It seems that every day a new press release comes out about a big oil or gas discovery, and increasingly these announcements have one thing in common: All the finds are in offshore fields.
As offshore exploration and development increase, oilfield service companies are in high demand. In this video, Fool.com contributor Aimee Duffy talks to Tyler Crowe about how offshore production has affected oilfield service companies, and what investors can expect going forward.
National Oilwell Varco is perhaps the safest investment in the energy sector due to its industry-dominating market share. This company is poised to profit in a big way; its customers are both increasing the number of new drilling rigs and updating aging fleets of offshore rigs. To help determine whether it could be a good fit for your portfolio, you're invited to check out The Motley Fool's premium research report featuring in-depth analysis on whether NOV is a buy today. For instant access to this valuable investor's resource, simply click here now to claim your copy.
Hot Safest Companies To Buy Right Now: Imperial Holdings Inc. (IFT)
Imperial Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. The company operates in two business segments: Life Finance and Structured Settlements. The Life Finance segment comprises life settlements and finance loan businesses. The Structured Settlement segment purchases structured settlements at a discounted rate and sells such assets to third parties. This segment primarily markets its products through the Internet and television. Imperial Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is based in Boca Raton, Florida.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By DCResearch]
Imperial Holdings (IFT) fits the bill for all of those traits and investors today can buy Imperial Holdings for less than 0.75x book value. Upside to book value, an obvious valuation factor for most financial companies, would result in a greater than 40% return for a patient investor. I believe that this is far below the fair value for IFT�� book of life settlements, and upside is in excess of $13 per share.
- [By Whopper Investments]
Note: This is my response to the recent short case on Imperial Finance (IFT). Obviously, all humans are fallible, and I'm sure someone can find just as much to argue with my long case as I found to argue with his short case. Please read for yourself, do your own research, and make your own decision. I am long IFT and plan on fully participating in the rights offering.
Hot Safest Companies To Buy Right Now: Clearfield Inc.(CLFD)
Clearfield, Inc. offers telecommunications equipment and products in the United States. It engages in the design and manufacture of standard and custom connectivity products, such as fiber distribution systems, optical components, outside plant cabinets, and fiber and copper cable assemblies. The company?s products include Clearview cassettes; Clearview xPAK to land small port count fiber terminations and optical components; Fieldsmart fiber crossover distribution systems that provide fiber management modularity and scalability across the fiber network; FieldSmart fiber scalability center, a modular and scalable outside plant cabinet, which allow users to align their capital equipment expense with subscriber revenue; and FieldSmart fiber delivery point product line for the access network that incorporates the delivery of fiber connectivity to the neighborhood or business district. It also offers FieldSmart Small Count Delivery, a series of enclosure systems and wall-mount enclosures optimized for environments, such as cell backhaul, business class service delivery, node segmentation, and fiber exhaust in a field pedestal, sub-station turn-up, or fiber-to-the-desk deployment; and CraftSmart, a line of optical protection field enclosures used in the fiber industry for the optimization of fiber protection and storage. In addition, the company packages optical components for signal coupling, splitting, termination, multiplexing, demultiplexing, and attenuation for a seamless integration within its fiber management platform. It serves communication service providers consisting of fiber-to-the-premises; large enterprises; and original equipment manufacturer markets through various sales channels comprising direct to customers, distribution partners, and original equipment suppliers. The company was formerly known as APA Enterprises, Inc. and changed its name to Clearfield, Inc. in January 2008. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Plymouth, Minnesota.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By GuruFocus]
