Donald Trump campaigned on saving the coal industry.
And he's followed through by carving out environmental regulations and boosting subsidies.
But coal isn't the only commodity the president is saving.
He's also looking to boost uranium.
Couple that with a natural supply-demand imbalance, and we're likely to see a huge bounce in uranium prices over the next few months.
Start with this...
Uranium costs about $31 per pound to produce. That's the global weighted average. And yet, it's currently trading at just $26 per pound.
Typically, metals don't trade below their production cost for very long. When they do, it disrupts production. Mines are closed, insolvent companies go out of business, exploration projects are shelved, and supplies go down.
That's exactly what we've seen with uranium.
Several years ago, there were 500 companies mining uranium. Today, there are just 20.
That's drastic.
A crash in uranium prices (spurred by the Fukushima disaster) has removed 96% of suppliers from the market.
Now, 80% of the world's primary uranium supply comes from just 10 mines. And future global supply is dependent on just five newly proposed projects.
Furthermore, opening a new uranium mine is not a simple or fast process. It takes a lot of time and effort. In fact, it can take up to 20 years to go from discovery to extraction.
That hasn't been a problem to this point, because the world has had adequate reserves to make up the difference. But now, demand is exceeding supplies.
Any commodities investor will tell you that's a good thing for prices.
But in this case, we also have a wild card. And that's Donald Trump.
You see, top players in America's uranium mining industry have filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Commerce.
It's called a "Section 232 Petition." Any industry in America can file this petition.
The goal of the petition is for the U.S. Commerce Department to limit the amount of a commodity being imported from other countries.
And given the president's penchant for domestic production, it's sure to be approved.
Swiftly.