Continue reading Newmont is still mining the right commodities

Newmont is still mining the right commodities originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Resource-rich, politically stable and increasingly prosperous, Chile is an attractive play on commodities and growing wealth in emerging markets," explains Mark Salzinger, editor of The Investor's ETF Report.

Chile is also a favorite investment position of Nicholas Vardy, editor of The Global Bull Market Alert, who notes, "Thanks to its fiscal prudence, its lack of a domestic housing bubble, and its sizeable wealth reserves, Chile has weathered the current global economic meltdown better than most countries."

Here, the two advisors assess the longer-term opportunity in iShares MSCI Chile (NYSE: ECH), an exchange-traded fund.

Continue reading Hot prospects for Chile (ECH)

Hot prospects for Chile (ECH) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 May 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Let's look at the explosive jump in the price of copper, and then examine the underlying factors that could signal the beginning of a sell off:

• From December 24, 2008 to April 3, 2009, copper rallied 51%.
• Global stockpiles tripled to about 567,000 tons since July.
• Hedge funds and other large speculators increased their net short positions in New York copper futures by .6% in the week ended March 31.
• Prices have been rising because of China's buying for stockpiles.
• Beijing's State Reserve Bureau (SRB) took advantage of the declines in 2008 and agreed to buy 300,000 to 400,000 tons. China may increase its stockpile to 936,000 tons in 2009.
• Jose Pablo Arellana, CEO of Santiago, Chile-based Codeleo, the world's biggest copper miner, said the December lows are "in the past" and Chinese demand rebounds.
• The 82-member Bloomberg world mining index led by BHP Billiton Ltd (NYSE: BHP) plunged 56% in the twelve months through April 3.
• Peter Sorrento, who manages Huntington Asset Advisor, said: "we think we could see a pretty significant sell off in the next quarter."
• A Bloomberg survey of 13 analysts estimates that copper will average $3,000.00 a ton this quarter, 21% below the April 3 closing price of $4,301.00 per ton.
• Copper and home building tend to go together. With confidence among U.S. home builders near record lows in March, there isn't much to spur the copper market much further to the upside.

Continue reading Are you a bull or bear on copper prices?

Are you a bull or bear on copper prices? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Weakness in commodities suggests a screaming sign of an overreaction; it's time to take another look at a high-quality, high-yielding commodity stocks such as Southern Copper (NYSE: PCU)," says global investing expert Nick Lanyi.

In his High Yield International, he says, "With mines in Mexico and Peru, Southern Copper ranks #1 in total copper reserves of any publicly traded company, making it almost a pure play on a rebound in the metal's price." Here's his contrarian outlook.

"Southern Copper has enough reserves to continue its current rate of production for the next 80 years without a single expansion or acquisition.

"With copper prices falling, the firm's earnings are taking a hit -- and the dividend has recently been cut. Now that this cut has already been factored into the shares, I think it's a better time to look at the stock than just a few weeks ago.

"Based on 2008 dividends, the stock yields 12.7% at the current price. Even if the dividend comes down more, I look for a yield of 8-9% over the next 12 months.

Continue reading Southern Copper (PCU): Mining for high returns

Southern Copper (PCU): Mining for high returns originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"There's no doubt about it: vital resources are in a bull market of gigantic proportions," note Yiannis Mostrous and Roger Conrad.

"The co-editors of Vital Resource Investor caution that "no market moves in a straight line, and in commodities, the action is often extremely violent." However, for long-term investors, they offer some favorites in iron ore, aluminum and copper.

"All commodity bull markets are ultimately gored by demand destruction, alternatives and new supply. But it will almost certainly be years before that happens to this one. And that means plenty of money will be made along the way.

"We're still extremely bullish on iron ore as the market remains in deficit and prices continue to rise. Chinese domestic supply has been falling and, if this continues, imports will make up the difference, thereby helping the miners.

"China consumes 51% of the world's iron supply. Portfolio holding Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (NYSE: RIO), the world's largest iron ore producer, will benefit from the shortage in iron ore supply.

"We favor aluminum in the industrial metals sector. We've been advocating aluminum for some time, and the market's finally going our way. Aluminum prices have been impacted by lack of available power in China and South Africa and higher alumina and bauxite prices.

Continue reading Mining trio: Iron ore, aluminum and copper

Mining trio: Iron ore, aluminum and copper originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Each 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.

Taseko Mines Ltd. (ASE: TGB) is the favorite speculative play for 2007 from Tom Bishop, editor of BI Research. He notes, "After living hand to mouth for five or six years during lean copper and gold prices, Taseko bought the Gibraltar mine, which it picked up for a song when copper was down in the low $0.60/lb range.

"Today copper is around $3/lb, the mine is back into production and now its cash stash, including proceeds from a $30 million convertible, is steaming towards C$100 million. The company just added about 38% to its mineral reserves, which now stand at 256 million tons (equating to a 15-year mine life) grading 0.32% copper and 0.01% molybdenum.

Note the molybdenum alone adds over $20 million to revenues annually. The company is upgrading and expanding its Gibraltar mill/production facility, and will be moving to a higher grade softer ore part of the ore body in 2007. Therefore, with mill improvements I expect production to increase 20 to 30% this year and generate about $0.65 to $0.70 of cash flow, which is not bad for a company trading at $2.60.

Continue reading Top Picks 2007: Tom Bishop bets on copper gains for Taseko

Top Picks 2007: Tom Bishop bets on copper gains for Taseko originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 Dec 2006 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.