How To Dissect Mutual Fund Returns

On January 1, 2006, a leading financial daily reported the trailing 1-year and 5-year returns of Fidelity Contrafund (Nasdaq: FCNTX), a no-load mutual fund, as 16.23% and 6.21% respectively. While the financial daily’s return information is useful, there is more to mutual fund returns.

Is the performance of the fund superior or inferior?
How tax-efficient is the fund in delivering these returns?
Are the returns of the fund commensurate with the risk the fund manager has taken to achieve them?

Savvy investors will seek answers to such questions when evaluating mutual fund returns. Before getting into the nitty-gritty of mutual fund returns, it is good to understand what the data reported in the financial daily really mean.

Total Return

Fidelity Contra’s reported 16.23% 1-year return is the fund’s total return for the December 31, 2004 to December 31, 2005 period. In practical terms, $10,000 invested in the fund on December 31, 2004 is worth $11,623 on December 31, 2005. The total return includes more than the increase (or decrease) in the fund's share price. It also assumes reinvestment of all dividends as well as short- and long-term capital gain distributions into the fund at the price at which each distribution is made.

Compound Annual Return

The reported 6.21% 5-year return is the fund’s compound annual return (also called the average annual return). The compound annual return is a calculated number that describes the rate at which the investment has grown assuming uniform year-over-year growth during the 5-year period.

A $10,000 investment in the Contrafund on December 31, 2000 has grown to $13,515.34 on December 31, 2005. The ending value of $13,515.34 = $10,000[(1 + 0.0621)^5] where 6.21% is the compound annual return. The investment in the fund grew at an implied annual growth rate of 6.21% over the 5-year period.

While total return and compound annual return are useful, they do not tell how a particular mutual fund has performed compared to its peers. They also do not provide information on the return actually earned by investors after accounting for taxes. Finally, they do not offer insight on how well the fund manager has managed risk while achieving the returns.

Relative Return

Relative return compares the performance of a mutual fund against its peers. It is the difference between the total return of the fund and the total return of an appropriate benchmark over the same period.

Fidelity Contra is a large-cap growth fund that primarily invests in U.S.-based companies. It is therefore appropriate to compare its performance with that of an average large-cap growth fund. It is also relevant to benchmark the fund against the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 index, comprising of large U.S.-based companies.

While Fidelity Contra has a compound annual return of 6.21% for the 5-year period ending December 31, 2005, Morningstar reports the average large-cap growth fund has an average annual loss of 8.48% over the same period. The S&P 500 index has an average annual return of 0.54% over the same period. Fidelity Contra has outperformed with a relative return of 14.69% over the average large-cap growth fund and with a relative return of 5.67% over an S&P 500 index fund.

After-Tax Return

Unlike assets held in qualified accounts such as 401k plans or individual retirement accounts (IRA), assets held in regular individual or joint accounts are not tax-deferred. For such non-qualified accounts, after-tax return is the return realized after accounting for taxes.

Short-term capital gains and short-term capital gain distributions from a mutual fund are currently taxed at the same rate as earned income. Dividends, long-term capital gain distributions and long-term capital gains realized from the sale of fund shares are currently taxed at a lower rate.

Fidelity states the compound annual return for Fidelity Contra before taxes is 6.21% for the 5-year period ending on December 31, 2005. When all distributions are taxed at the respective maximum possible federal income-tax rate, the after-tax return dips to 6.10%. The after-tax return drops further to 5.33% after accounting for the long-term capital gain tax due on sale of the fund shares.

Risk-Adjusted Return

Some fund managers take more risk than others. It is important to assess a fund’s return in light of the amount of risk the fund manager takes to deliver that return.

Risk-Adjusted Return is commonly measured using the Sharpe Ratio. The ratio is calculated using the formula (mutual fund return - risk free return)/standard deviation of mutual fund return. The higher the Sharpe ratio, the better is the fund’s return per unit risk.

Based on returns for the 3-year period ending on November 30, 2005, Morningstar reports Fidelity Contra’s Sharpe ratio as 1.74. The fund’s Sharpe Ratio may be compared with those of similar funds to determine how the fund’s risk-adjusted return compares with those of its peers.

