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|STS-131 Shuttle Mission Imagery
high res (1.3 M) low res (111 K)
|S131-E-010006 (14 April 2010) --- STS-131 and Expedition 23 crew members gather for a group portrait in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station while space shuttle Discovery remains docked with the station. STS-131 crew members pictured (light blue shirts) are NASA astronauts Alan Poindexter, commander; James P. Dutton Jr., pilot; Clayton Anderson, Rick Mastracchio, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, all mission specialists. Expedition 23 crew members pictured are Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov, commander; Mikhail Kornienko and Alexander Skvortsov; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, and NASA astronauts T.J. Creamer and Tracy Caldwell Dyson, all flight engineers.
Curator: JSC PAO Web Team | Responsible NASA Official: Amiko Kauderer | Updated: 11/13/2012


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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) last week reversed itself, withdrawing a rejection of Apple's trademark application for "iPad Mini," according to a document published by the agency.
In an letter mailed to Apple last Wednesday, the USPTO said it was backing off reasons why it had provisionally denied the application.
"Upon further review of the application, the examining attorney has determined that the following refusals issued in the initial Office action should be withdrawn," the letter stated. "The examining attorney apologizes for any inconvenience caused."
Apple may be awarded the trademark for the "iPad Mini" after the U.S. patent office withdrew its earlier rejection of Apple's application. (Image: Apple)
In January, the USPTO had told Apple that it was bouncing the trademark application for the phrase "iPad Mini" because it judged the second word to be "... merely descriptive of a feature or characteristic of the goods." That objection has been withdrawn, as have others that said Apple submitted unsatisfactory examples of the proposed trademark.
But the USPTO continued to hold Apple to one requirement from January: It must waive any exclusive rights to the word "Mini."
"If applicant does not provide the required disclaimer, the USPTO may refuse to register the entire mark," the letter said. The agency recommended Apple amend the application with a disclaimer reading, "No claim is made to the exclusive right to use 'MINI' apart from the mark as shown."
Apple has six months to address the USPTO's requirement.

subset: commoncrawl


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|Steady Shot
|Usable by
|Casting time
|2 sec cast
|(GCD 1 sec)
|Level required
|Other information
|Requires Ranged Weapon
|TCG image
Draw... inhale... exhale... release.
- Amaria Kelsur TCG
Steady Shot is a hunter ability learned at level three that is free to cast, causes damage, and helps regenerate Focus.
Modified by
- Talents
- Beast Mastery specialization
- Marksmanship specialization
- Steady Shot can be used while running.
- It is a casting ability, suffering from delays by enemy attacks.
Tips and tactics
To understand how steady shot is affected by haste ratings it's important to understand how haste is calculated. A haste bonus is multiplied by frequency to achieve post-haste speed. World of Warcraft expresses all speeds as period rather than frequency, so the period must be divided by 1+bonus.
As for example in the above case:
Steady Shot Cast Time = 2 / 1.15 (hunter base ranged haste) / 1.2 (Serpent's Swiftness) = 1.4493
Steady Shot is affected by haste bonuses and ranged attack speed bonuses including Rapid Fire and Bloodlust.
Hunters are the only class whose GCD is unaffected by haste.
Patch changes
- Patch 5.2.0 (5-Mar-2013): Steady Shot now deals 20% more damage.
- Patch 5.1.0 (27-Nov-2012): Steady Shot, Cobra Shot, and Barrage can now always be cast on the move.
- Patch 4.1.0 (26-Apr-2011): Aimed Shot and Steady Shot should no longer start casting Auto Shot on a new target when the "Stop Auto Attack" option enabled.
- / Patch 4.0.1 (12-Oct-2010): Available at level 3 for 57. It generates 9 Focus.
- Patch 3.1.0 (14-Apr-2009): Now does correct damage with heirloom weapons.
- Patch 3.0.8 (2009-01-20): Now gains 10% of attack power as damage instead of 20%. Arcane Shot: Mana cost lowered to match the cost of Steady Shot.
- / Patch 3.0.2 (14-Oct-2008): Now uses ammo. In result, its bonus damage has been slightly reduced. Players can notice a damage increase based upon what ammo they use. Now has a 2.0 cast time, up from 1.5. No longer clips Auto Shot making weapon speed less relevant. Steady Shot is available beginning at level 50 instead of 62.
- Patch 2.4.0 (25-Mar-2008): Hunters will no longer spin around if they cast Aimed Shot or Steady Shot while facing away from their target.
- Patch 2.3.0 (13-Nov-2007): Tooltip clarified to indicate base weapon damage is used in the damage calculation.
- Patch 2.2.0 (25-Sep-2007): The tooltip stating the percentage of Attack Power gained by Steady Shot was inaccurate and has been corrected. The damage remains unchanged.
- Patch 2.0.6 (23-Jan-2007): The base damage for Arcane Shot has been reduced by about 9% and the bonus damage from ranged attack power reduced from 20% to 15%. This patch made Arcane Shot and Steady Shot do roughly the same amount of damage.
- Patch 1.5.0 (2005-06-07): Special ability shots no longer add the ranged weapon speed or take into account ranged weapon haste when determining the actual cooldown. The tooltip and cooldown timers should now properly reflect the actual cooldown.
External links


