All posts by Peter Jefferson

About Peter Jefferson

Peter Jefferson is a full-time researcher for www.businessdistrict.com, a task he took on in 2011 when the site was launched. He brings to the position a wealth of practical experience in the field of fiscal policy, having consulted with various government bodies on revenue collection, expenditure and economic growth. Contact Peter at peter[at]businessdistrict.com

Endeavor Silver Reports Excellent Third Quarter

Companies, Mining, , , , , , , ,

Silver Bullion
Endeavor Silver (Exk) had a solid third quarter. Gold mined rose by 7% yoy to 4,926 ounces. Silver mined rose by 8% to 858,738 ounces. Revenues rose by 93% to $38 million for the sale of silver and gold mined and produced by the company. Endeavor has also expanded its Guanajuato plant and remained within its expansion budget.

While the stock tumbled From $12.60 to $8.04 in late September due to the fall in the stock market, Endeavor stock has stabilized and seems to be headed up. It is presently selling at $9.83. Its 200-day moving average is $10.57 and its 50 day moving average is $10.10. Endeavor also has agreements to purchase silver at cheap prices from silver mines in Mexico and Chile. In addition, since silver has industrial and jewelry applications, it should go up over the long term.

Mario D. Szotlender and Ricardo M. Campoy are 2 directors at the company.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes. All investments decisions should be thoroughly analyzed before purchase.

Alterra Capital Holdings

Companies, Investments, , , ,

Alterra Capital Holdings Limited (ALTE) is an insurance company and a reinsurer. Re-insurers help insurance companies to insure their customers. For example, if a customer wants a lot of insurance, the insurance company may spread the risk by taking working with other insurance companies to jointly insure the client. Alterra serves public organizations, corporations, and other insurance companies. Most of their business is conducted in English speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Bermuda and the United States.

During the past 2 years the stock has traded between $17 and $25. Since January, 2011 and August, the stock was trading between $21 and $23. In August it dropped to 18 and has recently recovered. The stock is selling for $22.40 which is above the 200-day moving average of 21.07 and also above the 50-day moving average of 19.65. These indicate that the stock has recovered from the summer volatility which shook the stock market. The P/E is 16.78 showing that perhaps the stock is a little over priced but not overly so. In today’s market, I find it impressive that Alterra’s stock is keeping level.

Until March 2011, the company was giving a dividend of between 13-15%. In June, after the stock dropped due to market volatility, the dividend also dropped to 2.15%. Since the stock price has recovered it could well be that the dividend will also return to its normal range.

Among the managers are: Sonia Galvis; Walker Rainey; Susan Spivak Bernstein; Peter A. Minton; and Beth DeGroat.

Disclaimer: This article is not authoritative advise. All investment decisions should be based on the investor’s thorough analysis.

Coke Adds Financial Stability

Companies, Investments, , , ,

Once the Coca Cola advertising slogan was “Coke Adds Life.” For those looking for long term stability Coca Cola adds stability, dividends and profits. First of all, Coke gives a dividend of 3% per year which is certainly better than the current 2% for ten year treasury bonds. Also, the price of Coke stock has been rising over the last 5 years, even though it was brought down temporarily by the market drop in 2009 when it dropped to $40. Since then it has risen to $68 even with the recent market volatility.

Indeed, Coca Cola is a giant company which operates worldwide. Now they are planning to invest $3 billion into the Russian market and $4 billion into the Chinese market. Because the company is so big, I believe that the risk of investing in this company is limited. People have been drinking cola for a hundred years and will continue. Also, we see that the management has the skills to remain profitable. One of Coca Cola’s former executives, Segun Ogunsanya, started as an accountant in Ghana and was developed by the company until he become the manager of the whole area. He recently left the company to become the CEO of an African beverage manufacturer. It just shows that these large companies know how to develop management to ensure their success.

Their 50-day moving average is 68.34 and their 200-day moving average is 67.62. The stock is trading at 68.19 which is good for a down market. The companies trailing P/E is 12.54 which shows that the company is reasonably priced in relation to its earnings.

All stocks should be thoroughly analyzed before being purchased and should not be purchased on hearsay.

Full Service International Marketing And Communications Company

Companies, Consumerism, , , , , , ,

Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) supplies an amazing variety of advertising, marketing and corporate communications services around the world. Omnicom provides services in media advertising, public relations management, customer relationship management and specially communications. The company was founded in 1944 and has 65,000 employees working on 5 continents. Its profit was approximately 7 percent of revenues or $827 million in 2010.

What I like about this company is that its a specialist company. It has taken the areas of marketing and communications and has developed as many of those areas as possible. The fact that it performs marketing work in many countries and cultures around the world testifies to its flexibility and creativity.

The company’s stock is selling at $41.15 which is below its 200 day moving average of $44.41 but above its 50 day moving average of $39.01. Omnicom stock dropped in August from $48 to $36 with the market and is now on its way back up.

Some of Omnicom’s up and coming managers are: Janet Riccio; Bruce Redditt and Asit Mehra.

As with all investment decisions, the stock should be investigated thoroughly before purchase.

Watson Pharmaceuticals Just Keeps Going Up

Companies, Health Tech, , , ,

 

Helping Your Health

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (WPI) is a company specializing in urology and women’s health pharmaceutical products. The company sells both generic brands as well as name brands. Women’s health care comprises many different diseases which of course requires many types of medicines. Watson has three segments: Global Brands, Global Generics, and the distribution segment. One of the benefits of producing generic medicine is that as soon as the original patent expires, the well tested and well used drug can be manufactured by anyone and with no R&D costs. The company provide medications for a wide variety of health conditions so there is great demand for its products.

The amazing thing about this stock is that for the last two years it has been going up at a steady pace. It has been essentially unaffected by the market ups and downs. It’s the old story: People will always get sick and will always need medical cures.

Some of the directors and management staff  are  Sigurdur Oli  Olafsson, Charles M. Mayr, and Michael J. Fedida.

As with all investment decisions, purchasers should thoroughly investigate the stock before purchasing and should follow the stock every day.