Tony Daltorio
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Japan Says Sayonara to Nuclear Power
By Tony Daltorio - September 24, 2012 | Tickers: CCJ, HTHIY.PK, NLR, MSBHY.PK, PKN.DL |
It is 18 months since the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, and finally, the Japanese government has made a decision about the future of nuclear power in the country. The government has stated that it will phase out nuclear power entirely by 2040. This would make Japan the second major country, after Germany, to announce such a withdrawal from nuclear power.
Prior to the Fukushina disaster, nuclear power more »
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Shale Gas Boom Goes Global
By Tony Daltorio - September 19, 2012 | Tickers: CVX, XOM, OGZPY.PK, RDS-B
The shale gas boom in the United States is a well-known story to energy investors. But another story is much less familiar to investors. The exploration for shale gas and its extraction through hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is quickly becoming a global phenomena.
Major international energy companies are searching for shale gas in all corners of the globe, including Argentina, Australia, China, South Africa and eastern Europe. In deciding where more »
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Augmented Reality: A Coming Reality
By Tony Daltorio - September 18, 2012 | Tickers: GOOG, HPQ, INTC, QCOM, TEF
Once existing only in the realm of science fiction, augmented reality is becoming ... a reality. It is making its way into popular media as apps for smartphones, like the iPhone, and tablet PCs begin using augmented reality to overlay contextual graphics and other information onto real-life images and objects.
The industry was rather tiny -- really just a collection of smartphone apps, which generated only a few million dollars in revenues more »
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Shiny Profits Await Investors in Platinum
By Tony Daltorio - September 17, 2012 | Tickers: AGPPY.PK, PTM, PPLT, GFI, PGM, EZA
It doesn't happen all the time, but sometimes it's easy for investors to make money just by scanning the international headlines. In South Africa last month, labor unrest in the country's mining sector came to the fore as a strike at a platinum mine became violent, resulting in the death of 44 people.
The country's labor unions have become more and more strident in their protests more »
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Best Shale Investment: US Railroads
By Tony Daltorio - September 17, 2012 | Tickers: BRK-B, CP, CSX, PSX, TSO |
The boom in US shale gas and oil is now a fact of life for investors. But the best way to play that boom is not directly through oil and gas companies. Look at how many of them have suffered thanks to an excess of supply and the resulting plunging prices for both natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs).
The best way to play shale is from owning the more »
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Smartphone Market: More Competitive Than Ever
By Tony Daltorio - September 16, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, GOOG, MSFT, NOK
It's the season for us to be inundated with ads touting how great product EZ is or how B is better than G. No, it's not Christmas yet and the silly season in political ads for the Presidential election in November have yet to fully kick in. But it is the season for the launch of new smartphones from all the major competitors.
The latest smartphone to be more »
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Wintel and the Disappearing PC World
By Tony Daltorio - September 14, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, ARMH, GOOG, INTC, MSFT
As discussed in a previous article, the PC industry is facing an uphill battle in the years ahead. The 'Wintel' world is slowly disappearing, being replaced by one dominated by smartphones and tablets. The latest evidence of that can be seen in the latest sales forecast downgrade by a member of 'Wintel' duopoly, semiconductor maker Intel (NASDAQ: INTC).
The company forecast that sales of its microprocessors would be down by more »
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Valeant Deal May Create Leader in US Dermatology Market
By Tony Daltorio - September 6, 2012 | Tickers: AGN, GSK, MRX, VRX
As detailed in another article, the wave of mergers and acquisitions in the healthcare sector in recent months continues unabated. The latest deal announced was the $2.6 billion offer made by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (NYSE: VRX) for Medicis Pharmaceutical (NYSE: MRX). Medicis' best-known products include Solodyn along with Restylane and Dysport, which all compete directly with anti-wrinkle products such as Juvederm and Botox from Allergan (NYSE: AGN).
