Posts for Ticker ‘CLF’

China Seeks Even Cheaper Iron Ore (RTP, CLF)

china mapThe deal between Rio Tinto plc (NYSE: RTP) and Japan’s Nippon Steel that cut the Japanese company’s iron ore price by a third does not appear to be acceptable to China’s steelmakers. Confirming our prediction, Bloomberg has reported that the chairman of China’s largest steelmaker has said, “The 33 percent cut is too far from our demand of 40 percent to 45 percent.”  While not a part of the notion, this could potentially have ramifications for Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF).
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Posted on: May 27, 2009 – 8:58 am in ADR, China, Commodities, Metals, ,

Making Steel Just Got Cheaper (RTP, CLF, MT)

UK-based miner Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RTP) has announced a pricing agreement with Japan’s Nippon Steel for iron ore for the contract year beginning April 1, 2009. The new prices are about 33% below last year’s contract. A Rio executive said, “We believe this settlement is a realistic outcome for both parties – one that reflects the global market for iron ore and the current challenging market conditions facing our customers.”
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Posted on: May 26, 2009 – 7:55 am in ADR, Commodities, Metals, , ,

At Cliffs, Everybody Sacrifices in Prosperity (CLF, ANR, FCL)

In the wake of a poor first quarter report, iron ore producer Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE:CLF), formerly known as Cleveland-Cliffs, has tightened its belt and the belts of all its shareholders. The company’s chairman, president, and CEO said that “we have asked all of our stakeholders to make sacrifices that will better position Cliffs to weather the direst of economic scenarios, while at the same time positioning the Company to take advantage of possible opportunities when the environment improves.”
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Posted on: May 13, 2009 – 7:51 am in Commodities, Dividend, Earnings, Metals, , ,

Coal Fields Merger Creates Big Player (ANR, FCL, CLF, KOL)

Coal ImageToday’s announcement of a merger between Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE: ANR) and Foundation Coal Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: FCL) creates the third-largest coal producer in the US. The all-stock deal is worth about $2 billion including $530 million in Foundation debt, with Alpha issuing 1.084 shares for each Foundation share at a value of $32.73/share, a 37% premium to Foundation’s closing price on May 8.
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Posted on: May 12, 2009 – 7:46 am in Commodities, Mergers and Buy Outs, , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BIDU, CERN, CLF, DE, DIET, LDK, MRVL, MCHP, NVO, YSI)

These are the top pre-market analyst upgrades and downgrades we have seen early this Tuesday morning with about two hours until the market opens

Baidu.com (NASDAQ: BIDU) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Cerner (NASDAQ: CERN) Cut to Hold at Auriga.
Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Deere (NYSE: DE) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
eDiets (NASDAQ: DIET) Cut to Hold at Canaccord.
LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) Cut to EqualWeight at Morgan Stanley.
Marvell Tech (NASDAQ: MRVL) Started as BUy at Deutsche Bank.
Microchip Tech (NASDAQ: MCHP) Raised to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Novo Nodisk (NYSE: NVO) Raised to Hold at Citigroup.
U-Sture-It Trust (NYSE: YSI) Raised to Outperform at Baird.

Jon C. Ogg
March 24, 2009

Posted on: March 24, 2009 – 6:49 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Cliffs Closes Coal Mine (CLF, PCX, CNX)

Coal_imageAfter the market closed on Friday, Cliffs Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLF) announced that it was closing its Pinnacle Mine in West Virginia for the month of February. About 360 employees "will be affected." The closure will chop 85,000 tons of production from projected 2009 totals.

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Posted on: February 2, 2009 – 9:40 am in Commodities, Labor & Unions, Metals, , ,

Cliffs, Alpha Scrap Merger Plans (CLF, ANR)

Two weeks ago, Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF) pushed out its shareholder vote on a merger with Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE:ANR) to mid-December. Alpha promptly filed suit, seeking to force Cliffs to stick to its agreed upon date of November 19th.

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Posted on: November 18, 2008 – 8:58 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (ACF, CLF, CVTX, PFE, SNY, THQI)

Down_arrow_redThese are some of the top analyst downgrades we have seen this Friday morning:

  • Americredit (ACF) Raised to Market Perform at FBR.
  • Cliff’s Natural resources (CLF) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
  • CV Therapeutics (CVTX) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
  • Pfizer Z(PFE) Started as Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  • Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) Cut to Sell at UBS.
  • THQ Inc. (THQI) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.

