Might feel like a FOMO week but invested in a bunch of lagging gold and silver miners. Small parcels they were.
Portfolio News
In a week where S&P 500 rose 0.4% and Europe rose 0.66%, my pension portfolio dropped 1.74%. After a couple weeks out-preforming the indexes, it had to happen - overweight commodities that sold off on Friday was the time. Big drags lithium on ASX, two thirds of Japan stocks, nuclear tech in US, silver juniors (some bought only this week) and a big drop in GoGold Resources (GGD.TO) in Canada down 18.8%.
Have a feeling a lot of this had to do with rebalancing in ETFs - example: drop in Peninsula Energy (PEN.AX) and Lotus Resources (LOT.AX) together matched by rise in Deep Yellow (DYL.AX) in uranium ETFs
Big movers of the week were AuKing Mining (AKN.AX) (85.7%), Appen (APX.AX) (55.5%), Stamper Oil & Gas Corp (STMP.V) (28.6%), Atha Energy Corp (SASK.V) (22.2%), Deep Yellow (DYL.AX) (21.4%), Standard Uranium (STND.V) (20%), Elevate Uranium (EL8.AX) (19%), New Frontier Minerals (NFM.AX) (18.7%), CGN Mining Company (1164.HK) (18.1%), Alligator Energy (AGE.AX) (16.7%), ADX Energy (ADX.AX) (14.3%), F3 Uranium Corp (FUU.V) (11.9%), Bannerman Energy (BMN.AX) (11.2%), Evolution Energy Minerals (EV1.AX) (10%)
What a difference a week makes with only 15 stocks in the big movers list. Despite the sell off there are some big themes showing. From the top - gold mining (1 stock), uranium (8 stocks), rare earths (1 stock), alternate energy (1 stock).
US markets were looking to make records. A no cut Federal Reserve kind of helped that mood. Announcement of the next Federal Reserve chairman smacked that mood - the market thinks he is a bit hawkish.
The real news was the massive smackdown of gold and silver on Friday. Is this a natural market reaction to commodities that have got ahead of themselves or is it the start of impending doom or a deliberate move by the big end of town to shake out the small guys? A lot of it is technical with market makers widening spreads.
Found this analysis on my broking platform - just the stocks held there in pension portfolio. Seems that things must be going right - full year return of 40% vs index of 20% after paying pensions. Will do this at the end of each month. Personal portfolio was much the same - managed portfolio less so as it got smacked by strength of the Euro.
Crypto Collapses
Bitcoin price pushed higher and then fell over finishing the week 13.8% lower than the open with a peak to trough range of 14.5%. Support levels meant nothing - reaching down to support from the weekly chart (the green lines)
Ethereum price pushed higher and collapsed even harder finishing the week 23.2% lower than the open with a peak to trough range of 28.9%
Not going to bother with the altcoins - though some did hold up against Bitcoin and Ether - not because they did not sell off. Just not as badly.
Nuclear Energy Holdings
One small sale and a few small additions in Canada is all the change with a 6.3% jump in valuations. Back over $1 million in the sector - clearly not everything sold off Friday.
A few changes in the mix of holdings on value changes. Top 4 stay the same. Paladin Energy Ltd (PDN.AX) and Sprott Junior Uranium Miners ETF (URNJ) swap places in the middle. IsoEnergy (ISO.TO) moves up two places into slot 7. Peninsula Energy (PEN.AX) and Silex Systems (SLX.AX) come into the Top 10 in slots 9 and 10. Dropping out the Top 10 are Centrus Energy Corp (LEU) and Ur-Energy Inc (URG). Share of portfolios rises 2.5 points to 29.8% - a move up for nuclear and overall portfolio value dropping. Share of the other 50 rises 0.5 points - the explorers saw quite a bit of buying.
There were changes in holdings by stage. Near producing went up 0.9 points. 2027 on went up 0.4 points. Big jump was in explorers up 1.4 points as expected - they get a boost from a fast rising spot price. The biggest drops were in Enrichment (0.7) and Technology (1.5).
