Walmart's New Health Food Push: Is It Too Hard to Swallow?
Bonds Are a 'Safe' Investment: A Big Lie Gets Even BiggerEach year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Picks Report.
ASA Bermuda Ltd. (NYSE: ASA), a precious metals closed-end investment company, is the favorite speculation for 2007 from Sy Harding. The editor of StreetSmart Reports explains, "Its by-laws require that it have at least 80% of its investments in the stocks of gold, silver, platinum, or diamond mining companies.
"Its holdings at year-end 2006 were approximately 70% in gold mining companies, with its largest holdings including Gold Fields Ltd., AngloGold Ashanti, and Barrick Gold. The balance of its assets are in other natural resource stocks including Anglo Platinum, Anglo American PLC, and Impala Platinum.
"We expect the bull market in gold and precious metals, which began in 2001, will continue in 2007. Gold tends to move opposite to the U.S. dollar, and in the same direction as the price of crude oil and inflation in general. Many analysts believe the U.S. dollar will be in a continuing downtrend in 2007. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve says it is still concerned about rising inflation.
"Gold also is frequently seen as a safe haven in times of economic, currency, political, or military uncertainties. Unfortunately, uncertainties in most of those areas will probably persist through 2007. For these reasons we expect the bull market in precious metals will continue, while remaining volatile.
"Our target for gold in 2007 is $750 an ounce. However, since the mining stocks tend to move two or three times as much as the underlying bullion, we prefer to invest in the stocks of the mining companies. ASA provides a means of doing that with an instantly diversified portfolio across the spectrum of precious metals. Our target is $75."
To see Sy's favorite speculation for 2007, click here.
Goldman Earnings Sink After Buffett Dividend
Johnson & Johnson's Income Falls 23%
Burberry Shares Leap on Sales Update
