Checking in on Ron Paul's investment portfolio

His campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination may not have gone as he had hoped, but Ron Paul's investment portfolio has progressed nicely since he began his bid for higher office.

Late last year, the Texas Congressman's financial disclosure was summarized here (courtesy of data from OpenSecrets.org) and it seemed like a good idea to follow up and see how it has done.

Not too shabby as it turns out.

The original disclosure was filed in March of last year so, for the purposes of this exercise, it is assumed that he has made no changes to his holdings and that his holdings were at the mid-point of the various ranges indicated on the disclosure form.

All gains and losses below reflect the one year performance as of July 8th, 2008.
The outsized allocations for Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) and Barrick (NYSE:ABX) were instrumental in achieving his outsized gains and, like many other investors in this sector, he has yet to see any of his junior mining stocks make big moves (that is, big moves up).

Despite a strong and devoted following, he never really stood much of a chance against more mainstream opponents.

It would have been great fun, however, to hear the traditional media outlets and the many political talking heads comment on his million dollar gold stock portfolio during the general election and how that might influence his policies.

Of course, his idea of abolishing the Federal Reserve makes eminently more sense today than it did last year.