CCJ’s 2012 revenue attributable to shareholders plummeted 41% from last year. The 4th quarter was an absolute bloodbath, with revenue off 83%. Most of the carnage is from a massive write down the company took on a project called Kintyre. The rest is from uranium prices being cut down mercilessly.

However, you should have known this was going to be ugly, if only from the most recent sales prices of uranium-308.

Have a peak.

When prices go into free fall like that, it means one thing: no actual sales are occurring.

The end of 2012 was horrible for uranium sales. Because reactors don’t require a continuous feed of fuel, there exist periods where their operators may elect to sit back and not come to market. So really, almost nothing was done at the end of the year. This makes sense – with two major elections (Japan and the US), global uncertainty, looming recession, and no imminent need for uranium, producers were in the uncomfortable position of having no buyers. If you were a lowly player, desperate for some sales to keep the doors open, the last three months were not a good time for you.

But that’s all drawing to an end soon. Japan and the US have reaffirmed nuclear energy. Emerging markets are going full bore. Russia is done flooding the market with cheap HEU stock.

We are preparing for an epic resurgence of nuclear fuel prices.

Would you care for a second opinion?

Here’s one.

Here’s another.

And another.

I’ve been hammering on this point since the Fukushima reactor was still busy melting down. I’ve mentioned all the points myself – expectations of the ability of countries to drop nuclear power are unrealistic. One does not simply drop 30% of their grid. And with the immense competition for power sources globally, ignoring such a potent fuel is madness.

Now, slowly, all of my predictions, as laid out literally in the middle of the tsunami crisis, are playing out. Japan is backtracking. The US has confirmed they intend to move forward with construction of the first reactors built in this country is 30 years. The emerging markets are embracing nuclear to diversify their grids. Environmentalists have even begun marginalizing the anti-nuclear activists in their ranks – crushing their ability to be heard; mocking them openly.

Next up, Europe starts caving, led by Germany; which has no choice but to acknowledge that there is no way they can replace their nuclear facilities with windmills and solar panels.

And as these realizations hit, the price for nuclear fuel is going to skyrocket. With it, CCJ’s earnings will go from the worst in its history, to the very best.

Bring it, kids. I have your numbers. It’s time to pay up.

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Michigan is making up for the unusually warm weather we’ve received this winter by dousing us into zero degree temperatures. Detroit was on emergency patrol yesterday, trying to shepherd as many of the homeless as possible into shelters, to avoid them freezing to death.

The markets are churning a little here. But I am loath to give lip service to the sort of unfounded pessimism that is gripping the cowards of Twitter. Believe the rumors of broken-ness and impending reversal to your own grave misfortune. Because we have higher yet to go.

I am pressing my luck and bets. RGR is selling off, but the stock was up 33% in a month. My other down position is CCJ, which is experiencing the typical terror-burdens that grip its share price at least once per 3-6 month run.

Precious metals continue to rebound, and are setting up for the next grand phase, in my opinion. This much currency manipulation will inevitably lead to long strides in the metals, particularly if things don’t break down. The recent “Gold Bug Bashing” we paid spectacle to in December is an annual tradition of sorts – not unlike a classic European festival. It happens every year, led by clowns and street performers. Not the kind of people you ever bother to consult with outside. Precious metal investors have been well vindicated in their thesis over the last 20 years – it’s not like that will be stopping now that the printing presses are stepping into high gear.

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Hands down, the most frustrating aspect of investing for me is buying into a solid, proverbial gold mine, only to discover that the current shareholder base are conviction-less cowards tripping over themselves to undermine what’s in the company’s best interests.

Unfortunately, it’s these very situations that tend to prove the most profitable, because there’s a never ending shortage of frightened shares coming to market, which can be scooped up over prolonged periods of time for bottom-low prices.

When I find myself in positions where I have no spare cash, though, these deserters shaking my boat are a source of furry.

Take for instance, BAS. The stock cannot seem to find its legs, because every time it makes a push over $12, a flood of sell orders comes from somewhere in the backfield. Why? Oh well because shareholders are just so worried about the next quarter of numbers.

Here’s the thing. We already know how the next quarter of numbers will look – awful. And the stock’s still cheap. Now shut up, calm down, and grow a back bone.

Another keen example would be CCJ. The stock gets blasted every few months by a wave of fleeing children masquerading as shareholders, because the uranium market has not instantly completely recovered. Comically, we’ve hit the point where every analysis on uranium is finally admitting that it’s way undervalued and due for a strong rebound.

So what’s the problem? Oh, well “when” that rebound occurs could be this year, or sometime over the next several.

Am I missing something here? The rebound is going to double uranium miners, at least. Most of you fund managers are lucky to average 5% annually. What’s the problem here?

