Gold Stocks and the 1934 World Series: Swing!

The 1934 World Series was a real humdinger.

The Major League Baseball championship matched the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals, who earned the team nickname "Gashouse Gang" from their shabby appearance and rough-and-tumble antics. The phrase "Gashouse" referred to coal plants, which were commonly located near railroad yards in the poorest city neighborhoods and emitted nauseating odors. The Cards would frequently play in unwashed, dirty and smelly uniforms to instigate their opponents.

Led by Frankie "Flash" Frisch, the Dean brothers, Dizzy and Paul, and the hard-nosed Leo "the Lip" Durocher, the Gashouse Gang was up against Mickey Cochrane, Charlie "Mechanical Man" Gehringer, Goose Goslin, and the legendary Tiger's first baseman "Hammerin'" Hank Greenberg, who led the Detroit to the pennant victory in 1934 amidst a strong anti-Semitism sentiment in America.

After playing three games in a row in St. Louis, the Tigers returned to play the sixth game of the series in Detroit coming into town at 3-2. The Tigers were the favorite and it looked like they were going to cinch the World Series in front of the home fans. The result of the game was baseball history.

The beginning of sixth game was nip and tuck between both teams.

At the bottom of the fourth inning the score was tied up 1-1.

The 23-year-old Hank Greenberg, who still lacked full confidence in his skills despite being Detroit's top hitter in '34 with a batting average of .339, stepped up to the plate with 2 outs to face Paul Dean, the Cardinal rookie who had 19 wins in the '34 season.

In an interview after his retirement, Greenberg recalled his thoughts while standing at the plate and staring at Dean:

With all the commotion and everything I thought to myself, 'Paul Dean will probably throw me a fast ball'.

And I'm gonna jump on it.

So I got all set in my mind and everything. And sure enough here comes a fast ball. Right where I can handle it.

And I stand there, and take the strike.

Greenberg didn't swing. He didn't swing at the one ball that figured was an easy hit. That one ball changed baseball history.

Hammerin' Hank subsequently popped out and the Cardinals came on in the next inning to score 2 points and beat the Tigers by 1 and forcing the seventh game.

Unfortunately for Hank and crew, the Cards crushed the Tigers the following night in Detroit during the last game of the World Series 11-0.

Greenberg had this to say about the fastball he knew Dean was throwing right down the center to him on that fateful October day:

From that time on, I've often thought about what would've happened if I jumped on that fast ball.

I often think of this story when making any kind of decision. Because regret is a feeling that I don't ever want to deal with.

I can't imagine the regret Hank Greenberg felt after the '34 World Series. I don't want to. Had he taken a swing and hit that ball, the Tigers could have won the world championship for the first time since 1909.

Now, let me tell you this...

It's the 1934 World Series. Sixth game, bottom of the fourth, the score is tied up 1-1, and there's 2 outs. But instead of Hank Greenberg stepping up to the plate, it's you. And I'm Paul Dean about to throw you a fastball right down the middle.

Are you going to swing at it?

Here it comes...

Gold prices have just broken another all-time nominal high. Friday morning front month gold hit a record $924.30 an ounce as inflation fears stalk Wall Street.

Meanwhile, the junior gold sector, which took a major slug to the jaw early last week as global markets tumbled, are still soft and have not yet fully recovered. And...

IT'S TIME TO BUY!

Let me give you an example...

This is one of the many mineral exploration companies on the Secret Stock Files portfolio (stock names are revealed to subscribers only, but hopefully these charts will still get the point across). The stock lost 16.1% as a result of the global downturn and is still licking its wounds despite a new gold price record. It's well oversold and is discounted compared to its recent price history in relation to gold prices.

Here's another one...

Same story. This gold exploration company has bounced back a little bit but is still trading at a discount. Gold prices are 4-5% higher than they were at the beginning of January.

Another...

This gold explorer has also started to bounce back. But with gold at $924/ounce, I don't see any reason why it should be at a sub-$3.00 level.

Last one...

This company is actually producing gold right now but is still trading much lower compared to its recent pre history and considering the new gold price high.There are others. But I think you get the point. Gold stocks sold off sharply because of the general market downturn and have not yet had a chance to fully recover. It's a buying opportunity across the board right now for gold stocks.

SWING!

Comments

[dipps:]

I am not a fan of reading unknown stock charts but I love baseball.

2008 Jan 27 09:52 AM

[Richard Shi...:]

I love gold, but "gold explorers" are not gold, they are not even silver. Buying gold expolorers without proven reserves reminds me of buying stocks during the dot.bomb era. I remember a pasta company (Monterey Pasta) that came out and said they were starting a website and their stock tripled overnight. Yep, thats all they said and that is what happened. So gold goes to $3,000 and some company says "we explore for gold" and we all rush in?

I don't like unknown stock charts either. Throw out a real name and lets see what happens. I agree with your overall thesis on gold though.

2008 Jan 27 12:53 PM

[virilio:]

yeah this article SUCKS. ESPECIALLY the 'pay me subscriber money and I'll let you in on the big secret of which gold stock will go up...'

So without asking for a subscription I'll say for those who care to own gold a (relatively) safe way is FSAGX, a gold mutual fund who's performance knocks the socks off physical ownership or individual gold stocks. After all ... if they pay you for a stock ticker off a 1-day unlabeled graph they're naive investors and probably shouldn't be in such a volatile sector.

caveat emptor: tiny foreign gold companies are notorious for salting their fields to make it seem they have value.

I am not against gambling a bit: 60% of my portfolio for last year was when I bought into GLD January 07 when Gold briefly touched 603.50/oz. Made a helluva lot more sense to me than buying into a gold company that might or might not have a good gold mine.
I sold in late Nov 07, figured it was up enough of a % to pull out completely. unfortunately it kept going up and I felt bad at not taking it to 900 but felt spot price moved to far too fast and wanted out before a correction. My future moves in this sector will be a. GLD following a $250 correction i expect in next year or b. FSAGX

hey! no subscription for those ticker symbols.

2008 Jan 28 12:56 AM