At issue may be a stock market stabilization, or perhaps it is a stabilization aimed solely at the commodities and those companies which profit from either the rise of commodity prices or the rise of the demand for those commodities. It was just yesterday evening that Dennis Gartman of the Gartman Letter was talking up gold miners as his method of choice to play the current bounce in gold.

To show just how much implied upside there is we found some large cap gold stocks that have upside of about 100% and many of the big players have implied upside of well over 50%.  The key ETFs for these miners show just how widespread the damage was during the last sell-off.  The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (AMEX: GDX) trades at $43.35 against a 52-week trading range of $39.08 to $66.98 and that is down about 35% as a group from the highs.  The Global X Silver Miners ETF (AMEX: SIL) trades at $18.00 against a 52-week range of $16.54 to $29.05 and that is down almost 38% from its high in the last year.

We included the implied dividend yields but due to foreign issues and ADRs causing currency translations and due to some payouts not being quarter like U.S. companies do, we would urge you to only consider the dividend as a footnote and something you should be verifying on your own.  Besides that, who buys gold (and silver) miners because of their dividend yields only?

We have evaluated the following large-cap gold stocks: Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX); Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG); Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM); AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU); Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC); Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM); Gold Fields Ltd. (NYSE: GFI); Yamana Gold, Inc. (NYSE: AUY); IAMGOLD Corp. (NYSE: IAG); Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMY); Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO); and Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD). We have covered also two of the larger silver players of Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE: SLW) and Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS).

Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX) traded at $37.60 and has a market value of $37.6 billion.  The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $59.10 and the 52-week range is $34.82 to $55.95.  Barrick has a dividend yield of 2.2%. The implied upside to the consensus target: 57% but we would note that the target is above the 52-week high.

Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG) traded at $34.90 with a market value of $28.2 billion.  The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $60.42 and the 52-week trading range is $32.16 to $56.31.  Goldcorp’s most recent yield was listed as 1.6%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 73% but we would note that the consensus target is still above the 52-week high.

The company owns shares of production in mines operated by Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC), Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM), Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG), and Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) among many others. The company gets a portion of production without the impact of rising costs on production, costs which have bedeviled the miners for some time now.

For the company’s third quarter EPS came in at $0.44 versus a consensus estimate of $0.45. Revenues rose to $69.6 million, compared with an estimate of $69 million. Royal Gold also reported an increase in its gold reserves this morning, from a previous total of 83.9 million ounces of gold and 12.4 billion ounces of silver to 84.5 million ounces of gold and 1.2 billion ounces of silver.

After applying the company’s royalty participation formula, Royal Gold claims its precious metals reserves increased 19% on a gold equivalent basis from December 2010 to December 2011.

The consensus estimate for 2012 EPS is $1.83, growing to $2.32 in 2013. The company’s dividend yield is just 1%, and an increase to the annual $0.15/share dividend would probably help the stock more than another gold strike.

Compared with the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (AMEX: GLD), Royal Gold comes up a little short, with five-year share-price growth of 101% compared with growth of 138% for the ETF.

Royal Gold’s shares hit an all-time high last September near $84 and it’s trading today at $59.65, down about -2.3% from last night’s close. The 52-week range is $55.00-$83.87. Year-to-date shares are down -11.6%, even after a jump above $75/share following a January at-the-market purchase of 4 million shares by Goldman Sachs. Shares could be available at a bargain price real soon now.

Paul Ausick

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), which reported quarterly results this morning, is just the latest casualty in the gold mining business. Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG) missed estimates by a modest amount, and Newmont Mining Co. (NYSE: NEM) reported a modest beat for the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) beat EPS estimates by nearly 12%, the best showing of the bunch so far. Yamana Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUY) missed estimates yesterday, and Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) won’t report first quarter results until next week.

Demand for bullion, from central banks and investment instruments like the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (AMEX: GLD) are driving the price of gold, but not driving it to great new highs. Equity markets have been strong in the first quarter of the year, and investors have been chasing returns rather than seeking the safe haven of gold.

For the miners themselves, costs are the constraint. Barrick, for example, realized an average gold price of $1,691/ounce in the first quarter, up from $1,389/ounce in the same period a year ago, an increase of more than 21%. Cash costs rose from $437/ounce a year ago to $545/ounce in the first quarter, more than 24%. Total production costs rose from $595 to $737 per ounce, a jump of nearly 24%.

