Posts related to ‘Nuclear’

52-Week High Club

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (NYSE: RDY) hit a yearly high of $19.32 today, building on momentum initiated yesterday when it was reporeted that the company had received approval from regulators to distribute its high blood pressure drug in the UK.

Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) hit a yearly high of $27.95 after a wave of analyst upgrades.

OSG America (NYSE: OSP) hit a yearly high of $10.15 after the company announced that it is raising the price that it will pay for all of its publicly traded securities from $8.00 to $10.25.

Pacific Gas & Electric C. (NYSE: PCG) hit a yearly high of $41.75 following an announcement that a unit at its Diablo Canyon nuclear power facility has come back online at full capacity following repairs.  

Garrett W. McIntyre

Posted on: September 24, 2009 – 4:16 pm in Analyst Calls, Nuclear, Pharmaceuticals, Technology Companies, , , ,

USEC Picking Up Efforts (USEC, HON)

USEC Inc. (NYSE:USU) has appointed Christine M. Ciccone as senior vice president of external relations.  This is not going to just be a media and government affairs position.  This position is meant to lead the public policy efforts with the U.S. government, media, and stakeholders, but will also develop and implement strategic communication plans for the company in a position that reports directly to President/CEO John Welch.
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Posted on: August 24, 2009 – 12:25 pm in Management Change, Nuclear, ,

USEC Wants a DOE Do-Over (USU)

Carbon Emission ImageUSEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) has just announced that it is requesting that the Obama administration “review further the economic recovery and national and energy security benefits of providing a loan guarantee for the American Centrifuge Plant.”  This announcement is of little surprise.  Yesterday’s news severely changed how Wall Street and Main Street will look at the role of  nuclear power as an alternative to foreign energy.
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Posted on: July 29, 2009 – 3:51 pm in Nuclear, Politics, Utilities,

Nuclear Stocks Reacting to USEC Woes (USU, CCJ, NLR, URZ, DNN, URRE, PESI)

Carbon Emission ImageWe have already covered the nuclear winter blow-up over at USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) after the DOE declines to issue a guarantee for it long-pending loan application.  What we wanted to see is what the fallout is in the rest of the nuclear sector.  As we expected, all of the stocks are down.  The good news is that these are not down anywhere as much we would have guessed based upon the sharp negative reaction for USEC shares.  This has Cameco Corp. (NYSE: CCJ), Market Vectors Nuclear Energy ETF (NYSE: NLR), and others on the defensive.
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Posted on: July 28, 2009 – 11:26 am in Nuclear, Trading Alert, Utilities, , , , , , ,

Nuclear Winter: Uncle Sam Punts USEC (USU)

Carbon Emission ImageIt seems that all the talk about getting off of coal-power and reducing dependence on foreign energy is still just rhetoric.  USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) announced this morning that the long-standing loan process it has been waiting on a decision for is not going to go in its favor.  The Department of Energy told USEC that it would not proceed with USEC’s application for a loan guarantee to complete construction of the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio.  This is a major blow to the company.  It is also a blow to the future of nuclear energy in the U.S.
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Posted on: July 28, 2009 – 9:37 am in Nuclear, Politics,

Uranium Miner Stumbles (URRE, CCJ)

Low prices for uranium have hit producers hard, and Uranium Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:URRE) has posted the numbers to prove it. First quarter 2009 revenue fell 75%, from $5.7 million in the same period a year ago to $1.7 million. The net EPS loss amounted to -$0.03, compared with an EPS loss of -$0.04 a year ago.
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Posted on: May 11, 2009 – 8:28 am in Commodities, Earnings, Nuclear, ,

Pressure on Uranium Prices, Real or Not? (CCJ, URRE, DNN, NLR)

Because there is no real established exchange for buying and selling uranium, the workings of the uranium mining business is pretty much as mysterious to most of us as the nuclear reaction itself. One uranium miner, Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ), trades substantial volumes at share prices well above $1/share. Most trade around a buck a share, at thin volumes, and have market caps well below $1 billion. That doesn’t mean there isn’t any action in uranium, just that it’s hard to spot. For example, Uranium Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:URRE) recently received a decision in federal circuit court related to oversight of a planned underground injection control program that the company needs for in situ mining on a site within the Navajo Nation. The US Environmental Protection Agency has been judged to be the permitting agency for the project. Both the Navajo Nation and the state of New Mexico sought control of the program, and either would have been more to the company’s liking.