Beyond Mutual Funds

Return concepts such as relative return, after-tax return, and risk-adjusted return may also be used for evaluating separately-managed accounts, hedge funds and investment newsletter model portfolios.

The AlphaProfit Sector Investors’ Newsletter, for example, tracks the total return and compounded annual return of its Core and Focus model portfolios. To provide Subscribers with a more complete picture of model portfolio returns, this newsletter also tracks the relative and risk-adjusted returns of the model portfolios. The newsletter’s model portfolios are constructed and repositioned with a view to maximizing after-tax returns.

Summary

While total return and compound annual return are useful, they do not provide a complete picture of a mutual fund’s performance. Metrics such as relative return and after-tax return offer insights on the fund’s relative performance and tax-efficiency. Risk-adjusted returns enable investors to assess how a fund’s returns stack up when risk is factored in.

Notes: This report is for information purposes only. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer to buy or sell securities or to give individual investment advice. This report does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation, and particular needs of any specific person who may receive this report. The information contained in this report is obtained from various sources believed to be accurate and is provided without warranties of any kind. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC does not represent that this information, including any third party information, is accurate or complete and it should not be relied upon as such. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC is not responsible for any errors or omissions herein. Opinions expressed herein reflect the opinion of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC and are subject to change without notice. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC disclaims any liability for any direct or incidental loss incurred by applying any of the information in this report. The third-party trademarks or service marks appearing within this report are the property of their respective owners. All other trademarks appearing herein are the property of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC. Owners and employees of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC for their own accounts invest in the Fidelity Mutual Funds included in the AlphaProfit Core and Focus model portfolios. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC neither is associated with nor receives any compensation from Fidelity Investments or other mutual fund companies mentioned in this report. Past performance is neither an indication of nor a guarantee for future results. No part of this document may be reproduced in any manner without written permission of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC. Copyright © 2006 AlphaProfit Investments, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Surviving Without Mutual Funds

STOP! Do not read another word! Advance mouse to Investopedia.com. Do not pass GO. Do not collect another prospectus.

The NYSE advance-decline line has been positive for nearly six years! (Contact Author for the Spreadsheet.)

What is wrong with the averages? How sick are the Mutual Funds?

Here are some questions you should be asking. 1) Is there "Investment Life" after Mutual Funds? 2) What is the average investor/speculator to do? (3) Who can you trust? (4) Why are people still throwing money at the corrupt Mutual Funds? 5) Is there a safe(r) alternative? 6) Can a financial professional function without funds? (7) Did Mutual Funds make YOU lose money over the past several years? (Answers below.)

Investing always involves more questions than answers, and the idea that Wall Street has those answers and that they are imbedded in the products that they market to the "moneyed" public, is simply part of the brainwashing of the American investor. So, too, is the myth that Mutual Funds are a safer investment mechanism than a properly constructed portfolio of individual securities. Perhaps they should be, in concept. In reality, they haven't been for decades.

Investors have always searched for a safe and easy way to protect and to grow their portfolios. This used to be accomplished by applying a combination of management and investment principles to the process. A diversified portfolio of high quality, profitable companies, and an appropriate amount of less volatile income producers was pretty easy to create, to manage, and to monitor.

It still is, when you realize that investing is not a competitive event. The original Mutual Fund managers actually knew how to do this, were paid to do it, and were not at all influenced by the incredible confluence of outside forces that impacts their decision making today. In their original form, Mutual Funds were Trustee directed within the retirement benefit community, and a stepping-stone to a properly diversified, individual security portfolio on the personal level. Before the three-ring Wall Street circus came to town, there were only two "classes" of securities, retirement programs were not self-directed, the DJIA was an economic indicator, investing was a personal goal directed activity, and the Yankees won the American league pennant most of the time.