Alternate Energy Holdings
One addition in lithium space and a 3.1% drop in valuations. Lithium was a casualty of the selloff. Some small changes in allocations with he precious metals analysis added below
One change in rankings with Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) and Westwater Resources, Inc. (WWR) changes places in slots 6 and 7. Share of portfolios rises 0.1 points despite the selloff. Share of Others rises 1.5 points (partly with the addition landing up in there)
Precious Metals Holdings
With all the stock adds made in the sector, decided to track holdings a little more closely. Makes sense as the holdings are now larger than alternate energy holdings.
Mix of holdings is dominated by 3 holdings - the UBS ETRACS Silver Shares Covered Call ETN (SLVO), Northern Star Resources (NST.AX) and Coeur Mining (CDE) - with share of portfolios at 8.5%. This is more than a hedging holding.
Still working through how to analyse the holdings more precisely. Will take some guess work and some spreadsheet magic as many of the holdings do both gold and silver. Quite a few are producing and developing. One stand out is Physical at 33% if you add UBS ETRACS Silver Shares Covered Call ETN (SLVO) and WisdomTree Physical Gold (PHGP.L) together.
Bought
Worked through big themes investing ideas for a friend - picked a few laggards in the gold and silver sector. Added them all in the pension portfolio. Not going to class these as hedging trades - these are free cash flow generators on rising gold and silver prices. Wrote up the process in this blog post
The process steps were to map Gold/Silver ETF vs S&P 500. Then map the miners ETFs to Gold/Silver. Then map the Top 15 holdings in each ETF to find the laggards and buy a set of the laggards - bought small parcels.
Amplify Junior Silver Miners ETF (SILJ): Silver Mining. Yield 2.00%
This is the first obvious choice - silver miners are lagging the iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV) - by half. Easy first step - just buy one of the miners ETF's. Chart shows comparatives of this ETF with the iShares SLV Trust (SLV) - clearly lagging. Note: chart made on January 25, 2026.
Alamos Gold (AGI): Gold Mining. Dividend yield 0.23%. Producing. Alamos Gold operates as a gold producer in Canada (89%), Mexico and the United States. 545k oz in 2025. AISC $1,425. 20 yrs LOM
Barrick Mining Corporation (B): Gold Mining. Producing. Dividend yield 1.32%. The company explores for gold, copper, silver, and energy materials. 3.91 Moz and 195kt copper. AISC $1,460-$1,560 gold
Equinox Gold Corp (EQX): Gold Mining. Producing. The company primarily explores gold and silver deposits in Canada, Nicaragua, California. 700-800k oz. AISC $1,800-1,900
Seabridge Gold (SEA.TO): Gold Mining. Developing/Exploring. Company engages in the acquisition and exploration of gold properties in North America. Large KSM resource in BC, Canada.
Silvercorp Metals (SVM.TO): Silver Mining. Dividend yield 0.20%. Silvercorp Metals acquires, explores, develops, and mines mineral properties in China (silver/lead) and copper/gold Ecuador (2027). 7.5 Moz Ag. AISC <$14. Big gold ramp in 2028.
First Majestic Silver Corp (AG): Silver Mining. Dividend yield 0.08%. The company explores for silver and gold deposits in North America. 13.0-14.4 Moz Ag and 116-129 koz Au. AISC $23.81-$25.31 (Ag)
Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS): Silver Mining. Dividend yield 0.85%. It explores for silver, gold, zinc, lead and copper deposits in the Americas. 22.8 Moz Ag and 742.2 koz Au. AISC $15.75-$18.25/oz Ag and $1700 to $1850/oz Au.
SSR Mining (SSRM): : Gold Mining. The company explores for gold doré, copper, silver, lead, and zinc deposits in Turkey, Nevada, Canada, Argentina. 410k to 480k GEOz. AISC $2,090 to $2,150 - some overhang from Çöpler. Aiming for 800k GEOz by 2027 ad $1,300/oz
Wheaton Precious Metals Corp (WPM): Gold/Silver Mining. Dividend yield 0.42%. The company primarily produces and sells gold (59%), silver (39%), palladium (1%), platinum, and cobalt (1%) deposits. 350-390 koz Au and 20.5-22.5 Moz Ag. Cash cost $440/oz Au and $4.98/oz Ag. Structure is as a royalty streaming company - different economics - a very interesting business.