George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) just reported his first quarter portfolio. He buys Citrix Systems Inc, Baker Hughes Inc, Comcast Corp, Spansion Inc, etc during the 3-months ended 03/31/2014, according to the most recent filings of his investment company, Soros Fund Management LLC. As of 03/31/2014, Soros Fund Management LLC owns 305 stocks with a total value of $10.1 billion. These are the details of the buys and sells.New Purchases: BHI, CODE, CTRP, CLI, AVB, COMM, CNQ, AGO, AUY, ATML, ASH, BXMT, CSTM, AEM, CMA, ARE, CHKP, AUQ, BEAV, CX, ADSK, AALCP, BLK, AIG, BIIB, ADEP, AMRI, ARWR, ATHX, BALT, BCRX, BEAT, CFX, CLFD, CUR, CODE,Added Positions: CTXS, CMCSA, CNP, ALTR, BRCD, CBS, CRM, CHTR, CCJ, CIEN, BIDU, ALLE, ABT, CDNS, ACT,Reduced Positions: AAPL, CCI, AMT, ABBV, AAL, BITA, AL, ANGI, ARIA, CBST, BA, BIRT, EXAR,Sold Out: C, BAC, CRI, AMZN, AGN, CF, BRCM, COTY, BMY, AMCX, CAR, A, ADBE, AFL,For the details of George Soros (Trades, Portfolio)'s stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=George+SorosThis is the sector weightings of his portfolio:Technology18.9%Energy14%Healthcare8.3%Consumer Defensive8.2%Communication Services8.1%Consumer Cyclical5.4%Industrials5.1%Basic Materials4.9%Financial Services2.5%Real Estate1.9%Utilities0.5%These are the top 5 holdings of George Soros (Trades, Portfolio)1. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA) - 10,310,041 shares, 5.4% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 10.67%2. Herbalife Ltd (HLF) - 4,901,337 shares, 2.8% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 52.9%3. EQT Corp (EQT) - 2,573,814 shares, 2.5% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 3.27%4. Adecoagro SA (AGRO) - 25,915,076 shares, 2.1% of the total portfolio.5. Halliburton Co (HAL) - 3,596,353 shares, 2.1% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 20.73%New Purchase: Baker Hughes Inc (BHI)George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) initiated holdings in Baker Hughes Inc. His purchase prices were between $51.82 and $65.27, with an estimated
- [By Garrett Cook]
In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.16 percent. Top decliners in the sector included Clearfield (NASDAQ: CLFD), down 15.30 percent, and Invacare (NYSE: IVC), off 16.77 percent.
Best High Dividend Companies To Invest In Right Now: United States Brent Oil Fund LP (BNO)
United States Brent Oil Fund, LP (USBO) is a commodity pool. USBO is focused on issuing units that may be purchased and sold on the NYSE Arca, Inc. The investment objective of USBO is for the daily changes in percentage terms of its units��per unit net asset value (NAV) to reflect the daily changes in percentage terms of the spot price of Brent crude oil, as measured by the daily changes in the price of the futures contract for Brent crude oil traded on the ICE Futures Exchange (the ICE Futures).
The investment portfolio of USBO will consist primarily of investments in futures contracts for crude oil, heating oil, gasoline, natural gas and other petroleum-based fuels that are traded on the ICE Futures, New York Mercantile Exchange (the NYMEX) or other United States and foreign exchanges (collectively, Futures Contracts). USBO may also take positions in other crude oil-related investments, such as cash-settled options on Futures Contracts, forward contracts for oil, cleared swap contracts and non-exchange traded (over-the-counter) transactions that are based on the price of crude oil, other petroleum-based fuels, Futures Contracts and indices based on the foregoing (collectively, Other Crude Oil-Related Investments).
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dr. Kent Moors]
It's time to pull back a bit on exchange-traded fund (ETF) holdings allowing moves playing the WTI-Brent crude pricing spread. I have suggested previously the two primary plays here are PowerShares DB Energy (NYSE Arca: DBE) and United States Brent Oil Fund (NYSE Arca: BNO).
- [By Dr. Kent Moors]
As I have noted before, investors can play this spread by using two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that are already part of the Energy AdvantagePortfolio: PowerShares DB Energy Fund (NYSE Arca: DBE) and the United States Brent Oil Fund (NYSE Arca: BNO).
- [By Aaron Levitt]
As we said before, the Iranian deal doesn�� actually add any new supplies back into marketplace for quite some time. With oil demand starting to move ahead as the global economy is beginning to return to normalcy, Brent prices should grind their way upwards. That makes the United States Brent Oil (BNO) a prime play.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
How to invest
If those trends persist, then it could eventually solve the problem that United States Oil Fund has had in underperforming the spot price of crude. Given Brent's stronger backwardation trend, United States Brent Oil Fund (NYSEMKT: BNO ) might be the better oil ETF to choose.
