The second half of this year has been great for gold. Prices have jumped from a low of $1560 in July to its current $1700. Early in October, prices were knocking on $1800, but failed to get over the milestone. However, gold has seen a pullback since then, and I believe that we could see a resurging gold market after these election results. Understandably, investors have been turning to gold as a hedge against the uncertainties that the market faces such as the U.S. fiscal cliff, Europe’s debt crisis and China’s cooling economy.

When it comes to gold, there are a wide variety of ways to invest. For the purposes of this article, we will talk about gold miners. My favorite play is AngloGold Ashanti (AU). To be fair, AngloGold recently settled a worker strike in South Africa, which was losing the company 32,000 ounces of gold each week. However, the strike is over, and workers will be heading back to work; hopefully, the company can make up a little of that production in the coming weeks.

Lets take a look at the fundamentals to determine the strength of AngloGold Ashanti. To start, the gold miner has a forward price to earnings ratio of 6.86, PEG of 0.96 and has a reasonable debt load, with the debt to equity ratio at 0.45. I like to see a current ratio of 2.72, because that tells me that the company is in strong enough financial position to pay off any unforeseen costs or liabilities. To continue reading, click here.

Today many industries in the tech sector are in value territory. This fall from grace is apparent in how the firms of the SPDR Technology Selector Fund (XLK) trade at an average 15 price-to-earnings ratio which is only slightly higher than the 14 price-to-earnings ratio of the S&P 500 (SPY) fund companies. Many familiar semiconductor names trade at even lower valuations. Apparently, tech is no longer the darling of investors and the sector has nearly the same valuations as the broader stock market.

Investors can seize the opportunity offered by the market today by reviewing the challenges faced by different semiconductor stocks that are priced as value investments. In particular, semiconductor manufacturers and their suppliers are frequently trading at attractive multiples in today’s markets. Are they value investments or value traps?

PC Sales Slide

The tech sector is recoiling from the third quarter’s blow to personal computer sales. PC sales worldwide declined 8.3% compared with the last year’s third-quarter sales, according to Gartner Inc. market research.

Gartner head analyst Mikako Kitagawa said, “The overall PC market decline was triggered by a continuing slowdown in PC shipments,” and that the outlook for the launch of Microsoft Windows 8 is tenuous because “shipments were less vigorous as vendors and their channel partners liquidated inventory in the third quarter.”

Retailers resisted placing orders because of the weak back-to-school sales. These firms had cleared out their entire inventory before the launch of Windows 8. In contrast, the professional market remained unaffected. To continue reading, click here.

Recent news seems to favor American automakers over their foreign rivals. General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) are poised to benefit from a workable labor agreement with Canadian workers, brewing animosity between China and Japan, and challenges facing their European rivals.

China Protests Japan: Employee and Customer Rebellions

Organized protests across China erupted due to a long-standing territorial dispute with neighbor Japan, leading to lower sales for Japanese businesses in China. American automakers can benefit from this ill-will towards Japan by selling more American cars to the Chinese.

Both China and Japan claim territorial sovereignty over the islands, called Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese. The islands sit on mineral and possibly oil and natural gas reserves. A private Japanese owner bought the islands recently, spurring protests in several Chinese cities and a diplomatic crisis that could continue to damage trade relations between Japan and China.

This animosity is focused on Japanese cars as a symbol of influence and economic power. Protests prompted widespread shutdowns of manufacturing plants and Japanese-run businesses in China, including car giants Honda (HMC) and Toyota (TM). Chinese protesters attacked Japanese businesses, setting fire to Toyota and Honda showrooms, destroying Japanese-made cars, and attacked dealerships of Japan carmakers, including the popular Nissan (NSANY.OB). Aeon stores, also belonging to one of Japan’s top car retailers, were also attacked. Honda will still reopen its China-based factories despite the protests, but the closers have made a dent in earnings, according to reports. To continue reading, click here.

After an extended sluggish period, Kodiak Oil & Gas (KOG) is finally seeing a little investor appreciation. There are many reasons why this should be so, the most obvious being its competitive position on the Bakken, the hottest US play thanks to its oil weight amid continuing natural gas price stagnation. However, its recent numbers are what are really earning the firm attention. For the first nine months of the year, Kodiak’s production averaged 20,000 boe per day. Compare that to an annualized rate that worked out to 600 boe per day as recently as 2009.

To further increase production, Kodiak is continuing its strategy of drilling multiple well pads, with two to four wells to a pad in nearly all cases. The addition of a second drilling crew beginning in October and expected to operate through year end will also advance Kodiak’s drilling schedule considerably, since that addition effectively doubles Kodiak’s drill rate. Paired with its continually decreasing drilling times and healthy drilling inventory, Kodiak is only at the foot of a steep production increase.

