Month: January 2013

By The Sizemore Letter

This piece orginally appeared on InvestorPlace as Charles Sizemore’s submission for the 10 Best Stocks of 2013 contest.

The auto industry is a truly wretched business to be in.  You have high labor costs and the constant threat of labor unrest.  You have vicious competition among existing competitors.  And perhaps worst of all, you have enormous capital expenditure needs coupled to a highly cyclical business that is prone to booms and busts.

So, you might be surprised to see that Daimler AG (OTC:DDAIF)—the maker of the iconic Mercedes-Benz—is my recommendation for the InvestorPlace Best Stocks of 2013 contest.

Normally, I hate the auto sector and would refuse to touch an auto stock.  But right now, I believe that Daimler may be one of the best opportunities in the world at its current price.  As a cyclical auto stock—and one based in crisis-wracked Europe, no less—Daimler has gotten no love from investors in recent years.  But their timidity is our opportunity.

Whenever I think of Daimler’s flagship brand Mercedes, I will always think of the “Indiana Jones of Finance,” Jim Rogers.  In a road trip across six continents chronicled in his book Adventure Capitalist, a customized Mercedes was Rogers’ vehicle of choice.  Why?  Because “every dictator and mafioso in the world drives a Mercedes…even in countries with no roads to speak of.”  Rogers knew that if he had car trouble anywhere in the world, he would be able to find a mechanic who could work on a Mercedes.

Rogers wasn’t joking about that.  Mercedes is the premier global luxury automobile.  And it is a fantastic way to get “backdoor” exposure to emerging markets, which I expect to enjoy a nice rebound in 2013.  Daimler gets well over a third of its sales from emerging markets, with China being a major contributor.  China is already the world’s largest consumer of the high-end S-Class, and China accounted for 10 percent of Daimler’s revenues in the first three quarters of 2012—and this despite a marked slowdown in the Chinese economy.

And Mercedes cars are by no means Daimler’s only product; Daimler is also a world leader in industrial trucks, which make up more than a quarter of revenues.  And as you might expect, emerging markets are a major source of demand.  Approximately half of Daimler truck sales come from Asia and Latin America. 

China appeared to hit bottom in late 2012, and I expect a rebound in Chinese demand to benefit high-end luxury firms in general and high-end autos in particular.  Even in a “bad” year (if you can call 7.5% GDP growth in 2012 “bad”) China was a major contributor to Daimler’s success.

Investors fret that 34 percent of Daimler’s revenues come from Western Europe, where unemployment is high and overall consumer demand is weak.  This does not particularly worry me.  Daimler’s high-income customers are less at risk of financial distress than the average European, and sales have remained stable throughout the crisis.

But let’s say I’m being too optimistic about the Eurozone and that the atmosphere of austerity makes a large delayed dent in European sales in 2013.   Even so, the stock price offers more than a sufficient margin of safety.  The shares trade for less than 8 times earnings and yield over 5 percent in dividends.

Yet none of this tells the full story about how cheap this company is.  Daimler trades at accounting book value and for just 0.39 times sales.  It also has €46 billion in cash short-term investments, and receivables—and a market cap of just €44 billion.  Yes, the cash in the bank and receivables are actually worth more than the entire company at current prices.

Daimler is simply too cheap to pass up.  This is the maker of the premier global luxury car trading at prices that would suggest the Mayan calendar was correct about the world ending in 2012.

Action to take: Buy shares of Daimler AG at market.  Daimler could easily double in the 12-18 months.  And if we’re a little early in getting into this stock, we’re getting paid handsomely to ride out any unexpected volatility.

Disclosures: Sizemore Capital is long DDAIF.

Note: Charles Sizemore won the 2011 Investor Place Best Stocks contest with a monster 44% return on his recommendation of Visa (NYSE:$V) and was runner up in the 2012 Best Stocks contest with a 37% return on his recommendation of Turkcell (NYSE: $TKC).

The post Daimler: Ride in Style in 2013 appeared first on Sizemore Insights.

