Topic: How To Invest

Pat, What do you think of Cemex? I purchased some on the recommendation of my broker some time ago, after which the stock price immediately headed south

Article Excerpt

Cemex (ADR), $10.54, symbol CX on New York, (Shares outstanding: 812.6 million; Market cap: $7.4 billion) is North America’s largest cement maker. It is the world’s third-largest cement maker after Lafarge of France and Switzerland’s Holcim. Mexico-based Cemex makes and sells cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates (sand and gravel) and clinker (powdered cement). Its market breakdown is the United States (21% of sales), Mexico (18%), Spain (9%), UK (9%), the rest of Europe (19%), South America, Central America and the Caribbean (8%), Africa and the Middle East (4%), Asia (2%) and others (9%). In July 2007, Cemex completed the $15.3 billion acquisition of Australian-based cement maker Rinker Group. (All figures in U.S. dollars.) The U.S. generates about 80% of Rinker’s sales. In August, 2008, Venezuelan President Chavez expropriated Cemex’s Venezuelan operations after failing to reach a deal on the terms of its nationalization. The government of Venezuela has offered $650 million for Cemex’s operations. Major global cement makers Lafarge and Holcim accepted the…