Healthy prospects for Bristol-Myers (BMY)

Bristol-Myers Squibb has a number of popular brands, including Plavix, the company’s leading cardiovascular product; HIV treatments Reyataz and Sustiva; and oncology product Erbitux. Its stable of products has helped drive decent sales growth. Bristol-Myers Squibb has done a nice job of firming up its balance sheet. The company’s cash coffers were boosted by the sale of its Co...

Integrated gains: Growth and income at Eni (E)

ENI derives close to three-quarters of its operating income from exploration and production (E P) and just 3.8% from refining and marketing. Thus, Eni has more leverage to E P than most large integrated energy firms and less exposure to refining margins. The company’s other main business is gas and power, accounting for close to 22% of operating income. Eni has one of the most successful ...

Potash (POT): Feed the world

POT is the largest producer of potash worldwide by capacity. In 2007, it estimates its potash operations represented 17% of global production and 22% of global potash capacity. The company is the second largest nitrogen producer worldwide by ammonia capacity. In 2007, POT estimates its nitrogen operations produced 2% of the world’s ammonia production. It is also the third largest producer...

Teck Cominco (TCK): "Screaming bargain'

I bought this stock for the 2 for 1 portfolio over a year and half ago and it's stock price has declined by about 90% since then. The Canadian mining company produces copper, zinc, gold, and metallurgical coal. All assets are in North America except for most of its copper operations, located in Peru. With a PE ratio bouncing between 1 and 2, and a Price-to-Book ratio at around 0.3, you are ...

Scientific gains at AeroVironment (AVAV)

Two things make AeroVironment a unique company: its story and its stock price during the past year. The company has four divisions that by themselves seem very incongruous for moving the whole forward. It has a division that makes some of the most highly lauded and in-demand micro-unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in service today. It also has a clean energy systems division that's best known...

Apple (AAPL): Bet on 'best of breed'

We believe investors have shifted their focus entirely to the extreme near-term and are completely ignoring the long-term fundamentals that are in place for the Apple. To be sure, the stock has lost over 50% of its value over the past twelve months, but we believe the reasons for the decline are all short-term in nature, and we cannot help but get excited by the opportunity to once again become...

Flying high with Allegiant Travel (ALGT)

The Las Vegas-based company has annual revenues of $483 million. The company also has fixed-fee deals with Harrah's Entertainment to fly certain prespecified routes. The firm's fleet is composed solely of McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft. ALGT recently broke clear of a seven-week flat base. Its price pattern of the past few weeks has been a zig-zag with a bias to the upside. The current...

Mining for value at Freeport McMoRan (FCX)

Industrial commodities have been beaten down in the face of a deep, global recession. Aluminum was $1.50 a pound a year ago, and is now down to 66 cents. Copper was more than $4 a pound last year, and recently fell to $1.40. But the outlook for commodities is changing quickly with all the talk of bailouts, stimulus, and easy money. Aluminum, copper, and other base metals have risen recently on ...

Farming favorites for 2009

Regarding Monsanto, Roblut continues, Monsanto helps farmers improve their crop yields, via both better seeds and herbicides. In blunt terms, MON provides solutions that most farmers will view as more of a necessity than a luxury. The data supports this assessment. Since fiscal 2005, revenues have more than doubled, rising from $5.3 billion to $11.4 billion. Net income has jumped nearly tenfold...

New Oriental (EDU): Educated gains from Asia expert

I've previously attended New Oriental classes in Shanghai and Shenzhen before, and during the Olympics, I visited their home office in Beijing. The registration desk had a steady stream of student signing up for new classes hroughout the day. Its bookstore was just as busy as the registration desk. The most popular books were Chinese versions of SAT, GRE, GMAT, and TOEFL (Test of English as...