By www.CentralBankNews.info      Romania’s central bank, which earlier held its policy rate steady, said the rising trend in inflation had been halted and the economy was slowly recovering amid the euro area recession.
    The National Bank of Romania, which held its policy rate steady at 5.25 percent, said the “prospects remain favorable for the annual inflation rate to return inside the target bank by the end of the year, but risks and uncertainties related to the developments in the external environment, capital flows, administered prices and some volatile prices still persist.”
    The central bank’s 2013 target for annual inflation is 2.5 percent, plus/minus one percentage point, and in November the inflation rate fell to 4.56 percent from a September peak of 5.33 percent “thereby confirming the gradual fading of the inflationary effect coming from supply-side factors,” the bank said in a statement.
    Weak industrial production and retail trade, along with the protracted euro area recession that limits Romanian exports, suggests that the negative output gap will persist, the bank said.

    Romania’s Gross Domestic Product contracted by 0.5 percent in the third quarter from the second quarter for an annual drop in GDP of 0.6 percent, down from growth of 1.7 percent in the previous quarter.
    The central bank’s current forecast calls for inflation to decline to 3.5 percent in the 2013 fourth quarter and then continue to slowly fall next year to 3.0 percent in the third quarter of 2014.
    Last year the central bank cut its policy rate by 75 basis points and the bank said its policy decisions were “aimed at resuming and consolidating disinflation, whose outlook is further marked by risks and uncertainties related to domestic developments, including the persistence of structural rigidities across the Romanian economy as well as the euro area and global economic recovery.”

    www.CentralBankNews.info
   
 

By www.CentralBankNews.info
    Central banks in developed and emerging markets cut policy rates by a further 1.75 percentage points in December, trimming their average interest rate to 3.33 percent from 3.38 percent in November, cementing 2012 as a year of perpetual easing by major central banks to counter global economic weakness.
    But higher rates in response to inflation by three (Malawi, Uruguay and Serbia) of the 88 central banks followed by Central Bank News meant the global average policy rate in December was steady at 5.92 percent from November.
    Although a majority, or 53 percent, of the world’s central banks reduced rates in 2012, the average global monetary policy rate rose to 6.24 percent for the full 2012 year from 2011’s 6.0 percent due to the size of some of the rate hikes and the fact that some central banks first started cutting rates in the second half of the year when the global economy decelerated.
    During 2012, 47 of 88 central banks cut rates by an average of 180 basis points while 11 banks, or 12.5 percent, raised rates by an average of 182 points.
    The average rate rise was skewed by Malawi’s total rate rise of 12 percentage points in 2012 while the mode, or most frequent, rate rise was 50 basis points.
    In comparison, the largest reduction in rates last year came from Belarus, which cut by 1.5 percentage points. But rate cuts were aggressive and worldwide, with 38 of 88 central banks cutting rates by up to 200 basis points.
    Although central banks in developed markets started the year with low rates, they continued to ease policy through the year, either through conventional or unconventional means.
    In December alone, rate cuts by Australia, Israel and Sweden trimmed the average policy rate among developed central banks to 1.02 percent from 1.08 percent in November. The average rate among emerging market central banks fell to 4.76 percent in December from 4.81 percent in November.
    For the full year, developed market central banks cut benchmark interest rates by a total of 400 basis points but this pales in comparison with total rate cuts of 1,126 basis points by central banks in emerging markets.

    Rates likely to bottom out in 2013 
    Policy rates are likely to decline further in the early part of 2013 as inflation continues to drop but the cycle of lower rates is expected to bottom out as the year progresses unless the remaining downside risks facing an improving global economy come to the fore.
    During the middle of 2012 the global economy was facing three risks but one of these risks, a sharp fall in Chinese growth, has abated, while the second risk – a U.S. recession due to a lack of political decisions – is starting to look a little less likely following a last-minute agreement that avoided the so-called fiscal cliff. Further agreements, however, are necessary before all U.S. risks are off the table.
    The improvement in China’s economy was highlighted in December by several central banks. The Bank of Canada, for example, said “Chinese growth appears to be stabilizing,” Taiwan’s central bank said “China has regained growth momentum” – in contrast to its June statement when it referred to slowing Chinese growth – and Chile’s central bank referred to “more positive signs in some emerging economies.”
    That leaves a sudden worsening of the euro area’s economy as the major downside risk facing the global economy.
    The global impact of Europe’s recession became increasingly clear in the second half of 2012 as countries that relied on exports to the euro area, such as South Korea and Poland, began cutting rates.
    The downturn in Europe, which is expected to linger much of this year, is in contrast to the improving prospects of many other countries that are less dependent on exports to the euro zone.
    In December alone, central banks from such geographically diverse countries as Peru, New Zealand, Canada, Turkey, Taiwan, Norway and Colombia looked ahead to stronger growth in 2013.
    A consequence of the weaker global economy has been the dissipation of inflationary pressures worldwide with almost every central bank in December commenting on falling inflation and the expected lack of price pressures in 2013.
    In some cases, such as Sri Lanka, Uganda and Turkey, lower inflation enabled the central banks to cut rates further. In other countries, such as Sweden and Poland, inflation is either below or at risk of dropping below central bank targets, which also tends to lead to easier monetary policy.