Its focus with multiple well pads continues to be in McKenzie and Dunn counties, areas where the firm regularly meets with impressive production numbers. According to Kodiak Chairman and CEO Lynn Peterson, “the well results from each of our operating areas through the fairway of the Bakken oil play continue to be robust and the results are very consistent between the areas…our work could lead to greater resource potential.”

Kodiak’s drilling expenses continue to remain competitive, averaging between $10 million and $10.5 million. To continue reading, click here.

With interest rates remaining at historical lows, REIT investors have been nicely rewarded with growing share prices and healthy dividend yields. In some instances, especially in light of the recovering real estate market, REIT shares have risen year to date by as much as 20% or more.

While both the current and expected performance of most REITs has been positive, there is one REIT in particular that I feel could be a real winner in terms of longer-term income and growth due to its diversified portfolio and income-generating strategies. In this article, I will discuss why Two Harbors Investment (TWO) is a great fit for REIT buyers.

Although Two Harbors recently cut its dividend, the company still offers a nice yield of over 12%. Over the past 12 months, Two Harbor’s sales growth has increased by more than 400%, with income growth in excess of 250%. The company feels that this is due in large part to its diversified asset portfolio that consists of both agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities, as well as the firm’s purchase of foreclosed single-family properties from big banks that are subsequently rented out for income generation.

Upon purchase of these homes, Two Harbors rolls the properties into an entity named Silver Bay Realty Trust. This trust has recently registered for its own IPO. Although Silver Bay is a new offering, it has an advantage when seeking financing from lenders in that it is owned by Two Harbors.

Two Harbors has a P/E ratio of 9, which is actually below that of the real estate industry overall of closer to 10, and substantially lower than the P/E ratio of 17.7 for the S&P 500 index. To continue reading, click here.

First Solar (FSLR) is not afraid of a little competition, even if it is coming from an industrial behemoth. After initial delays, GE (GE) plans to enter First Solar’s market in 2013 and compete alongside First Solar, the lowest cost producer of solar modules. GE got its hands into thin-film solar technology by acquiring PrimeStar Solar in 2011. First Solar, the maker of cadmium telluride solar modules, has comfortably commanded most of the market, yet it sees upside in the new rivalry. After several years of a knockout battle among solar technologies, cadmium telluride has been given a huge endorsement. Below, I will explain why the rivalry between First Solar and GE could push both stocks higher next year, making now the best time to buy both stocks.

A ratcheting up of the competition is the push First Solar needs to fortify its market position. If it can best its record of pushing solar cell costs below $1 per watt, the grumbling over China stealing market share in solar gear may soon turn to a whimper. With Chinese solar companies commanding about 70% of US solar installations this year, the forecasted loss of market share may not seem so obvious. Unmistakably, this shift in solar market leadership is already underway.

Sliding gross margins are often an indicator that a company is losing market share to a competitor. In a solar market struggling with overcapacity and supply shortages, First Solar’s operational metal stacks up impressively against its Chinese competitors. To continue reading, click here.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) recently signed a deal to acquire Medicis Pharmaceutical (MRX) for $2.6 billion, or $44 a share. The acquisition is only the latest in a series of mergers and takeovers for the company after its hostile takeover for Cephalon failed last year. Valeant had bid $5.7 billion. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA) won the bid at $6.2 billion.

Many of Valeant’s competitors invest billions in research and development, but the company is taking a different strategy. Valeant Chief Executive Michael Pearson has overseen 50 mergers and acquisitions transactions since taking the helm in 2008, “expanding the company’s annual revenue from $600 million to around $3.5 billion,” reports modelprice.com. “If the Medicis acquisition is completed…Valeant will have revenue of roughly $4.5 billion a year… [and] the deal will save $225 million a year by combining some operations.”

Pearson said that Valeant spends “less than 5% of its revenues on research and development. Instead, its innovation comes from acquiring companies and products that are already approved and in the market, so (it avoids) the risk associated with R&D. What (it is) looking for is products or companies that (it thinks it) can grow, given its larger distribution or maybe a different marketing approach.”

Pearson’s strategy for Valeant is not new. Companies in this sector have been doing the same thing for years. Valeant itself is the product of a 2010 merger with Biovail that brought its operations from California to Canada. And, they are not the only ones. To continue reading, click here.

Falling, or rather plunging, natural gas prices have been hard on natural gas stocks and even big diversified energy stocks like Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) are feeling some of the pain, thanks to having exposure to natural gas. However, Exxon Mobil has remained resolute in its focus on natural gas for the long term, which begs the question: should investors be concerned about that?

Exxon Mobil and the Other Supermajors

To begin with, Exxon Mobil is the world’s largest publicly traded international oil and natural gas producer. In fact and at the end of last year, it had a resource base of 87 billion oil-equivalent barrels – the largest among international oil companies. That makes Exxon Mobil one of the supermajors with the others considered to be BP (BP), Chevron (CVX), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) and TOTAL (TOT) – and sometimes ConocoPhillips (COP). Together, these super large oil companies control roughly 6% of the world’s oil supply, with OPEC and state-owned entities controlling much of the rest or around 88% of the world’s oil.