Jon C. Ogg
November 7, 2008

Posted on: November 7, 2008 – 8:08 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , ,

Cliffs Natural Resources: Trouble in Mergertown (CLF, ANR)

Cliffs_logoThe proposed merger between Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF) and Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE:ANR) has run over more than a few bumps. Cliffs’ largest shareholder, Harbinger Capital, tried to acquire enough shares to block the deal. The big stumbling block, though, has been the deteriorating share prices of both companies. When the merger was announced in July, it was worth $10 billion. A couple of weeks ago, the value had dropped to $4 billion.

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Posted on: November 4, 2008 – 10:13 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, ,

Cliffs Winning Strategy: Shutter Mines (CLF, ANR)

Cliffs_logoNewly-named Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE:CLF) is slowing production at two of its Minnesota iron ore mines in order "to bring production in line with demand." Three furnaces capable of producing 300,000 tons of pellets a month will be shut down. That’s an annualized reduction of nearly 30% at the two locations and about 16% of total North American annual production.

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Posted on: October 28, 2008 – 11:47 am in Commodities, Labor & Unions, Metals, ,

Alpha Natural Resources, Looking Beta, Off The Cliffs in Cleveland (ANR, CLF)

Coal_imageAlpha Natural Resources (NYSE:ANR) has sold its majority interest in lime manufacturing plant in Kentucky and 17.6 million tons of coal that still needs to be mined. The after-tax gain from the sale of both properties is expected to be about $15 million.

Tomorrow is the day that Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) gets a new name,Cliffs Natural Resources, anticipating completion of its merger withAlpha Natural Resources (NYSE:ANR). When the merger was announced inJuly, it was estimated to be worth about $10 billion. It’s nowestimated to be worth about $4 billion.

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Posted on: October 15, 2008 – 8:25 am in Commodities, Mergers and Buy Outs, ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (BWA, CLWR, CLF, CSX, NTLS, PFCB, VPHM)

These aren’t all of the upgrades or positive analyst calls we have seen this Wednesday, but these are some of the impact analyst calls we are seeing:

  • BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA) Raised to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
  • Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) Started at Outperform at RBC Capital.
  • Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE: CLF) Started as Buy at KeyBanc.
  • CSX (NYSE: CSX) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  • Ntelos Holdings (NASDAQ: NTLS) Started as Outperform at RBC Capital.
  • P.F. Chang’s (NASDAQ: PFCB) Raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
  • ViroPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: VPHM) Raised to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.

Jon C. Ogg
July 16, 2008

Posted on: July 16, 2008 – 6:35 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AU, APOL, CLF, DRI, ETR, EXC, EXPD, F, MELI, OSIP, STX, WDC)

These are not all of the analyst calls out there affecting shares, but these are the top 10 analyst we are focusing on this Monday morning:

  • Anglogold (NYSE: AU) Raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) cut to Sell at Banc of America.
  • Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE: CLF) started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
  • Entergy (NYSE: ETR) & Excelon (NYSE: EXC) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
  • Expeditors International (NASDAQ: EXPD) Raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Ford Motors (NYSE: F) cut to Sell at Citigroup.
  • MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) raised to Outperform at RBC Capital.
  • OSI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OSIP) raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
  • Seagate Tech (NYSE: STX) raised to Overweight at JP Morgan; Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) downgraded to Underweight at JP Morgan.

Jon C. Ogg
March 3, 2008

Posted on: March 3, 2008 – 7:55 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , ,

More Buyout Predictions

On CNBC’s Stop Trading segment today, Jim Cramer talked with Alexander Goldfarb from UBS about Archstone Smith (ASN) on a potential buyout.  An industry newsletter said that Tischman may be in talks to do a deal with Archstone.  He doesn’t know if there are talks right now, but he thinks it would make sense and the companies are atttractive.  Apartment Investment Trust (AIV) trades at a 15% discount to net asset value and that concerns are unwarranted.  Two of the other three that were noted as potential buys are Essex Property trust (ESS) and Equity Residential (EQR).

Cramer said that he thinks Cleveland Cliffs will be acquired imminently and that stock is up 8% today, and they noted call options activity.

Jon C. Ogg
May 25, 2007

Posted on: May 25, 2007 – 1:51 pm in Analyst Calls, Cramer, Mergers and Buy Outs, , , , ,