Labor has taken
another bold step. It’s to be a “nuclear
power war“. It’s OK with Labor to export yellowcake but not to build nuclear power stations
or enter the uranium enrichment business.

“Yesterday, the
Federal Government released a report it commissioned from the Australian National University,
showing global warming would push temperatures up by as much as 5.8 degrees by
2100,” reports The Smage. Truly scary, gentle readers.
Paul
Kelly describes this as a debate that cannot be ducked, or postponed. “This debate,
initiated by Howard, will run throughout the 2007 election year… It will
constitute a clash over economics, environment and values.

Financial markets
remained restive overnight. Copper rebounded to be up 12% for the night, oil
and gold also rebounded but US equities,
after being up for most of the night, again fell out of bed going into the
close.

Mineral booms have
long been associated with speculative-based price rallies, such as the famous
Poseidon Boom in 1969-70, when the discovery of nickel ore caused the Poseidon
share price to climb from 80 cents to $280 before collapsing. However, as Alan
Kohler said on the ABC news last night, this boom is based on profits rather
than dreams.

Investors are
looking for a small-cap mining boom, where the real profits are made. For
example, Western Mining Corporation boomed from a small cap company in the late
1960’s to a massive mining conglomerate, today being part of BHP Billiton’s
empire. As recorded in Peter Yules’ recently published biography of Sir Ian
Potter, Potter’s interest in the company (15,000 shares) was a “financial
bonanza when the company’s shares rose from less than $2.50 in 1966 to more than
$80 in 1968”.

So while the
markets have not yet settled, Henry’s view that the resource boom has a long way
to run found some support overnight.

Read more at
Henry Thornton.