Gold M&A Outlook Changes, The Direxion Shares Exchange Traded Fund Trust Lower
The Direxion Shares Exchange Traded Fund Trust (NYSEARCA: NUGT ) was down on Wednesday as the market for the metal remains rocky as traders look for clues about the Federal Reserve’s decision making in the months ahead. Meanwhile some firms in the industry are seeing the collapse in the price of the metal as a reason to go on a spending spree. Oceana Gold Corporation ( OTCPK:OCANF ) announced a $900m offer to acquire Romarco Minerals ( OTCPK:RTRAF ), on Tuesday. Larger gold makers are looking at weaker share prices as a reason to consolidate the industry. Mick Wilkes, CEO at Oceana Gold, says that “You have to stay at the dance and engage with opportunities as they come up.” Gold makers buy gold Last Friday Metals X Limited said that it would buy gold projects from RNI and Panoramic Resources. The firm’s CEO Peter Cook says that “When the market caps of some of the juniors are very low, that’s the time to make a corporate takeover.” Mr. Cook said that the costs and time associated with buying out smaller firms was the major factor keeping him from taking in more. “I’ve got five companies I’d like to have a crack at … but as soon as I do one I am paralyzed for six months from doing anything else,” he says. For those holding onto gold as a metal, the deals aren’t going to do much good. The price of the commodity has fallen massively in recent months as traders in the U.S. try to guess when the Federal Reserve will hike rates , and traders in China sell out in order to pay for the massive stock market declines. It also doesn’t seem to making much difference to those exposed to the metal through NUGT. The Direxion Shares Exchange Traded Fund Trust down Despite the spurring M&A movement in the gold world, there’s seems little chance of the NUGT moving higher. The number one factor that weighs on the shares of gold miners is the price of the metal, and that isn’t shifting higher. On Tuesday, as gold prices inched higher, Ira Epstein, a broker with Linn & Associates told the Wall Street Journal that “certain Fed members are getting hawkish.” He reckons that “The Fed wants to get aggressive and raise the rates, and that is going to give a bid to the dollar and that is going to be negative gold.” No one is able to tell where the price of gold, or that of the NUGT is going to head in the coming months. Recent price moves have, however, made traders much more wary of putting the metal in their portfolios. Calls for the price of gold to hit $800 or even $350 haven’t helped matters, but it seems that there are big issues in the market. Firms like Oceana Gold Corporation, and Metals X are going to take advantage as long as prices stay low. Editor’s Note: This article covers one or more stocks trading at less than $1 per share and/or with less than a $100 million market cap. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.