Hot Safest Companies To Buy Right Now: Deutsche Bank AG (SBND)
Deutsche Bank AG is a global investment bank. The Company offers a variety of investment, financial and related products and services to private individuals, corporate entities and institutional clients around the world. The Company operates through such divisions as: Private and Business Clients, Asset and Wealth Management, Corporate Banking and Securities, Global Transaction Banking and Non-Core Operations Unit. Deutsche Bank AG is active domestically and in various countries, through the network of numerous branches. In February 2014, the Company and its related bodies corporate ceases to a share holder in the capital of the Company. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Donald van Deventer]
Long-duration Treasury Exchange-Traded Funds: (TLH), , (IEF), (DTYL), (DLBL), (ILTB), (TENZ), (ITE), (TLO), (EDV), (VGIT), (VGLT), (TMF), (TYD), (LBND), (UBT), (UST), (TMV), (TYO), (DSTJ), (DSXJ), (SBND), (PST), (DTYS), (DLBS), (TBF), (TTT), (TYNS), (TYBS), (TBX).
Hot Safest Companies To Buy Right Now: Cabot Microelectronics Corporation(CCMP)
Cabot Microelectronics Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) consumables to the semiconductor industry primarily in the United States, Asia, and Europe. CMP is a polishing process used by integrated circuit (IC) device manufacturers to planarize or flatten the multiple layers of material that are deposited upon silicon wafers in the production of advanced ICs. The company offers CMP slurries, which are liquid solutions composed of high-purity deionized water, proprietary chemical additives, and engineered abrasives that chemically and mechanically interact with the surface material of the IC device at an atomic level; and CMP polishing pads that are engineered polymeric materials designed to distribute and transport the slurry to the surface of the wafer and distribute it evenly across the wafer. Its CMP slurries are used for various polishing applications, including materials that conduct electrical signal s, such as tungsten, copper, tantalum, and aluminum; the dielectric insulating materials that separate conductive layers within logic and memory IC devices; and the disk substrates and magnetic heads used in hard disk drives. The company also designs and produces precision polishing and metrology systems to attain shape and surface finish on various optical components, such as mirrors, lenses, and prisms. It serves producers of logic IC devices and memory IC devices, as well as IC foundries. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Aurora, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Whitney Kisling]
That alert proved too optimistic and the exchange pushed back the open another 15 minutes. By 3:25 p.m., Nasdaq stocks started ticking again. With the close about 35 minutes away, both the Nasdaq Composite Index (CCMP) and the Nasdaq 100 Index began to rise.
- [By Nikolaj Gammeltoft]
Not all of Granville�� best calls were in the distant past. On March 11, 2000, the day after the Nasdaq Composite Index (CCMP) jumped to a record 5048.62, Granville wrote that investors in technology stocks ��ill soon be burned.��The index, heavy on computer-related companies, tumbled about 78 percent before bottoming on Oct. 9, 2002.
Hot Safest Companies To Buy Right Now: Acuity Brands Inc (AYI)
Acuity Brands, Inc. (Acuity Brands), incorporated on September 20, 2007, is the parent company of Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc. (ABL), and other subsidiaries. Acuity Brands is a provider of lighting solutions for commercial, institutional, industrial, infrastructure, and residential applications throughout North America and select international markets. The Company's lighting solutions include devices, such as luminaires, lighting controls, power supplies, prismatic skylights, light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, and integrated lighting systems for indoor and outdoor applications utilizing a combination of light sources, including daylight, and other devices controlled by software that monitors and manages light levels while optimizing energy consumption (collectively referred to herein as lighting solutions). Effective March 14, 2013, the Company acquired eldoLED Europe BV.
The Company manufactures lighting devices primarily in North America, Europe and Asia. The Company's lighting solutions are marketed under numerous brand names, including Lithonia Lighting, Holophane, Peerless, Mark Architectural Lighting, Hydrel, American Electric Lighting, Gotham, Carandini, RELOC, Antique Street Lamps, Tersen, Winona Lighting, Synergy Lighting Controls, Sensor Switch, Lighting Control & Design, Dark to Light, ROAM, Sunoptics, acculamp, Pathway Connectivity, and Healthcare Lighting. As of August 31, 2012, the Company manufactures products in 18 facilities in North America and two facilities in Europe.
Principal customers include electrical distributors, retail home improvement centers, electric utilities, municipalities, lighting showrooms, and energy service companies located in North America and select international markets serving new construction, renovation, and facility maintenance applications. In North America, the Company's lighting solutions are sold primarily by independent sales agents, electrical wholesalers, and factory sales representatives who cover specific geographic areas! and market channels. Products are delivered directly or through a network of distribution centers, regional warehouses, and commercial warehouses using both common carriers and a company-owned truck fleet. During the fiscal year ended August 31, 2012 (fiscal 2012), North American sales accounted for approximately 98% of net sales. The Company has one operating segment serving the North American lighting market and select international markets.
