Pick a mining stock, any mining stock, and there’s a very good chance that its future earnings are highly dependent on commodity prices. Rio Tinto (RIO) and Vale (VALE)? That’s iron ore. Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX)? That’s copper. Alcoa (AA)? That’s aluminum.
ReutersThe problem: Analysts are really bad at predicting commodity prices, which inevitably leads to earnings forecasts being wrong as well. Bernstein’s Paul Gait and team explain:
Over the last ten years, consensus has been the best at forecasting prices for aluminium, zinc and nickel and the worst at forecasting copper, iron ore, gold and silver. The average error over a 1 year time frame for aluminium has been 4%, and over a 2 year period 5%. For Zinc this is 2% and 4%, Nickel 5% and 3%. By contrast, the error on the copper forecast has averaged -7% and -19% and iron ore -8% and -21% for 1 and 2 year horizons, respectively. This suggests that a counter consensus view on aluminium, zinc and nickel prices is unlikely to be the correct course of action, while it for copper and iron ore one has to be contrarian to stand any chance of being right. In other words, the pricing dynamic of aluminium, zinc and nickel appears to be well understood while the market still finds copper and iron ore opaque.
Top 5 Defense Stocks To Own For 2015: Pool Corporation (POOL)
Pool Corporation operates as a wholesale distributor of swimming pool supplies, equipment, and related leisure products in North America and Europe. The company offers approximately 100,000 national brand and Pool Corporation branded products. It sells maintenance products, such as chemicals, supplies, and pool accessories; repair and replacement parts for cleaners, filters, heaters, pumps, and lights; packaged pool kits, including walls, liners, braces, and coping for in-ground and above-ground pools; pool equipment and components for new pool construction and the remodeling of existing pools; and irrigation and landscape products, such as professional lawn care equipment. The company also offers complementary products, including building materials used for pool installations and remodeling, such as concrete, plumbing and electrical components, and pool surface and decking materials; and other discretionary recreational and related outdoor lifestyle products. Pool Corpora tion serves swimming pool remodelers and builders, retail swimming pool stores, swimming pool repair and service businesses, landscape construction and maintenance contractors, and golf courses. The company was founded in 1993 and is based in Covington, Louisiana.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
When judging a company's prospects, how quickly it turns cash outflows into cash inflows can be just as important as how much profit it's booking in the accounting fantasy world we call "earnings." This is one of the first metrics I check when I'm hunting for the market's best stocks. Today, we'll see how it applies to Pool (Nasdaq: POOL ) .
Hot Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: STAAR Surgical Company(STAA)
STAAR Surgical Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of implantable lenses for the cataracts and refractive surgery. It offers intraocular lenses (IOL) that include silicone Toric IOL, which is used in cataract surgery to treat preexisting astigmatism; Preloaded Injector, a three-piece silicone or acrylic IOL preloaded into a single-use disposable injector; Aspheric IOLs that provide a clearer image than traditional spherical IOLs; and nanoFLEX IOL, a single-piece collamer aspheric IOL. The company also provides implantable collamer lenses (ICL) comprising VISIAN ICL and VISIAN Toric ICL to treat refractive disorders, such as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. In addition, it sells surgical products and other related instruments, as well as manufactures AquaFlow device for the treatment of glaucoma. The company markets its products to health care providers, including surgical centers, hospitals, managed care pro viders, health maintenance organizations, group purchasing organizations, and government facilities primarily under the STAAR, Visian, Collamer, nanoFLEX, nanoPOINT, CentraFLOW, AquaPORT, Epiphany, and AquaFlow names. It distributes its products through directly employed representatives, independent sales representatives, and local distributors in the United States and internationally. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Monrovia, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Monday morning, the healthcare sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRPT) and STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA). In trading on Monday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.45 percent.
Hot Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Western Asset Global Partners Income Fund Inc. (GDF)
Western Asset Global Partners Income Fund Inc. operates as a close-ended fixed income mutual fund launched and advised by Legg Mason Partners Fund Advisor, LLC. The fund is sub-advised by Western Asset Management Company. It primarily invests in the fixed income markets across the globe. The fund invests in high-yield U.S. and non-U.S. corporate debt securities and high-yield foreign sovereign debt securities. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Lehman Brothers U.S. Corporate High Yield 2% Issuer Cap Index and the JPMorgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Global Index. The fund was formerly known as Salomon Brothers Global Partners Income Fund Inc. Western Asset Global Partners Income Fund was founded in 1993 and is based in the United States.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Chuck Carnevale]
Our first example looks at Vectren Corp.�� historical earnings, a utility with a 15-year historical earnings growth rate that is below our 3% threshold established in Part 1. Note that fair valuation is calculated using Graham Dodd�� Formula (GDF) deriving a fair value PE of 13.8 (slightly below, but close to our PE 15 standard). However, a normal PE of 16 has been historically applied by Mr. Market. Therefore, valuation falls between a PE of 13.8 to 16, or well within a range of normalcy.
