No, my first purchase was on Aug. 11, 2010 at 32 cents, so I'm just shy of a full 14 years). I bought more at various intervals all the way up to $1.26, and then grabbed more shares after the peak on the way back down. 

So I never saw a 10-bagger even from my entry point, closer to 8 times my initial investment. Granted, that was still really good. 

I was 36 years old at the time, in my second year of self-directed investing. The world was in recovery mode from the '08-'09 recession and it was a great opportunity to make money, but it also instilled a false sense of confidence because shares in almost every company were on the way back up – some gradually, some on the express elevator, some strapped to a rocketship. 

Like many others, i was also heavily drunk on the Vette Kool-Aid: Why foolishly sell at $2.50+ when a buyout is just around the corner? There was ostensibly another substantial premium to be had.

Were you around for the buyout spreadsheet back in the Stockhouse days? There must have been 60 of us or more who provided our buyout guesses. I remember being more on the conservative side, somewhere around $3.70, I think. Many others were in the $5-$7.50 range. Some even higher. 

The other major signal I was relying on was all the insider buying (David MacDonald being late to the party and snatching up shares like a mad man as his fellow directors had accumulated their holdings much earlier). Despite climbing into the $2.60s, the insiders weren't unloading, so it seemed entirely plausible that we were close to the end point.

But, as history has proven, that was all folly. The Schaft Creek buyout was nowhere near being a done deal. 

What a painful lesson that has been over 14 years. 

Of the list I provided here yesterday showing returns on other investments, I can honestly say I have only been monitoring a couple of them over the years. It's not like I was ever on the verge of pulling the trigger on those. The one not listed that I did play was Teck. I have made decent money buying low and selling high at various points, but I stubbornly kept a much greater sum tied up in CUU because I kept telling myself that whereas Teck offered perhaps a 4 or 5 bagger at times, Copper Fox represented 10. And those of us who have held tightly to CUU have all been guilty of convincing ourselves of clues ever since that something big was finally coming down the pike. 

I'm still hoping that day comes to fruition as the comfort of my retirement largely hinges on it. But I have become a bitter SOB about this predicament in the process. I cannot believe how long Ernesto has allowed things to drag out and I have been tortured reading about Elmer being "pleased" over every insignificant minor development along the way. 

So we now sit at gold being back over $2,400, silver at $31, copper at close to $4.60 (having topped $5 for a while) and molybdenum at $480. These are macro conditions that we would have salivated over during the big lull between 2013 to through 2019. 

And yet our share price is 27.5 cents. 

And we continue to wait for more clues, more signals, not knowing if we arrive at the promised land in 2024 or 2034.

Enjoy your Sunday.