"High gold prices and low debt costs make now a great time for major gold producers to seek and acquire junior gold companies," says Ian Wyatt.

The editor of Top Stock Insights explains, "I have singled out what I believe could be a potential takeover candidate: IAMgold (IAG), a mid-tier Canadian gold miner.

"Although we emphasize that this is a speculation, we believe the company could be a takeover candidate by large South African miners, perhaps by such companies as Gold Fields or AngloGold Ashanti.

Continue reading IAMGold (IAG): Takeover Speculation?

IAMGold (IAG): Takeover Speculation? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• UBS upgraded Potash (POT) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $112 from $106. UBS raised its 2011 potash production estimates based on expectations for a tighter market and notes the potential for China to import substantial amounts of corn.
• BMO Capital upgraded Peabody Energy (BTU) to outperform from market perform. The firm, which has a $49 target on the stock, cites valuation for the upgrade.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded City Holding (CHCO) to buy from neutral with a $37 price target, citing the recent pullback in shares.
• Boston Scientific (BSX) was upgraded to sell from conviction sell at Goldman.
• Pegasystems (PEGA) was upgraded to buy from hold at Roth Capital.
• Wendy's/Arby's (WEN) was upgraded to buy from neutral at SunTrust.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AOSL, BIDU, BSX, BTU, CHCO, EVVV, NXST, POT, PUK, RST, WEN ...

Analyst Calls: AOSL, BIDU, BSX, BTU, CHCO, EVVV, NXST, POT, PUK, RST, WEN ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Deere (DE) to overweight from neutral and raised its target on shares to $65 from $52. JPMorgan believes the company's fundamentals are improving and sees signs of a recovery in forestry, turf and earth-moving equipment.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Valmont (VMI) to neutral from underweight on valuation following the company's Q4 results. The firm lowered its target price on shares to $70 from $74.
• Soleil upgraded Group 1 Automotive (GPI) to buy from hold on valuation with a $36 price target. The firm believes negative news flow for Toyota has created an opportunity to accumulate shares.
• Bernstein upgraded Deutsche Telekom (DT) to outperform from market perform.
• Nucor (NUE) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• American Eagle (AEO) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.

Continue reading Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: CTXS, DE, GPI, NTAP, VMI, XNPT ...

Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: CTXS, DE, GPI, NTAP, VMI, XNPT ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There's nothing like a quick profit. Hedge fund manager, John Paulson, made $45.3 million in five weeks in a single gold trade. Bloomberg reports he owns 10.3 million shares of Detour Gold (DRGDF). Since purchasing the shares in October, they soared 35% to close at CAD $18 per share in Toronto.

Paulson, who manages $30 billion, has invested heavily in several gold companies. He is the largest shareholder of Anglo Gold Ashanti Ltd. (AU) with 12% of the company's stock. He also has stakes in Kinross Gold Corp (KGC) and Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI).

Continue reading Hedge fund manager John Paulson rakes in $45.3 million in a gold trade

Hedge fund manager John Paulson rakes in $45.3 million in a gold trade originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU) is one of the largest gold mining operations in the world.

The gold cult has made this company very wealthy -- AU has a current market capitalization of more than $15 billion.

I highly doubt the jewelry market could support that valuation, but the wacko gold bugs certainly do.

Continue reading Gold stock to sell #2: AngloGold Ashanti (AU)

Gold stock to sell #2: AngloGold Ashanti (AU) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gold at $1,000. Better buy now or you will miss the greatest invention since tulips in the 1800s.

Or so they say. I say, what a bunch of baloney. Why on earth would I want to put hard-earned cash on something that may look pretty but has no real tangible value?

That's right, gold has no tangible value. Well, that's not entirely true since there is a vast cult of worshipers out there that say gold is the only thing with value. As a result of their die-hard belief, gold actually does have value, as we now see with AU trading for $1,000 per ounce.

