Topic: How To Invest

Dear Pat: I find your responses to questions pertinent and insightful and hence very useful. Could you please give me your assessment of Neo Materials, which produces efficient magnets used in electronics and many other industries?

Article Excerpt

Neo Material Technologies Inc., $4.16, symbol NEM on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 120.3 million; Market cap: $496.7 million), buys rare earth elements and processes them into neodymium-iron-boron magnetic powders and zirconium-based engineered materials. Toronto-based Neo Material mainly makes its products at plants in China and Thailand. Rare earth elements are used in a variety of modern devices and applications, including catalytic converters and petroleum refining; magnets in small and large motors; glass additives and glass polishing compounds; rechargeable batteries; television and computer screens; lighting; X-ray machines; and lasers. Neo’s Magnequench division accounts for 55% of its sales. This division makes magnetic powder, which is used to make small, strong, lightweight magnets that are used in electronics, particularly small motors that run computer hard drives, copiers and CD and DVD players. The company’s Performance Materials division supplies the remaining 45% of its sales. This division makes oxides and salts out of rare earth elements. These materials are then used in catalytic converters, compact fluorescent…