Equities are off to a flying start in the new year with US equities closing in a five year high last week. And the rally can continue says Senior Strategist Ib Fredslund Madsen.

Her why in this weeks edition of ‘The Week Ahead’.

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Video courtesy of en.jyskebank.tv

Source: ForexYard

Hey Everyone,

Below are some market trends for today.

Good luck!

-Dan

Gold- May see upward movement today
Support- 1643.81
Resistance- 1662.58

Silver- May see upward movement today
Support- 29.24
Resistance- 30.92

Crude Oil- May see upward movement today
Support- 91.62
Resistance-93.17

Dax 30- May see downward movement today
Support- 7681.47
Resistance- 7850.00

EUR/USD May see downward movement today
Support- 1.2895
Resistance- 1.3110

Read more forex news on our forex blog

Forex Market Analysis provided by ForexYard.

© 2006 by FxYard Ltd

Disclaimer: Trading Foreign Exchange carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. There is a possibility that you could sustain a loss of all of your investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with Foreign Exchange trading.

Source: ForexYard

The US dollar came off of a recent 2 ½ year high against the Japanese yen during overnight trading, although analysts were quick to warn that the overall trend for the greenback was still bullish, and gains were likely to be seen in the coming days. The USD/JPY, currently trading at 87.68, has fallen more than 60 pips since markets opened for the week.

Last night, higher-yielding assets in general gave up some of their gains from Friday when a positive US jobs report encouraged risk taking among investors. The EUR/USD fell just over 50 pips, while the price of crude oil dropped by around $0.40 a barrel.

Main News for Today

While no significant news events scheduled for today, traders will still want to pay attention to any developments in the talks between US lawmakers to raise the nation’s borrowing limit. With the federal government forecasted to run out of money in the next two months, an agreement will need to be reached in the very near future so more money can be borrowed. Riskier currencies could see a boost if there is any progress in the talks.

Read more forex news on our forex blog

Forex Market Analysis provided by ForexYard.

© 2006 by FxYard Ltd

Disclaimer: Trading Foreign Exchange carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. There is a possibility that you could sustain a loss of all of your investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with Foreign Exchange trading.

By www.CentralBankNews.info

London Gold Market Report
from Adrian Ash
BullionVault
Mon 7 Jan, 08:10 EST

SPOT GOLD PRICES traded in a $10 range Monday morning, rising above last week’s finish at $1656 per ounce as European stock markets cut earlier losses.

Silver prices also whipped in a tight range, holding at $30.25 per ounce by lunchtime in London.

Major currencies and government bonds were also little changed, as were broader commodity prices.

Looking at the broader commodities sector, “In 2012 we had a lot of liquidating by hedge funds,” says Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at US Bank Wealth Management in Seattle, “but there’s an incentive to reverse that because of growth in emerging markets and especially China.

“It’s going to be a good year for commodities.”

US data show speculators raising the size of their bullish commodity bets for the time since November last week.

Speculative betting on the gold price, known as the “net long” position of bullish minus bearish bets, rose 3.1% to the equivalent to 609 tonnes of gold by New Year’s Eve.

That was below the 2012 average of 633 tonnes however, and well below the 5-year average of 722 tonnes.

Overall, the total number of US gold futures and option contracts shrank last week to a 3-year low, dropping below 600,000 for the first time since September 2009.

With the Chinese New Year now 5 weeks away, in contrast, the Shanghai Gold Exchange today reported a sharp jump in physical gold trading, with volume breaking more than 22 tonnes.

“For 2013, an unreliable economy compels us to prefer supply-constrained commodities, especially the precious metals,” says investment bank Morgan Stanley, forecasting average gold prices of $1853 per ounce this year.

“With loose monetary policy and low real interest rates, we believe that gold and silver will likely continue to perform.”

But “I think America will sort itself out and the economy will start moving again positively,” reckons Rene Hochreiter, CEO of Allan Hochreiter Ltd. in Johannesberg and winner of the London Bullion Market Association’s 2012 price forecasting competition.

