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  I'm Charlotte Mloud with investingnews.com and here today with me is Jeff Clark, founder of Peter Prospector. Thank you so much for being here. Great to have you. >> It's great to be back with you, Charlotte, in this bull market. >> Yes. Yes. Okay, so we're here at VR. We seem to see each other every year here. And the top question on my mind right now that I'm sure everyone else wants to know as well, has Jennifer Aniston called you yet? Right. And for for context for everybody, we talked two

years ago here at VRC and you told me you would know when gold was topping when you're getting calls from somebody like Jennifer Anist. >> Exactly right. And when somebody, you know, like that calls somebody that looks like this, you know, she's really reaching down the chain, you know. But um no, we I haven't really seen that. You know, there's no shoe shine boy asking the >> the Wall Street person if you know about telling him about the stocks he bought. We haven't seen that. Gold has obviously

run. The mining stocks have obviously run. Uh but surprisingly, the main main street and Wall Street have not come into this market yet. That's why I'm so bullish. I was going to ask because I know your theme right now is you do still remain bullish despite the high prices we're seeing in gold and silver. >> That's a great question because 2025. Look at how 2025 was the top performing major asset class in 2025 was GDX >> gold mining stocks. In fact, the top five around the world, the top five

performing asset classes were all in the precious metal sector. So, it's only natural to ask, especially with how we've seen prices with gold and silver, especially now over a hundred, you know, have really spiked. It's only natural to ask, you know, how much longer is this going to go on? Um, and and the reason I'm still bullish, though, is because if you put it in context, uh, gold is still undervalued relative to the NASDAQ. It's actually near its all-time lows, believe it or not. So, has gold really moved

that much when the ratio with the NASDAQ, for example, is still near all-time lows? In fact, the ratio, believe it or not, Charlotte, is below 2020. It's below 2016. Gold is below the NASDAQ now than it was in those periods. I'm forced to be bullish. >> Forced to be bullish. Okay. I like that as a a slogan for 2026. And I wonder if you can talk a little bit about the outperformance of gold and silver versus other assets in the past year or so because at this event and also outside

of this event I'm seeing all these charts showing you know gold versus the NASDAQ versus the S&P. So anything you can say on that note? >> Well again it's the same theme. You can look at gold. You can look at gold stocks to the NASDAQ, gold stocks to the S&P, um gold or gold stocks to um uh the Dow. All those ratios are are still very low. Um and in fact, there's a lot of technical analysis charts out there that will tell you and show you that gold and gold stocks have broken out now versus

the Dow, versus the S&P. uh to them that's a very significant indicator that this still has room to run and those ratios could could really uh decline meaning gold or gold sucks is outperforming those other asset classes. I I expect that to happen. I do expect a correction in 2026 but I don't think the bull market that will mean the bull market is over. >> Okay, let's talk a little bit more about that. I know we've talked about price before and you've started to emphasize

that it's really less about price for you and more about being prepared, but I think people are really wondering about the price potential of gold and also if there is going to be that pullback, you know, how much could that be because there's still people who want to get in or add to their holdings there. >> You know, the answer for me is not probably what people want to hear. You know, you can you got to pick which P you want. You going to try to predict it or are you just going to prepare for it?

Yeah, >> we don't know when the crash or I shouldn't say crash, when a correction will come. We don't know how big it'll be. We don't know how long it'll last. So therefore, you don't know those answers. You can guess, but to me, that's almost entertainment. So I prefer to look at preparing for that. And so even though I'm very long and even though I have not taken profits on a lot of things, the number one anecdote to antidote to a crash or a correction is

your cash level. If you have a big cash level, you're prepared and you're going to feel a lot more confident going into some type of correction. And so I remain long. I'm continuing to invest in opportunities as I see them. I've not t taken a lot of profits, but I've got a a big uh cash of stash or, you know, stash of cash for the crash. There you go. Say that three times fast. So, that's how I prepare for it because I don't know those other answers as to when or how

long it'll be. >> Yeah, fair enough. And I'm not going to try to say it because I know I'm not going to be able to do that one. But let's talk a little bit more about your strategy especially in this environment where the gold price is so high when it comes to choosing stocks. How how are you approaching that? >> Approaching >> approaching just choosing gold stocks and and buying them in an environment where the price is so high, right? >> And of course, you know, the company

valuations have probably gone up as well. >> They have and a lot of stocks that that we own have gone up a lot. Some have not. And that's one thing I'm looking for is, you know, I'm still looking at all the criteria that I outline in the book. They've got to meet all that criteria and then I look at the price and if it's gone up, you know, I was just talking to someone about a stock he likes and it's gone up 11x in like 6 months. So I I can't I can't bring myself to chase that stock. So part of

the criteria is looking for something that quite hasn't left the station yet. And so many have run so hard, so fast that even a double is it has not left the station yet because so many have run so much bigger. So price in this environment has to be part of your consideration. Uh but I think for me what I'm doing is going a little bit further down the food chain. You know, new companies, earlier stage companies, even a couple private companies. So, I'm looking at things like that to uh grab