Hot Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Stillwater Mining Company(SWC)
Stillwater Mining Company engages in developing, extracting, processing, smelting, refining, and marketing palladium, platinum, and platinum group metals (PGMs). The company conducts its mining operations at the Stillwater mine, which is located near Nye, Montana; and at the East Boulder mine located near Big Timber, Montana. It is also involved in developing Marathon, a PGM/copper property, which is located in Ontario, Canada; and exploring Altar, a copper/gold property located in San Juan, Argentina. In addition, the company operates a smelter and base metal refinery located in Columbus, Montana. Further, it recycles spent catalyst material to recover palladium, platinum, and rhodium at its smelter and base metal refinery. As of December 31, 2011, the company had proven and probable ore reserves of approximately 42.5 million tons at its Montana operations; and approximately 91.4 million tones at the Marathon development project. Stillwater Mining Company was founded in 1 992 and is headquartered in Billings, Montana.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Stillwater Mining (NYSE: SWC ) says it disagrees with a shareholder advisory service's support of some of the board candidates put forth by a dissident shareholder. However, the company said in a press release today that it takes heart from some of the service's conclusions about shortcomings in the attempt by Clinton Group to force change at the company.
- [By Rich Duprey]
The tit-for-tat sniping between platinum group metals miner Stillwater Mining (NYSE: SWC ) and activist shareholder Clinton Group continues after the latter rejected a settlement offer and sought to give its own interpretation of statements the miner made.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
4. Platinum-group metals
Platinum and palladium both fell sharply, losing 5% and 6% of their value, respectively. Those losses weren't as extreme as gold's, but they nevertheless represented a drop to levels not seen since late last year. The two major miners producing the white metals, Stillwater Mining (NYSE: SWC ) and North American Palladium (NYSEMKT: PAL ) , both lost more than 10% on the day.
Hot Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Hawaiian Holdings Inc.(HA)
Hawaiian Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiary, Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., engages in the scheduled air transportation of passengers and cargo. It offers daily service on transpacific routes between Hawaii and Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington, as well as daily service on its inter island routes among the four islands of the State of Hawaii. The company also provides scheduled service on its Pacific routes between Hawaii and Pago Pago, American Samoa; Papeete, Tahiti; Sydney, Australia; Manila, Philippines; Tokyo, Japan; and Seoul, South Korea, as well as other ad hoc charters. As of December 31, 2010, its fleet consisted of 15 Boeing 717-200 aircraft for its interisland routes; 18 Boeing 767-300; and 3 Airbus A330-200 aircrafts for its transpacific, Pacific, and charter routes. Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]
While most of the U.S. airline industry has been sailing along for the past two years, Hawaiian Holdings, (NASDAQ: HA ) has hit some rough patches. Unit revenue declined in 2013 due to a combination of overcapacity on some routes, and unfavorable currency fluctuations.
- [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]
Right now, lots of investors are betting against Hawaiian Holdings (NASDAQ: HA ) , the parent of Hawaiian Airlines. That might seem like bad news for bulls (like me), but the story's not quite that simple.
Hot Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Asta Funding Inc.(ASFI)
Asta Funding, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in purchasing, managing, and servicing distressed consumer receivables in the United States. Its principal portfolio includes charged-off receivables consisting of accounts that have been written-off by the originators and might have been previously serviced by collection agencies; semi-performing receivables, including accounts where the debtor is currently making partial or irregular monthly payments, but the accounts might have been written-off by the originators; performing receivables comprising accounts where the debtor is making regular monthly payments that might or might not have been delinquent in the past; and distressed consumer receivables, such as the unpaid debts of individuals to banks, finance companies, and other credit and service providers. The company?s distressed consumer receivables consist of MasterCard, Visa, and other credit card accounts, which were charged-off by the issuers or provide rs for non-payment. Asta Funding, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tim Melvin]
There a lot of moving parts to Asta Funding (ASFI), but there appears to be a great deal of value that isn�� reflected in the current stock price. ASFI stock is trading at less than 65% of book value, but several of its debt collection assets are carried at zero cost basis and yet may have substantial value. The balance sheet is strong with more than $90 million in cash. ASFI has been moving into other businesses including disability claims to increase its growth opportunities over the next few years. It�� a fairly complex business, but it is very cheap — and the first sign of good news could send the shares a lot higher.
- [By John Udovich]
Small cap debt collection stocks like�Asta Funding, Inc (NASDAQ: ASFI), Encore Capital Group, Inc (NASDAQ: ECPG) and Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc (NASDAQ: PRAA) could be the latest target of a government shakedown or crackdown as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said this week that�before it formally proposes any rules for debt collection, it wants to hear how collectors verify borrowers' information and communicate with consumers. In other words, debt collectors could be restricted from using text messages, social media or other Internet-based tools in their pursuit to collect debts. With about one in 10 Americans coming out of the financial crisis with some debt in collection, investing in small cap�debt collection stocks has been profitable for investors. However, there is no timeline for when any new rules might be released for review or come into effect.
Hot Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: TransAlta Corporation (TAC)
TransAlta Corporation operates as a non-regulated electricity generation and energy marketing company. The company engages in the production and sale of electric energy through its diversified portfolio of facilities fuelled by coal, natural gas, hydroelectric, wind, geothermal, and biomass resources in Canada, the United States, and Australia. It has an aggregate net ownership interest of approximately 8,025 megawatts of generating capacity in operation. The company was founded in 1911 and is based in Calgary, Canada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Nitish]
Google Inc. reported consolidated revenues of $15.96 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2014, an increase of 22% compared to the second quarter of 2013. The company reports advertising revenues consistent with GAAP on a gross basis without deducting traffic acquisition costs (TAC). In the second quarter of 2014, TAC totaled $3.29 billion, or 23% of advertising revenues.
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