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 [music] I'm Charlotte Mloud with investingnews.com and here today with me is Steve Barton, host of in it to win it. Thank you so much for being here. Great to have you in person for the first time. >> Yes. Yes. Thank you for having me. I enjoy your talks. >> Me as well. and we're here now at the New Orleans Investment Conference and we've made it to the third day. So, I thought we could begin by getting a sense of your take on sentiment on the show floor. Any key takeaways that you

have so far? >> Yeah, this is uh very busy. Um I've talked to people that have been here for every year for over a decade and they've told me that this is the busiest that they've seen it. So, I think that's a little telling. Um, I don't think it's a coincidence that, you know, we recently had gold at all-time highs and now we have record attendance here at the conference. So, um, you know, that might be a little kind of indicator, you know. >> Yeah, I would agree. And I think

everybody is telling me the same thing about how busy it is. All right. Well, we we recently did an interview talking about your different takes on many of the commodities you cover, including gold, silver, uranium. So, people should go back and take a look at that interview if they want to see it. I think there's still lots of good information there. Today, I thought though, since we're at the conference, we could talk a little bit about your due diligence strategy when it comes to events like this and companies. And

where I wanted to begin, we were talking ahead of this conference and you were telling me you were looking through the companies, the list of companies, and deciding who you're going to go talk to. So, let's begin there. And when you are making your list of who to approach at the show, what are you looking for? Basically, I'm looking for uh well, first off, I use AI to kind of separate some of them and kind of separate the wheat from the chaff. And um you know, if anyone's interested, they can contact

I can give them the prompts, but basically uh I'm looking for uh big targets, big uh deposits. I'm looking for people that have done this before. You know, I I'm not trying to pick the guy that is this is his first run. I want to pick the guy that has done this multiple times successfully before and is looking to do it again. You know, I think that's probably the number one thing that I'm looking for is I'm looking for the people, their experience, and they're trying to

they're trying to do it again. You know, I think that's the biggest thing. And then number two would be what is the deposit? What is the size of it? Uh is it growable? Is this something that could be a possible 10bagger? >> All right. So, you come to the show, you've got a list already of the companies that you want to approach. And when you go to them, what are the questions that you're asking? Do you have a set list of questions you ask to each company? Are you specifying it for

the different companies out there? How are you doing that? >> Well, I knew you were going to ask this question, so I brought my list and this is exactly what I do. And um now caveat, I didn't come up with this. I asked people that are smarter than me what they do and I wrote it down and now this is my routine. So, I start out, I got this from Jordan Roy. I got uh uh start out with market cap, cash, and debt. That'll give you an idea of the size of the company. A $15 million company is

going to have much going to be much different than a $400 million company. Um are you undervalued? Why are you undervalued? Um how are you going to create value? Right? Uh what separates you from all these other companies? And that if you initially start out with that will kind of separate the guys that are maybe giving you fluff and the ones that are really passionate about the project and really understand it. Right after that then I go into their experience. Right? What is your experience? Have you done any projects

that are similar to this? If he used to be a uranium miner and now he's going into copper that's not real relatable. Does that make sense? But if he successfully built four copper mines and he came out of retirement to build the fifth, that's very relatable, right? What experience does his team have that relates to this project? Who owns the company? Right? Um how much do they own? Right? And don't be afraid to ask the CEO how much do you own because these are very easily um uh searchable and you

can find out exactly how many shares he does own. And it's a real quick way to find out like is everything lining up and jing right um do they have any vested partners right um it are companies like Bareric and BHP and Val are companies like that invested in this project that's that's extremely important right they have a due diligence team that far exceeds anything that we could do so if they see potential in this project and they're investing in it that tells you something right um we want your company

scalability basically how big is So now you're kind of getting into the geology. Is this something that can be a small mine or is it going to be a big mine? And we're interested in ones that are big mines or have the potential to become really big minds because that's where you make your money. Um what is the biggest unanswered question? And you know I got these from Rick like what is uh the biggest unanswered question facing your company? For example, most of the time these companies here,

they're going to be saying, "Well, we want to know if you know the South Pasture is uh is is the next target. How are you going to find the answer to that? We're going to drill it out. How much is that going to cost? It's going to cost $7 million." Well, you told me that you only have $2 million in cash. Where are you going to get that extra 5 million? Does that make sense? So, if you can kind of follow that outline and this I got from Jordan and I got from Rick and just follow it like that,

that'll give you a really good idea of um you know what they have to offer or or not. >> I think that's a really good list and I like that you note that the questions come from different people so people who are out there can also use this list. It's okay to ask the same questions as other people. I think we can get a sense of what red flags might come up when you're talking to the companies just by thinking about these questions. But anything further you'd say on that note

in terms of red flags that might pop up when you're talking to companies or out there looking on the show floor? >> You know, I get kind of a a general feeling and um you know, if you get the feeling that uh something just doesn't feel right, go with it. Trust your gut. you know, I I I I it's tough to articulate how important that is. But if you can uh just, you know, how do I feel when I'm talking to this person? Do I get the feeling that they're authentic or do I get the

