I came across this article on CGW, Claymore S&P Global Water (CGW). I never thought investing in something so basic as water before. Funny how one water ETF (PHO) has actually outperformed all major indexes this year. Anyway, the price movement on water ETFs is low so I’m not recommending buying or selling espeically since CGW is down 10% and PHO up 5% over the year. This is probably due to the 33% investment in US companies in the former and about 70% investment in the latter and as the dollar has strengthened, so has PHO. Also, PHO doesn’t focus on big cap stocks as much as CGW does.

LDK recent conference call saw earnings of 82 cents when consensus estimates were 42 cents. Revenues were 441.7 million, while estimates were 277 million. Guidance on revenue was also raised from 1.1 billion to 1.7 billion. The one downer of the conference was about margins. Margins were down from 27.7 percent to 25.4 percent. The main problem is the capability of LDK to produce more polysilicon which many companies have had troubling doing.

What is interesting here that has me favoring this stock is next quarters estimates are 41 cents. Therefore, even if LDK fails to improve on its 82 cents per share which is a big possibility, 41 cents is almost a given. Oh yea, LDK has some big big plans, check them out
here. If the plant is a success, this one will sky rocket.

BTW LDK’s chart is finally looking bullish as well

JNJ is one of the few companies listed on the DJI that has actually gone up this year. The stock has been performing espeically well since its July breakout and is one of the few DJI stocks that have been consistently posting higher highs and lower lows over the past 3-4 years. The stock is up around 7% this year and just needs to consolidate to hold above resistance at about 67 and will be fine. I’m going to keep an eye out for this not expecting huge returns or trading opps, but more for sustainability and solid returns.

As the dollar recovers, gold seems to be going lower and lower. The commodity is now trading in the 800’s

Gold stocks (GG, ABX, AUY, GLD, GDX) are also trading at 6 month lows. On the flip side, DZZ, which is a short gold ETN has gone up from 24 to 34 or 40% in just over a month.

What I find odd is that a consumer report regarding wholesale prices rising came out yesterday. This indicates there is inflation going on and gold should be a good hedge against this inflation. The above stocks are trading awefully cheap and I’m really tempted to get into ABX since support seems to be around 30 and maybe AUY with support at around 10. If gold stays under 800 for an extended period of time, more than a month, then I might have second thoughts on this. I’m going to follow these two stocks closely to see if support holds then enter a small position.

Many people correctly predicted that Hansen would bounce since the stock appeared undervalued and oversold. Congratulations for those who bought at the low 20’s who have seen the stock shoot back up 40%. However, technically, the chart is still quite ugly as the stock will have to see higher lows before the trend can be said to be broken. But I still like Hansen for these reasons

1. Fundamentals. No, Hansen did not beat earning estimates, it missed ever so slightly. But margins are relatively better, the company still has no debt with over 100 million in free cash flow and decreased operating expenses. Also, the company is still growing EPS and sales way faster than last year. Also, the EPS is now 1.72, meaning if the company continues to grow at 20% (it has done better), the stock should be worth about 35 in a year.

2. Market share. Monster has now surpassed Red Bull as the America’s top selling energy drink. Despite the energy drink business being dragged down by the recent economic slowdown, Monster is still gaining market share. Hansen is also proceeding in trying to capture market share in Spain, Sweden and the U.K. which means their expenses will be lower once the rollout process is complete.

3. The current stock price. At 28 per share, the downside is really limited since the stock is trading at such a low PE for its fantastic balance sheet and earnings growth. Insiders have bought back 1.7 million shares last quarter meaning they believe the stock is cheap too.

I don’t really enjoy energy drinks and monster to me just seems like a huge can of sugar and caffeine that makes my hand shake and my head hurt. But the stock looks like a good deal, while its on sale.