CARBO Ceramics, Inc.

• A Special Source of Pricing Power

  By Ted Cooper - June 11, 2013 | Tickers: CRR, IFF, MKC

  Although all companies want it, only a handful of companies have significant pricing power -- the ability to raise prices without significant customer defections. Pricing power is only available to companies with competitive advantages, and it is only worth something to long-term investors when the competitive advantages are durable.

  McCormick & Company (NYSE: MKC) is an example of a company with pricing power derived from a durable competitive advantage. The company has more »

• Profiting from Fracking

  By Dusan Jovanic - May 13, 2013 | Tickers: CRR, HCLP, SLCA |

  U.S. Silica Holdings (NYSE: SLCA) is one of the beneficiaries of the oil and gas production boom in the United States. The company makes silica products and applications for two business segments: oil and gas, and for industrial and specialty products. U.S. Silica has grown earnings and revenue substantially in the last two years, and has been a great performer, with its stock price more than doubling since more »

• A Low PEG Commodity Stock Protected by Barriers to Entry

  By Mark Lin - May 9, 2013 | Tickers: CRR, HCLP, SLCA

  People tend to think of commodity stocks as price takers with no competitive advantages, but it is unfair to tar all stocks with the same brush. U.S. Silica (NYSE: SLCA), the second largest producer of commercial silica in the country, is one such exception.

  The difficulty in finding and building new mines, coupled with high transportation costs, act as effective barriers to entry for new entrants seeking to compete more »

• Fatal Flaw Will Sink Long-Term Owners of This Stock

  By Ted Cooper - March 25, 2013 | Tickers: CRR, HAL, SLB

  On the face of it, CARBO Ceramics (NYSE: CRR) is a wonderful business with tremendous growth prospects. For the moment, Carbo's business will remain wonderful and its high growth rate will likely continue for at least a few more years.

  In fact, shareholders will probably be rewarded for owning the company with share price appreciation exceeding that of the S&P 500 over the next few years.

  Unfortunately, the more »

• Buy These Fallen Angels for Outsized Returns

  By Anh HOANG - December 12, 2012 | Tickers: AMD, CRR, GFI, INTC

  I often search the 52-week low list to generate investment ideas, while keeping in mind any stock may find itself no this list for a variety of reasons. It might be due to the deterioration in business fundamentals, or the overreaction of the market given short-term business headwinds. If the latter unfolds, it's certainly a prime opportunity to pick up good businesses at a discount.

  This time I set more »

• The Proppant Market at the Barclays CEO Energy Conference

  By Eric Fox - September 18, 2012 | Tickers: CRR, HAL, HCLP, SLB, SLCA

  Carbo Ceramics (NYSE: CRR) spoke at a recent energy conference and touted its prowess in improving the productivity of oil and gas wells through the use of the company’s proppant products as well as software to help design better fracturing operations.  The company also addressed investor concerns regarding low cost imports of proppant from China.

  Overview

  Carbo Ceramics manufactures ceramic and resin coated sand proppant used during hydraulic fracturing more »

• Some Interesting Trends in the Energy Sector

  By Eric Fox - August 8, 2012 | Tickers: CRR, CLR, EQT, RAM

  The energy sector's earnings season for the second quarter of 2012 is winding down and I just wanted to highlight some interesting items and trends that might have been missed by many investors due to the deluge of information from all the companies reporting over the last few weeks. 

  Lower Costs

  EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) is active in the Appalachian Basin and recently announced a pilot program to convert more »

• Carbo Ceramics--Fractured not Broken

  By jean graham - August 8, 2012 | Tickers: CRR, HAL, SLB

  Capacity growth now—building for the future

  Carbo (NYSE: CRR) sells fracking proppant to oil & gas producers, and brisk activity in E&P is critical to their success. The current low price/oversupply in natural gas has upset the flow of their business and the price per share is dropping. Business is manufacturing and selling ceramic proppant and resin-coated sand for use primarily in fracking. Carbo also provides its popular more »

• In Search of New Ideas

  By Stephen Benz - June 12, 2012 | Tickers: CRR, ^DJI, RGR |

  Investors who are new to the game face a serious challenge right from the start.  There are over 5,000 companies on just the NYSE and NASDAQ, and only a small fraction of them are big name companies a typical investor would be familiar with. 

  To make matters worse, the primary source of investing ideas for the individual investor, the financial media, focuses primarily on large cap companies or popular more »