Posted on: April 21, 2009 – 10:38 am in Commodities, Nuclear, Trading Alert, , , ,

Uranium Enrichment Plant Development Slows (USU)

USEC Inc. (NYSE:USU) today announced that it plans to initiate "reduce the planned escalation of project construction and machine manufacturing activities" at its uranium enrichment plant in Piketon, Ohio. The company cited delays in securing a government loan guarantee as the culprit.

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Posted on: February 5, 2009 – 12:53 pm in Nuclear,

Supreme Court Closes Uranium Loophole (USU)

Nuclear_power_picA little-noticed US Supreme Court decision makes it more difficult to import low enriched uranium (LEU) into the US. In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that a French firm was guilty of dumping LEU at below-market prices in 2001 by means of a services contract instead of a contract for merchandise. Because the LEU was a "service", the French firm argued that it was not covered by anti-dumping laws.

LEU is made from newly mined uranium. But as uranium becomes harder to find and more expensive, reprocessing spent fuel may be a better way to go.  In France and a few other countries, spent fuel is reprocessed and is a routine method for handling nuclear waste. The spent fuel is reprocessed and used again instead of having to be disposed of. USEC Inc. (NYSE:USU) is the only US company that enriches uranium and is building a new enrichment plant in Ohio. The company applauded the court’s ruling.

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Posted on: January 28, 2009 – 8:48 am in Nuclear,

Jumpstarting Clean Energy… Is it Possible?

Solar_panel_picThere is a lot of speculation on how clean energy and alternative energy programs are going to get off the ground under the new administration and under the current economic environment.  Today’s Environmental Capital blog at the WSJ includes an article by Keith Johnson on how the Obama administration could promote the development and adoption of new clean-energy technologies. Johnson reviews tax credits (including refundable credits), feed-in tariffs, and renewable portfolio standards. He finds all fall short in one way or another.

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Posted on: January 21, 2009 – 12:08 pm in Alternative Energy, Nuclear, Utilities

More Nukes in the Pipeline (CEG, PPL, EXC)

Nuclear_power_picUniStar Nuclear Energy, a joint venture between Electricite de France (EDF) and Constellation Energy Group Inc. (NYSE:CEG), and PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL), a UniStar partner, have passed the first regulatory review on the road to building four new nuclear power plants. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission just added the fourth, a plant near Berwick, Pennsylvania, to its docket of combined license applications for new nukes.

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Posted on: January 9, 2009 – 2:15 pm in Nuclear, Utilities, , ,

New Nukes for Florida (PGN, SGR, SCG)

Nuclear_power_picWestinghouse Electric, a subsidiary of Japan’s Toshiba Corporation, has signed an engineering, procurement, and construction contract with the Florida subsidiary of Progress Energy, Inc. (NYSE:PGN) to build two new nuclear power plants in Florida. The Shaw Group, Inc. (NYSE:SGR) will partner with Westinghouse on the contract.

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Posted on: January 6, 2009 – 9:10 am in Nuclear, Utilities, , ,

The French Will Be Allowed to Invade Britain (BRK-A, CEG)

Platts is reporting this morning that the European Commission released its decision this morning regarding the buyout offer from Electricite de France (EDF) for British Energy Group plc, the UK’s largest nuclear generator of electricity. The offer, worth $23 billion when it was first announced in September, has been approved by the Commission provided that EDF meet certain conditions.

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Posted on: December 22, 2008 – 11:23 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, Nuclear, Utilities, ,

Constellation, The French, Buffett & A Value Trap (CEG, BRK-A)

The other shoe has dropped. Constellation Energy Group Inc. (NYSE:CEG) has accepted Electricite de France’s (EDF) offer of $4.5 billion for 49.99% of the company’s nuclear assets (rather than the whole company). We detailed the offer two weeks ago when it was announced. The total value of the deal is about $6.5 billion.

Constellation has terminated its merger with MidAmerican Holdings, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Holdings (NYSE:BRK-A). MidAmerican’s offer totaled about $4.7 billion for all of Constellation’s assets. MidAmerican collects a breakup fee of $175 million.  What is interesting is that the stock options have never valued Constellation anywhere near what the headlines would have you believe.

