Cameco & The Gentle Art of Not Panicking

Ten years ago, I had a thousand dollars. Not a fortune, certainly, but enough to buy a decent used tuba, or, as it turns out, a significant stake in Cameco. I didn’t, of course. I was busy attempting to perfect a sourdough starter and convinced the world was about to be overrun by artisanal bread. A perfectly reasonable fear, in retrospect. Had I been less preoccupied with gluten development and more attuned to the nuclear energy market, that thousand dollars would now be eleven thousand. Eleven. It’s a number that feels… almost irresponsible.

Cameco, for those unfamiliar, mines uranium. It’s not glamorous work, I imagine, all hard hats and Geiger counters, but someone has to do it. And apparently, if you hold onto enough of their stock, you can quietly amass a small fortune. They’ve had a bit of a run – a 750% increase since 2011, which is frankly unsettling. It feels like something should be collapsing, or at least emitting a low hum of existential dread, but everything seems… stable. Too stable, perhaps.

I’ve been following this closely, not because I’m particularly interested in nuclear fission – my last science experiment involved a potato and a zinc nail – but because it illustrates a point I’ve been making to my financial advisor, a man who seems perpetually on the verge of needing a vacation. People panic. They sell low. They buy high. They chase trends. And they completely miss the quiet, steady growth of companies like Cameco, which, let’s be honest, isn’t exactly a household name. It’s not a meme stock. It doesn’t have a charismatic CEO doing TikTok dances. It just… exists. And quietly, efficiently, makes money.

The company also has a 49% stake in Westinghouse Electric Company, which sounds vaguely menacing, like a villain from a 1950s science fiction film. But apparently, they build reactors. New reactors, in fact. The U.S. government, in a move that surprised absolutely no one, is partnering with Cameco, Brookfield Asset Management (who, frankly, seem to own everything), and Westinghouse to build a fleet of these reactors. Billions of dollars are involved. It’s a lot of money. Enough money to make even my sourdough starter feel inadequate.

Uranium prices are up, too. Seventeen-month highs, they say. I don’t know what that means, exactly, but it sounds… good. Like a quiet, contained victory. A win for Cameco, and, potentially, for anyone who had the foresight to invest a thousand dollars ten years ago. Or, you know, just ignored the siren song of artisanal bread.

Cameco believes utilities will need over 3 billion pounds of uranium by 2045, and a significant portion of that remains uncontracted. The rise of AI data centers, coupled with the global push for decarbonization, is creating a demand for electricity that, frankly, feels a little overwhelming. And where does that electricity come from? Well, increasingly, it’s coming from nuclear power. Which, let’s face it, is still a little scary. But also, apparently, quite profitable.

So, is Cameco a good buy now? I’m not a financial advisor. I just collect vintage thimbles and occasionally stumble upon unexpectedly lucrative investment opportunities. But if you’re looking for a company that’s quietly dominating its industry, and potentially poised for long-term growth, it’s certainly worth a look. Just don’t expect any TikTok dances. Or artisanal bread. It’s a solid, unflashy, slightly unsettling, and ultimately, rather impressive operation. And that, in my book, is a rare and valuable thing.

2026-01-22 15:04

Read More