If you go back to the blog post about gold and silver mining you will find each of these stocks plotted against the relevant ETF - find them there
Global X Lithium ETF (LIT): Lithium. Yield 0.48%. With rising commodity prices took the chance to add back a small holding in pension portfolio.
SuRo Capital Corp (SSSS): Asset Management. Dividend yield 5.24%. Scaled into holding in pension portfolio.
Welltower (WELL): US Healthcare. Went back to TSP action items in pension portfolio - they added to their holding in the last week - time to get back to their ideas - research is paid for (and pays). Dividend yield 1.61%. Wrote covered call for 0.46% premium with 5.8% price coverage.
Deployed cash in small managed portfolio on a few Canadian uranium stocks - looking to the long haul for this portfolio which is 90% uranium.
Geiger Energy Corporation (BEEP.V): Uranium. Athabasca explorer
Forsys Metals Corp (FSY.TO): Uranium. Athabasca explorer
Global Atomic Corporation (GLO.TO): Uranium. A long term punt that they will get funding for Dasa Mine in Niger.
NobleOak Life (NOL.AX): Australian Insurance. Scaled into holding in personal portfolio to average down entry price. Find out the next day, they face a stamp duty surprise in Victoria - change of rules with friendly societies previously exempt now dragged into the net to fund the Victorian State deficit. Could not have been paying attention as there was an announcement on January 16, 2026 - my wife only found out on January 27 when her contract was cut by one day a week.
BMG Resources (BMG.AX): Gold Mining. Added a parcel in personal portfolio - Next Investors idea.
The good news is there is funding to extend the drilling work for the Abercromby site as a free mill open pit mine.
Three 100% owned Western Australian gold projects in world class and emerging gold districts - Abercromby, Invincible and Boddington South
Genmin Limited (GEN.AX): Iron Ore. Doubled position size in personal portfolio. Stock keeps pitching up on big movers list on moves of 1/10 of a cent. Figured to put in a pending order at the base it moves from and see if can squeeze out 2/10 of a cent and exit. Next Investors idea - green iron ore in Gabon, West Africa.
Henkel AG (HEN3.DE): Consumer Products. Finally got around to fixing Tradingview screens to have screens specific to the markets I invest in. Also worked out how to limit stocks being shown to ones registered in the country of the exchange, which is important for the big cross-listing markets (US, London, Germany). Added a small parcel in pension portfolio. Dividend yield 2.80%. Wrote covered call for 1.17% premium with 1.4% price coverage - a bit tight.
Chart shows price retreating to lows last seen in 2024 and forming a short term uptrend - plenty of space to go to profit target at previous highs. The prospect of a merger with R. Stahl AG (RSL2.DE) helps.
Sold
American Uranium was GTI Energy (AMU.AX): Uranium. Long standing pending order hit in personal portfolio for 37% blended loss on FIFO basis since August/November 2023/May 2024 or 42.8% profit on LIFO basis since August 2025. Profit on an average costs basis would be 13.1% - going to book it that way
ASX Portfolio
The segment reports trading in ASX fractional share portfolio. Trade entries are made based on stock screens looking for undervalued stocks (price to book, price earnings, price to sales) that are showing technical signs of breaking a downtrend. Exits are made at 35% profit or 25% if 52 week high is lower than 35% advance. New buys are in $500 lots. Scale ins and top ups in $250 lots
Top Ups
Karoon Energy Ltd (KAR.AX): Oil/Gas. Dividend yield 4.43%. Averages down entry price.
Chart shows price breaking out of a shortish downward channel and making a higher high. Too bad that the last nig high did no stretch enough to make a 52 week high target. This next averaging down entry might just help. Australia gas market is very tight - price has to break sometime.