“As gold declines, as the world economy improves, so platinum, palladium and silver will start to pick up…Platinum may take another year or so before it beats gold and then it’s going to stay above gold for the next upward cycle which could be five or six years,” Hochreiter is quoted by Bloomberg News.

Gold prices will now average $1600 per ounce in 2013 believes Hochreiter, after averaging $1669 last year. His 2012 forecast was for $1650 per ounce.

The price of platinum has now been below the price of gold since September 2011, the longest such period in at least three decades.

Western policymakers meantime extended by 4 years today the deadline for new banking regulations, aimed at avoiding a repeat of the 2007-2009 credit crunch.

“The new liquidity standard will in no way hinder the ability of the global banking system to finance a global recovery,” said Mervyn King, the UK’s chief central banker and head of the Basel committee’s oversight group.

Requiring banks to meet just 60% of the new liquidity requirements by 2015, with the full deadline pushed back to 2019, “It’s a realistic approach,” King said.

Adrian Ash
BullionVault

Gold price chart, no delay   |   Buy gold online

Adrian Ash is head of research at BullionVault, the secure, low-cost gold and silver market for private investors online, where you can buy gold and silver in Zurich, Switzerland for just 0.5% commission.

(c) BullionVault 2013

Please Note: This article is to inform your thinking, not lead it. Only you can decide the best place for your money, and any decision you make will put your money at risk. Information or data included here may have already been overtaken by events – and must be verified elsewhere – should you choose to act on it.

Source: ForexYard

Higher-yielding assets, including the euro, Australian dollar and crude oil, saw modest gains on Friday afternoon, following a positive US jobs report that led to risk taking among investors. This week, traders will want to pay attention to several potentially significant economic indicators out of both the euro-zone and US. Specifically, Tuesday’s EU Retail Sales figure, Wednesday’s US Crude Oil Inventories, Thursday’s EU Minimum Bid Rate and ECB Press Conference, and Friday’s US Trade Balance report all have the potential to create volatility in the marketplace.

Economic News

USD – Dollar Turns Bearish Following NFP Report

The safe-haven US dollar took losses during the second half of the day on Friday, following a positive Non-Farm Payrolls report which signaled moderate progress in the US economic recovery and led to risk taking among investors. Against the Swiss franc, the greenback fell close to 70 pips after the employment statistic was released and eventually closed out the week at 0.9246. The AUD/USD advanced more than 90 pips during afternoon and evening trading before finishing out the day at 1.0478.

This week, the main pieces of US news are likely to be Thursday’s Unemployment Claims figure, followed by Friday’s Trade Balance report. If either indicator shows improvements in the US economy, investor risk taking may lead to further losses for the greenback. In addition, traders will want to pay attention to news regarding the US debt ceiling. The US government is expected to run out of money in the next two months if the debt ceiling is not raised, which would allow more money to be borrowed. If lawmakers fail to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling, risk aversion is likely to boost safe-haven assets.

EUR – ECB Press Conference Set to Generate Market Volatility This Week

The euro saw upward movement against its safe-haven currency rivals on Friday afternoon, following a slightly better than expected US jobs report which led to risk taking in the marketplace. Against the US dollar, the common currency gained close to 90 pips during the second half of the day, eventually peaking at 1.3088 before finishing out the week at 1.3069. The EUR/JPY gained some 140 pips over the course of the day before finishing out the week at 115.21.

The main piece of euro-zone news this week is likely to be the Minimum Bid Rate and ECB Press Conference on Thursday. While analysts are not expecting the European Central Bank to adjust interest rates, the press conference will provide an opportunity for EU officials to discuss the state of the economic recovery in the region. Any signs that the EU will remain in recession for the near future are likely to weigh down on the common-currency during the second half of the week.

Gold – Gold Reverses Losses to Close out Week

After falling by more than $20 an ounce during early morning trading on Friday, gold was able to bounce back during the afternoon session after a US jobs report turned the USD bearish, making the precious metal cheaper for international buyers. Gold advanced more than $30 during the second half of the day, eventually finishing out the week at $1655.88.

This week, gold traders will want to pay attention to any developments regarding the US debt ceiling. Unless lawmakers can reach a deal in the near future to raise the debt ceiling, the US government will run out of money. Any positive developments to raise the ceiling will likely lead to risk taking in the marketplace, which would give gold an additional boost.

