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
Buenaventura
Dividend Stock Leaders for the Week of Feb.14-18 (WTW, FDO, CF, WMB, BVN, more)
Here are some of the biggest dividend stock winners and losers from the week that just ended. Company Fri. Close Weekly % Change Dividend Yield Weight Watchers International Inc ( WTW ) $64.72 +47.22% 1.08% Family Dollar Stores Inc. ( FDO ) $52.55 +19.00% 1.37% Valmont Industries Inc. ( VMI ) $110.26 +17.10% 0.60% Williams Companies Inc. (the) ( WMB ) $30.37 +12.52% 2.63% Compania Buenaventura S.A. ( BVN ) $44.84 +11.99% 1.34% Cimarex Energy Co ( XEC ) $114.62 +8.26% 0.28% Halliburton Company ( HAL ) $48.11 +7.77% 0.75% J.M. Smucker Company ( SJM ) $67.33 +7.33% 2.61% Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc ( DPS ) $36.41 +7.21% 2.75% Mosaic Company (the) ( MOS ) $83.02 -6.00% 0.24% Masco Corporation ( MAS ) $13.30 -6.14% 2.26% CF Industries Holdings Inc. ( CF ) $137.87 -8.29% 0.29% CenturyTel Inc. ( CTL ) $41.23 -8.58% 7.03% Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks , as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here .
Dividend Stock Leaders for the Week of Dec.6-10 (GE, BEC, COF, WLT, NSM, more)
Here are some of the biggest dividend stock winners and losers from the week that just ended. Company Fri. Close Weekly % Change Dividend Yield Arbitron Inc. ( ARB ) $38.47 +26.09% 1.04% Beckman Coulter Inc. ( BEC ) $72.08 +23.26% 1.00% Barnes & Noble Inc. ( BKS ) $15.08 +13.55% 6.63% Strayer Education Inc. ( STRA ) $154.07 +12.65% 2.60% Metlife Inc. ( MET ) $43.97 +9.54% 1.68% Capital One Financial Corporation ( COF ) $42.21 +8.90% 0.47% Walter Industries Inc. ( WLT ) $117.24 +6.08% 0.43% General Electric Company ( GE ) $17.72 +5.60% 3.16% 3M Company ( MMM ) $84.32 -3.01% 2.49% Compania Buenaventura S.A. ( BVN ) $49.98 -6.00% 1.20% National Semiconductor Corporation ( NSM ) $13.81 -6.50% 2.90% Men’s Wearhouse Inc. ( MW ) $24.88 -13.28% 1.45% Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks , as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here .
Market Wrap-Up for Aug.12 (EL, KSS, MA, GS, SPG, NEM, more)

I have been following some interesting tidbits about a plan (Automatic IRA) that a New Mexico senator has sponsored that would require all firms with 10 or more employees that don’t already offer a retirement plan to automatically enroll workers in an IRA. Workers who don’t wish to participate would need to take action to opt out or change the default contribution amount and investments. This is a great idea, but one that needs to have numerous choices for workers to consider investing in. If the deal options are limited, then the plan could end up being a total disaster. I am sure Wall Street will be in the middle of the action to make sure the bill is a win-win. That’s fine, let’s just not make it a resolution to appease the firms with the biggest lobbyists! As for today’s action, we saw the markets bounce off this morning’s early weakness, but we couldn’t turn the corner all the way, closing down for the third day in a row. The market couldn’t shake loose from the earnings disappointments out of Estee Lauder ( EL ) , Kohl’s ( KSS ) and tech heavyweight Cisco Systems ( CSCO ). Several names bucked the selling, including Potash Corp ( POT ) , MasterCard ( MA ) , and gold-mining plays like Newmont Mining ( NEM ) , Buenaventura ( BVN ) , and Agnico-Eagle Mines ( AEM ) . There was an upgrade out this morning that seemed a bit strange as Goldman Sachs ( GS ) decided to move Simon Property Group ( SPG ) on its “conviction buy” list. Not sure what the catalyst could be there, since the stock has had a big run and sports a rather small (for a REIT) 2.65% dividend yield. We have also been concerned about the aggressive “momentum-style” trading that we have witnessed in that sector. We are currently underweight in the REIT space, hoping to see historically higher dividend yields, or significant boosts in payouts. Be sure to check out our Best Dividend Stocks List for the dividend-payers we currently recommended putting new money into. Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks , as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here .
US Gold (AMEX:UXG), Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO), Compania de Minas Buenaventura (NYSE:BVN), New Gold (AMEX:NGD) Continue to Surge
Since the S&P 500 hit its high on April 23, gold mining stocks have been hot, and several have soared by double-digits during that time, including US Gold (AMEX:UXG), Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO), Compania de Minas Buenaventura (NYSE:BVN), and New Gold (AMEX: NGD), all of which are continuing to soar today, as gold resumes its upward price movement. Using the high on April 23 and the low on June 7
Newmont (NYSE:NEM), Buenaventura (NYSE:BVN) Investing in Minas Conga Project
Newmont (NYSE:NEM) and Buenaventura (NYSE:BVN) reportedly may invest up to $3 billion in the Minas Conga project, according to Buenaventura’s CEO Roque Benavides. Benavides estimates production could reach 450,000 ounces of gold at Minas Conga, and that’s referring to only direct operations. Newmont Mining owns 51.35 percent of Minas Conga, while Buenaventura owns 43.7 percent. Buenaventura