I am sure you are all reading, listening to, and thinking a great deal about the EuroZone’s financial woes.  If you aren’t, and you invest in equities or physical commodities, I think you should make a point to do that.  A recent article titled ‘Has The Financial Collapse Of Europe Now Become Inevitable?‘ is a high level overview – reading time 3 minutes.  Written for an American audience (or so it seems) as I read it, the article suggests that many Americans are not aware of the serious Sovereign Debt issues faced by France, Greece,Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, etc. – and further suggests that Germany will prove unable to continue to economically subsidize its EuroZone partner countries who are over-levered.  Enter China?

I believe every child should be taught to play a serious and thoughtful game of Monopoly at an early age, and should remember and apply the risk/reward lessons embedded in that game into their ‘real economic lives’ as they become teenagers, adults, and retirees.  That game teaches many lessons – the ‘golden rule’ being ‘he who has the gold makes the rules’ (or as I repeatedly told my own children from about age 3, ‘capital talks’), saving for a rainy day, the ‘Boardwalk’ isn’t always best depending on what other ‘assets’ one does or doesn’t ‘own’, greed vrs. need, etc., etc.

And so, enter China! An article published just before Christmas titled ‘Fresh humiliation for eurozone as China says it will bail out debt-ridden nations‘ says China has approached struggling EuroZone countries with financial aid – reading time 3 minutes. And why wouldn’t China do this. The EuroZone countries are not only important Chinese trading partners, they undoubtedly are home to resource and other assets China believes are or could be strategic to it long-term. I suggest you watch for media coverage of any future developments that suggest or imply China is working to further, or close, offers of financial aid to one or more EuroZone countries. If that happens, I suggest you watch closely for the specific terms and conditions attached to any such financial aid that is extended. I can’t imagine China doing such a thing (or things) altruistically. Many e-mails ago I wrote about letting the proverbial camel in the tent when discussing China taking minority positions in strategic resource plays. If China extends such aid to EuroZone countries and that aid is accepted, I don’t think there will be much ‘proverbial’ about that particular camel.

A recent article titled ‘What China’s Economy Will Look Like in 2020‘ depicts an economic future where China’s economy – shown in ‘land map context’ – has grown, and will increasingly grow, in the context of the world economy.  The article shows 3 maps that illustrate countries that had GDP equivalencies to each of China’s Provinces in 2000 and 2009, and as projected for 2020.  Once I understood the ‘idea’ underlying the map layouts, I found the 3 maps very interesting, and suggest you take the time to read the article and review them – reading and review time 4 minutes.

I believe anyone who invests in the equity markets and has not been to Mainland China is doing themselves a disservice by not getting on a plane as quickly as possible. For me, if a picture is ‘worth a thousand words’, a visit to Beijing, Shanghai, and at least one or two of China’s ‘Industrial Cities’ is worth 100,000 words in comparative terms.

Today we added the following Companies to our Company Universe:

Gran Colombia Gold Corp. (TSX:GCM). We currently categorize Gran Colombia Gold Corp. as a gold explorer operating principally in South America (Colombia). Gran Colombia Gold Corp.’s current market capitalization is approximately Cdn$450 million. Review research data on Gran Colombia Gold Corp.

IC Potash Corp. (TSXV:ICP). We currently categorize IC Potash Corp. as a potash explorer operating principally in the United States (New Mexico). IC Potash Corp.’s current market capitalization is approximately Cdn$125 million. Review research data on IC Potash Corp.

North Country Gold Corp. (TSXV:NCG). We currently categorize North Country Gold Corp. as gold explorer operating principally in Canada (Nunavut). North Country Gold Corp.’ s current market capitalization is approximately Cdn$90 million. Review research data on North Country Gold Corp.

The following table summarizes the companies in Stock Research Portal’s Company Universe who yesterday issued Press Releases and whose shares increased in price from the previous day’s close by more than Cdn$0.05, more than 10%, and whose share volumes yesterday exceeded their trailing 3 month average trading volume. You can research each of these companies by clicking on the company name in the table.

* Yesterday’s data, or latest trading day’s data, as applicable

The following table summarizes the companies in Stock Research Portal’s Company Universe for who our system yesterday reported insiders who filed reports indicating they had acquired shares through ‘purchase’ transactions. You can research each of these companies by clicking on the company name in the table.