April 2005 Archives

By Tim Wood -

NEW YORK (ResourceInvestor.com) -- Frank Holmes, chairman, chief executive and chief investment officer of money management firm US Global Investors [GROW], has been on a hot streak, but isn’t afraid to share some of his success secrets with retail investors.

With some of America’s top performing mutual funds under the care of his firm, Holmes revealed to delegates at the European Gold Forum that he pursues a highly structured and analytically driven approach to investing.

"President Bush Wednesday will propose new steps to increase domestic energy production, including incentives that could result in construction of nuclear-power plants and building oil refineries on abandoned military bases," USA Today reports.

"Oil prices have been rising because increased demand in countries such as China and India has made it difficult to keep production up. Bush has said that passage of energy legislation he proposed four years ago was the best solution."

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2005--

Sixteen Industry Representatives Team with DTCC to Explore Standard Platform for Processing, Settling Trades of Alternative Investment Products

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) today announced the formation of an industry advisory committee on alternative investment products to develop an automated, centralized and streamlined approach to the processing of these instruments.

By Henry Blodget -

Forget the new zillionaires. There are many good reasons to resist the China craze.

When the ducks are quacking, the saying goes, Wall Street feeds them, and right now we ducks are quacking for a steady diet of China-related investment opportunities. If China's economic miracle ends the way many do (e.g., Japan), we will blame Wall Street for our misery. But we should proceed with our eyes open.

Jim Rogers is the author of Investment Biker (Random House 1994), Adventure Capitalist (Random House 2003) and Hot Commodities (Random House 2005).

Born in 1942, Jim Rogers had his first job at age five, picking up bottles at baseball games. Winning a scholarship to Yale, Rogers was coxswain. Upon graduation, he attended Balliol College at Oxford where became an Oxford Blue. After a stint in the army, he began work on Wall Street. He co-founded the Quantum Fund, a global investment partnership. After 10 profitable years when the portfolio gained 4,200% while the S&P rose less than 50%, he decided to retire, at the age of 37, but wouldn't remain idle.

By Laura du Preez -

Asset managers warn against expecting unit trust funds that delivered outstanding performance in previous quarters to continue producing inflation-beating returns in future.

Performance results across the different unit trust categories are again generally good this quarter, and there are even positive returns among offshore funds that had been showing losses for many a quarter.

By Shawn Mercer -

Investing doesn't just have to be about stocks and bonds. There are many investments that may be a good fit for your portfolio. While some alternative investments can enhance a portfolio, they should probably be a modest percentage of your overall financial plan.

Examples of alternative investments include real estate, managed futures, private equity, along with many others. Because the pattern of returns in these investment categories typically don't correlate closely with those of stocks and bonds, their presence in a portfolio can complement returns, while potentially reducing the portfolio's overall ups and downs.

By Ashish Gupta -

Hedge funds are pooled investment vehicles, which are commonly set up as limited partnerships in which the manager acts as the general partner while the investors act as the limited partners.

In order to mitigate a particular type of risk, a money manager employs a particular risk management or hedging technique. For example, the market risk can be hedged against by selling a broad collection of securities short in equal proportion to one’s long exposure or by buying put options on an index.

By Mano Sabnani -

Investors shouldn't let enticing payouts blind them to property trusts' risks

Reits or Real Estate Investment Trusts are now the flavour in Singapore and the region. Governments are offering tax incentives for Reits and there is talk of several billion-dollar Reits being floated in Singapore and other regional markets, including Hong Kong.

By Tim Wood -

NEW YORK (ResourceInvestor.com) -- There are not too many twenty-baggers to go around in any sort of market, but one of them is preparing to list on the American Stock Exchange to better align itself with its major stockholders.

London listed Southern African Resources [AIM:SFU] is undergoing a rebranding that will, without being mutually exclusive, broaden and narrow its investment appeal as it becomes “African Platinum”. The name will contract to Afplats which positions the company in a familiar, but entrenched peer group consisting of Amplats [JSX:AMS], Implats [IMPUY], Lonplats [LSE:LMI] and former Australian platinum glory stock, Zimplats [AU:ZIM].

By Alistair Barr -

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Under increasing pressure to extend a string of huge returns for their super-wealthy clients, several top hedge funds are making forays into what may seem an unlikely new business for high-flying investors: reinsurance.

And their entry into a market once dominated by a few old-guard insurance specialists has raised hackles among the industry's leading players. Established reinsurance companies fear that hedge funds, which are virtually swimming in cash, command an uncommon ability to drive down prices, in turn eroding their premiums.

By Tim Wood -

NEW YORK (ResourceInvestor.com) -- The ratio of oil-to-gold prices spiked to a 29-year peak in March reflecting the persistent divergence in the fortunes of the two resources. The ratio has been steadily ascending since September 2003 with only a brief interruption last November, and reached an all-time daily high of 0.135 on 4 April when oil prices topped $57 a barrel whilst the gold price fell below $424 per ounce.

In real terms oil is the most expensive it has been since January 1983 at $50/bbl. Gold continues bump up against the a constant 2000 dollar ceiling of $400/oz which it achieved last August, which was the best showing since the same month in 1996. Indeed, gold has been entirely subordinated in the relationship to oil through its latest bull cycle.

By Miki Tanikawa -

Just a few years ago, more than 60 percent of the 1,500 shares listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange were trading below their book value, with some shares trading below what all of the company's cash reserves were worth.

That is changing fast. Since early February the shares of a fistful of formerly sleepy Japanese companies have jumped, in some cases by more than 70 percent, and fund managers say more are likely to follow.

NEW YORK - You can't always take it with you, and when you can't you put it in storage.

At least that's what investors are betting as they put cash into self-storage real estate investment trusts.

"So far this year, they've significantly outperformed," said Tom Bohjalian, vice president of New York based Cohen & Steers Inc., which holds shares in self-storage REITs.

By Craig D. Rose -

LONDON – No one comes to this fascinating city for the food. But many, like San Diego-based Sempra Energy, come for the money that can be made here.

While many back home associate Sempra with its San Diego Gas & Electric subsidiary, or perhaps with Southern California Gas Co., another wholly owned utility, commodity trading is Sempra's most rapidly growing profit source.

Investment guru Jim Rogers and other hedge fund managers see opportunities in global markets, including energy technologies.

Looking for new and diversified investment opportunities for your hedge fund? Stay clear of India or Russia, but do start scrutinizing the commodity markets of China, Brazil, and Canada, where opportunities will abound over the next 10 years or so. And don’t overlook improved energy technologies.

That was just some of the advice Jim Rogers, the hedge fund guru, global traveler, and co-founder of the Quantum Fund, offered up on Monday to a crowd of 300 or so hedge fund managers, investors, and their advisors.

There are a number of ways investors can shield their money from the taxman. This British guide explains the various options starting with the most popular...

Isas

Individual Savings Accounts are the most common way of keeping your investments away from the taxman. They were introduced in April 1999 to replace Personal Equity Plans (PEPs) and can be used to protect unit trusts, bonds, investment trusts and Oeics. Peps' tax-free status still applies for existing investments.

By Stafford Thomas -

Equities will be the core but bonds, cash and property all have a role to play

Written 400 years ago, Miguel de Cervantes' book Don Quixote de la Mancha contains advice well heeded by all investors: "Tis the part of a wise man to keep himself today for tomorrow, and not venture all his eggs in one basket." The trick is to choose asset-baskets appropriate to an investor's objectives and the risk he or she is willing to assume.