Chevron Corp.
New York symbol CVX, is the second-largest integrated oil company in the United States after ExxonMobil. Production accounts for about 80% of its earnings. The remaining 20% comes from refineries and retail gas stations.
UNITED CORPORATIONS $55.40 (Toronto symbol: UNC) (165 University Ave., 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5H 3B8. 416-947-2583. Buy or sell through a broker) invests in a wide variety of average-quality to above-average quality Canadian and foreign stocks. At last report, 36% of the fund’s $970.9 million portfolio was invested in Canadian equities, 25.9% in the U.S., 18.5% in Europe, 7% in the UK and 10.8% in Asia. The fund’s largest holdings included Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada, Manulife, Talisman Energy, Algoma Central Corporation, Shell Canada, TransCanada Corporation, Altria Group, TD Bank and Chevron....
ALCOA INC. $35.99, New York symbol AA, aims to sell or spin-off its consumer aluminum products business, best known for Reynolds Wrap, by the end of 2007. It will also sell two of its smaller automotive parts operations. These businesses account for 16% of Alcoa’s total revenue, but only 3% of its earnings. These operations have less profit potential than Alcoa’s core aluminum production operations, so selling them makes sense. This will make Alcoa more sensitive to world aluminum markets, but aluminum demand and prices will probably remain high for at least the next several years. Alcoa is a buy....