Valeant, which more »
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Shale Gas Companies: Major Writedowns Coming
By Tony Daltorio - September 6, 2012 | Tickers: BHP, CHK, ECA, XOM, UPL
For any investors in the energy sector who have not paid attention for the past few years, Hurricane Isaac should have taught them a lesson. The economics of the U.S. energy industry has changed drastically thanks to the shale revolution brought about by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico used to send natural gas prices soaring because of the supply disruptions from the region. But more »
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New U.S. Vehicle Fuel Standards Off Target
By Tony Daltorio - September 6, 2012 | Tickers: FIATY.PK, F, GM, TM, VLKAY
The Obama Administration has announced that it is adopting new rules concerning vehicles' fuel efficiency. The Administration will demand a near doubling of the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency Standards (CAFE) by 2025. Automakers will have to improve the overall fuel efficiency of their fleet from 27.5 miles per gallon to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, saving the United States a supposed 2 million barrels of imported oil more »
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Profiting from the Social Business Software Boom
By Tony Daltorio - August 31, 2012 | Tickers: CSOD, IBM, KNXA, ORCL, SAP
With the disappointing to say the least Facebook IPO, investors are rightly wondering whether anyone can make money from the whole social media phenomena. The answer to that question is yes: Just look at the boom occurring right now in the whole social business software space. The sector is flourishing thanks to companies looking for complete social business solutions. That boom has led to a number of takeovers in the more »
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Gold, Africa and Barrick
By Tony Daltorio - August 30, 2012 | Tickers: AU, ABX, GFI, GOLD
In 2010, Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) floated its African subsidiary African Barrick (NASDAQPTH: ABGLY.PK) on the London Stock Exchange while retaining a 74% majority interest in the company. African Barrick is Tanzania's biggest gold producer with 17 million ounces in gold reserves. Despite this, African Barrick's stock has performed badly since listing – down about 30%.
The poor performance is due to poor production numbers – only about 700 more »
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Barnes & Noble Takes Ebooks Battle to Another Front
By Tony Daltorio - August 29, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, AAPL, BKS, HPQ, MSFT
Book retailer Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) this week announced that it has decided to open another front in its ongoing battle with Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) for share in the rapidly growing e-reader and e-book market. For the first time in its 95-year history, the company is expanding overseas. It will begin selling its Nook e-book reader in the U.K. in October through both an online store and the more »
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M&A Alive and Well in the Healthcare Insurance Industry
By Tony Daltorio - August 28, 2012 | Tickers: AET, CI, HNT, WCG, WLP
The Obama Administration's healthcare reform program certainly kicks up a lot of political chatter every time it is mentioned. But from an investment perspective, it has had one definite effect...it has brought about greatly increased merger and acquisition activity in the healthcare insurance sector. The past 10 months has seen $14.3 billion in takeover activity in the sector, according to Bloomberg.
The latest evidence of that trend more »
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Insurers Wilt in US Drought
By Tony Daltorio - August 28, 2012 | Tickers: ACE, AFG, DE, WFC
In a recent article, some of the winners and losers thanks to the worst drought in the United States in a half century were discussed. Since then the news has gotten worse as the U.S. Meteorological Service recently stated that drought had now engulfed in excess of 85% of the country's acreage devoted to both corn and soybeans. So it should come as no shock that there will more »
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The Coming 4G Revolution in China
By Tony Daltorio - August 25, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, CMGE, CHA, CHU, NOK
When it comes to the global telecoms sector, the "holy grail" has to be the vast number of consumers in China. It will be important to the future of not only the Chinese telecommunications companies, but also to the future fortunes of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Nokia ADR (NYSE: NOK) who are battling both Samsung and local rivals for the hearts of Chinese consumers.
Apple recently "disappointed" some Wall Street more »
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Mobile Payments Space Grows Ever More Crowded
By Tony Daltorio - August 21, 2012 | Tickers: BBY, SBUX, TGT, WMT
There is perhaps no segment of the technology sector that is more crowded or more confusing for both investors and consumers than the mobile payments or mobile wallet industry. Already well-known names such as Google Wallet, Ebay's PayPal, Isis – backed by telecom companies like Verizon and AT&T – and the credit card companies have staked their claim in the space. Now we have even more entrants.....
Some of the more »
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Pharma Companies Switching Drugs to OTC Market
By Tony Daltorio - August 21, 2012 | Tickers: AZN, GSK, PFE, RHHBY, SNY
Global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Group PLC ADR (NYSE: AZN) has suffered since late last year thanks to both expiring patents on key drugs and several developmental drug failures. The company has a much more substantial patent cliff than many of its peers with about half of its $33 billion in annual revenues expected to disappear by 2016. On the experimental drug side, it recently ended a second stage trial of more »
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US Drought Reignites Ethanol Debate
By Tony Daltorio - August 15, 2012 | Tickers: ADM, SAFM, SFD, CORN, VLO |
Once again economics and politics are colliding as the ongoing drought, the worst in 50 years in the United States, has reignited the debate about ethanol. The debate centers on whether it makes sense, at a time of food shortages globally, to turn corn into fuel. The U.S. ethanol industry uses roughly 5 billion bushels of corn annually, or about 40 percent of the U.S. crop.
Already strains more »
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Rare Earths Poised for a Turnaround
By Tony Daltorio - August 15, 2012 | Tickers: AVL, REMX, MCP, REE
Rare earths are 17 chemically similar metallic elements that have a wide variety of uses in today's high-tech world including in the defense, electronics and renewable energy industries. Many major firms such as Apple and Boeing rely on having access to rare earths.
That is why the politicians in the U.S. were in such an uproar a couple of years ago when prices for rare earths were skyrocketing more »