copper prices

GLOBAL X COPPER MINERS ETF $10.23 (New York symbol COPX; buy or sell through brokers; www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive Global Copper Miners Index, which includes between 20 and 40 international companies that mine, refine or explore for copper. Germanybased Structured Solutions AG created this index.

Canadian companies make up 48.3% of the fund’s holdings....

We think conservative investors could hold up to 10% of their portfolios in foreign stocks. One way to do that is to buy carefully chosen exchange traded funds (ETFs) that have an overseas focus.

The best ETFs offer very low management fees and well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of high quality stocks.

Here are six international ETFs we like:

ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $10.60 (New York Exchange symbol EWJ; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an exchange traded fund that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan index.

The ETF’s top holdings include Toyota, 6.6%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 3.0%; Honda Motor, 2.5%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.1%; Softbank Corp., 1.9%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.8%; Canon, 1.6%; Japan Tobacco, 1.5%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.4%; and Hitachi, 1.3%.

The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Consumer Discretionary, 21.8%; Financials, 20.1%; Industrials, 18.9%; Information Technology, 10.7%; Consumer Staples, 6.5%; Health Care, 6.2%; Materials, 6.2%; Telecommunication Services, 4.7%; Utilities, 3.1%; and Energy, 1.3%.

iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund was launched on March 12, 1996....

BIRCHCLIFF ENERGY INC., $8.48, symbol BIR on Toronto, develops, produces and explores for oil and natural gas, mainly in the Peace River Arch area near the Alberta/B.C. border. In the three months ended March 31, 2013, the company produced an average of 26,108 barrels of oil equivalent a day (82% gas and 18% oil). That was up 24.0% from 21,061 barrels a year earlier. The production increase pushed up Birchcliff’s cash flow per share by 33.3%, to $0.28 from $0.21. Last year, Birchcliff completed Phase III of its gas plant expansion in Pouce Coupe, Alberta. This project doubled the facility’s capacity and is helping the company bring the additional gas it is producing to market. That accounted for a lot of the production increase....

INTACT FINANCIAL CORP., $62.25, symbol IFC on Toronto, dropped about 4% this week on reports that Ontario’s minority Liberal party government may vote in support of an NDP motion calling for a 15% reduction in auto insurance premiums. The vote would be in exchange for NDP support on the next provincial budget, which would avoid triggering an election. The NDP points to premiums charged by insurers rising in 2011 even after the Ontario government introduced reforms in 2010 that lowered benefits for drivers and cut payouts on auto accident claims. Intact has enjoyed improved profits from its Ontario auto insurance business since the reforms were put in place, so it has some room to accommodate a rate reduction. And at the same time, the Liberals and NDP may work out a compromise, such as pushing insurers to lower premiums in exchange for the government doing more to combat fraud and clear a backlog of unresolved disputes between insurers and claimants....

Taseko Mines, $2.83, symbol TKO on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 191.1 million; Market cap: $542.7 million; www.tasekomines.com), owns 75% of the Gibraltar copper-molybdenum mine in British Columbia. The company was also advancing its large, 100%-owned Prosperity copper-gold project in central B.C. toward production. However, on November 2, 2010, the federal government said it would block Prosperity because it would damage an environmentally pristine area. The decision was a surprise, given that the provincial government had already approved Prosperity. Taseko has now submitted a new environmental impact statement for Prosperity, but a new ruling could take some time. Taseko’s share price now mostly reflects the value of the Gibraltar mine, with only a small chance of a positive future decision on Prosperity. The stock now trades at 5.5 times this year’s forecast cash flow of $0.51 a share. There is also some room for expansion of the Gibraltar mine....

GLOBAL X COPPER MINERS ETF $13.59(New York symbol COPX; buy or sell through brokers;www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive GlobalCopper Miners Index, which includes between20 and 40 international companies that mine,refine or explore for copper. Germany-basedStructured Solutions AG created this index.

Canadian companies make up 43.3% of thefund’s holdings. It also includes companiesbased in Australia (7.9%), Poland (6.5%), Peru(5.6%) and the U.S. (5.4%). Global X CopperMiners ETF’s MER is 0.65%.

Its top 10 holdings are Inmet Mining at 6.9%;KGHM Polska Miedz, 5.6%; Grupo Mexico,5.2%; Xstrata, 5.0%; Antofagasta plc, 5.0%;Southern Copper Corporation, 4.8%; Kazakhmys,4.8%; Jiangxi Copper Company, 4.8%;Hudbay Minerals, 4.8%; and Vendanta Resources,4.7%.
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GLOBAL X COPPER MINERS ETF $13.59(New York symbol COPX; buy or sell through brokers;www.globalxfunds.com) tracks the Solactive GlobalCopper Miners Index, which includes between20 and 40 international companies that mine,refine or explore for copper. Germany-basedStructured Solutions AG created this index.

Canadian companies make up 43.3% of thefund’s holdings....

Pat McKeough responds to many personal questions about specific stocks and other investment topics from the members of his Inner Circle. Every week, his comments and recommendations on the most intriguing questions of the past week go out to all Inner Circle members. And each week, we offer you one of the highlights from these Q&A sessions. While we reserve our buy-hold-sell advice for Inner Circle members, these excerpts provide a great deal of information and analysis on stocks we’ve covered for members of Pat’s Inner Circle. This week, one Inner Circle member asked about one of the Canadian copper stocks operating in South America. This firm is developing a large copper, gold and silver project. But it’s in Peru, so Pat takes a close look at the additional political risk that faces mining stocks in that country....

TECK RESOURCES LTD. $34 (Toronto symbol TCK.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 586.0 million; Market cap: $19.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.teck.com) produced 6.3 million tonnes of metallurgical coal in the third quarter of 2012, up 6.2% from 6.0 million tonnes a year earlier. Copper production jumped 28.6%, to 99,000 tonnes from 77,000, thanks to Teck’s recent expansion projects.

However, slowing growth in China and India cut coal prices by 32.5% from a year earlier. Copper prices fell 14.0%. That’s why Teck’s earnings declined 53.0% in the quarter, to $349 million or $0.60 a share. A year earlier, it earned $742 million, or $1.26. Cash flow per share fell 42.7%, to $1.26 from $2.20. Revenue declined 25.9%, to $2.5 billion from $3.4 billion.

The company will probably lower its production in response to the weaker demand. It also aims to cut $200 million from its annual costs, mainly by making its rail shipments more efficient.

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Candente Copper, $0.32, symbol DNT on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 121.9 million; Market cap: $39.0 million; www.candentecopper.com), is developing the Canariaco Norte copper/gold/silver project in northern Peru. The deposit holds as much as 8.9 billion pounds of copper, 2 million ounces of gold and 53 million ounces of silver. Candente handed out shares of Cobriza Metals (Toronto symbol CZA) to its shareholders in October 2011. Cobriza holds all of Candente’s properties in Peru except for Canariaco Norte. The company holds cash of $14.4 million U.S. That’s enough to complete its feasibility study on the financial viability of a mine. Candente expects to complete this study in mid-2013. If it decides to go ahead, it will need to find a major partner because it will cost over $1.6 billion to develop a mine at the site....