value in in a raging bull market. >> Okay. Okay. So, you're moving down into those smaller ones that weren't necessarily appropriate before, but now in this price environment, that's where we can go. >> Again, if they meet all the criteria that I look for then and the price has not run up, I I just might be jumping in that. Yes. Well, and let's talk a little bit about M&A activity in the gold space as well because we've definitely been seeing it, but it seems to be more at

that bigger company level with the majors or the intermediates doing transactions. And I wonder if they might also start to be ready to come down the food chain to the juniors as well. >> That's usually what happens, right? Uh we haven't seen a lot of that yet. We've seen some of it, but not a lot. And I think, you know, history would say that's next, that we've had some M&A in the big producers, the smaller producers or mid-tiers, whatever. Um, but we're going to see more of it because we have

to, we all know they need ounces. Uh, we also know from history that they start with the big stuff and then they move down the food chain. So, I think that's going to pick up. I think, you know, as long as you're buying highquality companies in promining jurisdictions that are run by great people that can actually push a project forward in appropriate and aggressive ways right now. Uh, that could be an easy M&A target. So, I don't buy something because it might be an M&A target. I buy

it because it it's representing great value where it's at right now and as a good uh prospect for, you know, seeing a big gain. Hence, at some point, some of those are just going to get bought out because they have to. >> Well, and I think the other half of knowing what is a good buy right now is knowing when to sell. So, you mentioned a little bit about taking profits and it's something I'm trying to bring up with everybody right now because it seems like investors really have that

question with the gold price, silver price so high. So, any thoughts or or advice you'd share? I've been asked that a lot already here at at VRIC and um you know the answer for me is is what I mentioned earlier. I I'm not taking profits but it's because I have a big cash stash. So that I feel better about not taking profits when I have that. For someone who doesn't have a lot of cash, I might suggest that you take some profits in this environment because we will get a correction. You can't go like

this indefinitely without there being some type of pullback. So, you have to judge your own portfolio where you're at. Do you do you need to take uh profits? Um uh because of your cash level that if you look over at your cash level, that might give you an answer as to what you should do, >> right? And I think this is very individual as well. But I was thinking, you know, because of the metal price movement, some companies might go up a lot and you might want to sell even though they haven't necessarily met the

milestones you were looking for. Is there anything you would mention on that end >> for companies that >> Sorry, I think I said that in a confusing way, but you know, the price the prices of metals have gone up so high that maybe the company share prices make a big move and it's even without seeing whatever milestone you're waiting for from the company. >> Oh, right. Yeah. Well, starting big picture, um, gold stocks relative to gold, like the ratios I was talking about for before,

um, gold stocks basically as a group have not moved. Believe it or not, as much as some of them have skyrocketed as a group, they have not moved. That ratio of gold stocks to gold is still very low. Um, so the the the big move, believe it or not, with gold stocks is still ahead. Um, so you know, again, I'm I'm still looking at all the criteria, make sure they're there. I'm not going to want to chase a stock that's up 10x, but you know what? Uh, a stock that's up maybe doubled, you

know, I might have to force myself to jump in because, you know, a lot of us have preached, you know, don't chase a stock that's running because these stocks are very volatile. That's exactly what we're seeing right now. But we're in an environment right now where, you know, it may already be going down the track, so you might have to jump on even though it's sort of left the station, but it's not at full speed yet. So, um, but yeah, that's a great point, by the way, looking at companies that

haven't quite met their milestones yet or their goals, haven't carried all those out. I like those companies because all that is still ahead, which would imply uh, you know, greater upside in their stock. Yes, that's exactly what I was getting at. So, you you got what I mean there. Yeah. >> And all right. So, you mentioned we still have this big move coming in gold stocks. I need to ask you then about silver stocks because it feels like people have switched from asking when will gold stocks move. Now they want to

know when are silver stocks going to outperform the metal. So, what are your thoughts? >> That's the that's the trend. That's the natural progression of this market, right? People go to gold first, gold leads, silver lags. Same with the stocks. the gold stocks have moved. Some of the silver silver stocks have moved, some have not. So, as a group, they're still very undervalued as a group. So, there are individual cases where they've really run hard and there are individual

cases where you probably wouldn't want to buy them, but as a group, they're still undervalued relative to the silver price. So, I think that is still ahead. So, you need to position for that. don't worry about trying to predict when it's going to happen or how big it's going to be or how long it'll last. I don't worry about those questions. I look for opportunity and let the metals markets take care of it themselves. >> Well, and let's talk then about how you

would position in silver right now because what I always hear is the universe of silver stocks is so small. >> Yes. And because of that and because silver is a a byproduct a lot of the time there are few companies that are actually pure silver or mostly silver. So what are what are you doing? >> Well I I do like looking for pure silver producers. They are hard to find. There's not a lot of them. Some are ones you probably don't want to buy. Uh some are uh way past this the the stage that

