By Tim Treadgold
Forbes
Gold bugs love a conspiracy theory and with last week’s share price crash of one of the world’s biggest gold miners, Australian-based Newcrest Mining , they will have a feast, complete with the savory-garnish of a formal investigation by the corporate cops.
A stock which sold at $40 (A$42) just two years ago Newcrest crashed back to a nine-year low of $10.80 on Friday triggering cries of foul from wounded investors and aggrieved stockbrokers who believed they had been left out of an information loop by Newcrest management.
What particularly irritated outsiders was a series of well-timed downgrades from five big broking houses, using well-polished crystal balls, in the 72 hours before Newcrest admitted to deep financial problems that include a $5.7 billion asset-value write-down.