Filed under: Major Movement , Competitive Strategy , Barrick Gold (ABX) , Commodities , Federal Reserve Back in the late 1970s, the Hunt brothers from Texas tried to corner the silver market . That drove prices to $48 an ounce. Now, 31 years later, silver is shooting higher again. The March silver futures contract closed at $32.296 per ounce , up 72 cents. Since gold is expensive, investors are turning to silver to hedge against inflation. Many fear that the Federal Reserve will not be able to control the spike in commodity prices. The Fed is buying $600 billion of treasuries and keeping interest rates near zero. Continue reading Silver Near a 31-Year High Silver Near a 31-Year High originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 19 Feb 2011 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments
Archive for November, 2010
Case-Shiller Index Screams Housing Double Dip
Just when you thought the real estate market was showing signs of a recovery, reality rears its ugly head. According to the latest figures from the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, prices have started to slip again pointing to a double dip in home values. Nationally, home prices dropped 1.5% in September. That’s a trend that Case-Shiller expects to continue since earlier this month they forecast a further 7.1% drop in home prices into the second quarter of 2011. In all, 18 of the 20 metropolitan statistical areas that are measured by the S&P/Case Shiller index reported home price decreases for the quarter, although they are still above their low points from the spring of 2009. From the report entitled: Broad-based Declines in Home Prices in the 3 rd Quarter of 2010 According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices “ Another weak report; weaker than last month. The national index is down 1.5% from the third quarter of last year and 15 of 20 cities are down over the last 12 months. Other than Tampa, FL, there are no new lows this month but many analysts will argue that a double dip will be confirmed before Spring. While some of the bad numbers may reflect the end of the government’s tax incentive for first time homebuyers, there are other problems weighing on the housing market.” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “The national economy is certainly the number one issue for housing. Additionally, there is a large supply of houses on the market and further, hidden, supply due to delinquent mortgages, pending foreclosures or vacant homes. New construction is running at less than half the pace needed to meet normal demand, so a sustained recovery could be a ways off.” From their peak in June/July of 2006 through the trough in April 2009, the 10-City Composite is down 33.5% and the 20-City Composite is down 32.6%.” No jobs, no money, no dice. It’s really not that complicated. Related Articles: Meredith Whitney Predicts a Housing Double-Dip Matt Taibbi On ForeclosureGate Crimes Zandi: Expect 8% Home Price Declines Guidelines Tighten Again For FHA Loans To learn more about Wealth Daily click here Advertisement The Video Footage that has Electric Companies Terrified They won’t announce it yet, but your utility company is shaking in its boots… That’s because one tiny engineering firm just demonstrated a technology that could put every last utility out of business — by harnessing your own solar energy at any time, from any window ! Before the first big ticket contract comes through — doubling the share price — click here to see exclusive footage. Case-Shiller Index Screams Housing Double Dip originally appeared in Wealth Daily . Wealth Daily is a free daily newsletter featuring contrarian investment insights and commentary.
The Day the Dollar Died
From our newly minted, Wealth Wire : You’ve got to see this… Taken from the Bullsource.com site, “The National Inflation Association (NIA) has released a short film titled The Day the Dollar Died, which projects what may happen during the first 12 hours of a US dollar crisis.” Watch it here: The Day the Dollar Died originally appeared in Wealth Daily . Wealth Daily is a free daily newsletter featuring contrarian investment insights and commentary.
Wikileaks’ Next Target: A ‘Big U.S. Bank’
From Andy Greenberg’s interview with Julian Assange ( Forbes ): These megaleaks, as you call them, we haven’t seen any of those from the private sector. No, not at the same scale as for the military. Will we? Yes. We have one related to a bank coming up, that’s a megaleak. It’s not as big a scale as the Iraq material, but it’s either tens or hundreds of thousands of documents depending on how you define it. Is it a U.S. bank? Yes, it’s a U.S. bank. One that still exists? Yes, a big U.S. bank. The biggest U.S. bank? No comment. When will it happen? Early next year. I won’t say more. Fortunately, Assange did say quite a bit more about the reasoning behind this upcoming release, comparing it to leaked Enron emails that damned Ken Lay. What do you want to be the result of this release? [Pauses] I’m not sure. It will give a true and representative insight into how banks behave at the executive level in a way that will stimulate investigations and reforms, I presume. Usually when you get leaks at this level, it’s about one particular case or one particular violation. For this, there’s only one similar example. It’s like the Enron emails. Why were these so valuable? When Enron collapsed, through court processes, thousands and
China Scrambles to Secure Molybdenum Resources