Barrick reported total cash margin on gold of $1,146/ounce, while Goldcorp reported total cash margin of $1,456/ounce. Labor and regulatory issues contribute to higher costs, as do less productive ores. Then there are the rising costs of new exploration and development.

If investors continue to flock to equity markets, only central banks and jewelry makers are left to push demand for gold. That’s not a good position for the miners to be in.

Barrick’s announced a 33% increase in its quarterly dividend this morning, to $0.20/share. Goldcorp raised its quarterly dividend to $0.35/share earlier. Neither move will boost the dividend yield above 2% though — and even if it did, it probably wouldn’t be enough to lift the share prices much.

Barrick stock is down about -1.6% in the pre-market, at $39.80 in a 52-week range of $38.46-$55.95.

Paul Ausick

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Started as Buy at Auriga; target raised to $715 at JPMorgan

Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Clean Energy Fuels Corporation (NASDAQ: CLNE) Started as Neutral at Macquarie.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Express Scripts Inc. (NASDAQ: ESRX) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.

GNC Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNC) Raised to Outperform at BMO.

Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG) Started as Neutral at Citigroup.

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) Started as Neutral at Stern Agee.

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC) Started as Buy at Citigroup.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays.

Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) Raised to Buy at Stern Agee.

The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Raised to Neutral at Citigroup.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox.  We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

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JON C. OGG

Silver Wheaton Corporation (NYSE: SLW) is up 6.7% at $34.07, and the 52-week trading range is $25.84 to $47.60.

Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) is still only flat at $21.85 but it was lower before the FOMC comments today. The 52-week trading range is $19.93 to $43.06.

Goldcorp Incorporated (NYSE: GG) is up 5.2% at $46.70, and the 52-week trading range is $39.93 to $56.31.

Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) is up 3.4% at $59.43, and the 52-week trading range is $50.05 to $72.42.

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC) up over 6% at $11.23, and the 52-week trading range is $9.96 to $18.25.

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM) up 8% at $37.23, and the 52-week trading range is $34.36 to $76.49.

ETFs are rocking as well.  The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) is up 5.3% at $54.58 against a 52-week range of $49.22 to $66.98.  Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners (NYSE: GDXJ) is up 6.5% at $28.66 against a 52-week range of $22.58 to $42.97.  The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: SIL) is up 3.9% at $23.69 and the 52-week range is $19.05 to $31.34.

The logic is simple enough… This signals extremely low interest rates and low costs of borrowing.  It also signals that investors will have to look elsewhere yet again to seek higher returns than short-term and intermediate-term Treasuries.  As this means that rates will be low in the U.S. for longer than expected, that is going to drive a weak dollar policy as long as things remain static in Europe and in other major economic zones.  That is the perfect storm for gold and silver as they are often inversely correlated to the dollar.

JON C. OGG

Kinross is making a bit of a comeback on speculation that the company may now be a takeover target. Larger Canadian gold miners Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) and Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) are included in the number of possible buyers, as are Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG) and AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU). Another potential buyer is London-traded Polyus Gold International Ltd. according to a report at Bloomberg News.

Kinross acquired Canadian miner Red Back in 2010 for $7.8 billion, and the deal included the Tasiast mine in Tanzania. The Tanzanian mine is the cause of the goodwill writedown, but the simple fact is that Kinross paid way too much for Red Back. Kinross has admitted that itself.

Of the potential buyers, Polyus might be the one to take most seriously. The Russian company has said that it wants to become one of the three largest gold miners in the world. Acquiring Kinross would achieve that goal.

Kinross might also be a good acquisition for Newmont, which currently has few growth prospects according to an industry analyst cited by Bloomberg: “Newmont has no growth, whereas Kinross has plenty of growth projects.”

Kinross is now trading at around $10/share though its asset value is about double that. That’s still a $20 billion+ deal at a time when production costs are rising and the price of gold going forward is unclear.

Shares of Kinross are up about 1.5% at noon today at $10.25 in a 52-week range of $9.96-$18.25. Shares of the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) are up 0.27% at $161.65 in a 52-week range of $127.80-$185.85.

Paul Ausick

After the first half hour of trading, Ku6 Media is up nearly 98% at $2.73. Volume is already more than 15x the daily average. The Chinese online video company has signed an agreement with Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) to offer international viewers a Chinese video channel on YouTube.