Almost everything (except the Yankees) changed with the onslaught of the "new generation" of Mutual Fund marketeers and self-directed retirement vehicles. Wall Street invented market prediction techniques and new subdivisions of securities; investment products were mass-produced in every shape, size, model, and color, with great financial planning success; sales literature was sold as research/analysis, and financial institutions became indistinguishable from one another. People pay extra not to collect current interest and loss-taking is seen as a good idea. Unproven team-player Mutual Fund managers receive signing bonuses that would shock professional athletes, and 60-second sound bites on CNBC define today's investment reality to the masses. A calendar year is now long-term, buy high/sell low a religion, and absolutely everyone, from accountants to wedding planners, can sell Mutual Funds for extra cash. Wall Street is Las Vegas in pinstripes and red suspenders.

Are today's late trading, market timing, and executive suite scandals going to change things dramatically? It's doubtful, simply because Mutual Funds are so profitable for the institutions, so mindlessly easy to sell for financial professionals, AND the only available investment medium for hundreds of millions of employees throughout the country! But is there a better way to invest safely and profitably in spite of all the problems? You can’t afford to be lazy anymore. Learn how to manage a high quality, diversified portfolio of individual securities.
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Answering the six questions raised in the first paragraph, from the pages of the Business Best Seller: "The Brainwashing of the American Investor". Yes Virginia, there is investment life after Mutual Funds. (2) Rediscover individual securities, after taking a crash course in the principles of investing. (3) Trust yourself, once you've taken the course. (4) Most investors have no choice but to use Funds, the others learn their lessons slowly. (5) Yes, individual securities in a plain vanilla investment plan can be much safer. (6) Some planners have de-toxed from funds, but it's a lot more like work. Most won't try. (7) Nope, you'll have to take the blame for the losses yourself.

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Forex Profits

The Forex Market—What, When and Why?

Forex, FX and the Forex market are some common abbreviations for the Foreign Exchange market. Actually it is the largest financial market in the world, where money is sold and bought freely. In its present condition the Forex market was launched in the seventies, when free exchange rates were introduced, and only the participants of the market determine the price of one currency against the other proceeding from demand and supply. As far as the freedom from any external control and free competition are concerned, the Forex market is a perfect market.

With a daily turnover of over trillions of dollars, the Foreign Exchange market conducts more than three times the aggregate amount volume of the United States Equity and Treasury markets combined. The Forex market is an over-the-counter market where buyers and sellers conduct foreign exchange business using different means of communication.

Unlike other financial markets, the Forex market has no physical location or central exchange. Since the Forex market lacks a physical exchange, the market trades continuously on a 24-hour basis, moving from one time zone to the next, across each of the world’s major financial centers every day. Trillions of dollars of foreign exchange activity takes place every day. From 1997 to the end of 2000, daily forex trading volume surged approximately from US$5 billion to US$1.5 trillion and more (according to various recent studies it has touched $1.7 trillion per day and dwarfs all other markets for trading in size and volume). It is really difficult, if not impossible; to determine an absolutely exact number because trading is not centralized on an exchange. But one thing is for sure that the Forex market continues to grow at a phenomenal rate.

Before the advent of Internet and ecommerce, only big corporations, multinational banks and wealthy individuals could trade currencies in the Forex market through the use of the proprietary trading systems of banks. These systems required as much as US$1 million to open an account. Thanks to advancements in online technology, today investors with only a few thousand dollars can have access to the Forex market 24 hours a day and around 5 ½ days of a week.

The Forex market is a nonstop cash market where currencies of nations are traded, typically via brokers called forex brokers. Foreign currencies are constantly and simultaneously bought and sold across local and global markets while traders increase or decrease value of an investment upon currency movements. Foreign exchange market conditions can change at any time in response to real-time events so it is also considered to be a highly volatile and fragile market too. Conditions of the Forex market never remain the same they changes every second.

The foreign exchange market dwarfs the combined operations of the New York, London, and Tokyo futures and stock exchanges. According to its size and scope it is many times larger than all other markets. Stats shows that spot transactions and forward outright Forex trading take place in the inter-bank market. 51% of the market is in spot Forex transactions, followed by 32% in currency swap transactions. Forward outright Forex transactions represent another 5% of this daily turnover, with options on ‘interbank’ Forex transactions making up another 8%. Therefore the inter-bank market accounts for 96% of the global foreign exchange market, with the remaining 4% being divided among all the global futures exchanges.

