Stock price when the opinion was issued
Mining shares have been on a tear recently; copper and gold have performed exceedingly well. Outlook for mining materials is still probably OK. Especially if Trump is re-elected, there's the belief that there's going to be more growth going forward, and this is what typically drives the mining sector.
He doesn't have a lot of this type of exposure. He tends to gravitate away from any company whose earnings and revenue depend on a tradeable commodity; makes it very difficult to predict cashflow 5-10 years out. It doesn't mean that the shares can't be accretive, but the path to cashflow is less visible.
In basic materials, iron ore's had a hard time partly due to slowdown in China. And that's a big part of its business. Longer term, we're in early stages of a long-term bull market in commodity prices. Big cashflow generators will pay a lot of dividends along the way. Mixed economic data before an easing cycle impacts this company.
He prefers copper. Owns TECK.B, a bit frustrating, but he can see the runway.
The largest miner today, in iron ore and copper. Mining is risky; it takes a long time to see if whatever you dig out of the ground will sell. He likes BHP's diversification. Iron ore is in safer countries, copper not, so BHP is attractive in this way. There remains good demand for copper. Trades at 12-13x PE and nice balance sheet. but a little risky.