The Company provides a range of lighting solutions, as well as services used in the applications, such as lighting solutions and services. Lighting solutions and services includes commercial and institutional, industrial, infrastructure, residential and services. Commercial and Institutional includes stores, hotels, offices, schools, and hospitals, as well as other government and public buildings. Lighting solutions that serve these applications include recessed, surface, and suspended lighting products, recessed down lighting, track lighting, day lighting, and lighting controls (occupancy sensors, photocontrols, relay panels, architectural dimming panels, and integrated lighting controls systems), as well as special-use lighting products. The outdoor areas associated with these applications are addressed by a range of outdoor lighting products, such as area and flood lighting, decorative site lighting, and landscape lighting. Industrial includes primarily warehouses and manufacturing facilities, which utilize a range of general purpose, day lighting, and special-use lighting solutions. Infrastructure includes highways, tunnels, airports, railway yards, and ports. Products that serve these applications include street, area, high-mast, off-set roadway, sign lighting, poles, and integrated controls systems. Residential includes a combination of decorative, utilitarian, and down lighting products. Services include monitoring and controlling of lighting systems through network technologies.
The Company competes with Cooper Industries plc, Hu! bbell Inc! orporated, Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., OSRAM AG, Schneider Electric and General Electric Company.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Laura Brodbeck]
Tuesday
Earnings Expected: A. Schulman (NASDAQ: SHLM), Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI), Franklin Covey (NYSE: FC) and Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX) Economic Releases Expected: US ISM manufacturing PMI, US redbook, British manufacturing PMI, German unemployment rate, French manufacturing PMI, Italian manufacturing PMI, Spanish manufacturing PMI and Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate decisionWednesday
- [By Rich Duprey]
Blinded by the light
Philips will be introducing its new 200 lumen bulb in 2015 and expects that within 10 years half the world's fluorescents will be displaced. More importantly, their cost will fall rapidly with�their increased efficiency, making them cheaper to own within a year, as opposed to the current three years.�Acuity Brands� (NYSE: AYI ) thinks Philips may still be in the dark about that, believing LEDs will surpass fluorescents in as little as three years' time. - [By Lee Samaha]
Shareholders in lighting company Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI ) were given a rude reminder of the risk of holding a highly rated stock recently. The company's third quarter results missed estimates and the stock plunged more than 15%. But it might not all be so bad. Acuity's management doesn't give earnings guidance, so Fools should expect some volatility around the results. In addition, the company is attractive for a host of reasons, many of which also apply to Cree (NASDAQ: CREE ) and Hubbell� (NYSE: HUB-B ) . Is this a good buying opportunity in Acuity Brands?
Hot Safest Companies To Buy Right Now: eLong Inc.(LONG)
eLong, Inc. operates as an online travel service provider in the People?s Republic of China. The company provides its customers with travel information and the ability to book rooms, air tickets, vacation packages, and other travel related services utilizing call center and Web-based distribution technologies. It facilitates the customers to book rooms in approximately 10,000 hotels in 450 cities across China, and fulfills air ticket reservations in approximately 80 cities across China. In addition, the company offers the ability to book rooms at approximately 100,000 hotels outside of China; and provides the customers informative content relevant to hotel and air travel decisions, including tourist and event site destination information, hotel facility information, and photos. eLong markets its services through online marketing, traditional media advertising, co-marketing with established brands of other companies, and direct marketing. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China. eLong, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Expedia Asia Pacific Limited.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Roberto Pedone]
eLong (LONG) operates as an online travel service provider in the People's Republic of China. This stock closed up 7.5% to $19.79 in Wednesday's trading session.
Wednesday's Volume: 96,000
Three-Month Average Volume: 30,062
Volume % Change: 125%From a technical perspective, LONG spiked sharply higher here right off its 50-day moving average of $18.39 with above-average volume. This spike to the upside on Wednesday is now quickly pushing shares of LONG within range of triggering a big breakout trade. That trade will hit if LONG manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $20 to $21 and then above some past overhead resistance at $21.73 with high volume.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in LONG as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $18.39 or above its 200-day at $17.40 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 30,062 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then LONG will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance level at its 52-week high of $24. Any high-volume move above $24 will then give LONG a chance to make a run at $30.