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Now, I sort of want to throw up my breakfast when I see Jenner doddering around the Kardashian klan. He looks like the grim reaper, the skin of his face pulled tightly over cheekbones and implants. And he's not alone. Michael Douglas, Paul McCartney, and Steven Tyler are also part of the cryptkeeper club, not content to leave well enough alone and age gracefully, let alone move their face. These dudes are starting to look like ladies, and not in a good way. I'd punch them in the face, but I might shatter them.
(photo: celebritysmackblog.com)


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We provide fresh and healthy dining options in all of our locations. Our mission is to be a leader for the future and you will find that each location uses compostable disposables to limit our carbon footprint as much as possible.
GRCC Campus Dining provides complete food services for The Raider Grille & The Quiet Cafe (2nd Floor of the Student Center), The Sneden Cafe (DeVos Campus) and catering throughout the campus.
The exception to this is the Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center, served by the ATC Catering & Banquet services, and the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education academic classroom dining options The Heritage Restaurant and Art & Bev's.


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Teddington Swimming Club head coach Ed Sinclair is targeting only steady improvement in 2013, writes Nicholas Godden.
Sinclair, who represented Great Britain at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and at Athens four years later, has been head coach at Teddington for almost three years.
In 2012, 11 swimmers from the club competed at national level – a massive improvement on five and one the two previous years.
The club also qualified for the A final of the London Division in December for the second consecutive year – a first for Teddington.
"Qualifying for the A final for a second year in a row, in an extremely competitive league, was a phenomenal achievement and a credit to the swimmers," said Sinclair.
Sinclair oversaw a top to bottom restructuring of the club in 2011 to increase emphasis on swimmer development and give swimmers the chance to reach their potential.
"Last year a girl won a place at Loughborough University," Sinclair explained.
"That was fantastic because that was one of my big goals for the club, to take a swimmer all the way through the club and go off and swim at university.
"That was my long-term plan, which is coming to fruition."
With the standard of competition constantly improving, Sinclair is wary of setting too many goals for the club, but he remains eager to continue the excellent work of the last 30 months.
Sinclair said: "In Britain we have very hard national qualifying times so I tend to stay away from targets.
"I've got some goals in my head, but we are still very much developing,
"The goals for this year are to carry on what we're doing and trying to expand the club a little bit."


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Built on Stilts Community Dance Festival
What began in 1997 as a one-night concert featuring the work of seven dance choreographers has since ballooned into a week-long extravaganza reflecting the islands remarkable artistic spirit. It now programs dance, theater, spoken-word, comedy, music and more conceived by over forty groups from near and far representing a broad array of styles by performers of all ages. The festival's all-inclusive philosophy has attracted an enormous range of choreographic sophistication and technical ability, defining Built on Stilts by its collective energy and creative output, as a home in which professional participants are free to experiment and fledgling performers can discover the joy of making dances.
Promoted by:
Built on Stilts
Built on Stilts
Doors open at 7:30pm followed by drumming, dancers warm-up and stilting demo outside. Dance performances begin at 8pm. The program is different each night. As ever, the shows are free to the public and audiences many come and go as they please. Donations are encouraged.
Venue Information:
Directions: Historically known for its excellent acoustics, Union Chapel has long been a favorite venue for concerts and recitals. It is located on Circuit Avenue in the center of Oak Bluffs.
Handicap Accessible