Crude Oil – Oil Prices Increase Following US Jobs Report

The price of crude oil gained close to $1.70 a barrel on Friday afternoon, after a better than expected US jobs report led to risk taking in the marketplace. The jobs data also led to speculations that demand for oil in the US will go up, which made the commodity more favorable for investors. Crude finished out the week at $93.06.

This week, oil traders will want to monitor euro-zone news. If Tuesday’s Retail Sales figure or Thursday’s ECB Press Conference signal economic growth in the EU, investors may shift their funds to higher-yielding assets which would lead to further gains in oil prices.

Technical News

EUR/USD

The Bollinger Bands on the weekly chart are beginning to narrow, indicating that a price shift could occur in the coming days. Furthermore, the MACD/OsMA on the same chart appears close to forming a bearish cross, signaling that the shift in price could be downward. Opening short positions may be the smart choice for this pair.

GBP/USD

The daily chart’s Slow Stochastic appears close to forming a bullish cross, indicating that this pair could see upward movement in the near future. Additionally, the Williams Percent Range on the same chart has dropped into oversold territory. Traders may want to open long positions for this pair ahead of a possible upward correction.

USD/JPY

The Relative Strength Index on the weekly chart is currently in overbought territory, indicating that a downward correction could occur in the coming days. This theory is supported by the Slow Stochastic on the same chart, which has formed a bearish cross. Opening short positions may be the smart move for this pair.

USD/CHF

The Williams Percent Range on the daily chart has crossed into overbought territory, indicating that a downward correction could occur in the near future. Furthermore, the Slow Stochastic on the same chart has formed a bearish cross. Opening short positions may be the smart move for this pair.

The Wild Card

CAD/JPY

Both the Relative Strength Index and Williams Percent Range on the daily chart are in overbought territory, indicating that a downward correction could occur in the near future. Furthermore, the MACD/OsMA on the 8-hour chart has formed a bearish cross. This may be a good time for forex traders to open short positions ahead of possible downward movement.

Forex Market Analysis provided by ForexYard.

© 2006 by FxYard Ltd

Disclaimer: Trading Foreign Exchange carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. There is a possibility that you could sustain a loss of all of your investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with Foreign Exchange trading.

By MoneyMorning.com.au

Gold bullion, gold stocks or no gold at all?

I put that question to Real Asset Returns Editor Peter Krauth last week.

You see, there’s a lot of interest in investing in gold right now. Or perhaps I should say that there’s a lot of interest in what gold might do.

And you can certainly understand why.

From its November 2008 market lows, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) – the No. 1 proxy for the “yellow metal” – rose as much as 158%, reaching its peak in September 2011. But it’s down about 13% since that time (though it’s up 5% year to date), and a lot of folks are wondering what gold is worth, and how they should play it.

Wall Street has grown more tepid on gold, with many of the investment banks ratcheting back just a bit on their target prices. But most also see prices heading up to and beyond the $2,000 level in 2013, meaning they see a potential gain of 22% or better.

Peter’s target price is a bit more aggressive: He sees gold trading as high as $2,200 an ounce – 34% above current prices in the $1,640 range.

I’ve worked with Peter for several years now, and admire the way he works.

He based himself in resource-rich Canada in order to be closer to the many companies that he covers. And he’s made a number of truly superb market calls: In September 2010, for instance, when silver was trading at $19 an ounce, Peter told investors the metal was a “Buy” – and we then watched it soar to a high of $48 (a 153% windfall).

So when I decided to bring you the latest insights on gold – and some recommendations, as well – I went to Peter.

Insights on Investing in Gold

His answer: Physical bullion remains a top play; the physical metal is a vehicle for profit, and will serve as an excellent hedge against inflation and the many problems that remain in both the global and domestic U.S. economies.

But gold miners are so cheap that they, too, deserve a look.

Well, at least some of them do.

“Bill, you’ll see statements from some of Wall Street’s big guns that gold miners are cheap right now,” Peter told me during a telephone chat last week. “And that’s true. They are cheap on a numerical [fundamental] basis, especially compared with historical valuations. But gold miners are cheap in another way, too – a way that Wall Street’s either not telling us about, or just doesn’t understand.”

Needless to say, that last statement grabbed my attention. And I told him so.

Peter laughed, and then went on with his commentary.

