Ron Paul's Investment Portfolio

His campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination may not have gone as he had hoped, but Ron Paul's investment portfolio has progressed nicely since he began his bid for higher office.

Late last year, the Texas Congressman's financial disclosure was summarized here (courtesy of data from OpenSecrets.org) and it seemed like a good idea to follow up and see how it has done.

Not too shabby as it turns out.

The original disclosure was filed in March of last year so, for the purposes of this exercise, it is assumed that he has made no changes to his holdings and that his holdings were at the mid-point of the various ranges indicated on the disclosure form.

All gains and losses below reflect the one year performance as of July 8th, 2008.

The outsized allocations for Goldcorp (GG) and Barrick (ABX) were instrumental in achieving his outsized gains and, like many other investors in this sector, he has yet to see any of his junior mining stocks make big moves (that is, big moves up).

Despite a strong and devoted following, he never really stood much of a chance against more mainstream opponents.

It would have been great fun, however, to hear the traditional media outlets and the many political talking heads comment on his million dollar gold stock portfolio during the general election and how that might influence his policies.

Of course, his idea of abolishing the Federal Reserve makes eminently more sense today than it did last year.

Comments

[Freedom:]

You said, "Of course, his idea of abolishing the Federal Reserve makes eminently more sense today than it did last year."

Tim, it has ALWAYS made sense to abolish the Federal Reserve.

2008 Jul 10 08:11 AM

[Roduku:]

Are you implying there's something inherently evil about Ron Paul investing in gold mining companies and advocating a return to the gold standard? I'd like to see George Bush's or Dick Cheney's stock portfolio.

2008 Jul 10 10:28 AM

[littlepear:]

As we know, the price of oil has risen steeply. We pay more dollars for the same amount of oil. Those who purchase in Euros also pay more, though not as much as we pay in dollars. But if you compare the spot prices of oil to gold, there has been almost no increase.

Republican candidate Ron Paul has talked about how monetary policy, as much as energy policy, is behind inflationary problems like the run-up in oil prices.

2008 Jul 10 10:37 AM

[Iconoclast421:]

I have heard people attack Ron Paul because of his gold holdings. It's a joke. Yeah he wants to become president so he can turn his million dollar gold portfolio into a 2 million dollar gold portfolio. LOL. He could easily make a lot more giving speeches if he was president. And dont forget the money a former president can bring in.

2008 Jul 10 11:17 AM

[Marc Courtenay:]

Very interesting and something I would have overlooked. Thanks!

2008 Jul 10 12:25 PM

[Jive Dadson:]

Those gold investments are a hedge against him NOT becoming president. We are in for some very rough times, folks. The Two Big Parties are set to nominate two economics ignoramuses.

2008 Jul 10 12:28 PM

[tramp50:]

Article 1 section 10 of the U.S. Constitution...

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; [b]make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts[/b]; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

www.usconstitution.net...

understand, we are supposed to have gold and silver for a real dollar, not fiat money and a federal reserve notes...

and this was the basis for a dollar in fold and silver coin..

landru.i-link-2.net/mo...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

2008 Jul 10 12:56 PM

[jetsby10:]

God forbid Ron Paul park his money into someplace safe. Seriously, Ron Paul has been speaking out against inflation for decades. His portfolio stands to gain money if the U.S. continues inflationary policy. He's actually telling them to defend the currency right now, which is against his portfolio holding. Inflationary policy actually benefits Paul's portfolio, so inflation would benefit him. Bottom line, Paul knows the US is hellbent on inflating, he's not going to stand idle and watch all his money disappear.

2008 Jul 10 02:35 PM

[Corey:]

Just for the record -- if you have x dollars of gold, and we institute the gold standard, you have x dollars of gold from that point on forever. If Ron Paul was interested increasing the dollar value of his gold, he would NOT push for the gold standard.

2008 Jul 10 02:51 PM

[henarl:]

Ron Paul is too honest and forthright to be a successful President. His agenda was a threat to the sinecures of the majority of our current politicians and bureaucrats and thus he could not be allowed to succeed. His investments indicate that he is also probably too smart to be President.

2008 Jul 10 04:37 PM

[devassocx:]

Its refreshing to see a politician eat his own cooking.

There are quite a few candidates that should be running for prez.

Too bad that we wound up with the two that shouldn't be.

2008 Jul 10 06:29 PM

[gettaclue:]

you are a short sighted idiot that reads something and thinks he is smart, if you ever read more than a paragraph about Ron Paul you would realize he is your best friend, sadly your type of stupidity is rampant in the US.

2008 Jul 10 07:49 PM

[John Smith:]

Ron Paul - like any good Austrian economist - knows, and has known since 1971, that the fiat monetary system will collapse. He's dedicated his life to protecting his family, and his country. His family is well set, with sound assets, and no debt. Good for them. If only I could say the same for the country. Dr Paul's long-feared collapse is on the horizon. We are in the ever-tightening death-spiral.

