Topic: How To Invest

What is your opinion about VALE (ADR) on the NYSE? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

Vale SA (ADR), $29.40, symbol VALE on New York (Shares outstanding: 3.2 billion; Market cap: $94.4 billion; www.vale.com), is the world’s largest iron-ore producer. Vale is a formerly state-owned company that was partially privatized in the early 1990s, along with oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA. Brazil’s federal government has kept a controlling stake in Vale through holding companies, public pension-fund stakes and other investments. In 2010, Vale’s revenue jumped 94.2%, to $46.5 billion, from $23.9 billion a year earlier. Earnings soared to $17.3 billion, or $3.25 a share, from $5.4 billion, or $1.01 a share. Stronger demand and higher iron-ore prices were the main reasons for the improved results. The company’s selling price for iron ore more than doubled, to $121 a metric ton from $56 a year earlier. Vale continues to make major acquisitions, including a $1.5-billion stake (9% interest) in the huge but controversial Belo Monte hydroelectric power dam project in the Amazon. Environmental groups strongly oppose this project. As…