Peterson Capital Update – September 2009

Hi…..

Meet Mark Mullins – a Raging Bull
September, 2009 (Vancouver)

What a difference six months makes in the markets.

In April of this year I hosted a luncheon for some business colleagues in Vancouver and we heard a good friend of mine, Dr. Mark Mullins, a market strategist and economist, tell us that the recession was soon coming to a close and that the markets and the economy were likely on the upswing.

Right, we all thought…. At that time, with markets plunging around us, the credit markets frozen, bail-outs on Wall Street and Bay Street announced daily, Madoff and others exposed, it felt like anything except the beginning of a turnaround. It felt more like the beginning of the end.

We all looked at Mark with raised eyebrows, took his views with a large grain of salt, and nodded quietly without really believing him. Afterwards a few of my friends even said they thought he was off his rocker. Nice guy, but clearly out to lunch.

Well, six months later, it appears he was right, once again. Mark was the Chief Economist at the brokerage firm Midland Walwyn, when we both worked there in the 1990s, and he gained a wide and loyal following among brokers and their clients across Canada back then with his largely correct calls on the Canadian dollar, interest rates, equity markets and the fixed income markets - including his strongly held and correct view that buying 9% Quebec bonds was the opportunity of a lifetime during the 1995 referendum crisis.

So, what’s Mark Mullins thinking today? Here are his general views in a quote taken from an article he and I wrote for the September 22nd edition of the Financial Post:

“It’s clear: The recession is over. Markets in stocks, corporate debt, credit default swaps and most commodities have been broadcasting this simple truth since March. And when markets turn in such a profound way, it can only mean that a multi-year economic expansion and a further bull market in these assets are ahead.”

Mark has kindly offered to start passing along market updates, insights, ideas and specific strategy recommendations to Peterson Capital clients and friends, so stay tuned. As a teaser, he is currently becoming a bit bearish for the short term on equities and commodities – any market rally cannot continue forever in a straight line, and this one seems to be flagging.

In the meantime, you may see him on CBC television or in the national print media as he once again turns his focus and energy back to the financial markets after four very strong and productive years at the head of the Fraser Institute, one of Canada’s leading think tanks and public policy research institutes here in Vancouver.

Peterson Capital Client Update:

This last quarter has been a very busy and very productive one for Peterson Capital corporate clients. You can see profiles of each of them on our website: In a nutshell:

• Med BioGene Inc ( MBI-V) successfully raised a maximum of $1.6 million in a private placement last June, and expects to hit two more significant scientific and commercial milestones this quarter before the US launch in early 2010 of its LungExpress DX ™ gene-based lung cancer diagnostic and prognostic test.
• Avalon Aircraft Corp. is a rapidly growing Richmond, BC-based private company that services, sells and leases utility aircraft to fleet operators in northern Canada and Alaska that serve resource industry, government and other private sector clients.
• Faircourt Asset Management Inc. is a Toronto-based asset management firm that syndicates a wide range of tax-driven and high yielding structured products in the financial and resource sectors, including Canada’s leading publicly listed closed-end gold fund, Faircourt Gold Income Corp. (FGX-TSX).
• Columbia Yukon Explorations (CYU-V) continues to advance its Storie molybdenum deposit located near the historic mining camp of Cassiar, BC. The company noted the recent funding announcement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper for the Northwestern BC Transmission Line, which is a significant development for all resource activity in northern BC.
• Dejour Enterprises Ltd. (DEJ – NYSE, AMEX, TSX) is an oil & gas production and exploration company with significant assets in the US Rocky Mountains on the Colorado-Utah border and in the Peace River Arch of NE British Columbia and NW Alberta.

Retail Stockbrokers are Global Economic Heros. I certainly think so. See why by visiting the Peterson Capital home page where you’ll find a commentary on this subject that I recently contributed to the op-ed pages of the Vancouver Sun. Thanks for your interest and support.