Marching CCJ, To The Sound Of Silver Trumpets

Set down your eyes, and look not at this splendor. For it is not for you, the non-believer.

But to those of you that would listen, all those years ago, and believe…

Behold!:

Cameco (CCO.TO) (CCJ) announced today that ore production has begun at the Cigar Lake uranium mining operation in northern Saskatchewan.

The mining system and underground processing circuits are operational and ore is being transported to the McClean Lake mill operated by AREVA Resources Canada Inc. which is located 70 kilometres northeast of the minesite.

“Cigar Lake is among the most technically challenging mining projects in the world,” said Tim Gitzel, president and CEO of Cameco, the operator and 50.025% owner of Cigar Lake. “The start of ore production is a tremendous achievement and I want to thank the many hundreds of people who helped to bring this exceptional orebody into production.

Now to the rest – come hither and drink from our cup; for it overflow. You are forgiven.

All is forgiven. For those of you that doubted and cast aspersions are wrong and know it.

CCJ is up 6% at the time of this victory lapping.

Year to date gains stand north of 14.5%.

(Horns blast triumph into the wind)

My only bright spot today was HCLP. It was keeping my head above water for a good bit, but CCJ and BAS are both handing back gains and the rest of the positions don’t look very good. Now HCLP is back below 2% and I’m down about 1% on net.

I’ll believe this is a real selloff when I see it. Come on; I’m literally begging for a beat down. This is the first time in years I’ve just sat back and said “throw whatever you have at me, I’m unprepared”.

Let the market prove to me I should think this selloff matters. The winds are behind my sails, so if it doesn’t have rocks ahead, up its dirty little sleeves, then this game is about done.

HCLP is up another 3% today, following an announcement yesterday of amendment to a long term supply contract with Weatherford. Weatherford will be increasing the duration of their agreement with HCLP another 3 years, while also agreeing to minimum purchase volumes and price each month.

Demand for HCLP frac sand is strong. HCLP is now north of $40 a unit. Those of you that followed me into this investment are up 66% since August.

You can see the breath get beat out of the rally’s lungs; plunged into the freezing currents.

Check out HCLP, which gave back a monster morning rally, now fighting to keep its nose in the air or else risk losing oxygen entirely.

But I find myself not caring. Even if the market starts to correct, I’m unlikely to play the hedging game. The lesson has been learned – when I short stocks, I lose money. I’m taking a different approach here, offering up just a small slice of the pie to buy puts (PGJ, TSLA) in the most fragile part of the party.

If we crack, TSLA and PGJ die horrible deaths. It will be like any selloff just sort of gets replaced with new, free money. Like the prep school teenager who loses his pocket change to his uneducated, local public ruffian peers, he can trust that his wealthy father will give him more…and the opportunity watch hired mob thugs beat the piss out of his tormentors.

Besides, BAS and CCJ are both higher. I have complete confidence in the companies that I’ve acquired. I will not find myself given to flight; that ends with me screaming in furry, watching my hard work reap rewards without me. There is nothing you can possibly do to cause myself to relinquish these positions.

I’m 25% cash and cocky.

The market is drifting lazily higher into the end of the day. My positions are largely mixed with some give back. But I’m still up for the day, thanks to HCLP.

HCLP is pushing towards $40.00, and it seems my hunch that the stock would rocket back from the averages was correct. It has done so repeatedly before now, not suffering more than a moment or two of mediocrity before taking the next run up.

I’ve been bed ridden all day, taken under by some obstinate bug awakened from the “warm” weather we’ve been having. It almost makes me long for the -4 degree temperatures that kept my immune system well rested.

Well they went and did it now.

This is a bold move, and one that is sure to escalate things quickly. Think about how much has been put at stake trying to lift Russia out of the pit of communism, over the past two decades. Think of Goldman Sachs’ Blankfein making cross continental trips all through the ’90’s, setting up access for foreign investment into Russia’s economy.

The move is crazy, of course. If Russia started hard confiscation of assets, you’re looking at a basic replay of what happened when they defaulted on their bonds in ’98. Economic stagnation, a plunge back into hard poverty, and all. Worse, even.

The trouble is, the Russian’s are just crazy enough not to care. The ’98 default itself didn’t make any sense. It was a clear blunder – to everyone – that would only hurt Russia and those who were trying to help support the country.

And they did it anyway. And the whole time, Russia’s “leadership” looked on with straight backs and the visage of complete confidence.

Threatening to confiscate assets to get your way is a lot like threatening to shoot yourself in the face. Sure it splatters the audience in blood and inconveniences them…but you’re the one that’s dead, idiot. Yet, here we are, watching “new” Russia follow in the footsteps of “old” Russia – plus Argentina and Venezuela – and you can’t help but wonder, do the people clutching the capacity to throw this switch know something that we don’t?

Like that keeping Russia-at-large somewhere just between the stone age (fighting polar bears with empty vodka bottles) and Flint, MI is personally the best outcome for them?

There’s a small part of me that’s tempted to jump around and start hunting for deals; scouting around for people willing to take $0.50 on the dollar for their now very much imperiled Russian stakes. But that small part is quickly squelched by the much larger part of me that wants nothing to do with gangster thugs running a cross between a cult and a crime syndicate.