- Otto Rock @ IKN: Otto and I have an informal relationship where I am the macro/technical geek guy and he is the company-specific fundamentals guy. What makes him so special, other than his eye for quality fundamental situations, is his demand for integrity in the situations he covers. Abuse the local community? He is not interested in investing. Scam shareholders in the least? Same. The blog is a great resource for keeping up with the general mining landscape, with a focus on LatAm. The newsletter is a hard-working, ongoing narrative digging deep into the specifics of the companies he covers. What I like best is that his viewpoints are continually reevaluated and backed up by new data points. In other words, he never goes on bull (or bear) auto pilot. Just a few of the successful trades or investments I can attribute to Otto are VEN.to, RIO.v and ANM.v (now defunct, as it was bought out by a large copper company at many 100's of % higher than where it was when I tucked it into my kids' education accounts).
- Mickey Fulp: I have known about and followed the Mercenary Geologist for a few years now. There is nothing like a real geologist to give you a fundamental view that is free from abstraction. The PM and commodity exploration sector is risky by definition, but when somebody who knows how to look at those rocks gives his viewpoint, you listen. I am thrilled to have an informal relationship with Mr. Fulp as well. He needs a chart view, I serve it up. I need the real scoop on a fundamental situation, I get it and am amazed at the storehouse of knowledge he seems to have at the ready, no matter which stock I inquire about.
- Metal Augmentor: Yes, you see their unsolicited NFTRH feedback over there to the right. That is actually what gave me the idea for this post, as I think it was a long time coming. When this kind of input (for NFTRH) comes in from people I regard so highly, I know I am on the right track. This is not simply a tit for tat response. I first heard of the Metal Augmentor after Otto highlighted some research they provided for free about Silver. This was the better part of a year ago and the site was evidently just getting off the ground. I immediately signed up with a 'Founding Member' subscription because what I saw, I liked. There is both complimentary and premium content available and you will notice that it is devoid of hype and auto-pilot type thinking. The research is extensive and taken very seriously. I can thank MA for GPD.to and ATC.v, and have a couple on watch list as a result of their thorough analysis.
With these 3 relationships, I feel quite safe operating within the precious metals exploration space because, while I am all about technicals and macro fundamentals, you need to know somebody is watching what is going on under the ground, in the local community and in the board room. In short, Otto, Mickey and Metal Augmentor allow me to add value to the service that I offer. This is not a tout for these guys - again, they have no clue this post is going up - it is simply the truth.