- [By Seth Jayson]
eLong (Nasdaq: LONG ) reported earnings on May 13. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), eLong beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share. - [By Tom Taulli]
Strong Portfolio: Expedia has massive scale, with supply from about 200,000 hotels, 300 airlines and various car rentals and cruise lines. And EXPE sites — which�include Hotwire.com, Hotels.com, CarRentals.com and more, on top of the Expedia namesake — get�about 50 million unique visitors every month. Plus, EXPE also owns a majority stake in eLong (LONG), which is the second largest online travel company in China.
Hot Safest Companies To Buy Right Now: Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund (EVV)
Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Eaton Vance Management. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in the securities of companies operating across the diversified sectors. The fund invests in senior, secured floating-rate loans, mortgage-backed securities, and corporate bonds that are rated below investment grade quality, known as junk bonds with an average duration of 3.47 years and average quality BBB/BBB-. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index, the Merrill Lynch U.S. High Yield Index, and the Barclays Capital U.S. Intermediate Government Bond Index. Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund was formed on May 30, 2003 and is domiciled in the United States.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Adam Aloisi]
The following chart takes a comparative look at some widely held ETFs/CEFs holding different types of bonds. The objective is to visualize not only how much these products cost, but also to break down the percent of total yield depleted by management fees. I define total yield as current annualized yield plus net fees - in other words the yield of the fund if there were no management fees attached. The funds we will examine are aforementioned BND, iShares 20+ Treasury Bond (TLT), iShares High-Yield Corporate (HYG), Nuveen Municipal Value (NUV), Eaton Vance Limited Duration (EVV) and Alliance Bernstein Global High-Yield (AWF).
Hot Safest Companies To Buy Right Now: Brookfield Residential Properties Inc (BRP)
Brookfield Residential Properties Inc. (Brookfield Residential) is a land developer and homebuilder.The Company entitles and develops land and builds homes for its own communities, as well as sells lots to third-party builders. It operates in three segments in North America: Canada, California and Central and Eastern U.S. Each of the Company�� segments specializes in lot entitlement and development and the construction of single-family and multi-family homes. As of December 31, 2011, Brookfield Residential controlled 108,197 lots. The Company became a public company on March 31, 2011, by combining the former business of Brookfield Homes Corporation (Brookfield Homes) and the residential land and housing division (BPO Residential) of Brookfield Office Properties Inc. into a single residential land and housing company, achieved through a merger and series of related transactions completed on March 31, 2011. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Garrett Cook]
Brookfield Residential Properties (NYSE: BRP) shares shot up 21.51 percent to $23.10 after Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) proposed to acquire around 30% of the company not currently owned for $23 per share.
- [By Dimitra DeFotis]
In the homebuidling category:
Weyerhaeuser (WY), the producer of lumber, was up nearly 3%. On Thursday, Citigroup Analyst Anthony Pettinari wrote that Weyerhaeuser could sell its homebuilder unit for between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion, and interested buyers in the unit, WRECO, could include Lennar�(LEN), Toll Brothers (TOL) and Brookfield Residential Properties (BRP). About 67% of the Weyerhaeuser unit’s roughly 27,000 lots are in California. Citi has a Buy rating on Weyerhauser and a $35 price target. Lennar, the home builder, was�up 2.6%. Masco (MAS), the building materials maker, was�up 2%.� PulteGroup (PHM), the home builder, was�up 2%. DR Horton�(DHI), the home builder, was�up 1.9%.Among real estate trusts:
- [By Ben Levisohn]
In terms of specific company upside/downside payoffs, we believe that [Brookfield Residential Properties (BRP)], [KB Home], and [PulteGroup] offer above-average payoffs. We note that more than half of [Brookfield Residential Properties'] earnings are derived from Canada, dampening EPS sensitivity to our assumptions regarding the pace of the U.S. housing recovery. We believe that [KB Home] will achieve sharply improved operating performance, which should drive robust EPS growth given the company�� comparatively high degree of financial leverage. We also have a high degree of confidence that�[PulteGroup] will continue to successfully execute against its goal of improving ROIC performance, which should act as a catalyst for share price appreciation.
