One of the key themes that I presented at the start of 2014 was the notion that capital would begin shifting abroad.

Last week, at the same time that the Dow had been hitting an all-time high, the Russell 2000 had been crossing below its long-term 200-day trendline.

U.S. corporate earnings growth has slowed. Heck, if you are looking at companies in the Dow Industrials, earnings have actually declined for three of the last four quarters. Yet record highs for broader U.S. stock benchmarks continue stealing the headlines.

For the better part of three years, investing in mining companies has been an exercise in extraordinary patience. A significant portion of the poor performance is attributable to the slowdown in emerging market growth