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

Tsakos Is Ready To Ship Out

Companies, Investments, , ,

Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited is a favorite company of world renowned investor George Soros. The company has a negative p/e ratio. George Soros group bought 11,000 shares of the stock in the second quarter and since then it has gone down from about $10 to $5.92. I see that over the last three years, the company has had lower profits each year. I it still making money for sure and is not terribly in debt.

I think that the Soros Group did not expect it to go down or they would have waited to buy it.  Its true that it is near the bottom because there is only 5 more points to go down until bankruptcy. Why is George Soros holding onto this stock? Perhaps he expects it to go up as the economy turns around. The company is basically sound.

D. John Stavropoulos and Francis T. Nusspickel are among the officers who make the company go.

Pennant Park Is On The Money

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PennantPark Investment (PNNT) is a business development company which George Soros has on his top twenty list. PNNT loans to medium sized companies and provides mezzanine lending, leveraged finance, and distressed debt services. The company is well managed and has had a very low level of non-performing loans. Since PNNT founding in 2007, the company has raised almost $800 million in debt and equity capital. It has invested over $1 billion in 101 businesses and 54 financial sponsors.

Soros Fund Management LLC purchased 11,800 shares of PennantPark in the second quarter of 2011. Pennant Park has consistently paid dividends since its founding in 2007. Since then the dividend has increased by 92.8%. PNNT’s second-quarter balance sheet showed $28.8 million in cash. Pennant Park should be able to continue paying dividends.

Permanent Park also maintains independent directors. One of them is Marshall Brozost, who is a lawyer with experience in finance, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and private equity. In capacity as a director he helps the company with overlapping legal and financial issues. Interestingly, Guy F. Talarico, the Chief Compliance Officer, who works in finance, is also certified to practice law.

Get Your Share Of The Gold

Companies,

With all of the volatility and the trend towards safe havens there is one company that is doing very well in the gold business. DGSE Companies Inc (DSGE) stands for Dallas Gold and Silver Exchange and the name says it all. DSGE sells and buys bullion, rare coins, precious metals and jewelry for both retailer and wholesale customers. The company markets through 8 internet sites and about 900 landing sites as well as through real stores.

Recently, DSGE purchased Southern Bullion Trading, LLC, (SBT). SBT is among the biggest precious-metal trading chains in South Eastern United States. It owned more than 20 trading locations. This should increase profits and lower competition.

The DSGE balance sheet and income statement look good, but I am very concerned about the cash statement for the second quarter of 2011. A potential investor should investigate why they sold $500,000 in stock and borrowed $796,000 dollars and their cash flow is still $576,000 lower than the previous quarter. It could will be that this money went to their recent purchase of SBT, but it needs clarification.

At any rate, I like the business that they are in and if all checks out, this looks like a good stock buy. The stock has actually gone up over the last 2 years at a steady rate from 82 cents per share to $8.68 per share. I also like the fact that I can buy this for a very affordable price.

The Silver Lining Is Shining On Alexco

Companies, Mining, , ,

On January 1, 2011, Alexco Resource Corporation opened mining operations in its Bellenkeno mine in Canada. What’s special about this mine is that it contains not only silver, but also lead and zinc. With the rise of silver and gold prices, non-precious metal prices have also risen. It is estimated that the profits from mining and selling the lead and zinc will cover all of the extraction costs of the silver. Therefore, the revenues from selling the silver are 100% profits. In the first six months of 2011, the Bellenkeno mine produced $15.8 Canadian from mining 7956 tons of zinc, lead and silver concentrate.

Alexco stock has been rising steadily since 2009 and will probably continue upwards as a result of the Bellenkeno mining operations.

To give you an example of some of the staff, Bradley A Thrall is the COO and has 20 years of experience in operations management. He also has a BSc in metallurgical engineering and  has earned an MBA.

Mr. Alan McOnie has 30 years of experience as a professional geologist. He has both a BSc and an MSc in geology and has held many management positions throughout his career.

Thomas Fudge is a Senior VP of engineering and has worked in the field for over 30 years. He has a BSc in mining engineering and has concentrated in silver, gold, zinc and lead for the last 20 years. There are other professional managers at Alexco and they have been succeeding.

Stepan Profits From Supplying Manufacturers Worldwide

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Stepan Company (SCL) manufacturers and markets chemical ingredients to manufacturers in several industries around the world. Stepan sells ingredients for cleaning, personal hygiene, lubricating , plastics, biodiesel products etc. It also sells polyols that are used to produce insulation board for construction in addition to many other chemical products used in the automotive, boating pharmaceutical and food industries.

The company was founded in 1932 and today employs over 1,500 people. It manufactures and sells to manufactures in North and South America, Asia and Europe. In June the company “acquired Clarinol, Marinol and Pinnothin product lines from the Lipid Nutrition B.V.company which is a subsidiary of Loders Croklaan B.V. “

Stepan has good financial statements and also good revenue growth. The Stock has continues to be strong in spite of the world financial upheavals. I believe that is because the company provides intermediate ingredients for products that are considered basic necessities rather than luxury products. The company has also been distributing quarterly dividends for over 5 years.

The VP and CFO is James E. Hurlbutt who has been with the company since 1996. Mr. Hurlbutt has worked his way up from International Controller and Tax Accounting Head to Company Controller to VP of Finance to becoming the CFO in 2008. The current VP of Corporate Controller is Matthew J Eaken. These two officers are doing a good job keeping the company on course during these financially volatile times.