I’m going to end my morning rant on that note. The summary is: a stock’s biggest threat usually comes from within, by double-dealing company owners trying to outsmart the rest of the company stock, usually to their incompetent failings.

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While the Fly is busy over on his blog heralding the great Japanese revival, and the massive stimulus efforts the new/old government is bringing to the table, I am welcoming them for a different reason.

Their new prime minister Shinzo Abe is a nuclear man at heart, and he has commanded in no uncertain terms, “restart these fucking reactors, right now.” Abe will not stand for the masterful achievement of his party, the conversion of Japan to nuclear energy over the last 50 years, to be left by the wayside. Particularly if he hopes to stand up to the Chinese, he needs those reactors, or else Japan will be slapped around by a torrent of fuel supply issues and Chinese mainland fuckery.

If the uranium markets can just clear out some of the U308 glut, we can get some price stability. Brokerage in these kinds of zero volume markets are frustrating, as now the long term price of $60 that had held up so well appears to be breaking. If that happens, I have no reservations about saying CCJ will re-re-test the lows.

That would be about the most aggravating thing imaginable.

But outside of these petty price battles, the fundamentals for uranium and the miners are clearly shoring up. Even without a dramatic rebound from Japan nuclear demand, it is only a matter of time before existing market supply is swamped out.

Read here:

This past year may have been a sour one for uranium spot prices, but 2012 brought many positive developments for market fundamentals — especially in the second half of the year. Industry analysts see these developments as early signs of a crucial turnaround for uranium spot prices and uranium mining shares.

The uranium market has been on a long and bumpy ride to recovery since the 2008 financial crash crippled the commodities sector. Throughout the second half of 2010, investors cheered as the U3O8 spot price surged more than $30/lb, eventually hitting a pre-crash high of $72/lb in January 2011. However, the industry fallout following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March of that year wiped out most of the rally’s gains and spot prices remained range-bound, between $49/lb and $52/lb, for nearly a year.

In 2012, uncertainty was the dominant factor affecting spot prices. Previously nuclear-reliant nations like Japan and Germany signaled that they might be winding down their nuclear programs, while the potential that offloaded supply could flood the market made many buyers hesitant to buy at $50/lb, driving short-term spot prices down to $40/lb early in the last quarter.

The most significant development in 2012 came last month, with the pro-nuclear Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s federal election. That indicates that there will likely be a faster-paced restart program for the nation’s 48 inactive reactors.

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I just managed to get around to checking the weekly U308 numbers. The price recovery continues, germs.

Spot prices are up another 1%+ this week, now nearing the $45 /lb price. Long term prices remain pegged at $60.

This is your last warning. All who oppose uranium are about to be offered up for slaughter. Your weregild is cheap, and CCJ will offer no quarter.

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I had a wonderful four day weekend, which culminated in a celebration. I would share that spirit with each of you on this fine evening. I hope all is well wherever you are.

Catching up on today’s action, the signs are beginning to shift to CCJ’s favor. The stock rallied another 3.7% today.

This is a long awaited development.

Back in early 2011, after the Japan earthquake set off the greatest nuclear threat since 3 Mile Island, sheer panic had set in the public broadcasters. I watched, amazed, as men and women with no special understanding of nuclear power drowned out actual industry experts on live television with their warnings of calamity and doom.

No claim was too exorbitant. The calls for widespread death and pestilence were matched only with the audacity of the foregone conclusion that nuclear energy must be completely dead.

I let my pipe burn out, tasting only the lingering roast of the cayuga, as I shook my head in disbelief at this spectacle…

And then, I laid my reputation on the table and began slowly accumulating shares of CCJ, right in the midst of the panic as a nuclear reactor literally melted down on international television.

Now, this is actually the second time I’ve seen a strong resurgence in CCJ’s stock price, leading me to believe in the possibility of a price recovery. The stock had hit the mid teens earlier, and after that discernable bottom, I thought perhaps those days were past. Alas! It was not to be. CCJ’s shareholders proved themselves cowards with the recent collapse of U308 spot prices; incapable of seeing the greater theme.

This rally could be just another such fake. Yet, I have reason to believe it is not. There is great timing of the move, which coordinates with significant developments in the uranium space. Japan has announced they will fast track a discussion of nuclear energy – I believe they have no choice but to continue on the path. Germany (which previously announced a full scale out of nuclear power) has made decisions appertaining to their grid which make abandoning nuclear power impossible. The US has been rather cheerful about nuclear, finally giving permission for the construction of the first new nuclear power plant in decades. China is pushing full steam ahead. India has signed fuel trade agreements with Canada. And Russia is done flooding the markets with HEU from decomissioned warheads.

Whether or not this is the triumphant finale to my symphony remains to be seen. I wait with bated breath.

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