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Caffe Roma Blue Mountain blend coffee beans. A delicious coffee with a creamy smooth finish, suitable for all drinking.
Carefully roasted using only the finest AA blue mountain coffee beans, every cup is simply bursting with flavour. Enjoy a delicious smooth as silk espresso or cappuccino.
The AA classification give assurance that this coffee is of the highest quality, and is strictly regulated by the Coffee Board of Kenya. AA graded coffee fetches a higher price than any other Kenyan coffee grade.
Kenyan Blue Mountain coffee has been grown from Jamaican Blue Mountain stocks, retaining much of the desirable flavours of it's Jamaican counterpart, further enhanced from the rich volcanic soils of Kenya.


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About this paper
Mining large reservoirs of data in oil and gas operations involves committing to key processes and technologies – and embracing new ways of thinking about problem solving. To extract value from vast data stores and change the way decisions are made, many operators have turned to advanced data mining techniques along with real-time analytical and data processing capabilities. This paper explores practical approaches, workflows and techniques that are used in oil and gas operations. It also examines the role of exploratory data analysis; model development and modeling techniques; and approaches to putting models into production.
About SAS
SAS is the leader in analytics. Through innovative software and services, SAS empowers and inspires customers around the world to transform data into intelligence. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW®.
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grumpyman57 wrote:TIKING wrote:grumpyman57 wrote:I am glad to see that the site is back. I would also add a vote for the restoration of the old forums, even if a year old. There were some mods in there that were useful, and it would be a shame to lose them.
@Tiking, thanks for the link, however The Way Back Machine archive only captures text. All of the links to download code are non-functional. We really need to recover as much of the old site as possible. There is a huge amount of stuff that is useful including bug reports/solutions, code, suggestions and examples. It would be a pity if all of that were lost.
100% with you yo "


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Revenues generated through the sale of servers and related products by Taiwan-based makers are expected to top NT$300 billion (US$10.02 billion) in 2013, according to Digitimes Research's latest figures.
Inventec and Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) are the top-two server makers in Taiwan, but Quanta Computer, the current number three, which focuses mainly on supplying server products directly to larger cloud computing service (Internet) players, will have a chance to challenge the number two position with an estimated share of 22% in revenues for 2013, Digitimes Research figures showed.
Wistron is currently positioned fourth, and the top-four makers together will account for 88% of revenues.
Since Taiwan makers are supplying 80% of global server hardware, Digitimes Research believes that for Taiwan makers to continue achieving growth, they will need to focus on improving the competitiveness of their solutions including enterprise storage, telecom products, professional software and services.
This article is an excerpt from a Chinese Digitimes Research report. Click here if you are interested in receiving more information about the content and price of a translated version of the full report.
Source: Digitimes Research, August 2013


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Your Aspen Dental practice will do everything possible to make sure you have the best experience possible. That means first-class dentists, a friendly, judgment-free staff, and a promise that theyll always do right by you. It also means no hidden fees or inflated pricing. When youre a patient of anview details hide details view deal
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LocalDentistry.com provides updated information on dentists in Belle Chasse, LA.
Learn more about a Belle Chasse dentist by clicking "view details," or enter a new zip code in the search box below to search again.


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TV; "Brainwashed" (Getty Images) * Flickr Explore
Available for licensing on Getty Images
Ever since I published this photo in 2007 I have seen this photo being used in thousands of web sites, magazines, cards, and posters. Sites like www.forbes.com/sites/laceyrose/2010/08/23/furthering-debu..., www.ehow.com/facts_5121157_pros-cons-tv.html, www.parents.com/blogs/dadabase/tag/watching-tv/, Iranian's www.presstv.ir/detail/175802.html, gulfNews.com, Australia's www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-12/television-not-that-bad-fo..., and the list goes on.
A child watching TV.
This child is one of the millions of Americans who watch far too much TV.
Actually, the real child hates TV and I had to take the picture quickly before the screen damaged his eyes since the Large TV was too close and watching a screen in the dark is even worse. He also got really bored since the TV screen had only a static.
Flickr Explore #70
© Escobar Studios. All rights reserved. This image is available on Getty Images
Four years later I did a remake of this:


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Liebherr will always make every effort to respond to your queries quickly and competently. On this page, you are directed to the respective areas to facilitate your search for a contact person.
This product is not available in the selected range. Change the range to delete the product separately from your wish list.


