Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX) reported a flat $492 million or 56 cents per share in profits in the second quarter of the year, compared to the year ago level of $485 million or 55 cents per share. The Canadian gold miner generated revenues of $2.03 billion, 3% higher than the year ago level. Operating cash flow rose 42% to $718 million compared to $505 million in the same prior-year period. This reflected lower income tax payments as a result of the production mix and the use of tax loss carry forwards. The realized gold price for the quarter was $931 per ounce, which was $33 higher than the year ago level. Gold production reached 1.87 million ounces at total cash costs of $452 per ounce due to strong operating performance in the North and South America regions. This put the company on track with a ...

Bankruptcies, Depressions and Mark Stanford with his Argentine beauty.

Everything is working out just like we thought it would. The stock market is performing as expected. The economy is on track. Even the politicians are doing what they thought they would.

Let’s begin with the stimulus/bailout/boondoggle/BS plan. As anticipated, it has failed. That is, the economy is getting worse, not better. It has failed the test set for it by its own creators. Back when the Obama Team was arguing for a big bailout bill, it warned that without a bailout unemployment would rise above 8% in 2009. ‘Pass this bill today,’ said Ben Bernanke, or words to that effect, ‘or there may not be a tomorrow for the US economy.’

Congress dutifully bent its back to the task of adding boondoggles to the bill and then okayed the measure. And here we are in the middle of 2009 and the unemployment rate

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Highlights include Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT), Big Lots, Inc. (BIG) and Family Dollar (FDO), Saks, Inc. (SKS) and Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN).Existing Home Sales Up, But So Are InventoriesThe existing home sales report for April showed mixed news, but was largely in line with expectations. Starting with the good news first, sales rose 2.8% to an annualized rate of 4.68 million, and were up in three out of the four regions.The Northeast fared the best by far on a month-to-month basis with a 11.6% rise, followed by the West, up 3.5% and the South up 1.8%. Sales in the Midwest declined by 1.8%. On a yea- over-year basis, sales were down 3.5%.The real stand out on a year-over-year basis was the West, where sales soared 19.4%, while the other three regions were down significantly. The Northeast is still ...

 The ISM Manufacturing Index rose to 36.3 in March, slightly beyond expectations of a marginal increase to 36, from 35.8 in February, 35.6 in January and as low as 32.4 in December. This is the 14th consecutive month where the manufacturing sector failed to grow, adding to the frailty of the manufacturing sector.  An ISM Index level below 40 traditionally indicates recession in the economy as a whole, while a level above 65 signaled strong economic growth. This is the sixth consecutive month the index was below 40, while the NBER declared the current US recession to have started in December 2007.  The overall economy according to this report, failed to grow for the sixth month after a streak of 83 consecutive months of growth which ended in September.  All of the 18 industries pooled in the index failed to grow in March, as price advantages were

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Chinese restaurant chain South Beauty, also known as Qiaojiangnan, has announced that the group plans to sell parts of its stake to CDH Investments and China International Capital Corporation to raise financing of CNY300 million. CDH Investments and China International Capital Corporation will invest CNY200 million and CNY100 million, respectively, in the catering subsidiary of South [...]

In this feature, we discuss Lennar (LEN), D.R. Horton (DHI), Standard Pacific (SPF), Ryland (RYL), Beazer (BZH), Home Depot (HD), Lowes (LOW) and  Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY).This morning, the data on September housing starts and permits came out.  Both were down sharply.  I consider this to be very good news, even though it contributes to the near-term weakness in the economy.  There is still a massive oversupply of housing, and the only realistic way of getting the inventories down is to stop building more new houses.  Remember the first rule of holes: when you find yourself in one, stop digging.  In this case, new foundations.  Turning first to building permits, a solid indicator of future housing activity (all data is seasonally adjustable annual rates):       ...

What is today the state of South Dakota was actually acquired by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 for $15 million. Jefferson’s investment has definitely paid huge dividends. Some interesting facts about South Dakota follow:1. There is no corporate income tax.2. There is no personal income tax.3. South Dakota has a population of about 800,000.4. The state gross product in 2007 was $34,000 million.5. Forbes Magazine ranked Sioux Falls as the Best Small Place to do business in 2008.6. The South Dakota housing market is among the most affordable in the country.7. Mt. Rushmore National Memorial is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the state.8. 10% of Dakota’s gross product is produced by the manufacturing industry. 9. Tourism generates over $1 billion in revenues each year.10. Black ...