This being my first day back, I’m mainly catching up. But, of course, the world doesn’t stand still just because I went back to Tyneside. Things have been happening, as you’ll see below...
First, though, I’d like to apologise to Daily Reckoning fans for the temporary disruption to service. Bill Bonner has gone to Canada to speak at a conference. But fret ye not... the DR will be back very soon...
Thanks very much to Garry White, Manraaj Singh and Theo Casey for covering. I hope you enjoyed their musings. Oh, and if you haven’t done so yet, check out my email earlier today — it’s your chance to get a bonus report completely free of charge. I rather enjoyed my time off. Newcastle’s not changed much since I was last there. A new lick of paint here and there. Some weird bamboo bridge thing over the River Tyne (it’s ‘art’, apparently).
And — a real sign of the times — one of the bars near the Bigg Market is offering 2 for 1 cocktails as part of a Credit Crunch Special...
The Novocastrian economy — like the rest of the country — is clearly feeling the pinch. But it’s a big world out there. And savvy investors are still making money.
Today, we bring you three distinct profit opportunities. Make sure you check them out... in today’s nervy climate, they could be just the ticket!
Vodafone shares fall 14%. But there’s a silver lining...
This was the sequence of events yesterday:
- Vodafone released an ‘interim management update’ in which it predicted revenues for the financial year will be "around the bottom of the £39.8 billion to £40.7 billion outlook range."
- Vodafone’s shares fell 14%.
- Vodafone announced it will buy back £1 billion worth of shares.
However, there was an interesting element to the Vodafone statement. Organic revenue growth (growth that excludes the effects of acquisitions) was just 0.2% between March and the end of June.
But revenues from EMAPA — that stands for Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Affiliates — were up 8.7% during the same period.
It’s clear that emerging markets are Vodafone’s engine of growth. In the west, the company is fast resembling a big, stodgy utility (though that’s not necessarily a bad thing).
Focusing on emerging markets is a growing trend. Faced with stuttering consumer markets in Europe and the States, savvy companies are broadening their horizons. Of course, the best of the bunch started doing this years ago — and they’re now reaping the benefits.
Find out how, by turning eastwards, you could buttress your portfolio against the effects of faltering western economies... and bag some growth into the bargain!
Why Donald Trump is heading for Bombay By Manraaj Singh
Chief Investment Strategist, Profit Hunter
India is producing new millionaires faster than any Asian country other than Singapore.
The new rich are demanding more of everything. More cars, televisions, education, housing...
And they don’t just want more, they want it better too.
Companies that can deliver what India’s booming nouveau riche class want are set for bumper times.
And we’re now zeroing-in on a way of playing this boom.
Discover more about the incredible "Indian money machine"...
Grab your share of BHP’s billions
BHP Billiton is the world’s biggest mining company.
Less widely-known is that it’s also Australia’s largest oil and gas producer. And it’s just got even bigger. Oil output for the fourth quarter (that’s the three month period up to the end of June) was a whopping 54% higher than a year earlier — up from 11.4 million barrels to 17.6 million.
BHP’s oil story is just getting started. The company forecasts that, between now and 2011, its oil and gas output will grow at a compounded annual rate of 10%.
BHP’s strategy has been to focus on new, up-and-coming oilfields. It has struck a series of partnership deals with explorers around the globe, boosting its upstream pipeline.
Our small-caps expert Tom Bulford has identified one such oilfield, which BHP bought into last year. The partner in this instance is a little-known London-listed explorer. What makes this explorer so attractive is that it’s sitting on top of a potentially colossal oil find.
Tom reckons that, with BHP’s help, this company could be about to realise its potential — and turn the oil in the ground into cold, hard profits.
"If you want in on this," he says, "you’ll have to be fast!"
Find out more about this ground floor opportunity!
Until tomorrow
Ben Traynor P.S. If you enjoyed this article then we encourage you to sign up for the free Fleet Street Daily eletter. Learn what you can expect from today's markets -- and how to prosper in the face of uncertainty. You won't find more thought provoking writing anywhere on the Internet.