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BURLINGTON, Mass. - A Swedish creative studio has used Z Corporation 3D printing technology to create a stunningly detailed 3D architectural model that is helping promote Stockholmsarenan until the 30,000-seat sports and entertainment arena is completed in 2013.
Thanks to the accuracy and resolution of the ZPrinter® 450 owned by the WE DO studio, virtually every detail in the architects' 3D digital model of the arena is represented in the physical model, a cross-section that includes 7,400 highly detailed seats, each 4 mm wide.
?Stockholmsarenan is a monument to world-class sports and entertainment, activities that can stir passion like few others," said Patrik Lindberg, owner of WE DO, based in Stockholm. ?Until the arena is complete, this ZPrinted model is helping generate the excitement for the arena, helping the owner and operator rent the space, sell seat licenses, plan events and entice sponsors - in other words, make the business a success."
The 1.2-meter-by-1.2-meter model is the centerpiece of an information pavilion offering a multimedia experience of the project. Both the architect and prospective patrons are ?blown away" by the piece, said Lindberg.
3D printing speed, color, and affordability dictated the choice
Much as a document printer converts a word-processing file into a business letter, 3D printing converts 3D digital data into a physical model you can hold in your hands. ?We chose to ZPrint this model because it creates a model faster, more affordable and more accurately than handcrafting," said Lindberg. ?We worked toward a tight deadline and printed different sections of the model nonstop for two weeks. It would have taken us at least three times more time and money to make this by hand, and the result would have been far less detailed. In other words, ZPrinting made this project a success."
Lindberg, a trained industrial designer, uses ZPrinting constantly to create product prototypes for design clients and models for architects. Although Stockholmsarenan was ZPrinted in classic architectural white, clients are increasingly asking for color, according to Lindberg. ?Companies are becoming enlightened on the possibilities for rapid prototyping," he said. ?Color, in addition to speed and cost, are why we selected the ZPrinter."
ZPrinters are the only 3D printers capable of simultaneously printing in multiple colors. They are the fastest in the industry and have the lowest operating costs, automatically recycling and reusing all material that isn't used for the model.
Click here for more information on Stockholmsarenan.
About Z Corporation
Z Corporation enables design professionals to create more. More ideas. More communication. More innovation. Wherever innovators use technology to develop ideas, we stretch the boundaries of what is possible. Product design. Architecture. Education. Even the leading edge of entertainment, health care, and retail mass customization. Z Corporation provides 3D printing and 3D scanning technologies used to create new products and services more effectively than any other means. We serve the world's most productive designers and engineers and are committed to making our solutions the fastest, easiest, most accessible, and most valuable. Z Corporation. Create more. www.zcorp.com.