For traders, Forex trading provides an alternative to stock market trading. While there are thousands of stocks to choose from, there are only a few major currencies to trade (the Dollar, Yen, British Pound, Swiss Franc, and the Euro are the most popular). Forex trading also provides a lot more leverage than stock trading, and the minimum investment to get started is a lot lower. Add to that the ability to choose flexible trading hours (forex trading goes on 24 hours a day) and you have the reason why so many stock traders have flocked to day trade currencies.

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Forex Brokers - Helping to maximize your success

Forex Brokers - Partners In Your Ultimate Success

Forex A broker is a broker dealing in foreign exchange, just like real estate broker who deals in real estate and properties. Simply, a broker Forex is a consultant who advises you on the foreign exchange market. However, the market is not the place to play with as a novice and beginner because there are many criticalities involved with a lot of risk bearing capacity. The novices can quickly get their fingers severely burnt. But the lack of experience is not the only reason to consider using a broker Forex to trade in the high-risk international currency market.

Thus, the broker Forex is a consultant who advises you on the foreign exchange market and allows you to work for 24 hours a day with major currencies such as EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, and so against the American dollar on the ground, that that is according At current prices on the exchange market in currencies. But the level of profits depends only on your skills and your timely decision.

Although the role of broker Forex is relatively redundant as a result of technological advancement and increased awareness, we should not underestimate its role completely. The new paradigm shift has been something of an effect of democratization in the financial markets and in the years following a plethora of banks and brokerage has expanded their services to a new market of the packing their online trading systems for the retail market, allowing investors to trade more modest of their computer screens, even on the previously out of reach of the foreign exchange markets. That's where the real role of broker Forex begins.

PIP, but did nothing special price points of interest. In the market, the currencies are still pricing in pairs. The price is the level where we, as a market maker, are willing to buy or sell the currency pair. In the wholesale market, currencies are quoted to four decimal places, with the last point called a shadow or a seed. A problem in most currencies is a / 10,000 th of an exchange rate (USD / JPY, it is one / 100th, as found by others).

Let's see a little more information about Spread. As with all financial products, forex Citations include terms such as "supply" and "demand". "The" bid "in its most basic form is the price at which a dealer is willing to buy (and clients can sell) the base currency in exchange for money counter. The "request" is the price at which are sold concessionaires (and customers can buy) currency basis in exchange for money counter. The difference between the bid and the selling price is defined as the spread. The spread defines the operator of cost, which can be recovered with a favorable change in the currency market. The value of a problem is determined by the two currencies are exchanged, the rate at which the currency pair is trading and the size of the negotiated position.

There are many large foreign currency, like COESfx, which maintains tight, competitive spreads in the four major currencies against the Dollar, and a total of 17 currencies including USD / CAD and AUD / USD. Some of the main features of COESfx are:

Real-Time Pricing

Prices of certainty in the market commands

Competitive prices

Fixed 3-5 pip spreads

For more details on this foreign exchange broker, as well as their offerings visit http://www.coesfx.com.

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Golden Reign Potential Resources Discovers New Gold Zone Russian River Bed

When Zoran Pudar returned to its headquarters in Vancouver this week, his briefcase contained a lot of good news on the progress of the exploration program in the company of two eventual gold properties located in the Far East of Russia across the Bering Strait from Alaska. The vice president of exploration for Golden Reign Resources Ltd (TSX: GRR) returned from a field visit to the company properties. At the Dorozhni property, which covers 8.8 square km, gold mineralization is deemed to be the source of 150,000 ounces of placer gold mined historically.

"In about two weeks, I expect to receive assay results for samples collected during my visit to the properties," he said Resourcex investors on Thursday, "and we are still collecting samples from the property Butarni . A total of 18 samples were sent to Alex Stewart (Assayers) Ltd., a British laboratory in Moscow. "

The Russian government has limited research data on the properties in the region of Magadan, under an agreement with Golden Reign and more information has been forthcoming in recent weeks. Most of the work was carried out after World War II and the late 1980s. The property is held under a 20-year permit full exploration and mining companies.

