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Opinion

Beta doesn't spell 'better'

Beta doesn't spell 'better'
May 10, 2017
Beta doesn't spell 'better'

So regular is this occurrence that it's tempting to suggest the axiom that, if Antofagasta's shares are a main mover on day one, then on day two they will be a main mover in the opposite direction. Okay, I know that won't actually work out, if only because today's rise (Tuesday's) ends a run when the shares dropped heavily four days out of five. Nevertheless, it does seem that the shares have a peculiarly bouncy tendency - up one day, down the next.

Maybe this is simply because Antofagasta is a mining share and we all know that such stocks are supposed to be a geared play on the price of the commodity that affects them most. This has come to seem normal - that commodity prices will be volatile and that shares in mining companies will be even more volatile, even though only limited logic says it must be so.

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