Continue reading Gold is losing its shine: Five to sell now

Gold is losing its shine: Five to sell now originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Lennar (NYSE: LEN) to Buy from Hold as it believes the company's near-term liquidity profile is improved following the $400M debt issuance. The firm raised its target price to $12 from $11.
• Jefferies upgraded Rowan Companies (NYSE: RDC) to Buy from Hold as it believes jack-up drillers will continue to outperform deepwater names. The firm raised its target price to $27 from $20.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded First Financial (NASDAQ: FFIN) to Market Perform from Underperform to reflect more positive loan data for the Texas banks. The firm raised its target price on shares to $44 from $38.
• MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
• Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities.
• Brinker (NYSE: EAT) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: LEN, RDC, FFIN, SII, AN, ACHN, UA, LULU, JST

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: LEN, RDC, FFIN, SII, AN, ACHN, UA, LULU, JST originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 May 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As earnings season begins to wind down, some apparel retailers are scheduled to report quarterly results this week. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters anticipate that Walmart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), the 800-pound gorilla in the space, will report that it earned $0.77 per share in the first quarter, about the same as in the first quarter of last year. But JCPenney Co. (NYSE: JCP), Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS), Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN), and Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) are expected to report lower profits for the first quarter as consumers continued to hold off on spending. Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) are expected to have swung to a loss year over year.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) and Winn Dixie Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WINN) are likewise expected to report declining earnings, while the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (NYSE: GAP), parent of the A&P supermarket chain, is expected to have narrowed its net loss 68.9% to $0.28 per share.

Continue reading The week in preview: A peek at apparel retail earnings

The week in preview: A peek at apparel retail earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 10 May 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Royal Bank of Scotland upgraded shares of Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's dividend yield.
  
• JMP Securities expects HFF Inc. (NYSE: HF) to benefit from increased U.S. commercial real estate sales and mortgage volumes. Shares were upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm has a $5 target on shares.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded Church & Dwight (NYSE: CHD) to Outperform from Perform as it believes Church & Dwight's value-oriented portfolio should continue to benefit from the consumer trade-down and that concerns over distribution are overblown. The firm set a $62 price on shares.
• Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  
• Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• AMB Property (NYSE: AMB) was lifted to Neutral from Underperform at Banc of America/Merrill.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: VOD, CBS, BCS, MS, ICE, AU ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: VOD, CBS, BCS, MS, ICE, AU ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Citigroup upgraded Phillips-Van Heusen (NYSE: PVH) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q1 results as it believes management is executing well in the current environment and that the company could meet the high end of guidance. The firm raised its price target to $24 from $19.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded Cliffs Natural (NYSE: CLF) to Outperform from Market Perform as it believes capacity utilization has stabilized and CLF's valuation is attractive at current levels. The firm raised its price target to $27 from $23.
  
• Thomas Weisel believes demand at Microchip's industrial (NASDAQ: MCHP) customers has troughed and that market share loss concerns are unwarranted. The firm upgraded shares to Overweight from Market Weight and raised its target to $27 from $19.
• CBS Corp (NYSE: CBS) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  
• U-Store It Trust (NYSE: YSI) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
  
• Ener1 (NASDAQ: HEV) was lifted at Banc of America/Merrill to Buy from Neutral.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: PVH, CBS, LDK, BIDU, DE ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: PVH, CBS, LDK, BIDU, DE ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Just after the close yesterday, Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) guided up 2009 production and guided 2009 cash costs lower. NEM also announced that it would be purchasing the remaining interest in its majority owned Boddington Mine from Anglogold Ashanti (NYSE: AU) (which equates to 6.6 mln reserve ounces). That's an increase of 8 percent in NEM's Proven & Probable (P&P) reserves at a price tag of $1.2 bln, which will be raised via an equity offering of 19 mln shares.

Based on NEM's 441 mln shares outstanding, we're looking at dilution of just over 4 percent. Thus, in theory, the deal is not even dilutive, given the 8 percent increase in P&P reserves that the company is acquiring with only a 4 percent dilution in equity. Based on what I have seen so far, this looks like a spectacular deal for NEM.

Continue reading Newmont strikes a deal

Newmont strikes a deal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Gold prices drop and take several gold stocks to new 52 week lows

Gold prices drop and take several gold stocks to new 52 week lows originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Don't sell commodities; although they have been in a bruising correction, they can also recover quite sharply," says resource expert Eric Roseman .

In his Commodity Trend Alert, the advisor adds, "And I can't think of a more undervalued gold mining company than South Africa's AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU)."

"The forces of inflation and deflation are now fighting each other for the first time since 2001 and ultimately, inflation will win. For the Fed and other central banks the strategy is to rescue the global financial system from the economic abyss or deflation; that means print credit like there's no tomorrow.

"For the Fed and other central banks the strategy is to rescue the global financial system from the economic abyss or deflation; that means print credit like there's no tomorrow.

"The Fed, the ECB, the Bank of Japan and their international buddies are going to accelerate the expansion of credit to avoid a devastating deflation. Thus, I'm betting on inflation. I'm also betting on gold, my gold stocks.

