- lowcake is finally on the rise could it be that copper, gold and crude oil may soon follow? So while I'm sure 2015 will be remem- bered as one of, if not the worst year ever for commodities and resource stocks, I'm optimistic that 2016 will be and could be surprisingly better. So Happy New Year!… I hope. n Rodney Blake is an Investment Advisors with Canaccord Genuity Wealth Mana- gement, a division of Canaccord Genuity Corp, Member-Canadian Investor Prot- ection Fund. The information contained in this article is drawn from sources believed to be reliable, but the accuracy and completeness of the information is not guaranteed, nor in providing it does Rodney Blake, Canaccord Genuity Corp, or its subsidiaries, or affiliated companies, assume any liability. This infor- mation is current as of the date appearing in this article, we do not assume any obligation to update the information or advise on fur- ther developments 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. He can be reached at 604-643-7567 or rod.blake@canaccord. com Happy New Year! www.resourceworld.com