Exxon Mobil, Pan American Silver, Blue Nile: Quick Positions Update

This post is just a quick update on three positions that I have discussed in the past—namely, Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM), Pan American Silver Corp. (PAAS), and Blue Nile, Inc. (NILE).

Back in mid-August, I provided an update on my ExxonMobil position. My positions remain the same. Until this past week, I was doing extremely well. On Thursday, ExxonMobil released its earnings and slightly disappointed the street, and the stock dropped modestly—largely in sympathy with the overall markets. I have yet to read Seeking Alpha's XOM transcript, but will do so before the end of this weekend. My quick take is that I will likely continue to hold XOM into year-end.

I am bullish on most commodities, especially oil, gold, and silver. Pan American Silver, as the name obviously suggests, is a silver mining company. Silver prices have done well this year since starting at about $11 per ounce and presently at about $16 per ounce, though prices were modestly higher recently at about $18 per ounce. On 30 October 20009, Pan American announced that it has mailed out its friendly takeover of Aquiline Resources Inc. bid circular and directors' circular. According to the documentation (see Pan American's website), the value of the acquisition is about $626 million. On Wednesday, 11 November 2009, the company will hold its third quarter earnings conference call, when I am sure we will learn more about this takeover. Given that I am bullish on silver and that the company and its stock have been performing well, I am likely to keep Pan American as a core holding.

Blue Nile has performed extraordinarily well this year. Back in March when the stock was at $20 per share, some commenters at Seeking Alpha thought I was nuts to believe the stock would go up. Well it has. In fact, the stock closed at $60.05 this past Friday, off from its highs of about $66 per share earlier in October. The stock shot up recently on the back of Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) positive earnings. Blue Nile will be releasing its earnings 5 November 2009. After I listen to the conference call, I will comment further.

Like many investors and traders, I remain uncertain about the direction of the markets for the remainder of the year. I tend to believe that the economy is weak and not getting better as quickly as most hoped. We are also approaching year-end when markets have a tendency to defy gravity.

One of my constant themes is that commodities should continue to do well. If you haven't seen Professor Bartlett's video series, I urge you to do so. After watching his lecture series on YouTube, you'll think differently about commodities.

After Pan American's and Blue Nile's conference calls, I will provide follow-up articles.

Disclosure: I am net long with respect to Exxon Mobil Corporation. I am long shares, long puts, and short puts. I am also long Blue Nile and Pan American stock.