feeling that they're hiding something? And what questions on this list can I dial in and find out what exactly that is? Because uh you know, there there's no perfect project. There's no perfect anything. you know what you're doing is you're betting in on probabilities and and uh you know you're putting your hard-earned money to work with these this other company. Um you want to make sure that they you know have a work ethic that could support that. So one of the things that I do every morning and

every evening before I leave here is I walk into the into the room and I see who shows up at 8:00 in the morning and I see who's still there at 6:00 at night. you know, the duration of the conference. And, you know, I give a little leeway. I mean, maybe they're in the room doing private placement deals or something like that, but if you consistently see companies that don't show up until 10 o'clock and then they're out the door at 3 p.m., that's not the kind of work ethic that I want

to invest in. I want to invest in the guys that are hungry and they're they're early and they leave late, you know, just hoping that one more uh guy will come along and ask about their company and they're so passionate about it. you know, that's that's the team that you want to invest in, not the guys that are coming in late and leaving early. >> Yeah. Yeah. I think that's a good one. I think and everyone can put that into practice at well as well if they're at

these events. And on that note, so I know that not everybody can come to events like this and have the face toface time with the companies, but it is it's very valuable and for investors, it can be maybe tricky to decide when it's expensive to travel where you're going to go. So, I wanted to ask, you've been to a number of conferences over the the years. Do you have any favorites for for meeting companies? Anything you would say there to help people make choices on where they might want to go?

>> Uh this and Rick's conference are my two favorites and uh they >> yeah are by far my most favorite. They're very intimate. Um you know, it's not a giant uh football stadium worth of worth of companies, which is kind of nice. It's a little more intimate. Um, and you really feel like at the end of the conference, you have a feel for the companies that you wanted to talk to, you got to, you know. Uh, so I would say that these these two are definitely my favorite. Uh, but Brian has definitely

won the award when it comes to food. This is the best food that I've ever had at any conference. Hands down. >> Fair enough. Fair enough. I think Yeah, for sure. Hard to beat. All right. So, going back to your due diligence process. So, you've gone out, you've talked to companies. Once you decide to make an investment, how are you doing that? Can you talk a little bit about your strategy in terms of if you're buying all at once in trenches? How does it usually look? >> It depends. Um, generally speaking, what

I do is I'll buy in tanches. I'll find a company, you know, I interview the experts and and if I notice that, you know, a lot of them are talking about the same company, okay, I probably need to be in this one, right? And as a technical analyst, I'll look on the charts and I'll find entry points to try to get the cheapest buys possible. And what I do is as the price gets cheaper, I buy more. So that kind of gets you into the black pretty quick when the story turns around, right? Um I will however buy all

at once if I think it's it's worthy. And uh an example that comes to mind recently is uh Banyan Gold and they were out at Rick Rule Symposium. And I had been following the story since since here of last year and the unanswered question for me was where is their starter pit? They had a 7 million ounce um uh resource. Uh but it was all kind of spread out evenly. But what you need in these companies is you need like kind of a starter pit. You need a vein coming up with a lot of it right there so that

they can show this to a bank and they could say, "Hey, this is where we're going to repay you in two years and this is how we're going to do it." Right? Well, they found it. I was one of the first people to find that out, right? So, I put out the video and I put it out to my subscribers and I'm like, "Hey, this is it." So, that is an example of where the unanswered question was answered and honestly that I didn't even look at the stock chart. I had my answer and so it I felt much more comfortable

just buying a position instead of scaling in and using my normal method. >> Yeah. Yeah. And that just shows how how the process can really work well for you. All right. And of course, as you've been saying, every company is different. Your your approach would be different in different scenarios, but in general, what is the timeline that you're looking to hold a stock for? >> I would say about 90% of my portfolio is a year or more and about 10% is trading. So, at least a year. Yeah, minimum. But

I mean, some of these things you got to have patience, you know. Um, one in particular I'm thinking of, I've held for over four years. I'm getting ready to finally uh offload a pretty big position. I've already moved what Rick would call past the point of concern. So, it's it's a has a zero cost basis for me now and it's 2 and a half% of the portfolio, right? So, um but yeah, years you need you need to be patient. You need to follow the story. Um there's always going to be, you know, these

little things that come up. Oh, they had a city council meeting and now the stock isn't trading. Well, as soon as it does, a lot of people are probably going to dump it. And if you really believe in the story and you follow it, that's a time to strike and and buy more. You know, you you got to follow these things. You got to be patient. You can't be shaken out. Uh un unless one of your questions is answered and it's not what you were looking for, then you get out. >> Yeah. Yeah. And this is going in the

direction I was hoping to as well. I think maybe maybe this is the most important part of the interview is knowing when to sell. And in a previous interview, you talked about having a thesis for each of the companies you invest in. And we talked about that, but I think it's worth bringing up in this context as well so people can understand. >> Yeah. So, um, for every commodity that I'm invested in, and again, I didn't make this up. I got this from Adrien Day. I got it from Rick Rule. I got it