"From what we know about the property Dorozhni," Pudar said, "they were hunting some high quality quartz veins. Typically, gold is coarse. I had a chance to spend several day and focused on the eastern part of the property where we have recently completed 1.5 kilometers of trenches. We sampled some of these veins, which in 1946 gave more than six kilograms of gold (about 20 ounces). "

He said that the high quality gold mineralization occurs at the intersection of the structure-oriented northwest and intrusive, hosting quartz veins. Of particular interest is the new loophole exposed mineralized and sediment in an open area lit.

Pudar said that the newly discovered breccia zone appears to be 50 by 70 meters wide. "This is the type of target that I was looking for. In fact, I brought some samples really nice, just to show and tell. This new area has really great potential, but the river bed should be fully exposed and adequately sampled. It is rich in sulphides in the area, which is often associated with gold. This area is regarded as a prime target for exploration continues. "

The first phase of exploration on the property Dorozhni was launched this fall. Dorozhni, one of the two Golden Reign highly prospective gold properties in Magadan, is located upstream of Dorozhni Creek. Previous exploration work focused on the identification and testing of five gold mineralized quartz veins on the surface or close. Veins, which were found for 380 meters along the strike, an average of between 0.4 to 2.4 meters wide and sometimes extending up to 17 meters wide. The distance between the veins ranges from 15 to 50 meters. But distribution is very irregular, with the highest reported resulting from two separate channel samples, which were collected from Vein # 1, 6322.2 g / t over 0.1 meters and 2 g , 678.2 / T over 0.5 meters.

Golden Reign believes that the property has a low potential grade bulk tonnage gold deposit. Exploration will test the system sheeted vein in the granite intrusive to assess the content or between the ribs, with the aim of determining an average obtained from the vein and the swarm intervene intrusive.

The first phase of exploration has been designed to map the mineralized zones and test whether gold mineralization is limited to veins and veinlets of quartz, or if the mineralization occurs in the host country of the rock surrounding. Exploration will test the system sheeted vein in the granite intrusive to assess the content or between the ribs, with the aim of determining an average obtained from the vein and the swarm intervene intrusive.

The company has set up an exploration camp, mobilized and upgraded existing equipment access road. She built a new two-km road to provide access to mineralized zones previously tested in establishing borders. Complete geological mapping, including recognition crosses and grab sampling has been completed. Results are pending and will be published as they become available.

Magadan, one of the world's richest mining areas, has about 2,000 deposits placer gold, 100 ore deposits of gold and 48 silver deposits. Total probable gold reserves in Magadan Oblast are estimated at 4,000 tons (128 million ounces).

Pudar, who has been active in Russia for more than 10 years, is a graduate of the University of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the former Yugoslavia. He worked at the Geoinstitute Sarajevo, Bosnia, Canada and several public and private companies involved in mineral exploration property.

In late summer, work has also begun on the Golden Reign Butarni property, 9.3 square miles located approximately 310 km north of Magadan, the capital of the province. It is characterized by clastic sediments, which have been intruded by a biotite granite with dimensions of stocks of about 3.0 km x 1.6 km. Five quartz vein known mineralized zones are described in the stock, with a length ranging from 700 meters to 1,500 meters. Major veins are between 0.1 and 1.5 meters wide, 100 to 150 meters in length and are accompanied by zones of quartz veins parallel. Previous capture and channel sampling returned values ranging from 1 g / t Au to 334.4 g / t, with an average grade of 21.3 g / t gold from 45 selected grab samples, 29.6 g / t gold from 22 channel samples.

This article is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell the shares of any company mentioned in this document. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no guarantee of accuracy is expressed or implied. The views expressed in this article are those of the author except in cases where statements are issued to persons other than the author, in this case, the views are those of the person to whom they are assigned.