“Over the last decade or so, the best of these companies have aggressively expanded their reserves. They’ve done so organically – that is, developed properties themselves. And they’ve done so by purchasing small development-stage, or production-stage players,” Peter said. “Investors don’t realize just how much it costs to add reserves – especially if a company is doing so by itself. That’s particularly true today, with all the regulations and public protests boosting environmental and compliance costs.”

Statistics Peter provided bear this out. In 1991, there were 11 gold discoveries. Twenty years later – in 2011 – there were three. And companies spent $8 billion looking for new strikes that same year.

“So you see, Bill, that the miners that already added reserves had tremendous foresight,” Peter said. “Having spent a number of years just growing their reserves, all it will take to reap the payoff will be some event that kicks off a mania in gold prices. And we’re not talking about longshot odds for that to happen. All you need is the “right’ set of events, either domestically or globally, to cause gold prices to rise. When that happens, gold-mining stocks will be off to the races.”

Gold prices have suffered of late because of a strong U.S. dollar. That surprising strength (in the face of the whole “fiscal-cliff” mess) stems from the fact that worries about Europe have transformed the dollar into a “safe-haven” investment.

Gold and the dollar are negatively correlated because gold is priced in dollars, but most of the buyers aren’t in dollar-based economies. (Because these buyers are Swiss, Indian or Chinese, just to name a few, they look at the price of gold in Swiss francs, Indian rupees or Chinese renminbi. And if the U.S. dollar is strong, the price of gold in dollars is weak – even if the native currency price remains the same.)

So the rise we’ve seen in the dollar has been accompanied by a sell-off in gold.

Investing in Gold Stocks

Naturally, that sell-off in gold has affected gold stocks.

Over the past three months Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) is down about 21% and Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) is down about 20%, but the SPDR Gold Shares ETF is down only about 5%.

Looking ahead, the U.S. Federal Reserve‘s plan to continue printing money (and that of the European Central Bank (ECB), or the new stimulus plan we’re likely to get from the Bank of Japan (BOJ) should be very good for gold.

And a jump in gold prices will be even better for gold miners.

The reason for that is called “leverage.”

When gold prices jump, a gold-producer sees its earnings accelerate at a faster pace than the price of the actual metal.

I saw a hypothetical in a recent edition of USA Today that explains this perfectly.

For example, if you own a mine that can produce gold for $1,100 an ounce, but gold is trading at $1,200, you’re making a profit of $100 an ounce.

But what if gold jumps from that $1,200 price level to, say, $1,500? That’s a price increase of $300, or 25%. For the gold miner, however, profits have jumped from $100 to $300 – a 200% gain.

Two miners to consider are Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) and Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX).

“One of the ones that I like is Newmont,” Peter told me. “It has a very good dividend yield of nearly 3.2%. It’s well-diversified geographically. The stock has gone sideways for a very long time and now the company is making a very concerted effort to keep its costs down.”

Then there’s the Toronto-based Barrick, the world’s biggest gold producer.

“Barrick, like other miners, has seen that investors are not exactly thrilled with the performance of their shares,” Peter said. “The reason for that is that the company spent a number of years just growing its reserves. But it did so by using its own stock as currency to buy the smaller companies that we talked about earlier. That was very dilutive.”

But Barrick has suddenly gotten religion – of the shareholder variety. In June, it fired CEO Aaron Regent after less than four years on the job: Board members were apparently peeved that the company’s share price didn’t move during that period, despite the huge run-up in gold prices.

“Going forward, just from the signs or evidence that I’ve seen, the company has adopted a much more investor-attentive attitude – and the ouster of the CEO is just one bit of that evidence,” Peter said. “The company is trying to focus on keeping its costs in line. And it’s trying to produce the hell out of what it already has in the ground. The odds are high that we’ll have a pretty good six to 12 months to come.”

Barrick’s 2.4% dividend isn’t bad either – especially because of the current “zero-interest-rate-policy” (ZIRP) environment.

By William Patalon III, Contributing Editor, Money Morning’

Publisher’s Note: This article originally appeared in Money Morning (USA)

From the Archives…

The Talisman of Fear: Why Gold Remains the Foundation of Wealth
4-1-2013 – Kris Sayce

We Got it Wrong With Dividend Stocks…And Investors Still Made Money
3-1-2013 – Kris Sayce

A Contrarian Investment Prediction for 2013
2-1-2013 – Greg Canavan

The Rockers and Shockers of 2012
31-12-2012 – Kris Sayce

Will 2013 Show Us Up?
29-12-2012 – Callum Newman