from John Pauly. And, and I do it myself now. And, and I advise everyone else that cares to do it as well. Is write out your thesis for the commodity. So, why do you own gold? Um, you know, and most importantly, when would you sell it, right? Why do you own silver? When would you sell it? Why do you own copper? When would you sell it? and then do the same thesis for each company that you own. Right? So, as uh things progress with the company and some of those questions get answered, it really gives you a uh you already know what

you're going to do because you've written it down and you basically just follow your sheet and and that's basically it. You write down your thesis and then what why do you own it and when am I going to sell? And when you sell in general, are you coming out in trenches there as well or or all it probably depends on the the company? >> It depends. Yeah. So if something changes in the narrative and it turns out that I was holding this company because I thought that this was a a big

tier one deposit and then we find out that it's absolutely not and it's a goose egg, then I'll just let the whole thing go. It doesn't matter if I'm up or down, right? Um but in another one, an example that I'm thinking of is uh Rio2. are not here, but I bought into them four or five years ago and they're getting close to production. Well, the most valuable time for that is when they go into production because they have all the gold in the ground and that's as most valuable as it's going to get until

they drill it out and show that they got more, right? So, I've moved past the point of concern on that one. Now, it's free. So, that one I'm kind of trunching out. I guess it it just depends. You know, I also use technical analysis a lot. So, I'll look at the charts and, you know, uh there's indicators that I I look for. You know, if you have an RSI on a quarterly time frame that's that's above 70, that's when alarm bells are going off in my head and it's probably

time to trim, you know. So, I use I use both the fundamentals and I use technicals. Um, I guess the the fundamentals, I like to say, tell me what I should be buying and focusing on, and the technicals tell me when I should be uh uh buying and when I should be selling. >> Yeah. Yeah. I like how you bring those two approaches together, and as we're getting to the end here, just another question about the conference. We've made it to the third day. I wonder if you have had any good conversations on

the show floor that you can share or interviews that you might be doing for your own channel that we should look out to. Anything you can mention there? >> Yeah. Um I just interviewed Tara Christie at Banyan Gold. Um seems like all systems are go there. I they continue to drill out. They continue to make the project bigger. Uh you know, full disclosure, I own the company. Um so I like that one a lot. I'm uh very curious. I'm going to be interviewing Robert Quartermain here in a couple

hours. Um he's the CEO of Dakota Gold. I just went to their presentation. It looks pretty promising. I'm I've been studying up on the company. I interviewed him here last year. I still don't own the company yet. Uh but, you know, I think maybe that kind of goes to to what it is. You don't as soon as you hear about it, you don't have to buy right then. You know, you can take a while to study these projects and really understand them. Um, those are two that are coming to mind right now is is

Banyan and possibly Dakota Gold. >> All right. And here's a fun question that I'm trying to ask everybody here. If we look forward to 2026, what would be your pick for top performing asset of the year, commodity or otherwise, you can you can choose. >> Um, I would probably say copper. Copper has uh had a a decent uh 2025. I think it's going to have a really good 2026. Um, I'm not as worried as I was a year ago about the recession hitting copper. I know that's kind of a common theme.

I think copper is going to do pretty well. It's it's at uh, you know, it seems like just an average Tuesday that it's above five bucks a pound and a year ago that was not the case. You know, it was uh, making $5 a pound was a new all-time high. And now that's that's just the normal case and I think that's going to continue. I think that 2026 is going to be a pretty darn good year for copper. So, you know, if you have any of those uh uh gold uh and copper projects, I think they'll do better than just the

primary gold ones. >> Okay. Okay. I think that's a good choice. I've had a couple of coppers come up already. So, I will let you go and send you back out onto the show floor unless you had any final thoughts. We'll have links to your channel and your technical analysis course in the video description. So, anything you would add about where to find you as well. >> Yeah, you can check out the uh technical analysis course. Uh getting a lot of positive feedback on it. It's helping a

lot of people. Basically, it's a beginners's series on um how to read the charts and knowing uh when is a good time to buy and when is a good time to sell. Uh which is kind of the whole game when you think about it. If if you can if you can have a much better understanding of that, it it really adds to your bottom line a lot. And it's it's really not that difficult. I mean, it's kind of like my brother said, he's calls it his kindergarten method. You know, you you you sell at the top end of the

chart and you buy at the bottom end of the chart. And there's certain little indicators that give you a lot more certitude to that. And um yeah, the first 30 minutes of the video series is just me literally showing you click by click how to set up the charts and then the next two and a half hours are how to read them. So um yeah, I check it out. Uh I'm getting a lot of positive feedback. Thank you for having me on the show, Charlotte. >> Of course. This was great. Thank you so much. And once again, I'm Charlotte

Mloud with investingnews.com and this is Steve Barton with Init.