That $2.3B Vanguard Precious Metals&Mining Fund was more than a name change(to Global Capital Cycles Fund). Mining stocks (mostly gold stocks) as % of fund drops from 80% to 25%. May explain why big-cap precious metals stocks have been oddly underperforming smaller names (more)
Last week GDX fell 2.11%, but GDXJ dropped just 0.53% (a 4X difference), yet there weren't any outflows from GDX. For July month-to-date GDX shares outstanding have RISEN 5% from June. But the six largest positions in the Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining Fund were all gold stks
The largest position in the fund was Agnico-Eagle (AEM). AEM's stock was pounded 9.1% last week, yet outside the squirrely tax rate of 88% in Q2,which was the primary cause of the bottom line "miss" (the tax rate will "normalize" for rest of yr),AEM topped revenue estimates(more)
for Q2, raised production guidance, lowered cost estimates for yr&gave an excellent report on its two major higher-grade (lower cost) mine projects in Nunavut coming online next yr. Cash flow will really kick in high-gear then. Stock reaction made no sense.AEM should rebound soon
