newmont mining

Most precious metals stocks dropped when gold fell to $1,200 U.S. an ounce and silver declined to $18.50 U.S. an ounce in June 2013. Both metals have rebounded somewhat lately, with gold now at $1,371 and silver at $22.92. Here are two low-fee exchange traded funds that offer global gold and silver miners....

Most precious metals stocks dropped when gold fell to $1,200 U.S. an ounce and silver declined to $18.50 U.S. an ounce in June 2013. Both metals have rebounded somewhat lately, with gold rising to $1,394 and silver to $23.55.

Gold and silver could well regain their early 2011 highs ($1,900 for gold and $48.48 for silver) and move up even further in the longer term, but they will likely remain volatile....

BCE INC. $44.58 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 775.9 million; Market cap: $34.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Yield: 5.2%; www.bce.ca) has gained in response to U.S.-based Verizon Communications’ (New York symbol VZ) announcement that it will not enter the Canadian wireless market right now (see box below).

BCE is Canada’s second-largest wireless carrier, with 7.72 million subscribers....

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $31 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 497.7 million; Market cap: $15.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newmont.com) has written down the value of its gold inventories, as well as two of its gold mines in Australia, by $1.8 billion....

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $31 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 497.7 million; Market cap: $15.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newmont.com) has written down the value of its gold inventories, as well as two of its gold mines in Australia, by $1.8 billion. That’s because gold prices have dropped 21%, from around $1,800 an ounce in October 2012 to $1,420 today.

The company links its dividend to gold prices, so it has also cut the quarterly payout by 28.6%, to $0.25 a share from $0.35. The new annual rate of $1.00 yields 3.2%.

Newmont is still a hold.

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NEWMONT MINING $29.02 (New York symbol NEM; Shares outstanding: 492.3 million; Market cap: $14.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.8%; www.newmont.com) gets 90% of its revenue from gold mines in the U.S., Australia and Peru. Copper, zinc and other metals supply the remaining 10%.

Gold is down 33%, from $1,800 an ounce in September 2012 to $1,204 today. That’s partly because the U.S. Federal Reserve has indicated that it will soon scale back its bond-purchasing program, known as quantitative easing. Slowing growth in the money supply will reduce the likelihood of a sharp increase in inflation. Many investors buy gold as a hedge against inflation.

In response, Newmont is cutting jobs and postponing building new mines. The company also links its dividend to the price of gold, so it has lowered its quarterly payout by 17.6%, to $0.35 a share from $0.425, for a 4.8% yield. Further dividend cuts seem likely, particularly if gold prices continue to fall.
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ALCOA INC., $8.10, New York symbol AA, is closing smelters and cutting costs in response to declining aluminum prices. It also continues to expand its more profitable engineered-products business, which makes wings, fasteners and other components for the aerospace and automotive industries. In the three months ended June 30, 2013, Alcoa lost $119 million, or $0.11 a share. That’s much worse than the $2 million, or nil per share, it lost a year earlier. If you exclude plant-closure costs and other unusual items, Alcoa’s earnings per share would have risen 16.7%, to $0.07 from $0.06. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.06 a share....

NEWMONT MINING $29.02 (New York symbol NEM; Shares outstanding: 492.3 million; Market cap: $14.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.8%; www.newmont.com) gets 90% of its revenue from gold mines in the U.S., Australia and Peru. Copper, zinc and other metals supply the remaining 10%.

Gold is down 33%, from $1,800 an ounce in September 2012 to $1,204 today....

CONAGRA FOODS INC., $34.93, New York symbol CAG, rose 5% this week after it reported better-than-expected earnings. In its 2013 fiscal year, which ended May 26, 2013, ConAgra earned $773.9 million, or $1.85 a share. That’s up 65.4% from $467.9 million, or $1.12 a share, in 2012. These gains are mainly due to Ralcorp Holdings, the largest maker of private label food in the U.S., which ConAgra recently bought for $4.75 billion. If you disregard costs to integrate this purchase and other unusual items, ConAgra’s earnings would have risen 17.4%, to $2.16 a share from $1.84. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $2.15 a share....

ISHARES S&P/TSX GLOBAL GOLD INDEX FUND $12.91 (Toronto symbol XGD; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) aims to mirror the performance of the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index.

This index is made up of 54 gold stocks from Canada and around the world. The fund’s MER is 0.60%. iShares S&P/TSX Global Gold Index Fund began trading on March 23, 2001.

The fund’s top 10 holdings are Goldcorp at 13.1%; Barrick Gold, 13.8%; Newmont Mining, 11.3%; Yamana Gold, 5.8%; Kinross, 4.9%; Randgold Resources (ADR), 4.8%; AngloGold Ashanti (ADR), 4.6%; Franco Nevada, 4.1%, Eldorado Gold, 3.8%; and Agnico-Eagle Mines, 3.7%.
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