text:
$9 Million USDA Grant Will Study Potato and Tomato Disease
UC Riverside Researcher Receives $9 Million USDA Grant to Study Potato and Tomato Disease
Five-year grant aims to control late blight, reduce on-farm costs and fungicide use, train future plant pathologists
(March 30, 2011)
NEWS MEDIA CONTACTName: Iqbal Pittalwala
Tel: (951) 827-6050
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Cathie Woteki (left) visited UC Riverside March 30 to make a formal announcement of the research grant to UCR's Howard Judelson. Photo credit: UCR Strategic Communications. (More photos below.)
Given that world potato production is about 320 million tons per year (20 million tons per year in the United States) and world tomato production is about 120 million tons per year (13 million tons per year in the U.S.), late blight is a major problem worldwide even today. With total costs of the disease estimated at more than $7 billion per year, it can drive farmers out of business and increase food prices.
Howard Judelson, a professor of plant pathology at the University of California, Riverside, has received a $9 million five-year grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) to research late blight and ensure a sustainable and long-term control of this devastating disease.
"Late blight is a global problem," said Judelson who will lead a multidisciplinary team of extension faculty and researchers – plant pathologists, molecular biologists, epidemiologists, plant breeders, sociologists and economists – at universities, government labs and a nonprofit research institution. "To manage this disease, which is favored by cool, moist weather, we need a multipronged approach. In this research project, we will develop an integrated plan of research, education and extension that includes developing diagnostic tools, resistant plants through breeding and biotechnology, and systems to provide improved management guidelines to growers."
USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Cathie Woteki visited UC Riverside today (March 30) to make a formal announcement of the research grant and meet with Judelson as well as other UCR scientists and administrators.
"More than 40 percent of current crop production among the top 10 food crops is lost to pests and diseases annually and that is a huge loss for farmers," Woteki said. "USDA is funding this project to help agricultural producers win the future by ensuring our country can keep producing the food needed to meet rising global demand in a sustainable way."
Late blight symptoms include the appearance of dark lesions on leaf tips and plant stems. In humid conditions, white mold appears under the leaves. Infected potatoes show gray or dark patches outside; inside, such potatoes show reddish brown lesions. A threat to home gardeners and commercial farmers, the disease can wipe out tomato and potato fields within a week.
The disease is caused by Phytophthora infestans, the most significant pathogen of potato, and a noteworthy tomato pest. Spores of the pathogen primarily travel in air, eventually landing on plants where the spores colonize leaves and cause them to die. Spores also can enter the soil, reach potato tubers, and destroy them. Available fungicides tend to be expensive and have potentially adverse environmental effects. Moreover, some strains of the pathogen are resistant to some fungicides.
"This grant to Dr. Judelson builds on historic UC Riverside strengths in research on this pathogen and is one more acknowledgement that UC Riverside is a leader in agricultural research," said Donald Cooksey, divisional dean for agriculture and natural resources in UCR's College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. "By leading research on managing late blight, we will help protect the productivity of tomato and potato farmers worldwide."
The research project will emphasize providing growers with better tools for managing the disease. These include better systems for making disease management decisions, plant varieties that are more resistant, tools for rapid identification of the pathogen, and tools for characterizing pathogen strains. The researchers also will test and expand the use of social media and smartphone technology to communicate with growers.
In the United States, late blight is seen predominantly on potato in eastern states like Maine, New York and Pennsylvania, and outbreaks also occur in the Midwest and West. Tomato production from Florida up the East Coast is also vulnerable to the disease. In California, late blight is mostly seen in the central valley in the early season, when conditions are moist and cool.
"For many years, UCR has been on the cutting edge of research to eradicate agricultural pests," said Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.). "This grant acknowledges the valuable work that UCR does and with the grant they will be able to help farmers around the world deal with late blight. I commend Professor Judelson for his work in plant pathology and the entire staff of the UCR College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences for the contributions they will be making to combat the devastating impacts of late blight."
Judelson will be joined at UCR by Thomas Girke, an associate professor of bioinformatics, who will help sequence strains of Phytophthora infestans, and scientists at Cornell University, N.Y.; USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Corvallis, Ore.; the University of Idaho; the Scottish Crop Research Institute; North Carolina State University; the University of Florida; the University of Kentucky; La Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Mexico; Boyce Thompson Institute, N.Y.; the University of Maine; Oregon State University; Pennsylvania State University; the University of Wisconsin; the University of Maryland; the University of South Carolina; and Purdue University, Ind.
The grant, which became effective March 1, 2011, has a strong undergraduate research component. Of the $9 million total award, $4.3 million is budgeted to UCR for research and education activities; the rest will be shared by the other 16 institutions.
USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Cathie Woteki (facing camera) is given a tour of the greenhouses at UC Riverside where some of the research on late blight will be done. Photo credit: UCR Strategic Communications.
Howard Judelson (left) explains his research to USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Cathie Woteki. Photo credit: UCR Strategic Communications.
USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Cathie Woteki gave a talk titled "Why Science Matters to Agriculture" during her visit to UC Riverside. Photo credit: UCR Strategic Communications.
Potato (left) and tomato affected by late blight. Photo credit: Amanda Gevens.
Howard Judelson is a professor of plant pathology at UC Riverside. Photo credit: UCR Strategic Communications.
The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 21,000 students. The campus opened a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.
A broadcast studio with fiber cable to the AT&T Hollywood hub is available for live or taped interviews. UCR also has ISDN for radio interviews. To learn more, call (951) UCR-NEWS.


