Materials

Of the 18 Wall Street analysts currently covering the BHP Billiton’s (BHP) stock, 61% rate it as a “buy,” 28% recommend a “hold,” and the remaining 11% have a “sell” recommendation on the stock.

DowDuPont (DWDP) is expected to post an adjusted EPS (earnings per share) of $0.66 in 4Q17. DowDuPont posted an adjusted EPS of $0.55 in 3Q17.

U.S. Steel Corporation’s 4Q17 European shipments could be higher—compared to the sequential quarter. Steel demand tends to be slow in the third quarter.

U.S. Steel Corporation (X) is scheduled to release its 4Q17 financial results on January 31, 2018. U.S. Steel Corporation closed 2017 with gains of 6.6%.

Iron ore (PICK) volumes are key to BHP Billiton’s (BHP) revenues and earnings as iron ore is the single largest commodity produced by the company.

A quick look at the relationship between the two core precious metals, gold and silver, could also be helpful in the analysis of the overall precious metals market.

As we know, precious metals are closely tied to movements in US interest rates. Bonds and equities are both yield-bearing assets, so a rise in yields often causes a slump in demand for assets such as gold and silver.

Most mining stocks have risen during the past month due to the revival in precious metals prices.

Precious metals prices shot up on January 19, 2018, with concerns looming over the shutdown the of the US government.

Potash prices remained strong in the week ending January 19.

MAP prices In the earlier part of this series, we discussed that DAP (diammonium phosphate) prices were broadly mixed week-over-week, while they were much higher year-over-year. MAP (monoammonium phosphate) prices last week also followed the same trend. Let’s look at it below. Weekly movements Last week, MAP prices were broadly mixed week-over-week at the two locations […]

PPG Industries’ (PPG) Industrial Coatings segment is its second reporting segment. The segment represented 42.3% of the company’s total revenue in 4Q17 compared to 42.0% in 4Q16.

DAP (diammonium phosphate) prices have been moving higher from levels observed in late 2016 and early 2017.

NGD and HL are both trading below their longer-term 100-day moving averages.

Mining stocks tend to take their cues from gold.

In the previous part of this series, we saw that the alcohol industry could expect marijuana legalization for recreational purposes as an extension to their growth strategy.

PPG Industries (PPG) announced its 4Q17 earnings before the market opened on January 18, 2018. The company reported revenue of $3.68 billion, a rise of 7.9% year-over-year.

Nitrogen fertilizer prices remained volatile on the back of the volatility in the input prices of natural gas.

It’s fascinating to see how the marijuana landscape around the world has evolved in the last three years. According to Canopy Growth (WEED.TO), Canada, Israel, the Czech Republic, Uruguay, and the Netherlands “established federally legal cannabis access regimes” in 2014.

Based on its January 12, 2018, closing price, Cleveland-Cliffs is trading ~28% above its 50-day moving average and 15.4% above its 20-day moving average.

Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) had accumulated debt over a number of years.

Steel Dynamics will release its 4Q17 financial results on January 22, 2018. AK Steel and Nucor are scheduled to release their 4Q17 earnings on January 30.

As of January 15, 2018, analysts are expecting Praxair (PX) to report adjusted EPS (earnings per share) of $1.48, an increase of 5.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Although investors are still concerned about Cleveland-Cliffs’ (CLF) debt, it has come a long way with respect to debt levels.

While Alcoa’s 4Q17 earnings rose sharply as compared to previous quarters, the quarterly results fell short of expectations.

In this article, we’ll discuss analysts’ projections for Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF). Investors should note that drivers for CLF are quite different from those of its seaborne peers.

Iron ore prices have been very volatile lately. While the prices fell substantially in September 2017, they picked up after that.

Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) achieved US volumes of ~5.9 million tons in 3Q17, an increase of 11% year-over-year (or YoY).

The demand for Eastman Chemical’s Tritan continues to grow.

Nine Wall Street analysts are covering Scotts Miracle-Gro, They have a consensus mean rating of 2.3 on the stock with an overall “buy” recommendation as of January 10, 2018.

Rail giant CSX (CSX) reported double-digit carload traffic loss in the 52nd week of 2017. The company’s carload traffic slumped 15.7% that week.

Nineteen Wall Street analysts are covering CF Industries. They have a consensus mean rating of 2.7 on the stock with an overall “hold” recommendation as of January 10, 2018.

The target prices of the four miners we’re covering in this part are higher than their current trading prices, which could lead to an optimistic outlook on their prices.

AngloGold Ashanti has seen the highest correlation to gold in the past year, while Eldorado Gold has seen the lowest correlation.

The Vulcan Materials Company’s (VMC) revenue grew 5% and 7% in 2016 and 9M17, respectively. Aggregates, concrete, and calcium drove the growth in 2016, offset by asphalt mix.

Gold is a non-yield bearing asset that reacts negatively to rises in the interest rate.

For RPM International, 54% of the analysts recommended a “buy,” 46% recommended a “hold,” and none of the analysts recommended a “sell.”

Copper, like other metals, is widely recycled. Last year, we saw improved scrap flows as copper prices moved to higher price levels.

The potash fertilizer prices for both granular and standard grade were comfortably higher compared to the levels observed last year around the same week.

Natural gas is one of the key input components for gas-based nitrogen fertilizer producers (MOO)(MXI) such as CF Industries (CF), Terra Nitrogen (TNH), CVR Partners (UAN), and Nutrien (NTR).