Topic: How To Invest

Hello: I would appreciate your opinion on Nordic American Tanker. Thank you very much.

Article Excerpt

Nordic American Tanker, $15.10, symbol NAT on New York (Shares outstanding: 89.2 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; www.nat.bm), operates 23 Suezmax vessels that ship crude oil. Suezmaxes are the largest tankers able to go through the Suez Canal. In July 2015, Nordic American announced the purchase of two more Suezmax vessels. The first joined the fleet in September, and the second will be delivered shortly. In addition, the company signed a deal for the construction of two more Suezmaxes in December 2014 that are slated for delivery in August 2016 and January 2017. Nordic’s shares have moved up lately, despite lower oil prices, for two main reasons: First, the oil-price drop has cut the cost of fuel, and that boosts profit margins: fuel represents about 70% of a tanker’s voyage expenses. Second, the tanker market is driven by the supply of available ships and demand for oil shipping—but it’s also driven by the storage of oil. As oil prices fall, what often happens…