text:
Here's What's Cooking for 2013
- Order Reprints
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Barron's Roundtable -- Part II (Jan.28)
Barron's Roundtable -- Part III (Feb. 4)
Tables:2012 Roundtable Report Card
2012 Midyear Roundtable Report Card
"Baloney!" The accusation zoomed like a missile at Barron's 2013 Roundtable, the most amusingly argumentative gabfest this magazine has convened in some years. Stick nine supremely intelligent, colossally opinionated, and verbally gifted investment experts in one room from morning 'til sundown -- as we did last week at the Harvard Club of New York -- and they are apt to kid each other politely, at least for the first 15 minutes. Then introduce such lighthearted topics as the U.S.' runaway entitlement spending, Europe's questionable allegiance to a common currency, and central banks' seemingly incurable addiction to money-printing, and, well, watch the "baloneys" fly.
In other words, our Roundtable members didn't agree on much of anything this year about the economic or investment outlook in the U.S. and abroad, and they weren't afraid to say so in the course of a far-ranging, freewheeling, wisecracking, and occasionally combative conversation. Best we can summarize it, they fell into two distinct camps -- those who foresee an improving economy, quiescent inflation, rising corporate earnings, and decent gains for stocks, and those who expect the interest-rate-suppressing policies of the Federal Reserve and 37 similar institutions to end in recession, depression, and "national confrontation," otherwise known as war. The only question pertaining to the more dismal forecast is, as Fred Hickey put it, "when this thing is going to blow." And that, we're somewhat relieved to report, might not happen for a number of years.
Thus, there should be ample time to digest our panelists' big-picture views and benefit from their best investment bets for 2013. In the current issue, you'll find their opinions on everything from consumer spending to the natural-gas boom to the French economy, while their particular picks and pans will be showcased over three weeks, beginning with presentations by Roundtable veterans Felix Zulauf and Mario Gabelli.
Felix -- suave, serious, and Swiss -- takes a dim view of Europe's currency experiment and is just as dour about Japan's attempt to reboot its economy by devaluing the yen. He thinks emerging markets could be an interesting wager in the year's first half, however, and sees good things ahead for that eternal hedge against disaster, gold.
Mario has an eye for value, a nose for deals, and a predilection for investing at the intersection of both. He has an even 10 picks for 2013, most of which could rise in value as a result of mergers, acquisitions, spinoffs, split-ups, and other financial derring-do. He also shares a history of the sausage (that's bologna, not baloney), and an update on gluten-free dining.
Marc Faber, editor of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, couldn't make it to this year's Roundtable, but we're keeping his seat warm for 2014. We have a good hunch there will be even more to talk about then.
Barron's:The stock market is coming off a good year, which some of you even predicted. What do you think of stocks now? Mario, start us off.
Gabelli: Investors have been withdrawing money from the stock market. We have seen a negative flow of funds. But let's look at China and Japan, which account for 20% of the $75 trillion global economy. They have a pretty good shot at starting their engines and reaccelerating. Europe is about 20% of the world economy, and is still a work in progress. The U.S. is 21%. The U.S. consumer's net worth is at an all-time high. He is reducing debt. This owes to a combination of Bernanke, Bernanke, Bernanke -- in other words, the Federal Reserve [under Chairman Ben Bernanke] has been printing money, which has geared to drive financial assets and real-estate prices higher.
Get to the point. Are you bullish or bearish?
Gabelli: I'm getting there. Corporate earnings will be OK in 2013, and 2014 looks even better. Interest rates are going to rise, but the market has discounted that. Given the negative flow of funds and the market's relatively low price/earnings multiple, you have to be positive. The stock market will face a lot of potholes in the near term, and on balance, I don't expect the market to rise more than 5% this year. But I have never been more excited about specific stocks. This year, you will be able to make a lot of money as a result of financial engineering -- companies engaging in deals, takeovers, split-ups, spinoffs, and such. It is a phenomenal time to make money in the market. You get stocks like SodaStream International (ticker: SODA), which I'm not recommending, rising to $48 from $36. It will be a fantastic year to pick individual stocks.