Given its market cap and the fact that it is part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Exxon Mobil is easily one of the most widely held stocks out there, but its performance has not exactly been overly spectacular over the last few years. Specifically, and as of the beginning of September, Exxon Mobil is only up around 2% since the start of the year, up 20% over the past year, up 1% over the past five years, and up 145% over the past ten years, but the stock also has a forward dividend of $2.28 for a dividend yield of around 2.6% – which cannot be completely ignored in the current zero interest rate environment.

Is There Really a Problem With Exxon Mobil’s Focus on Natural Gas?

One major reason some analysts have given for the stock’s somewhat uninspiring performance is Exxon Mobil’s conservative and long-term strategy, which is to be evenly diversified between oil and natural gas and to keep both upstream and downstream activities under one roof. To continue reading, click here.

Telecommunications is becoming increasingly important in a world without boundaries and the relentless advance of technology. Previously stand-alone electronic devices now work together smoothly, allowing us to use mobile phones to produce photographs and videos, watch TV via the Internet, and use TV sets to browse the Internet. Telecommunications also tie together offerings from various industries such as movies and music from the entertainment industry and payment processing and fund transfers from the financial services industry. As a result, the market for telecommunications is growing rapidly and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) estimates that telecommunications spending was $3.34 trillion in 2011 and is expected to reach $4.4 trillion by 2015. This has resulted in a major battle between wired and wireless technologies, and TIA is of the opinion that future growth will be driven by wireless, even though there is plenty of potential for wired technology in sectors such as cloud computing.

Windstream (WIN) is a wireline telephone and DSL Internet service provider. Windstream provides consumers in predominantly rural areas with phone, Internet broadband and digital TV services as well as a range of IP-based voice and data services. It also provides businesses and government agencies with advanced phone services. The company has been aggressive when it comes to making acquisitions and, following the acquisition of CT Communications in 2007 and Lexcom and D&E Communications in 2009, the pace of inorganic growth has accelerated. In 2010, it acquired KDL, Norlight, Hosted Solutions, Iowa Telecommunications Services, and NuVox and PAETEC in 2011.To continue reading, click here.

Ford (F)seems to be having a very good year despite a low stock price. Not only was its F-Series pickup truck the best-selling vehicle in America for the third decade in a row, sales for the F-Series increased by 14% in the last year.

The figures seem to indicate that Ford has a moat around it in the pickup truck business. Its closest competitor in pickups is General Motors (GM), which sold 194,058 of its Silverado pickups in the last year. Yet Ford was able to sell 310,141 F-Series in the same period. Sales figures for Chrysler’s Dodge Ram pickup were less than half of those for Ford. Only 138,351 Rams were sold in the last year.

The sales figures for the F-Series were not the only good news for Ford in June. Its Claycomo plant in Kansas City was the top producing U.S. auto factory in 2011. The Kansas City Business Journal reported that Claycomo produced 460,338 vehicles in 2011, the highest output of any U.S. auto factory.

Those figures and the F-Series sales prove that Ford is an extremely productive company that knows how to market. So it would seem to be a growth stock, right? It has high production and cash flow from sales. Pickup truck sales in particular would seem to be a cash cow for Ford.

Why is Ford’s Share Price so Low?

Ford seems to own the pickup truck business, but its stock price was still under $10 a share on July 9, 2012. To continue reading, click here.

In recent remarks, David O’Reilly, CEO and chairman of Chevron (CVX) until January 2011 and now chairman of the National Petroleum Council, indicated he is betting against U.S. oil independence based on shale extraction. O’Reilly said, “I do believe that we will still be importing oil 20 to 25 years from now, and that is one area of vulnerability we have in our supply system,” citing weakness in the current infrastructure and a lack of economic scale. O’Reilly’s view partly explains why Chevron is moving slowly on entering unconventional plays in the lower 48 states, which I believe is ultimately to Chevron’s detriment.

Chevron’s reluctance to participate in shale plays puts it behind all of its U.S. based competitors. Marathon Oil (MRO) is betting heavily on shale to fuel its growth. Exxon Mobil (XOM) is now the largest producer of natural gas in the U.S. following its acquisition of XTO Energy in 2009. It was not until February 2011 that Chevron acquired Atlas Energy to obtain its first foothold on U.S. shale gas, though the deal was nowhere near as large or as successful as Exxon Mobil’s acquisition of XTO. As of the end of 2011, Chevron owned 700,000 acres in the Marcellus and 600,000 acres in the Utica, but is apparently not very excited about the prospects here as these plays are not even mentioned in the company’s first quarter earnings presentation.

If Not Drilling in the U.S., then Where?

Chevron’s strongest area of focus remains its natural gas projects, primarily centered in Australia, where it operates the Gorgon and Wheatstone projects, among others. To continue reading, click here.