Friday's trading session saw a halt in trading of two major precious-metals companies on news that the Chilean government was shutting down operations at the Pascua Lama mine. Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX ) , which operates the mine, was halted first, with joint-venture partner Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW ) halted a few minutes later. The mine, which Barrick has already spent more than $5 billion developing, represents one of the largest resources for gold and silver in the world.
The bigger question that Friday's events raise is whether precious-metals companies are becoming cheap or dangerous at current levels. Barrick is down about 40% this year, and while others such as Goldcorp (NYSE: GG ) and Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM ) are down less, they have still slid by roughly 20% each. Gold as a commodity is down more than 17% this year, as represented by the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEMKT: GLD ) . In addition, global macroeconomic events are aligning to make the future direction of precious metals very uncertain, at the very least increasing the volatility and risk associated with these types of investments.
Hot Industrial Disributor Stocks To Buy Right Now: Aegon NV(AEG)
AEGON N.V. provides life insurance, pensions, and asset management products and services worldwide. The company?s life insurance products include traditional, term, universal, whole, and other life insurance products sold as part of defined benefit pension plans, endowment policies, post-retirement annuity products, and group risk products; supplemental health insurance products comprise accidental death, other injury, critical illness, hospital indemnity, medicare supplement, and student health; specialty lines consists of travel, membership, and creditor products; and long term care insurance products for policyholders who require care due to a chronic illness or cognitive impairment. It also offers a range of savings and retirement products and services, including mutual funds, and fixed and variable annuities, savings accounts and investment contracts, segregated funds, guaranteed investment accounts, and single premium immediate annuities, as well as investment advice to individuals. In addition, the company offers employer solutions and pensions, such as retirement plans, pension plans, and pension-related products and services; investment products, including onshore and offshore bonds, and trusts; reinsurance products and solutions to life insurance and financial services companies; general insurance products comprising house, car, and fire insurance; and asset management products and services, including general account assets, unit-linked funds, and third party activities. AEGON N.V. markets its products through independent and career agents, financial planners, registered representatives, independent marketing organizations, banks, broker-dealers, benefit consulting firms, wirehouses, affinity groups, institutional partners, independent managing general agencies, and specialized financial advisors, as well as through online, direct, and worksite marketing. The company was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherl ands.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Will Ashworth]
Assuming it delivers on its outlook for 2014, its current free cash flow yield is a very enticing 20%. This isn�� a growth stock, but its brands still possess hidden value. As cheap stocks go, it�� very attractive.
Cheap Stocks to Buy: Aegon (AEG)It�� not often that you can buy a $19 billion market cap for under 10 bucks. Aegon�� a Dutch insurance company that�� had a rough ride over the past few years, and its stock�� suffered as a result. In the late ’90s AEG stock traded around $60 — it hasn�� been anywhere close since. However, it�� got some good assets that should bear fruit in the years to come. Aegon has 12,000 employees in the Americas doing business primarily under the Transamerica brand, which has been a part of AEG since 1999.
Hot Cheap Companies To Own In Right Now: Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.(FCX)
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. engages in the exploration, mining, and production of mineral resources. The company primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and cobalt. It holds interests in various properties, located in North and South America; the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; and the Tenke Fungurume minerals district in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As of December 31, 2010, the company?s consolidated recoverable proven and probable reserves totaled 120.5 billion pounds of copper, 35.5 million ounces of gold, 3.39 billion pounds of molybdenum, 325.0 million ounces of silver, and 0.75 billion pounds of cobalt. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Matt DiLallo]
Shares of newly minted global resource company, Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX ) , are up over 3% after the company reported its second-quarter earnings. The company beat Wall Street's earnings estimate, though its revenue was a little light. Let's take a quick look at what went down in the quarter.
- [By Jayson Derrick]
Freeport McMoRan's (NYSE: FCX) union cancelled a planned one-month strike at its mine in Indonesia. Shares hit new 52-week lows of $27.72 before rebounding and closing the day at $28.50, up 1.50 percent.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Copper and gold miner�Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX ) announced yesterday its third-quarter dividend of $0.3125�per share, the same rate it's paid for the past five quarters.
