"Another lesson I learned early is that there is nothing new in Wall Street. There can't be because speculation is as old as the hills. Whatever happens in the stock market today has happened before and will happen again. I've never forgotten that. I suppose I really manage to remember when and how it happened. The fact that I remember that way is my way of capitalizing experience."

- Jesse Livermore, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

In October 2002, few stock traders doubted that technology was creating value and changing the face of the Earth. Even so, the Nasdaq was priced at 1/4 of the value of its March 2000 peak amid the rubble of the tech crash. Six years later in 2008, the Nasdaq has gained 100% from its 2002 bottom. Such a swing speaks to the short-term irrationality of the market.

Today's resource junior sector offered the same types of glowing promises as the technology startups did in early 2000. With record commodity prices and mining producers looking to replenish depleting reserves through acquisition, the value proposition of junior companies is clear.

For the last few years, investors bought into junior mining companies for the elusive, 10-bagger discoveries. While there were some success stories, most junior mining investors have found disappointment so far.