Why, then, will the broader indexes see only modest gains?
Gabelli: Our financial system has structural problems, and at some point the Fed will have to start withdrawing all the money it has poured into the system.
Gross: Whenever somebody says, "I've never been more excited," I run the other way.
Gabelli: Well, I'm also excited about being short bonds.
Zulauf: This year could turn out to be the opposite of 2012. Last year, we had a potential calamity in Europe that could have led to the breakup of the euro zone, but the European Central Bank stepped in with money to buy up massive amounts of government bonds and prevented a crisis. Many cyclical markets, including emerging markets and commodities, fell in 2011 and the first half of 2012, until the ECB came to the rescue.
Now those markets are rallying, as are the U.S. and Germany, which didn't correct. But the rally is mature. It is late in the cycle. The rally will end sometime between the second and third quarters, and the markets will go down. The problems we have discussed here in recent years are unresolved, and will be back on the table.
Hickey: Spain has to fund a record amount of debt. Will problems doing that trigger the next crisis in Europe?
Zulauf: There are several issues in Europe. A monetary union of nations with different economic structures is a strange setup that leads to all sorts of stress. There are huge differences in competitiveness among euro-zone economies. Some observers say Europe's current-account balance is improving, and Europe could have a spectacular recovery, much as Asian countries did in the late 1990s. This is complete baloney.
Asia had a financial crisis in the 1990s, and countries let their currencies drop by 50%, which led to a boom in exports. That is not the case in Europe. Countries on the Continent's periphery don't have an export boom. They have an import contraction. You can't create growth under such circumstances. That is why any hope of Europe's periphery coming out of the doldrums is completely misplaced, and there is a good chance France will be the next problem.
Why is that?
Zulauf: Unit labor costs have risen to such a degree that the French economy has become noncompetitive. It is beginning to unravel. The French can't sell their cars anymore. The government isn't reforming the country; it is marching in the wrong direction, toward more socialism. You will see big disappointments in France this year, including rising current-account and budget deficits.
Europe's high priests of economic policy have put preservation of the euro above everything else. By doing that, they have destroyed millions of jobs and consigned millions of people to poverty. At some point this will backfire. You can't glue the European Union together forever with central-bank money. Financial markets can't force the issue because the ECB will go against them. It has immense ammunition; it can print money. Eventually, it will be the man in the street who revolts. You can send people into poverty for a while, but there is a limit.
Gabelli: How can Europe solve its problems?
Zulauf: Countries could give up national sovereignty and create a federal organization of European states, but that is unlikely and unrealistic. Alternately, some countries could break out of the euro and devalue their currencies. That is the more likely option long-term. Throughout Europe, liabilities are moving from the private sector to the public sector. I don't see the European recovery others are talking about.
They aren't making it up out of thin air. Bond markets in Europe are doing better.
Zulauf: Bond markets in Spain and Italy and Greece were priced for calamity. The ECB stepped in and removed that threat. That made bond markets rally and interest rates fall. The decline in interest rates is just about over. Yields in those countries will trade sideways for a few months and then start rising again.
Hickey: Felix, is it possible Europe could suppress rates even further, just as the U.S. did, by printing a trillion dollars?
Zulauf: In theory that is possible. The European Central Bank could lower interest rates by a few more basis points before they hit zero. At the moment, the ECB isn't buying large quantities of debt. But if it starts buying in huge quantities, the German public wouldn't greet the move well, as it doesn't want to be on the hook for its less-disciplined neighbors. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is up for re-election in the fall. Debt mutualization [under which creditor countries take on financial responsibility for the debtor countries] ahead of the election is a no-go.
It is difficult to time such things, but around the middle of the year, the markets will start to reverse. I don't know whether they will end the year slightly up or slightly down. I expect the first half of 2013 to be friendly to equity markets, and the second half to be unfriendly, with risk rising.