I would look at. I'm not you know I don't look at a lot of producers to be you know upfront about that. So I'm looking more at developers and juniors and explorers and and things like that and a lot of them are are still poised to still benefit from this run. So uh I am looking there. You're right. There's not a lot of them. So you have to look and pick and choose the ones that that really you know you think think could do well and have really strong prospects. They're out there. There are some out

there. Um, but since it's such a smaller universe, your screening is a little easier because there's not a lot of them. >> Yeah. Yeah, that's true. In a way, it does make it easier. And I wonder if we can talk a little bit about this breakout that we've seen in the silver price. It just had a huge milestone just a couple of days ago, reaching that tripledigit level for silver. >> I know that you are looking at cycles a lot of the time. And we talked about how silver follows gold higher, but what

would you say is the driver behind this move >> in silver? >> In silver, I would say it's gold. We we we always see gold move first, then silver comes, and that's what's happening now. Silver outperforms gold historically in bull markets. And now we're seeing that the ratio is falling. Uh the ratio is down significantly just in the last few months, but it's nowhere near where it it actually hasn't hit the 2011 level yet. Maybe it does by the time this your interview is out. We'll

see. >> Yeah, we'll see. Uh but it's nowhere near where it was in 1980, which the the ratio then bottomed at 17 on a closing price basis. So, we've got a long way to go for that ratio. But I think silver is being drugged up because of gold. And then you have the other issue of the supply type squeeze. You know, it's not so much demand, it's more on the supply side. And uh there's no end in sight in terms of how that's going to resolve itself. Um you know, any you know uh uh

constituency out there will report that all uh you know that silver's going to be in another deficit this year. I can't find one consultancy that doesn't report that that studies this, you know. So, uh, you know, again, there'll probably be a correction. There'll have to be at some point, but that won't mean the end of this because that, you know, with silver, it's really a structural issue. You know, they don't have enough silver to bring on. There's not enough supply

readily available to meet all the demands. And that's a structural problem. You can't just solve that by, you know, flipping on a switch. And so, uh, that's why I think I'm long-term bullish on silver still. >> So, long-term bullish on silver as well as gold. They're definitely having their moment right now. But I I'm I am starting to see people wondering, all right, what might be the next bull market? So, what follows on after we have these gold and silver moves? >> That's a great question. Personally, I'm

I'm in copper. I'm in uranium. I think those two are ahead. The copper prices moved. Um, uranium not so much. Um, the equities a little bit but not a whole lot. So, copper and uranium I'm definitely focused on. And at some point we're going to have to we as an organization have to get more into maybe the rare earth or the critical minerals, maybe back into lithium. You know, we'll see how those things play out. Um, but there will be the next bull market somewhere in the commodity sector and so

we're going to do everything we can to capitalize on it. But that's where I would start to look first. >> Yeah. And it gets a little bit trickier, I think, to evaluate. Well, copper, of course, uranium, those are big ones, but once you get down into rare earth and lithium, that gets a little trickier to to evaluate. >> It does because those are smaller markets. The rarest especially is an opaque market. So, um it get it does get tricky. Um but there will be opportunities out there. As someone

famous said, there's always a bull market somewhere. So, in commodities, this is our time. The commodities market is just now starting to move. It's been undervalued for many, many years. And so that means there's going to be other opportunities out there. >> Absolutely. And I know I've got to send you back out onto the show floor, but any final words that you would leave investors with as we're continuing on into 2026? >> I think you should a prepare for a correction in 2026. Um, no guarantees

I'll be right about that, but we just can't have this kind of move without there being a correction. But in the same breath, I'm saying I'm still long. I'm not taking profits. Uh, if someone wants to follow that lead, they can uh, you know, focus on what their cash level is. Uh, I think that's a good way to look at the your portfolio balance and how you can prepare for that. So, uh, we're growing like crazy at our our company. We have two free newsletters, two paid newsletters. We just hired

another helper on the paid prospector side, another analyst. Uh we just hired a geologist on our staff. We have a marketing manager now. So, uh we're growing like crazy. But all of it is not because I'm greedy. It's because I want to do everything in my power to fully capitalize on this bull market. That's it in a nutshell. That's our mandate. That's what I'm personally doing. >> Well, thank you so much for sharing and I think that growth just also tells you where we are in in this cycle right now.

>> It does, right? Because we wouldn't have done that two years ago or even one year ago. So, >> yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for coming on to talk. This was great to go over. I think I have your thoughts very clear in my mind and I'll catch up with you next time. >> Next time. And and you can ask me again if Jennifer Anderson has called. I don't think she's going to call yet, though. >> I'm I'm going to keep asking until we get that yes, right?

>> Okay. Well, thank you so much and once again I'm Charlotte Mloud with investingnews.com and this is Jeff Clark with Peter Prospector Anybody?