A Gold Miner With a Rare Earth Kicker

To the Editor:
The past, present, and future are well covered in “How the U.S. Will Break China’s Rare Earth Dominance—and How to Play It” (Cover Story, Sept. 12). I took a small position recently in MP Materials. It hasn’t done much yet, but I’m in it for the long haul. Also, I took a stake in Perpetua Resources, a gold miner with a potential rare earth kicker.

Bob Rogerson
On Barrons.com

Dear Prudence

To the Editor:
Regarding Comerica and its ilk: Not expanding their loan portfolios in the past decade now make them targets in their aggressive competitors’ crosshairs (“A New Wave of Bank Mergers Is Just Getting Started,” Sept. 12). The aggressive banks are looking to dilute the risk in their own loan portfolios by merging with their prudent colleagues, in preparation for the next round of reckless banking. Prudence in banking is never rewarded.

Edward Kwok
On Barrons.com

Papa Knows Best

To the Editor:
Reading “The World Is a Mess. Markets Are Ignoring Those Risks—for Now,” (Up & Down Wall Street, Sept. 12), I was reminded of a conversation in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises: “How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.” “What brought it on?” “Friends,” said Mike. “I had a lot of friends. False friends. Then I had creditors, too. Probably had more creditors than anybody in England.”

Amos Library
On Barrons.com

A Cautionary Tale

To the Editor:
Regarding “Bitcoin Is Hot, Gold Is Hotter. How These Worlds Collide,” Streetwise, Sept. 12): What possibly could go wrong with crypto banks making highly leveraged bets on highly speculative assets run by the likes of Sam Bankman-Fried and domiciled in countries you have never heard of?

Alex Maynard
On Barrons.com

Reverse Splits

To the Editor:
In the late 1800s, there were many dubious entities on the exchanges (“These Companies Gain Through Reverse Stock Splits. Shareholders Often Lose Out,” Sept. 10). To deal with them, many investors were interested only in obtaining dividends, regardless of the share price. Dividends indicated a certain level of profitability, as they should. Maybe one approach for reverse splits is that a declared dividend must be issued before the reversal to indicate that the firm has the ability to be an ongoing entity. In this way, opaqueness as to the reversal event would have to be revealed to the investor community—or not.

Roland Giuntini
On Barrons.com

Send letters to: mail@barrons.com. To be considered for publication, correspondence must bear the writer’s name, address, and phone number. Letters are subject to editing.