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Posted on: December 17, 2008 – 11:44 am in Buffett, Mergers and Buy Outs, Nuclear, Utilities, ,

Warren Buffett May Have Constellation Regardless (CEG, BRK-A)

Buffett_imageWe have had many inquiries this week over this EDF offer for Constellation Energy Group Inc. (NYSE: CEG) now that EDF in France gave a competing bid versus that of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) unit MidAmerica.  There is more than one way this can go, but the data suggests that Warren Buffett and friends are getting the last laugh here.

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Posted on: December 5, 2008 – 5:22 pm in Buffett, Mergers and Buy Outs, Nuclear, Utilities, , ,

Fitch Ratings Does Not Like the French Bid for Constellation Energy (CEG)

The recent bid by France’s Electricite de France (EDF) for half of the nuclear business of Constellation Energy (NYSE:CEG) caused Fitch Ratings to downgrade the company’s Issuer Default Ratings. The long-term IDR is now ‘BBB’, and the short-term rating is ‘F2′.

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Posted on: December 5, 2008 – 10:21 am in Analyst Calls, Mergers and Buy Outs, Nuclear, Utilities, ,

The French Go After Buffett (CEG, BRK-A)

Constellation_logoWhenever something like this comes along, one has to ask, "Are these guys serious?"  Electricite de France (EDF) yesterday offered Constellation Energy (NYSE:CEG) a premium of about 96% to purchase half of Constellation’s nuclear power business. EDF could be too late to the party.  Constellation has already mailed adefinitive proxy to shareholders supporting the $26.50/share bid fromWarren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) subsidiary Mid-AmericanHoldings.
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A shareholder vote on the sale is scheduled for December 23rd.  The total value of the EDF deal could reach $6.5 billion, if EDF buys some non-nuke assets, $4.5 billion just for the nukes. EDF already owns about 10% of Constellation.

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Posted on: December 3, 2008 – 8:46 am in Buffett, Mergers and Buy Outs, Nuclear, Utilities, , ,

Uranium Resources, Imploding Nuke (URRE)

Before the market opened this morning, Uranium Resources Inc. (NASDAQ:URRE) announced revenue of $4 million for the third quarter and a net loss of $14 million (-$0.25 EPS) due to lower sales and lower prices. The company’s share price has fallen 92% from its 52-week high of $14.07. This morning’s report won’t help that a bit.

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Posted on: November 10, 2008 – 8:58 am in Commodities, Earnings, Nuclear,

USEC: The Nuclear Call Option (USU)

Usec_logoThis weekend we made new updates to our favorite list of stocks in the under $10 category.  USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) is currently our favorite stock under $10.00 in the alternative energy category.  Is it fair to put a uranium enrichment supplier in the alternative energy universe?  That depends on what side of the aisle you are on and how far you extend energy.  This stock has been beaten, and there are many factors that have led us to believe that the stock has been trying to find a bottom.

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Posted on: September 30, 2008 – 12:01 pm in Nuclear,

Going Nuclear Into Elections (EXC, NRG, D, DUK, PGN, AEE)

Nuclear_power_picElectric utility Exelon (NYSE:EXC) this morning revised guidance for 2008 to a range of $4.15 – $4.30 per share from $4.00 – $4.40 per share. That’s measured on non-GAAP operating earnings; on GAAP earnings, the company adjusted its guidance from $3.70-$4.10/share to $3.90-$4.30/share. The press release cited mark-to-market adjustments in hedging, asset impairments, and costs associated with rate and litigation settlements. Analysts had been predicting GAAP earnings of $4.36/share. The company also announced a share buyback program that will total $1.5 billion over the next six months.  This might just be only the tip of the iceberg in nuclear power during an election year.

Exelon is joining nine other companies that have filed applications with the NRC to build 29 new reactors in the US. NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG), Dominion (NYSE:D), Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK), Progress Energy (NYSE:PGN), and Ameren Energy (NYSE:AEE) among others have also filed construction and operating license applications with the NRC.

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Posted on: September 4, 2008 – 9:29 am in Infrastructure, Nuclear, Utilities, , , , , ,