Newmont Corp.

BOEING CO., $108.63, New York symbol BA, fell 11% this week on news that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating how the company accounts for the development costs of its 747 and 787 jet airliners. Accounting rules let Boeing spread the huge upfront costs of designing and building new planes over several years, instead of recognizing these outlays when they occur. The SEC is looking into Boeing’s estimate of these costs, as well as its projected aircraft sales. If the company has to change these estimates, that could take it longer to recoup its development costs....

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, hitting a low of $1,050 in December 2015 for the first time since early 2010. The metal now trades at $1,143. Silver also declined to a five-year low of $13.65 an ounce in December 2015. It now trades at $14.68. Longer term, gold and silver could well regain their 2011 highs. This would simply reflect the vast inflationary expansion in the U.S. money supply since the 2008 financial crisis....

ISHARES S&P/TSX GLOBAL GOLD INDEX FUND $9.38 (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 14.3%; Newmont Mining, 13.1%; Goldcorp, 11.7%; Franco-Nevada, 8.6%; Randgold Resources (ADR), 8.1%; Agnico-Eagle Mines, 8.0%; AngloGold Ashanti (ADR), 4.2%; and Gold Fields (ADR), 2.9%. iShares S&P/TSX Global Gold Index is a hold.

IAMGold has mines in West Africa, Quebec and South America, but its most valuable asset in today’s weak gold market is its cash position.

NEWMONT MINING $18.56 (New York symbol NEM; Shares outstanding: 529.1 million; Market cap: $9.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 0.5%; www.newmont.com) has updated its long-term production goals and operating cost forecasts. The company expects its gold production to rise from 4.7 million to 5.1 million ounces in 2015 to between 5.2 million and 5.7 million ounces in 2017 as it opens new mines. It also recently acquired the Cripple Creek & Victor gold mine in Colorado for $820 million. Newmont’s annual output will likely fall to between 4.5 million and 5.0 million ounces from 2018 to 2020. However, the company could reverse that trend through acquisitions....

With a new U.S. mine boosting production, Newmont Mining adapts to lower gold and copper prices by focusing on quality and cost-cutting

The outlook for oil and other commodities remains weak, but we still feel that most investors should devote 10% to 15% of their portfolios to resource stocks. But only buy these or any stocks if you are prepared to hold them for at least the next several years. To further cut your risk, you should focus on companies with high-quality reserves, like the three we analyze below. All three are also reducing their costs, which puts them in a better position to profit when prices recover. However, not all of them are buys right now. CHEVRON CORP. $93 (New York symbol CVX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.9 billion; Market cap: $176.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 4.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.chevron.com) produced an average of 2.54 million barrels of oil a day (including natural gas) in the three months ended September 30, 2015. That’s down 1.1% from 2.57 million barrels a day a year earlier....

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $19 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 529.1 million; Market cap: $10.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 0.6%; 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. In August 2015, Newmont paid $821 million for the Cripple Creek & Victor mine in Colorado. This project will produce 350,000 to 400,000 ounces of gold a year once the company completes the mine’s current expansion in 2016. The Cripple Creek acquisition helped increase Newmont’s gold production by 16.1% in the three months ended September 30, 2015, to 1.34 million ounces from 1.15 million ounces a year earlier. Copper output surged 269.2% on higher ore grades at the Batu Hijau mine in Indonesia....

FORD MOTOR CO., $14.19, New York symbol F, reported lower-than-expected vehicle sales this week. In November 2015, the company sold 187,794 cars and trucks in the U.S., up 0.4% from 187,000 in November 2014. Ford offered fewer incentives to buyers, which is why the latest sales missed the consensus estimate of a 3.2% gain. Truck sales increased 18.3%, helping offset lower demand for cars (down 11.5%) and sport utility vehicles (down 9.6%)....

It’s easier to launch a promising company than to create a successful business. That’s why only a minority of penny stocks ever go on to significant success. And while penny stocks can be a worthwhile addition to the aggressive portion of a diversified portfolio, you should in general only buy them with money you’re willing to lose.

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