copper prices

TECK RESOURCES LTD. $25 (Toronto symbol TCK.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 576.2 million; Market cap: $14.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.teck.com) is a leading producer of metallurgical coal, a key ingredient in steelmaking. Its six coal mines (five in B.C. and one in Alberta) have lifespans from six to 70 years. The company sells most of its coal to customers in Asia. In 2013, coal accounted for 43% of Teck’s revenue and 41% of its earnings. Teck also produces copper (30%, 41%), which manufacturers use to make electrical wire, auto parts and components for electronic devices. As well, Teck is a major supplier of zinc (27%, 18%), which prevents rusting when added to steel....

GLOBAL X COPPER MINERS ETF $10.03 (New York symbol COPX; buy or sell through brokers; www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive Global Copper Miners Index, which includes 20 to 40 international companies that mine, refine or explore for copper. Germany-based Structured Solutions AG created this index.

Canadian firms make up 41.4% of the fund’s holdings. It also includes companies based in Australia (14.8%), Poland (4.5%), Peru (5.1%) and Mexico (5.0%). Global X Copper Miners ETF’s MER is 0.65%.

Its top holdings are Panaust Ltd. at 6.0%; Vedanta Resources, 5.4%; Oz Minerals, 5.2%; First Quantum Minerals, 5.0%; Imperial Metals, 4.9%; Hudbay Minerals, 4.9%; Kazakhmys, 4.9%; Lundin Mining, 4.9%; Grupo Mexico, 4.7%; Freeport Copper, 4.6%; and Glencore International, 4.6%.

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GLOBAL X COPPER MINERS ETF $10.03 (New York symbol COPX; buy or sell through brokers; www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive Global Copper Miners Index, which includes 20 to 40 international companies that mine, refine or explore for copper....

ISHARES MSCI CHILE INVESTABLE MARKET INDEX FUND $46.03 (New York Exchange symbol ECH; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that aims to track the MSCI Chile Investable Market Index, which consists of stocks that mainly trade on the Santiago Stock Exchange.

The fund’s top holdings are S.A.C.I. Falabella (retail), 9.0%; Enersis SA (electricity), 8.8%; Empresas Copec SA (conglomerate), 8.5%; LATAM Airlines, 6.9%; Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (electricity), 6.7%; Cencosud SA (retailer), 5.2%; Banco Santander Chile (banking), 4.7%; Quimica y Minera de Chile (mining), 4.5%; Banco de Chile, 4.4%; and Empresas CMPC (pulp and paper), 4.0%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is: Utilities, 25.0%; Financials, 17.3%; Materials, 13.7%; Consumer Discretionary, 10.6%; Industrials, 9.9%; Consumer Staples, 9.9%; Energy, 8.5%; Telecommunications, 2.4%; and Information Technology, 2.0%.

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NEWMONT MINING $24.83 (New York symbol NEM; Shares outstanding: 497.9 million; Market cap: $12.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 0.4%; www.newmont.com) has broken off merger talks with Barrick Gold (Toronto symbol ABX) amid reports of personality conflicts and a failure to agree on key issues such as the location of a new head office and who would lead the combined company. Both Newmont and Barrick have large mining operations in Nevada, so a merger would have let them significantly cut their operating costs. That would have helped the combined firm cope with lower gold prices. Due to weak gold and copper prices, Newmont’s earnings fell 69.4% in the first quarter of 2014, to $108 million, or $0.22 a share. A year earlier, it earned $353 million, or $0.70 a share. Revenue declined 19.4%, to $1.8 billion from $2.2 billion....

AURICO GOLD (Toronto symbol AUQ; www.auricogold.com) operates the El Chanate gold mine in Mexico, which produced 71,864 ounces in 2013. The company’s Young-Davidson gold mine in Northern Ontario reached full production in 2013, with total output of 120,738 ounces. The project’s output should rise to over 152,000 ounces this year....

APPLE INC., $571.94, Nasdaq symbol AAPL, rose 9% this week after it announced several moves to enhance its investment appeal. These initiatives include raising its quarterly dividend by 7.9%, to $3.29 a share from $3.05. The new annual rate of $13.16 yields 2.3%. Apple also increased its share buyback program by $30 billion. It can now repurchase up to $90 billion worth of its stock by the end of 2015. That’s equal to 18% of its $492.9-billion market cap. Apple will also split its outstanding shares on a 7-for-1 basis in June 2014. In addition to making its shares more affordable, the split would make Apple a candidate for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. If Apple does join the widely followed Dow, mutual funds and exchange traded funds that mimic the index would have to buy the stock, which would push up the share price....

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD., $171.19, Toronto symbol CP, reported better-than-expected earnings this week, despite harsh winter weather that cut shipping volumes and slowed deliveries. In the three months ended March 31, 2014, CP’s earnings rose 17.1%, to $254 million from $217 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings increased at a slower pace of 16.1%, to $1.44 from $1.24, on more shares outstanding. That beat the consensus estimate of $1.41. Revenue rose 0.9%, to $1.51 billion from $1.50 billion. That’s mainly due to higher revenue from shipping consumer and industrial products (up 10.8%) and grain (up 4.1%). These gains offset declines in major areas like fertilizers (down 11.8%), automotive products (down 9.3%), forest products (down 9.4%) and coal (down 0.7%)....

AURICO GOLD $4.64 (Toronto symbol AUQ; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (604-681-2802; www.auricogold.com; Shares outstanding: 248.0 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Dividend yield: 3.5%) operates the El Chanate gold mine in Mexico, which produced 71,864 ounces in 2013. The company’s Young-Davidson gold mine in Northern Ontario reached full production in 2013, with total output of 120,738 ounces. The project’s output should rise to over 152,000 ounces this year. In the three months ended December 31, 2013, the company’s revenue fell 19.5%, to $50.8 million from $63.1 million a year earlier. Cash flow declined to $0.07 from $0.11. Higher gold production was more than offset by lower prices....