Convio is up more than 48% at $15.90 after setting a 52-week high of $15.91. Volume is already 10x the daily average. The provider of software to non-profit organizations has agreed to be acquired by Blackbaud Inc. (NASDAQ: BLKB) for $16/share, or about $312 million.

Provident Energy is up nearly 22% at $11.35 after posting a new 52-week high of $15.42. Volume is double the daily average already. The processor of natural gas liquids (NGLs) is being acquired by Pembina Pipeline Corp. for about $3.1 billion in stock.

Kinross Gold is down more than -16% at $10.57 after posting a new 52-week low of $10.44 earlier. Volume is already nearly equal to the daily average. The gold mining company has said that it expects production to be flat in 2012, while costs will rise 12%-19%, and the company will also writedown goodwill at one of its mines.

Carnival is down nearly -14% at $29.53. Volume is already nearly triple the daily average. The cruise ship operator is sinking following the disaster off the Italian coast that has left 11 dead and 29 missing. We have more coverage here.

Paul Ausick

Investors should use these more for a review rather than any quick trading ideas because anything tied to gold and silver this Friday is taking it on the chin.

Zacks has a report noting that these funds “can be a source of comfort to investors when markets are heading south and the economy is passing through choppy weather.”  The aim is for higher consistent returns that outperform stocks.  These act as diversification and as protection against inflation.  Zacks has offered a list of its top 5 rated precious metals funds this morning, all of which have the Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy).

U.S. Global Investors Gold and Precious Metals (USERX) invests in companies whose primary operations are related to gold and other precious metals. The precious metals mutual fund has a ten year annualized return of 26.34%. The precious metals mutual fund has a minimum initial investment of $5,000 and an expense ratio of 1.80% compared to a category average of 1.40%.  After looking elsewhere, the three month return on Google was noted as +10.2% and the year-to-date return was -6.5%.  Its top holding was listed as Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC) at almost 7.5% of the fund.

OCM Gold (OCMGX) invests in companies in the gold mining industry and may also invest in precious metals producers. The precious metals fund has a five year annualized return of 15.52%.  Google listed its 3 month return as 17.8% and a year-to-date return of almost 6%.  More than 12% of its assets were in Goldcorp, Inc. (NYSE: GG).

Fidelity Select Gold (FSAGX) invests in companies whose principal operations are related to gold, and it also invests in gold bullion and coins. Up to 25% of the fund’s assets may be invested in gold and other precious metals through a wholly-owned subsidiary. Zacks noted a return of 20.09% in the last one year period.  Google noted a return of +14.3% in the last three months and a return of +3.3% year-to-date.  The top three holdings are each 10% or more of the weighting and they are in Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX), Goldcorp, Inc. (NYSE: GG), and Newcrest Mining Limited (NYSE: NCM).

GAMCO Gold AAA (GOLDX) invests at least 80% of its assets in companies which engage in gold-related activities, but a large portion of its assets are in foreign securities.  Zacks noted a three year annualized return of 20.68%.  Google noted a 3-month return of +17.7% and a year-to-date return of almost +4%.  The top two assets in the fund account for more than 23% of the entire fund and they are Randgold Resources, Ltd. ADR (NASDAQ: GOLD) and Newcrest Mining Limited (NYSE: NCM).

Unfortunately for the report, this is coming on a morning that gold and silver are getting hammered and are bring down anything and everything tied to them.  Here are all of Zacks #1 Rank funds.

JON C. OGG

Advance Auto Parts. Inc. (NYSE: AAP) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM) maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus; Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley; Raised to Buy at Gleacher & Co.
Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Integrated Device Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: IDTI) Started as Buy at Wunderlich.
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) Started as Hold at ThinkEquity.
Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) Cut to Neutral at CRedit Suisse.
National Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NYSE: NOV) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.
NYSE Euronext Inc. (NYSE: NYX) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: TEVA) Reiterated Buy with $58 target at Argus.
Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) Reiterated Buy with $65 target at Argus.
Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Now we’ll check in with our own list of five great gold stocks. Winmill’s list included miners Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO), Avocent Mining plc (OTC: AVVGF), and Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (AMEX: NAK). He also mentioned Rio Tinto plc (NYSE: RIO) and the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD). We’re going to add a couple of others: Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM), Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC), AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU), and Peruvian miner Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA (NYSE: BVN). We’ll also look at popular ETFs iShares Gold Trust (NYSE: IAU), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX), and Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ).

Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (AMEX: NAK), as Winmill noted, is not yet earning revenues, but this is one of his long-term plays, with large-scale production not scheduled to begin until 2016 or later. For those of us who don’t even buy green bananas, we’ll take a pass on this one. Friday’s closing price of $12.57 compares to a 52-week trading range of $6.00 to $21.76 and compares to a Thomson Reuters consensus analyst median price target of $38.94.

Avocet Mining plc (OTC: AVVGF) boasts a trailing P/E ratio of 25.7, and according to Winmill, the company’s focus on West Africa is not correctly valued in the market. On its home exchange in London (AVM), Avocet posts a trailing P/E of 38.64 on a market cap of around $640 million. This could be a bargain, but again, it’s likely to take some time. In London, AVM closed Monday at $45.50 in a 52-week range of $38.66-$52.86.

Rio Tinto plc (NYSE: RIO) is the largest company, by market cap, in this list. It’s valued at about $136 billion. It’s trailing P/E is 9.33 and its forward P/E is just 7.46. It owns a piece of Northern Dynasty’s biggest project and mines just about any mineral that’s worth anything to someone. But the company’s $10 billion in cash at the end of 2010 and more than $56 billion in property, plant, and equipment make it a force to be reckoned with. It’s forward dividend yield is 1.8%, not much, but the highest of any of the miners we’re looking at here. Shares closed Friday at $69.59 in a 52-week range of $39.30-$76.67, and the median price target is $94.93.

Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) posts a trailing P/E ratio of 12.6 and a forward P/E of 12.37. Newmont just raised its quarterly dividend to $0.20/share, which yields 1.4%. Analysts expect growth here, with a median price target of $73/share, about 20% higher than Friday’s closing price of $56.39. Newmont’s got to watch its cash costs, though, which are among the industry’s highest. Shares closed Friday at $56.39, within a 52-week range of $50.05-$65.50, and the median price target is $73.00.

Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) posts a trailing P/E ratio of 18.02 and a forward P/E of 16.61. It’s dividend yield is a paltry 0.6%. Kinross shares trade at a discount to other large miners, but at least one analyst believes that 2011 could close that gap as the company closes in on projects in Ecuador. Shares closed at $16.11 on Friday, within a 52-week range of $13.84-$19.90, with a median price target of $22.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU) posts a trailing P/E of 104.12 and a forward P/E of 9.72. The huge difference could be due to a very profitable first quarter and the end of Anglogold’s forward sales. The company no longer has any hedges and will sell all its production at spot rates. That will keep shares higher this year, but the effect will diminish going forward. Shares closed on Friday at $45.50, within a 52-week range of $38.55-$52.86, with a median price target of $64.40.

Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA (NYSE: BVN), like Newmont, pays a nice forward dividend yield of 1.4%. Its trailing P/E is 15.53, and its forward P/E is 11.55. The company increased its silver production in the first quarter by about a third over a year ago and BVN more than tripled its copper production. Diverse assets, like Rio, only much smaller. BVN closed at $44.34 on Friday, within a 52-week range of $34.91-$57.50, and the median price target is $53.00.

The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) is the largest holding in John Paulson’s hedge fund, at 13.51% of the portfolio’s value. Because the trust holds only bullion, it avoids all the dangers involved with mining. Same for the iShares Gold Trust (NYSE: IAU). SPDR Gold Trust closed at $149.70 on Friday, within a 52-week range of $113.08-$153.61. iShares Gold Trust closed at $15.01 on Friday, within a 52-week range of $11.32-$15.39.

The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) and the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ) spread the risk around the various miners. Newmont is one of the three largest holdings in GDX, and along with Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) and Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG), make up more than a third of GDX’s holdings. The Gold Miners ETF closed at $57.92 on Friday, within a 52-week range of $46.80-$64.62. The Junior Gold Miners ETF closed at $37.44 on Friday, within a 52-week range of $24.25-$44.86.

So, skipping the two long-term plays, the best performer over the past 12 months has been Rio Tinto (up about 50%), followed by SPDR Gold Shares (up about 25%. Buenaventura finished up about 23% and AngloGold is up nearly 10%. Newmont is up about 5%. These five look good going forward.

Paul Ausick