Hot Safest Companies To Buy Right Now: McEwen Mining Inc (MUX)
McEwen Mining Inc. (McEwen Mining), formerly US Gold Corporation, is engaged in the exploration for and production of precious metals in the United States, Mexico and Argentina. McEwen Mining�� operating segments include USA and Mexico. The Company holds an interest in numerous exploration and development stage properties and projects in Nevada, Mexico and Argentina, as well as a 49% equity interest in the gold-silver San Jose Mine in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. The Company holds interests in approximately 1,631 square miles of mineral concessions in west central Mexico. Its primary property in Mexico is the El Gallo Complex, located in Sinaloa state on the Sierra Madre Trend, a geological area of gold and silver mineralization. The Company holds interests in approximately 254 square miles in Nevada, United States. The Company�� Nevada properties, including its interests in the Gold Bar Project and Tonkin Complex, are located along the Cortez Trend, in north central Nevada. It also owns property, including the Limo Project, on the southern end of the Carlin Trend. On January 24, 2012, it acquired of Minera Andes Inc. (Minera Andes).
On January 24, 2012, the Company acquired a 49% interest in Minera Santa Cruz SA, owner of the San Jose Silver-Gold Mine in Santa Cruz, Argentina; a 100% interest in the Los Azules Copper Deposit in San Juan, Argentina, and a portfolio of exploration properties in Santa Cruz, Argentina. The San Jose Mine is operated by the majority owner of the joint venture, Hochschild Mining plc (Hochschild). The Company holds mineral rights and applications for mineral rights covering approximately 944 square miles in Argentina.
Tonkin Complex
The Tonkin Complex is divided functionally into five areas: the Mine Corridor, Tonkin North, Patty, Keystone and Tweed. The Tonkin Complex represents its holding in the State of Nevada at approximately 93 square miles (241 square kilometers). The Tonkin Complex is located on the Cortez Trend. During ! the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company drilled one hole, and 2,190 feet reverse circulation drilling. The Tonkin Complex also includes the Patty Project. On October 18, 2011, Barrick Gold U.S. Inc. (Barrick), the former holder of a majority of the project and operator, entered into a joint venture agreement with Rye Patch Gold U.S. Inc. (Rye Patch) under which Rye Patch has the right to acquire a 60% undivided interest in the Patty Project. As of December 31, 2011, it held a non-operating minority interest (12%). The Patty Project is a property (approximately 18.1 square miles) located in the northeast portion of the Tonkin Complex and consists of 544 unpatented mining claims. The 372 claims (included in the 1,478 under US Gold's Historic Tonkin Property) covering the area of the property, Tonkin North were previously owned by unaffiliated parties and held by the Company under a lease agreement. The lease expired on January 1, 2011. In July 2011, it acquired these claims. The Company held an interest of in 106 claims (included in the 156 under Cornerstone) in the Cornerstone property. On July 19, 2011, it acquired the Tonkin North and Cornerstone claims.
Gold Bar Complex
The Gold Bar Complex is located south of the Tonkin Complex on the continuation of the Cortez Trend. In November 2011, the Company announced the completion of a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) by SRK Consulting for the Gold Bar Project. Exploration drilling at the Gold Bar Complex in 2011 totaled approximately 7,245 feet (2,208 meters) in 41 reverse circulation drill holes that were focused on extensions to the Gold Pick-Gold Ridge and Cabin Creek mineralization, as well as targets found by geologic mapping and sampling.
The Gold Pick-Gold Ridge area occurs on the Battle Mountain-Eureka mineral belt in a window of lower-plate carbonate rocks surrounded by upper-plate rocks. The lower-plate carbonates at Gold Pick-Gold Ridge consist of an east-dipping section of Silurian Lone Mountain Do! lomite, D! evonian McColley Canyon Formation, Devonian Denay Formation, and Devonian Devils Gate Limestone. Northwest-trending and northeast-trending structures cut the area; the Gold Pick mineralization is localized in an apparent northwest-trending horst of McColley Canyon Formation, which is cut by a series of northeast-trending structures.