2008 Jul 10 10:47 PM

[Flav:]

Is this really Ron Paul's portfolio? Is it displayed thoroughly, or it's just part of its total holdings? Beacuse i would be really scared that someone who boasts about being so instructed in economics has such a concentrated portfolio.
As to some comments about fiat money systems, so your opinion is to go back to gold standard? Do you have at least the notion of what would that mean for US and the world's monetary system? Beacuse i believe that if you support a return to gold standard you're clueless about any subject regarding economics.
Austrian economists haven't been particularly accurate in their predictions... just check their main reference, Frederich Von Hayek. He said in his book "Denationalisation of money" that a unified european currency was imposible in practice, and would be prejudicial to monetary policy's health. We can see now that both statements are being rebuffed by facts.
This is the second nonsense article i've read from Iacono in 2 days. I think that from now on, i will avoid any piece of work with his name on it. My advice to that man is: please, before having any opinion on economics or finance, learn something about them

2008 Jul 11 01:19 AM

[Larry House:]

Hey, Roduku, just for fun I did some searching to see what Bush and Cheney hold. In 2001, Bush disclosed that he had over 50% of his investments in Treasury notes, 11-17% was in stocks and mutual funds, and the balance of his net worth was in real estate. I didn't find a total value for his investments.

According to a 2006 article I found, Cheney had $25 million divided up in a short-term muni bond fund, a tax exempt money market fund, and a TIP fund. He had another 10 to 25 million in a European bond fund.

Neither seem to believe in gold.

2008 Jul 11 12:32 PM

[henarl:]

Freedom: While we're abolishing, lets take down the IRS too.

2008 Jul 11 02:45 PM

[Freedom:]

henarl: Yep, the IRS is the collection agency for interest the Fed charges us on those loans. The two go hand in hand.

2008 Jul 11 05:20 PM

[MetalHammer339:]

Flav,Have you been in Europe?Because the Euro cut a lot of buying power on balance

2008 Jul 12 12:00 PM

[bearfund:]

What's wrong with such a concentrated portfolio? When you're right, you're right. At various times I've hedged my bets, holding junk like C and FNM. It's instructive to look back at my performance over time: every single stretch of underperformance matches a period in which I held something I did not believe in "just in case I'm wrong". I applaud Congressman Paul for saying what he means, meaning what he says, and putting his own personal fortune on the line in a manner entirely consistent with his values. And I don't hedge any longer: my portfolio has a lot less mining than the congressman's, but a lot more physical gold - a holding he almost certainly has as well but (wisely) does not disclose. Why should he hold assets he does not believe are valuable? If you want "diversification" go ahead and buy that crap. But this is not a time for diversification; it is a time to look at the obvious macro trends and take advantage of them. That or sit in cash and cross your fingers that that's still worth something when this is all over.

2008 Jul 12 05:28 PM

[Buffalo Bruce:]

Ron Paul also ended his active campaigning with $4.7M of $35M raised unspent. Maybe our country wasn't ready for thrift and profitable money handling as it opted instead for more straight talk, hope, and chains.

2008 Jul 13 09:34 AM

[RTR57:]

Thanks for the info. It should be out there. I'm not surprised that a medical doctor with an ongoing practice and a current member of the House of Representatives, both, would have a substantial amount of money to invest.

2008 Jul 14 07:43 AM

[mzbalzi:]

I am more disgusted that our current president and family are oil men...with the price of oil what it is and the burden that has put on the typical American...and "with no end in site" I wonder how he and his family are doing. I know how me and my family are doing.

2008 Jul 14 09:50 AM

[SeaDoc:]

Great to see, great minds think alike... If you look at SEC Chairman Cox's stock holdings upon entering his position at SEC, he was an avid Newmont Mining fan too... Funny, we don't seem to hear much about gold/silver investing my the national media... It's probably not so funny...

2008 Jul 31 05:16 PM

[BreakTheB0x:]

"It would have been great fun, however, to hear the traditional media outlets and the many political talking heads comment on his million dollar gold stock portfolio during the general election and how that might influence his policies....Of course, his idea of abolishing the Federal Reserve makes eminently more sense today than it did last year."

Yes, investing in gold must mean you have ulterior motive in your efforts to abolish an unconstitutional entity.

"No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility."
www.usconstitution.net... (cross posting to my blog, thanks for the link Tramp50)

(Continued on my blog breaktheb0x.blogspot.c...)

Jan 27 01:14 PM

[GoldDude:]

Usually it is the case that someone who pushes agendas and owns stakes in companies that will benefit from such agendas are up to something. However, I'm fully confident that Ron Paul believes enough in gold that he doesn't have to use political pull to help it along. Also, Ron Paul would be doing even better politically if he would bend on a few of his principles in order to satisfy more mainstream understandings of our affairs, but he doesn't because he is all about his integrity. I think you're completely off the ball to even hint that he would push that agenda for his own personal profit.

May 28 07:24 PM