copper prices

NEWMONT MINING $55.71 (New York symbol NEM; Shares outstanding: 483.5 million; Market cap: $26.9 billion; SI Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 0.7%) reports that its cash flow per share rose 69.4% in the three months ended March 31, 2010, to $1.83 from $1.08 a year earlier (all figures in U.S. dollars). Revenue rose 46%, to $2.2 billion from $1.5 billion. Results rose on higher gold and copper prices. Newmont sold gold for $1,106 an ounce, up 22.1% from $906. Copper selling prices rose 97%, to $3.33 a pound from $1.69. Gold could well move higher over the longer term, although it will likely remain volatile. Higher gold would arise from investor fears that low interest rates and government stimulus spending will spur inflation. A continuing European debt crisis would just add to gold’s rise....

TECK RESOURCES LTD., $43.77, Toronto symbol TCK.B, earned a record $908 million in the three months ended March 31, 2010. That’s up 276.8% from $241 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 206.0%, to $1.53 from $0.50, on more shares outstanding. One-time items, including the sale of two gold mines in Turkey and a one-third interest in a B.C. hydroelectric dam, boosted the company’s earnings in the latest quarter. Without one-time items, Teck’s earnings would have fallen 4.2%, to $205 million from $214 million. Teck’s cash flow per share fell 42.5%, to $0.70 from $1.22. However, its revenue rose 13.8%, to $1.9 billion from $1.7 billion, largely because of rising copper prices....

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have gained popularity in recent years, mainly because many ETFs offer very low management fees. In addition to low fees, the best ETFs offer well-diversified, highly tax-efficient portfolios. However, quality varies. The investment industry has created all sorts of ETFs. All too many exist to tap into popular, but risky, themes and fads, so you need to be highly selective with your ETF holdings. Here are five foreign ETFs we like:...

NovaGold Resources Inc., $7.56, symbol NG on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 220.2 million; Market cap: $1.7 billion) and its partner, Teck Resources, suspended development of the Galore Creek copper/gold project in northwestern British Columbia in 2007. That’s when the two companies concluded that the project would cost $5 billion to complete. That’s more than double an earlier estimate of $2.2 billion. The companies are now undertaking a new study of construction and production costs, and expect to have a new estimate in early 2011. Galore holds as much as 12.9 billion pounds of copper, 12.2 million ounces of gold and 203 million ounces of silver. NovaGold also owns 50% of the Donlin Creek gold project in Alaska. Barrick Gold owns the other 50%. The partners recently updated their estimate of the project’s gold reserves. According to the new estimate, NovaGold’s stake would give it 21.1 million ounces of Donlin Creek’s gold. The partners are now in the pre-permitting stage, and aim to build a mine that will produce more than one million ounces of gold annually over more than 25 years....

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $50 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 491.0 million; Market cap: $24.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.3; Dividend yield: 0.8%; WSSF Rating: Average) is one of the world’s largest gold-mining companies. It has major mines in the U.S., Australia and Peru. Gold accounts for about 85% of Newmont’s revenue. The remaining 15% comes from copper, zinc and other metals. Most of Newmont’s copper comes from its 35.4% stake in the large Batu Hijau mining complex in Indonesia. Average gold prices rose 248.4%, from $279 an ounce in 2000 to $972 in 2009. Gold has fallen from the all-time high of $1,214.80 an ounce that it reached in late 2009, and now trades around $1,093....

QUAKER CHEMICAL CORP., $25.19, New York symbol KWR, makes lubricants and specialty chemicals that protect machinery from corrosion. The stock rose 26% this week after the company reported 2009 earnings that were much higher than expected. Quaker earned $16.2 million in 2009. That’s up 45.7% from $11.1 million the previous year. Earnings per share rose 40.0%, to $1.47 from $1.05, on more shares outstanding. Both years included costs related to Quaker’s restructuring plan, which included a 10% cut to the company’s workforce. As well, Quaker’s former chief executive officer retired in October 2008 and entered into a three-year consulting contract with the company. That cost Quaker $3.5 million in 2008 and $2.4 million in 2009. It will pay a further $1.3 million this year....

TORSTAR CORP., $9.03, Toronto symbol TS.B, rose 40% this week. That’s because the company reported greatly improved results. In 2009, Torstar earned $35.6 million, or $0.45 a share. That’s a big improvement over the $158.7 million, or $2.01 a share, it lost in 2008. However, the 2008 results included a $136.9-million writedown of Torstar’s 20% stake in CTVglobemedia, which owns the CTV television network, several specialty-TV channels and The Globe and Mail. If you exclude all unusual items, per-share earnings fell 4.3%, to $0.66 from $0.69. That beat the consensus earnings estimate of $0.64 a share. Torstar’s 2009 revenue fell 5.4%, to $1.45 billion from $1.53 billion. Revenue at the newspaper division (which accounts for 66% of Torstar’s total revenue) fell 9.7%. However, revenue at the Harlequin book-publishing division (34% of revenue) rose 4.3%....

NEWMONT MINING $51.94 (New York symbol NEM; Shares outstanding: 483.0 million; Market cap: $25.1 billion; SI Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 0.8%) reports that its 2009 earnings jumped 71.6%, to $1.4 billion from $792.0 million in 2008. The company sold common shares to raise funds to buy the one-third of the Boddington gold mine in Australia that it didn’t already own. Because of the extra shares outstanding, per-share earnings rose 60.3%, to $2.79 from $1.74. Cash flow per share rose 45.0%, to $6.45 from $4.45. Revenue rose 25.8%, to $7.7 billion from $6.1 billion. Results rose on higher gold and copper prices. Newmont sold its gold for $977 an ounce in 2009. That’s up 11.8% from $874 in 2008. The company feels that gold prices could rise to $1,350 an ounce this year. Newmont has also done a good job of cutting its production costs. Its unit production cost fell 4% for gold and 54% for copper....

NEWMONT MINING CORP, $49.28, New York symbol NEM, rose 2% this week after the company reported 2009 earnings that beat the $2.41 a share that analysts were expecting. Newmont’s 2009 earnings jumped 71.6%, to $1.4 billion from $792.0 million in 2008. The company sold common shares to raise funds to buy the one-third of the Boddington gold mine in Australia that it didn’t already own. Because of the extra shares outstanding, per-share earnings rose 60.3%, to $2.79 from $1.74. Cash flow per share rose 45.0%, to $6.45 from $4.45. Revenue rose 25.8%, to $7.7 billion from $6.1 billion. Higher gold and copper prices were the main reason for the improved results. Newmont sold its gold for an average of $977 an ounce in 2009. That’s up 11.8% from $874 in 2008....

Copper Mountain Mining, $2.32, symbol CUM on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 77.3 million; Market cap: $178.6 million), owns 75% of the Copper Mountain project in B.C. The company’s stake in this project is its main asset. Mitsubishi Group of Japan owns the remaining 25%. Mitsubishi plans to finish a mine on the site by April 2011. So far, the mine is on schedule and on budget. To date, the company has spent $285 million out of a planned $438 million on the project. The mine is expected to reach full production by June 2011. Copper Mountain is okay for aggressive investors to hold....