Limo Property
The Limo Property is located in east-central Nevada. The Limo Property position totals approximately 44.5 square miles (115 square kilometers). Gold mineralization has been identified in numerous places along the 15 mile (24 kilometers) length of the property. Exploration drilling at the Limo Property in 2011 totaled approximately 59,157 ft. (18,031 meters) in 10 diamond drill core holes and 70 reverse circulation drill holes. The drilling was focused on two targets, Cadillac and Continental, outside the existing mineralization. The mineral interests controlled by the Company at the Limo property consist of 1,392 contiguous claims that cover approximately 44.5 square miles (115 square kilometers), plus 15 claims (for a total of 1,407) near the southern boundary of the property that were acquired through a lease in August 2011. Its land package extends for about 15 miles (24 kilometers), and covers the western side of the southern Cherry Creek Range.
Battle Mountain Complex
The Battle Mountain Complex is located within Humboldt and Lander Counties in the valleys and on the flanks of the mountains surrounding Battle Mountain on the Cortez Trend north of our Tonkin complex. Battle Mountain, Nevada. In 2011, exploration drilling in the Battle Mountain Complex totaled 2,205 feet (672 meters). Work during 2011, also included geologic mapping, soil and rock sampling. Results of this work identified two target areas, Medea and Lucky Strike, on its BMX property. Three holes were drilled on the Medea prospect during 2011.
Other United States Properties
The Company acquired additional mineral! properti! es in Nevada. The mineral properties included in the acquisition of Tone (Roberts Creek, Kobeh, Gold Bar North, South Keystone, Big Antelope Springs, Red Ridge, Fish Creek and Kent Springs) are generally subject to a 1% net smelter return royalty interest in favor of KM Exploration Ltd. Certain properties (Roberts Creek, Kobeh, Gold Bar North, South Keystone and Big Antelope Springs) are also subject to earn-in rights in favor of Teck Cominco American Incorporated (Teck).
Alaska
On July 1, 2011, its Company and Select Resources Corporation, Inc. (Select) signed a four-year Exploration Lease and Purchase Option Definitive Agreement (the Definitive Agreement) with respect to the Richardson Mineral Project (Richardson) in the Tintina Gold Belt of Alaska. Under the terms of the Definitive Agreement, it acquired an exploration lease for the Richardson project, and an exclusive option to purchase a 60% interest in the project and enter into a joint venture with Select. The Richardson project is located 70 miles (115 kilometers) southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, and covers an area of approximately 52 square miles (136 square kilometers). Extensive field sampling and mapping, airborne geophysics, and three core holes were completed in 2011. Drilling at the Richardson Project in Alaska during 2011, included three holes and 2, 863 feet core drilling.
Mexican Properties
The Company has a property in Mexico, called the El Gallo Complex, which includes the El Gallo, Magistral, and Palmarito deposits in Sinaloa state. The Company control mineral concessions of approximately 1,631 square miles (4,224 square kilometers) located in the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Nayarit. It holds its interests through ownership of Pangea Resources Inc., which in turn holds 100% ownership of Compania Minera Pangea S.A. de C.V. (Minera Pangea). The El Gallo Complex is located in Sinaloa state, northwestern Mexico in Mocorito Municipality. The El Gallo Complex is being developed in tw! o phases.! The El Gallo Project lies within two of its controlled concessions, Rocio Fraccion A and Pangea. These concessions have an area of 86,764 acres and 3,946 acres respectively. It controls the properties immediately surrounding El Gallo. Exploration work completed in 2011 at El Gallo consisted of core and conventional rotary drilling. The mineralization at the Magistral Mine Property is classified as a low-sulfidation epithermal gold-silver mineral system. During 2011, 203 core holes were drilled for a total of 88,891 feet (26,088 meters).
Other Exploration Areas
During 2011, it drill-tested a number of prospective exploration targets throughout the El Gallo district, which resulted in the discovery of four new veins. Three veins, Los Mautos, Mina Grande, and Haciendita were all located six miles (10 kilometers) north of El Gallo, and the fourth vein, San Dimas, is located 6 miles (10 kilometers) south of El Gallo.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Selena Maranjian]
McEwen Mining (NYSE: MUX ) slid 52%, and has also been cutting costs at Mexico-based mines. Management has suggested that the price of gold may be near a bottom, and it's looking into strategic partnerships, too. In its second quarter, McEwen upped its gold production by 30% over year-ago levels. Still, it's not yet turning a profit and is free-cash-flow negative.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
McEwen Mining (NYSE: MUX) was also down, falling 4.35 percent to $2.42 following a Seeking Alpha article commenting on news of an Argentinian taxation raid on mining companies Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) was down, falling 2.31 percent to $41.55.
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