newmont mining

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $36 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 530.5 million; Market cap: $19.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 0.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newmont.com) is one of the world’s largest gold and copper producers, with major mines in the U.S., Peru, Suriname, Australia, Ghana and Indonesia.

Gold peaked at just over $1,900 an ounce in 2011, but fell to around $1,050 in 2015....

In response to lower prices for oil, minerals and other commodities, these three industry leaders have aggressively cut their operating costs. They’re also unloading less-important properties.

These actions have put the companies in a strong position to spur their long-term earnings when commodity prices recover....

The price of gold shot up from a low of $1,050 U.S. per ounce last December, to a recent high above $1,300. A rise like that attracts investors, who may believe further gains lie ahead. They are more likely to buy if newsworthy investors think gold is a buy.

One current gold enthusiast is celebrity investor George Soros....

ISHARES S&P/TSX GLOBAL GOLD INDEX FUND $13.31 (Toronto symbol XGD; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) aims to mirror the performance of the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index, which is made up of 35 gold stocks from Canada and around the world. The ETF began trading on March 23, 2001. Its MER is 0.61%. The fund’s top holdings are Barrick Gold at 14.6%; Newmont Mining, 12.4%; Goldcorp, 11.2%; Franco-Nevada, 8.7%; Agnico-Eagle Mines, 6.8%; Randgold Resources (ADR), 6.2%; Kinross Gold, 4.5%; and AngloGold Ashanti (ADR), 4.4%. iShares S&P/TSX Global Gold Index is a hold.

In 2011, gold shot up to a high of $1,950 U.S. an ounce, and silver reached a peak of $48.48. Gold prices then fell steadily, dropping to $1,050 in December 2015 for the first time since early 2010. That month, silver also declined to a five-year low of $13.65 an ounce. Each metal has since moved up to today’s price of $1,279 for gold and $17.35 for silver. The gains largely reflect higher commodity prices overall as well as the belief that slow global economic growth will keep interest rates low. That raises the prospect of higher inflation. ...

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $32 (www.newmont.com) earned $0.34 a share in the first quarter of 2016, down 26.1% from $0.46 a year earlier. Higher gold and copper production pushed up its operating costs and offset a 3.0% rise in revenue, to $2.03 billion from $1.97 billion....

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $32 (www.newmont.com) earned $0.34 a share in the first quarter of 2016, down 26.1% from $0.46 a year earlier. Higher gold and copper production pushed up its operating costs and offset a 3.0% rise in revenue, to $2.03 billion from $1.97 billion....

Goldcorp has sold assets and cut its production and dividend to preserve cash until gold prices rebound

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $27 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 529.2 million; Market cap: $14.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.newmont.com) has sold its 19.45% stake in Australian gold mining firm Regis Resources for $182 million. This sale is part of Newmont’s plan to sell less important assets, and use the proceeds to pay down its debt. Since 2013, it has sold $1.9 billion of assets. Newmont cut its long-term debt in 2015 by 6.1%, to $6.1 billion. That’s still a high 43% of its market cap. Newmont is a hold.

GENERAL MILLS INC. $61 (New York symbol GIS, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 593.4 million; Market cap: $36.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.generalmills.com) plans to change the labels on its packaged food products to indicate if they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). That’s mainly to comply with new GMO-labelling rules in Vermont. They take effect in July 2016. The change will also help the company prepare for the likelihood of new national labelling standards. General Mills is currently phasing out GMO versions of oats in its cereals. However, it will continue to use GMO crops for other products. That’s because they use corn and wheat, and finding sufficient supplies of non-GMO versions would be difficult....