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Kootenay Gold Awaits Results on a New Treasure of the Sierra Madre at Promontorio, Sonora

By Christina de Wit



There are three things the Sonoran Desert demands from those who seek to make their living from it: resilience, resourcefulness, and a long time horizon. These qualities are embodied by one of the Sonora’s most famous denizens– the agave, or century plant. After years of marshalling its energy reserves in its sharp leaves, the agave drives up a long spike and flowers spectacularly.



It’s an apt scenario for Kootenay Gold’s (TSX.V:KTN) management and shareholders, as they await Phase I drilling results on the company’s Promontorio Silver Project in Sonora State, Mexico. The company has focused the bulk of its resources toward work on its claims in the Sierra Madre Occidental volcanic province – a system considered highly prospective for gold, silver, and copper deposits. Promontorio is 75 km northeast of Ciudad Obregón, the second largest city in Sonora State, and about 500 km south of Tucson, AZ. The area is easily accessible, with an international airport at Obregón and dry-season road access to the property.



The project consists of four contiguous claims totalling nearly 37,000 hectares. The company has staked an additional 400,000 hectares in the area – making Kootenay one of the largest landholders in the Sierra Madre Gold and Silver Belt. The claims are 100%-owned by Kootenay (save for a small NSR to the original landowners).



The rapid development of the Sierra Madre Occidental Belt can be compared to that of Nevada’s Carlin Trend – the Western Hemisphere’s richest gold area. Six years ago, there were no producers in the Sierra Madre Belt. Today, there are five profitable mines producing 1,000,000+ oz Au in the area, with two more mines coming on stream over the next 18 months.



Operators include Pan American, GoldCorp, Agnico-Eagle, Piedras Verdes and Alamos. Jim McDonald, Kootenay’s CEO, was one of the founders of National Gold, which subsequently merged with Alamos. In the early 1980s, the Carlin Trend experienced a similar major takeoff with the upsurge in the price of gold.



Promontorio has seen sporadic production over the past 100 years, with limited open-pit production during the 1960s and 1980s. Artisanal mining and previous small-scale production are usually precursors for big deposits. Old workings on the property include three shafts (the deepest one reaches an inclined depth of 158.5 meters), as well as an open cut 85 meters long ranging from 7 to 25 meters wide and 20 meters deep. Historic (non-43-101) calculations from a 1973 feasibility report outline an ore reserve estimated at 384,000 metric tons grading 0.12% Cu, 2.80% Pb, 1.74% Zn, 367 g/t Ag and 1.5 g/t Au, to a depth of 100 m. As reported in the company’s July 17th press release, recent chip sampling from Promontorio in the Pit Breccia has returned 480 grams per tonne silver, 2.51 grams per tonne gold, 11,199 ppm lead and 17,284 ppm zinc over an estimated true width of 19 meters. The 1990s saw the closure of the mine as a consequence of high interest rates and low metal prices. Kootenay acquired the ground at the early stages of the current bull market – making it the first company to apply the latest modern exploration methods to the property.



According to the company’s website, Promontorio “is highly prospective for large shallow level, intermediate-sulphidation epithermal system that may have developed close to a shallow level porphyry system and concentrated at the intersection of the regional WNW to NW fault zones.” The property’s Main Zone has a documented silver dominant polymetallic (Zn/Pb/Cu/Ag/Au) deposit, which has been the focus of the past 11 months’ work. The broad extent of alteration and mineralization found at surface is strongly suggestive of an underlying deposit. Only drilling will confirm this model, which with successful results could prove be the next discovery in the Sonoran Desert.



So far, the company has been diligent in doing its homework. Detailed mapping, geochemical sampling, and geophysical surveys have been completed along with Phase I of the drill program to confirm historic mineralization.Assay results are anticipated over the next 3 to 6 weeks.



Kootenay’s management is confident that its focused, methodical approach to fieldwork, financing, and risk management will pay off for the company’s investors. “Promontorio’s one that could be a real company maker,” said Ken Berry, Kootenay’s president. Management has laid a solid foundation for making a new discovery through years of dedicated effort. By building close relationships with key officials early on, the company was able to amass a comprehensive land package around Promontorio. Expert technical direction and careful financial management has enabled the project to advance to Phase II of the drilling stage, in which new prospects associated with the known mineralization will be delineated.



