Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM.TO)

Surging earnings and production. EPS growth off the charts, partly due to gold prices hitting all-time highs. Very good asset base. Premier name. Exposed and levered to gold price swings. A bit extended on technical charts, overbought.

Prefers the silver market.

Who knows where gold is going? He avoids commodity stocks, though. AEM is one of the best-run commodity companies. If you are positive gold, then buy this.

Yesterday, he took just a little bit of gold out; on a 14% weighting, he sold around 2%. Doesn't own this one right now. If you're a longer-term player, gold has lots of room to go.

Gold looks a bit extended (temporarily). You can see that on the AEM chart; the breakout was around $80, had a good move, and now it's arcing off of the trendline.

Trimmed lightly. Still one of the largest weights in dividend growers mandate. Would like to see more dividend increases, now that debt is close to zero. 

Go-to name (along with LUG) in the gold space. Rock star. Awesome chart. Looking at the 6-month chart, he's cautious. Starting to see some selling pressure in gold underneath the surface. Importantly, seasonality as we get through September-October is really weak for gold stocks; really picks up from November-April. 

Pretty good support ~$172.50, so that's where he'd prefer to step in.

It is a benchmark name but fully valued. Has an excellent management team. It faces a growth deficit relative to its peers but might have more torque to the upside. He likes B2 Gold which provides enormous opportunity in Mali and Indonesia. He is not too concerned about the political situations there but they are not as safe an area as Northern Ontario or Quebec.

Biggest single equity holding he has in client portfolios. He did trim, as it got to be way too big a position. Like the gold price, has stagnated over the last few months. Sees it as portfolio protection, insulates from inflation and geopolitical concerns. Tariff issues are still to be resolved, and there's still the impact of tariffs to look at (earnings, inflation, interest rates, the dollar). 

Best gold-mining company in the world. Yield is 1.35%.

Great way for most people to get exposure to precious metals, which has a multi-year bull market in front of it. Generates a ton of cash. This year will see ~30% growth in cashflow generation over last year, even assuming lower gold prices from where they are now. 

Paying down debt; once it gets to a certain level, they'll look at increasing dividends. Consistent share buybacks. In safe jurisdictions. Proven best operators in the business. Relatively long reserve life, lots of opportunity to increase reserves at existing mines. Yield is 1.35%.

Single finest precious metals mining operating company in the world. So it's the most valuable, even though its production is not as high as ABX or NGT. Exemplary corporate and safety cultures, and people like to work there. Grounded in Canada, skilled Mexican miner vis-a-vis politics and sociology. This name, along with WPM and FNV, needs to be in every single precious metals portfolio.

(Disclaimer:  AEM is sponsoring his symposium next week.)

Believes we're in very early stages of a gold bull market. Best operator. 5 of their major projects have exploration growth opportunities. Great dividend growth. Last year's acquisition of O3 Mining is a positive. 

Multiple will go up once people realize how much cash the company will generate. If gold just stays where it is at $3400, generates a ton of cash. He guesses that gold prices will go higher, which means the whole group will be revalued. Yield is 1.36%.

Best in class. High valuation. Trades at a well-deserved premium to peers, though they took it on the chin after Q1. Fosters lots of partnerships and JVs -- not just about giving $$, but willingly offers advice and feedback. Corporate culture is very positive.

He continues to be bullish on gold. Still owns, but took partial profits just before it reported. Nothing against AEM, but wanted to spread the risk via another gold producer with more torque. Major thrust behind the move has been the gold price moving higher.