Beach Energy Ltd (BPT.AX): Oil/Gas. Dividend yield 9.92%. Average down entry price.
Chart shows price has been making a gradual channel downtrend and bottoming out off the same level four times. Profit target will be a 52 week high target about the levels of the high at the top of that cycling down.
Sold
No sales
Income Trades
Covered Calls
Did not feel like a week to write covered calls with only five written across 3 portfolios (Europe 4 US 1). Will hold off until market shows green again.
Naked Puts
Sold puts happy to own at lower prices
- Barrick Mining Corporation (B): Gold Mining. Return 1.64% Coverage 16.5%
- Amplify Junior Silver Miners ETF (SILJ): Silver Mining Return 9.33% Coverage 2.6% - might regret this one after the selloff.
- Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT): Lithium Return 1.43% Coverage 7.5%
- Barclays PLC (BARC.L): UK Bank. Return 1.56% Coverage 7.3%
- Glencore plc (GLEN.L): Base Metals. Return 2.76% Coverage 4.2%
- NatWest Group plc (NWG.L): UK Bank. Return 1.27% Coverage 6.4%
- Deutsche Bank AG (DBK.DE): German Bank. Return 1.42% Coverage 5.8%
- Fresenius SE (FRE.DE): German Healthcare. Return 1.15% Coverage 5.3%
- Deutsche Bank AG (DBK.DE): German Bank. Return 1.29% Coverage 5.8% - one week
- Fresenius SE (FRE.DE): German Healthcare. Return 0.95% Coverage 6.4%
- Glencore plc (GLEN.L): Base Metals. Return 1.58% Coverage 8.7% - lower strike
- NatWest Group plc (NWG.L): UK Bank. Return 1.08% Coverage 8.2% - lower strike
- Westwater Resources (WWR): Graphite. Return 15% Coverage 4% - did move ITM
- Henkel AG (HEN3.DE): Consumer Products. Return 1.16% Coverage 5.7%
One naked put expired - somehow managed to write one for Jan 30 expiry - not the normal monthly. Always happy to earn 1% for one week.
Credit Spreads
- L'Air Liquide S.A. (AI.PA): Specialty Chemicals. ROI 23.7% Coverage 2.6%
Given how much cash went into accounts at last options expiry, current exercise risk thin limits. Total risk is still high compared to cash balances - that gets ugly if market crashes.
Resources
Cautions: This is not financial advice. You need to consider your own financial position and take your own advice before you follow any of my ideas
Images: I own the rights to use and edit the Buy Sell image. News headlines come from Google Search. All other images are created using my various trading and charting platforms. They are all my own work
Tickers: I monitor my portfolios using Yahoo Finance. The ticker symbols used are Yahoo Finance tickers. Crypto tickers come from TradingView
Charts: http://mymark.mx/TradingView - this is a free charting package. I have a Pro subscription to get access to real time forex prices
Investing: Interactive Brokers provides comprehensive global markets coverage with very competitive commissions. Open an account to earn up to USD 1,000 in IBKR stock. https://mclnks.com/ibkr
Crypto Trading: Binance offers a wide range of coins to trade, tight spreads and low fees if you use BNB to pay https://mymark.mx/Binance
Kucoin offers a wider range of altcoins than many of the other exchanges. I do like to diversify my holdings in case an exchange gets knocked over. Grab 15% discount on your trades when you open an account on this link https://mclnks.com/kucoin15
Gate.io offers a solid range of coins many of which have been delisted elsewhere. Have chosen to share the commission rebates. 40% is the rate - split 30% for me and you get to keep 10% for any people you invite. https://mclnks.com/gateio
Tracking: Keeping track of your crypto trades is a whole lot easier with CoinTracking.info. Get 10% off all your account upgrades https://mymark.mx/CoinTracking
Aus/NZ Investing Sharesies provides low cost, fractional share investing for Australian and New Zealand residents covering stocks in those countries and US. Start investing with as little as $20 https://mclnks.com/shares
January 26-30, 2026