Given this stage of the market, it is rare to find a junior that has managed to stay in the game for six years, while maintaining a relatively tight share structure (23.7 million, fully diluted). This is due in part to the company’s having been privately financed for four years by Mr. McDonald.



Kootenay is also engaged in an ongoing, advanced drilling program with joint-venture partners at its Jumping Josephine Project near Castlegar, British Columbia.



“We’re making sure we’ve got lots of opportunities for success and at the same time, we want to spend our money in the ground, while minimizing dilution to the shareholders.” said Mr. Berry.



There’s a Mexican folk saying, ‘Acocote nuevo, tlachiquero viejo.’ that describes the process of extracting agua miel, (honey water) from the agave to make pulque, Mexico’s national drink. It translates roughly as “A difficult task must be done by someone who has the skills or experience to do it.” The market perception is that management is certainly up to the task at Promontorio – as per its Oct. 5th press release, the company raised $1.5 million in a non flow-through, non-brokered (and oversubscribed) private placement of 1.7million units @ $0.90/unit.



This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.

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Secured Personal Loans: Collateral to Give Cheap Loans

Personal needs are of several types. But, there is at least one thing common among them that they need money to be fulfilled. And, money is not a thing which can be there all the times you need them. So, what would you do then, if you don’t have the required money? Going to the kins is a good choice but they might also need the money any time and you won’t have a fixed tenure for your loans. So, here is the viable choice of secured personal loans whereby you can grab better benefits like fixed tenure and easy repayment mode with cheap rates. All the things of secured personal loans in unison, allow you to feel secured at the optimum level.



Secured personal loans are based on collateral attachment. This means, you are required to pledge collateral for the loans in lieu of which you will get the benefits of cheap rates and easy terms. This happens because your collateral lets the lender to feel a gratification that his money will be paid off timely. So, the repayment mode becomes easier and this generally ranges from 5 years to 30 years while the amount of the loans ranges between £ 3000 and £ 250000. Secured personal loans are available to the bad credit holders too, yet, with a slight surge in the interest rates.



You can have cheap rates in secured personal loans when you go online for them. Online allows you to grab the loans with a few mouse clicks only and that makes the lenders also to flock the platform in a large mass. So, it is obvious that you will have a large array of choices there. To find the best deal of your secured personal loans becomes easier for this.



However, there are various uses of secured personal loans as they are available for a wide range of requirements. Secured personal loans are there for debt consolidation, to update your business or even to go for a holiday. Secured personal loans are all pervasive.

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Ascendant Copper Holding Steady on Ecuadorian Nest Egg: Part 2

By Andrew K. Burger



Mining companies with stakes in Ecuador have been urgently meeting with government officials in an effort to demonstrate their good corporate citizenship, environmental and social responsibility to preserve their interests in the face of a new constitution and mining legislation to be drafted by 136 newly elected members of a National Constituent Assembly. What transpires will shape the face of mining, foreign investment and development in Ecuador, and very possibly elsewhere in South America, for years to come.



Ascendant Copper (TSX:ACX) is one junior miner intimately involved in the process. The company has been working to explore and develop Junin, a world-class copper porphyry deposit, as well as Chaucha, a second similar deposit the Andes’ western flank in northern Ecuador.



Ascendant is sitting on Junin, a world-class copper-molybdenum-silver-gold porphyry prospect, as well as two others, the Chaucha and Telimbela prospects. “We are sitting on the second if not the largest copper/molybdenum property in the world,” commented John Haigh, Ascendant’s Investor Relations manager. “Our Junín property consists of 23,475 acres of property containing billions of pounds of economic resource; in fact we are looking at a potential in excess of a billion pounds of molybdenum and in excess of 20 billion pounds of copper.”



While management remains optimistic in the longer-term, recent elections and upcoming debates and controversy associated with drafting a new constitution, as well as new mining laws and regulations, is prompting management to shift their focus elsewhere in the shorter term.



Mining & the Environment

Mining is inherently damaging to the environment yet practically every society in the world today could not function or support itself, nor would they have grown or developed to the extent they have were it not for a steady supply of key metals and minerals. Copper is one.