The race is on… World leaders are scrambling to gain control of global molybdenum assets on speculation that China will cut exports. China is the world’s largest producer of molybdenum, supplying over a third of global supplies. But growing domestic demand may prompt the Chinese government to restrict exports… This may cause the price of molybdenum to rise significantly in 2011, and lift share prices of primary producers. China moves to secure molybdenum resources China has been a net buyer of molybdenum for the year, importing over 5.5 million pounds of the strategic metal used to harden steel. China produced about 160 million pounds of molybdenum in 2009. This year, analysts expect Chinese molybdenum to increase nearly 20% to 190 million pounds. Despite being the world’s largest supplier, China may be forced to continue importing molybdenum in 2011. The country’s recent economic stimulus package — which focuses on infrastructure — will continue to require a large supply of molybdenum for high-strength steel to be used in bridges, power plants, and pipelines. This will continue to have a significant impact on global molybdenum supplies. And China has already recognized the importance of securing molybdenum resources… Last month, the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources reported it was planning to set up strategic reserves for 10 metals — including molybdenum and rare earth metals. The Chinese government recently showed its commitment to helping the domestic market secure molybdenum supplies. Just a few months ago, the gov’t accelerated a financing approval for Hanlong Investments, a privately-owned Chinese company, to fund the development of General Moly’s (AMEX: GMO ) Mt. Hope project. General Moly (AMEX: GMO) Hanlong Investments will purchase 25% of General Moly for $80 million and procure a $665 million loan from a Chinese bank. The total funding from the Hanlong transaction is anticipated to fund all remaining capital requirements for Mt. Hope, currently the largest and highest-grade primary molybdenum project in development. Primary producers like General Moly and Thompson Creek Metals (TSX: TCM ) will receive a premium because molybdenum is usually a
Cameron International (CAM): Rising Demand for Subsea Safety Systems
Filed under: International Markets , Newsletters , Commodities , Oil , Stocks to Buy “The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is likely to have positive ramifications for Cameron International ( CAM ),” says energy sector specialist Elliott Gue . The editor of The Energy Strategist explains, “The political fallout could usher in stringent regulations governing blowout preventers (BOP), subsea equipment and redundant safety systems on rigs. “Such an outcome would be consistent with past experience in the energy industry. After the Exxon Valdez spill, the government pushed oil companies to use double-hull tankers and phase out single hulls. Continue reading Cameron International (CAM): Rising Demand for Subsea Safety Systems Cameron International (CAM): Rising Demand for Subsea Safety Systems originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments
Netflix Hits $203… Sets Sights on $210
When Netflix hit a high of $145, we knew $200 wouldn’t be far behind… So, in August 2010, we recommended that Options readers buy the December 200 calls around $5, telling readers: “It looks like Netflix just broke above the channel… and could be headed higher. Considering future growth, an $8 billion market cap is nothing. We could see $10… even $20 billion when all is said and done with this stock. Plus, with the momentum crowd jumping in, and quickly churning that float, there’s no telling how high this can run.” And we were right… as readers cash out with close to 200% gains months later. But the NFLX run, we believe, is just getting started. It’s why we also recommended that readers buy the January 2011 230 calls yesterday. It’s already up about 100% in a day. And you wouldn’t believe how much money readers are making from our other options positions… Heck, they just took a one-week gain of about 60% on SLV calls. Netflix Hits $203… Sets Sights on $210 originally appeared in Wealth Daily . Wealth Daily is a free daily newsletter featuring contrarian investment insights and commentary.
Ben Graham Techs? A Trio of Low P/E-to-Book Value Buys
Filed under: Newsletters , Stocks to Buy “Quality companies with low price-to-book value ratios (P/BV) have outperformed companies with higher valuations for the past three-, five- and 10-year periods,” says J. Royden Ward . The editor of the Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter explains, “Our search for undervalued companies to with price to book value ratios found three stocks in tech-related sectors: Kyocera ( KYO ), PC Connection ( PCCC ), and Thermo Fisher Scientific ( TMO ). “To find the best stocks with low price-to-book value ratios, we required Value Line Financial Strength ratings of A or better, dividend payments increasing over time, low P/E ratios and good earnings prospects for the next 12-month and five-year periods. Continue reading Ben Graham Techs? A Trio of Low P/E-to-Book Value Buys Ben Graham Techs? A Trio of Low P/E-to-Book Value Buys originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments
Yamana (NYSE:AUY) in New Discoveries at Mercedes, Pilar Mines
Two new discoveries at its Mercedes project in Mexico and its Pilar project in Brazil could result in higher production than originally estimated by Yamana (NYSE:AUY). Yamana said they found a significant amount of new resources at Mercedes silver and gold project, which is scheduled to begin production in 2012. At their Pilar project, the new discoveries are expected to extend the life of the
BP (NYSE:BP) Must Wait for Devon (NYSE:DVN) Oil Block Decision from Brazil
The state oil director of Brazil, ANP, told BP (NYSE:BP) they’ll have to wait until 2011 before they decide on whether or not to allow them to go ahead with a proposed acquisition of offshore oil blocks from Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN). ANP said they want to get more clarity on the plans of BP for the oil blocks before they make the decision. Also of concern was a requirement for more information