Hot Cheap Companies To Own In Right Now: Capstone Turbine Corporation(CPST)
Capstone Turbine Corporation develops, manufactures, markets, and services turbine generator sets and related parts for use in stationary distributed power generation applications. Its stationary distributed power generation applications include cogeneration combined heat and power (CHP), integrated (CHP), resource recovery, and secure power, as well as combined cooling, heat, and power; and its products are used as battery charging generators for hybrid electric vehicle applications. The company primarily offers microturbine units, subassemblies, and components. It also provides various accessories, including rotary gas compressors with digital controls, heat recovery modules for CHP applications, dual mode controllers that allow automatic transition between grid connect and stand-alone modes, batteries with digital controls for stand-alone/dual-mode operations, power servers for multipacked installations, and protocol converters for Internet access, as well as frames, ex haust ducting, and installation hardware. Further, it remanufactures microturbine engines; and provides after-market parts and services, scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, and factory and on-site training services. The company?s microturbines can be fueled by various sources, including natural gas, propane, sour gas, landfill or digester gas, kerosene, diesel, and biodiesel. It primarily sells its products directly to end users, as well as through distributors in North America, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Russian Federation, and South America. Capstone Turbine Corporation was founded in 1988 and is based in Chatsworth, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Selena Maranjian]
Fisher reduced its stake in lots of companies, including Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ: CPST ) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK ) . Capstone is a smallish company, making low-emission microturbines used in power generation. Its top line has been growing by double digits over the past few years, and it's poised to profit from huge interest in shale oil, but it remains in the red. Still, it has recently announced a bunch of promising deals and some think the many folks short the stock will end up burned.
Hot Cheap Companies To Own In Right Now: UnitedHealth Group Incorporated(UNH)
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated provides healthcare services in the United States. Its Health Benefits segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services to national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; and non-employer based insurance options for purchase by individuals. It also provides health and well-being services for individuals aged 50 and older; and for services dealing with chronic disease and other specialized issues for older individuals, as well as health plans for the beneficiaries of acute and long-term care Medicaid plans. This segment offers its services through a network of 730,000 physicians and other health care professionals, and 5,300 hospitals. Its OptumHealth segment provides health, financial, and ancillary services and products that assist consumers through personalized health management solutions; benefit administration, and clinical and network management; health-based financi al services; behavioral solutions; and specialty benefits, such as dental, vision, life, critical illness, short-term disability, and stop-loss product offerings. The company?s Ingenix segment offers database and data management services, software products, publications, consulting and actuarial services, business process outsourcing services, and pharmaceutical data consulting and research services. Its Prescription Solutions segment provides integrated pharmacy benefit management services comprising retail network pharmacy contracting and management, claims processing, mail order pharmacy services, specialty pharmacy, benefit design consultation, rebate contracting and management, drug utilization review, formulary management programs, disease therapy management, and adherence programs to employer groups, union trusts, managed care organizations, Medicare-contracted plans, Medicaid plans, and third party administrators. The company was founded in 1974 and is based in Minne tonka, Minnesota.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
The big earnings winner is UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH ) , which has soared 5% after posting a 12% gain in revenue and about a 10% jump in earnings per share, along with boosting the lower end of its earnings guidance for the full year. UnitedHealth increased its count of policyholders by 3.2 million during the quarter, but the real test for the company will come when Obamacare's individual mandate takes effect at the beginning of 2014. If UnitedHealth can outpace its rivals in securing higher-margin customers, then the remaining question will be whether Obamacare reverses the recent trend toward reduced numbers of patients using medical services, which have helped insurers.
- [By Wallace Witkowski]
That�� just in time for a ramping up of earnings season. During the four-day trading week, which ends Thursday ahead of the Good Friday holiday, nine Dow components report quarterly results. Those Dow components include Coca-Cola Co. (KO) , Johnson & Johnson Inc. (JNJ) , and Intel (INTC) �on Tuesday; IBM (IBM) �and American Express Co. (AXP) �on Wednesday; with UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) , General Electric Co. (GE) , Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) , and DuPont (DD) �on Thursday.
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