In keeping with the times and technology, Ascendant has made substantial efforts to demonstrate good corporate citizenship. These are encapsulated in the U.N. Global Compact, a program and internationally recognized set of standards regarding human and labor rights, environmental sustainability and anti-corruption to which Ascendant ascribes and has been formally accepted.



More specifically with regard to Junin and its other prospects in Ecuador, Ascendant has during the past two years established social and environmental programs within nearby Junin communities.



These include providing much needed medical and dental facilities and personnel, working to improve the educational system-- including teacher training and scholarships-- providing training on farming techniques, vaccinating cattle, supporting soccer camps, providing trash collection and disposal, maintaining and building roads, and developing nurseries with more than 40,000 plants to support reforestation of areas deforested by slash-and-burn agricultural methods, according to company information.



Moreover, it should be noted that all the above is in addition to potentially substantial government revenues and foreign exchange earnings the Ecuadorian government stands to garner should Ascendant’s development plans move forward.



An Easy Target for Protestors

The area around the Junin property has been a hotbed of legal and illegal protest. Ascendant’s demonstration farm in the Intag area was illegally seized and the company has been unable to conduct independent drilling to confirm and expand on historical exploration and assay results.



That looked set to change after March 20 when the company concluded agreements with the government and Decoin aimed at restoring law and order to the region, reducing tensions and respecting the rights of all parties.



One of the conditions was the return of the Intag demonstration farm, which had been seized the previous week. Based on Decoin’s demands, Ascendant also reluctantly agreed to reduce its work force substantially, from 159 to 48 people—most of whom were involved in community development efforts—as well as its current activities, which include the provision of medical and dental services in the area.



Ironically and somewhat quizzically, the ecological group was able to push through the shutdown of social services, claiming that such activities influenced the local community to look favorably on the Junin project and Ascendant.



The Ecuadorian government as part of the March agreement stated that it would organize a commission of community leaders, government officials and representatives for Ascendant to ensure the compliance of all parties.



A group of government officials visiting the Junin property and area in early August found that Ascendant was operating a medical center and a school bus for Intag's children. They asked the company to stop these social programs and Ascendant was compelled to agree based on the three-party agreement signed earlier in the year.



“We did it regardless of the fact the country has no legal authority to control our social programs. The opposition was annoyed because our projects increase the community’s support for mining,” Francisco Veintimilla, the company’s Ecuador general manager, stated in a media release.



The Government, Ascendant and Mining Going Forward

Mining experts from Canada, Chile, Peru and Spain were among some 350-plus participants on hand in Quito Sept. 18 when Ecuador’s recently appointed Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Galo Chiriboga, led a forum that brought together government, mining and community representatives to present and debate the central issues regarding the future of mining in the country.



Chiriboga stated his support for environmentally and socially responsible large-scale mining in a recent interview. He also announced that the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum would be restructured so that it could devise and enact improved national mining policies in both the short and long-term that would involve drawing input from all stakeholders.



Representatives from Cornerstone Capital Resources, another Canadian junior mining company with projects in Ecuador, were “favorably impressed and encouraged by this and other very positive signals,” the company’s manager of corporate communications, Roseanne Williams, wrote in a recent update.



All parties stand to gain if the Correa government can successfully negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement regarding Ascendant’s Junin property. Doing so might also be a significant step forward for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum’s efforts to forge an equitable and practical set of mining policies and regulations going forward. If and when this scenario pans out, expect Ascendant’s shares to make a strong surge to the upside.



Ascendant’s management “estimates that a lasting, mutually agreeable arrangement with the Ecuadorian government can be reached in 30 months,” Investor Relations manager John Haigh told Resourcex. “We believe that it will be at least one more year before the Ecuadorian mining law will be rewritten and will include a royalty to the government of at least 3%, that they currently don't have. That's fine with us.”



In the interim, Ascendant has launched efforts to acquire three near-term copper producing properties in the western US. Negotiations are well under way for two of the three, with an announcement expected on the third in about three months, according to Haigh.



This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.

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