I was re-reading the other day about the Bre-X scandal (there is a movie about it now). If you don't know what I am talking about, then you are probably not a gold-bug. I found out by surprise that my mom recently told me that she got screwed on it (bought in near the top and almost lost all the value). She got suckered into that deal after some investing advice from the RBC. It kind of was a wakeup call that these things still happen and are much more common than I realized. I'm just curious if anyone else here can raise hands who had bought into this one before it went all fraud. Seems stories of Enron and Nortel steal all the fame.
Bre-X Minerals is included in our delisted Canadia data - see chart below. This stock caused a scandal at the Toronto Stock Exchange - it was fast-tracked into the TSE 300 index (it became a member on Dec 12 1996, and was removed from the index on May 6 1997. Here's a good article on it: https://www.mbaknol.com/business-ethics/case-study-bre-x-scandal-the-6-billion-gold-fraud/ Chart, in log scale:
Your mother could have made back all her losses if she had later bought the book on the subject. BRE-X: The Inside Story of the World's Biggest Mining Scam Dec 9, 1999 by Jennifer Wells Paperback $61.60 More Buying Choices $61.60 (5 Used & New offers) ( 2 ) BRE-X: The Inside Story of the World's Biggest Mining Scam Jan 21, 1999 by Jennifer Wells Hardcover $344.75 More Buying Choices $344.75 (5 Used & New offers)
A scam involving a Canadian mining stock?! No way. Really? There's a 1st time for everything I guess.
I had a friend who made generational wealth on the run up, but I never dug too deep. I suppose that's why he told me about it, since I don't care to count other people's money.