Continue reading AngloGold Ashanti (AU): 'Too low to ignore'

AngloGold Ashanti (AU): 'Too low to ignore' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Anglogold (NYSE: AU) closed at $27.47 Thursday. Gold is recently down 3.11% to $789.20 according to Bloomberg. AU September option implied volatility of 51 is above its 26-week average of 43 according to Track Data, suggesting larger movement.

Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) closed at $33.93 Thursday. Crude oil futures are recently down 1.64% to $113.37. VLO September option implied volatility of 53 is above its 26-week average of 47 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Southern Peru Copper (NYSE: PCU) closed at $24 Thursday. Copper is recently down 3.80% to 326 according to Bloomberg. PCU September option implied volatility of 53 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Archer Daniels (NYSE: ADM) closed at $26.62 Thursday. Corn futures are recently down 3.38% to 557.75, Soybean futures are down 2.59% to 1241 according to Track Data. ADM September option implied volatility of 44 is above its 26-week average of 40 according to Track Data, suggesting slightly larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Option Update: Volatility for stocks with exposure to lower commodity prices originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Anglogold (NYSE: AU) closed at $37.23 Wednesday.

Gold is recently up 0.12% to $989.70 according to Bloomberg.

AU overall option implied volatility of 45 is near its 26-week average of 43 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Option update: Anglogold volatility at 45 as gold trades $989 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Merriman downgraded shares of Level 3 Communications Inc (NASDAQ: LVLT) to Neutral from Buy, as they believe the risks outweigh the rewards until the company can complete its integration and turn FCF positive.
• BT Group Plc (NYSE: BT) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Lehman to reflect the company's slowing revenue growth.
• Bear downgraded Limited Brands Inc (NYSE: LTD) to Peer Perform from Outperform, citing the unfavorable macro backdrop, execution issues and management turnover.

• Societe Generale lowered its rating on GlaxoSmithKline Plc (NYSE: GSK) to Hold from Buy.
• Morgan Stanley downgraded Cox Radio Inc (NYSE: CXR) to Equal Weight from Overweight.
• UBS dropped Anglogold Ashanti Limited (NYSE: AU) to Neutral from Buy.

Analyst downgrades: LVLT, BT and LTD originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Feb 2008 09:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gold shining through production woes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 Jan 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Anglogold (NYSE: AU) is recently trading at $40.90 in pre-open trading, below its close of $45.17 Thursday.

AU said it has halted mining and gold recovery operations on all of its South African operations following notification from state-owned electricity company Eskom regarding interruptions to power supplies.

Gold is recently up 1.82% to $922.30 according to Bloomberg.

AU overall option implied volatility of 50 is above its 26-week average of 39 according to Track Data, suggesting larger movement.

Options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Options update 1-25-08: Anglogold volatility up as operations halted originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 Jan 2008 09:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wall Street's equity market offers a full schedule this week, with 8 IPOs and 5 Secondaries on the docket.

Those deals tentatively scheduled to price include:

IPOs:

Possible

• Merrion Pharmaceuticals (MERR), a 4M-share IPO for this pharmaceuticals company. Punk Zeigel is the lead manager. Filing range: $10.00-$12.00.

Early Week

• Liberty Acquisition (LIA), an 86.25M-share IPO for this reorganization services company. Citigoup is the lead manager.

Continue reading IPO & secondary preview -- Week of Oct. 1, 2007

IPO & secondary preview -- Week of Oct. 1, 2007 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Soleil upgraded shares of Staples, Inc (NASDAQ: SPLS) to Buy from Hold following the in-line Q1 results, as the firm believes management's initiatives will benefit the company for the remainder of the year.

• Matrix upgraded Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: SUNW) to Hold from Sell based on improved profitability and margins due to cost cuts.

• First Albany upgraded Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) to Strong Buy from Neutral following positive preliminary results for Milnacipran in Fibromyalgia.

• AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at BMO Capital based on valuation.

• Bernstein upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) to Outperform from Market Perform...

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Medtronic, Inc (NYSE: MDT) to Outperform from Market Perform.

• Advanced Analogic Technologies Incorp (NASDAQ: AATI) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Needham.

• CIBC raised Cypress Bioscience, Inc's (NASDAQ: CYPB) rating to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer.

• HSBC upgraded Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd (NYSE: AEM) and AngloGold Ashanti Ltd (NYSE: AU) to Overweight from Neutral.

Analyst upgrades 5-23-07: COP, FRX, SPLS and SUNW originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 May 2007 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.