Abby, what do you see this year?
Cohen: The U.S. economy is showing some dynamism. Exports have been robust. Only one sector of the economy isn't growing: government spending. That is the sector losing jobs. The corporate sector is doing well. Profit margins didn't come under pressure in 2012, as many people had expected. In fact, they stayed above average levels due to careful management, especially of labor costs. Germany has become much more productive and competitive on labor than the other nations of Europe. Since 2009, the U.S. and Germany have seen similar productivity gains.
Corporate balance sheets in the U.S. are in phenomenal condition. Rarely, if ever, have companies had so much net cash [cash minus debt]. Debt levels have come down at some companies, but others are taking advantage of cheap money to borrow. Much of this money will be used to fund capital spending, but a good deal of it will be returned directly to investors in the form of share repurchases and dividends, as well as merger-and-acquisition activity. People expected M&A to pick up dramatically last year, which didn't happen. But the pieces are in place for transactions to occur now.
Which pieces are you referring to?
Cohen: First, equity valuations are appealing. Second, market volatility is down. The volatility of the Standard & Poor's 500 is below the six-year average. That makes corporate managers and investors more comfortable.
Now, let's look more closely at some standard valuation models. Despite some of the grouchiness we often hear at this table, U.S. stock prices have risen for the past four years. Stocks are near previous records, but valuations are lower because earnings have risen. If we run the Fed model [a comparison of the stock market's earnings yield with the yield on long-term Treasury bonds] on the back of an envelope, it suggests fair value at year-end 2013 for the Standard & Poor's 500 would be 1750, compared with about 1470 now. If we use a dividend-discount model or a discounted-cash-flow model, we get a somewhat lower fair-value estimate. But keep in mind that return on equity in the U.S. is running around 14% for S&P companies, significantly higher than anywhere else in the world. ROE is under 10% for large companies in Europe, and it is just 5% for the companies in Japan's Topix index. Equity valuations in the U.S. don't reflect fully the improvement in the economy and corporate finances.
What is your S&P 500 earnings estimate for 2013?
Cohen: Consensus estimates for earnings growth are on the order of 12% to 13% this year and next. Corporate performance has diverged from the economy's performance for many years, and that could continue. Companies in the S&P 500 are increasing their exposure to other parts of the world, not just for production purposes, but more important, in terms of end demand.
Rogers: Abby, that's an incredibly bullish earnings forecast, especially if we are talking about gross domestic product of 1% or 2% in Europe, and 2% or 3% in the U.S. I hope you are right, but when I look at the data, it is tough to connect the math dots. I have trouble getting to a low-teens rate of earnings growth.
Gabelli: What do you get to?
Rogers: I get to 5%, 6%, 7% for this year.
Gross: Time out, people. Let's try to analyze why earnings have done so well in recent years. Corporate profits have come at the expense of labor. Wages as a percentage of GDP have declined to 54% from 59% in the past 10 years. That trend would have to continue for earnings to keep going up. Also, 30% to 35% of earnings growth in the past five years has come from lower interest expense. Most of you probably would agree that is coming to an end, as well. Corporations have to sell their products to somebody. They can't benefit when that somebody has depressed wages and high leverage. At some point the game begins to change. A forecast of 12%-to-13% earnings growth under such circumstances is not only extreme but almost farcical.
Cohen: I gave you bottom-up estimates [industry analysts' estimates]. Our top-down number [market strategists' estimates] is lower, but still in the mid- to high single digits. That is much better than many people, Goldman Sachs included, felt 12 months ago.
Black: You are overly ebullient. Last year at this time, people expected the S&P 500 to earn more than $110. Earnings are likely to come in at $98 to $99 for 2012. In the third quarter, corporate earnings were down 5%. In the quarter that just ended, they will be up about 6%. The original earnings estimates don't hold water. Also, operating profit margins for the S&P 500 peaked in the third quarter of 2011, at 9.51%. There are no more economies of scale to be gleaned. If you think nominal GDP growth is going to be around 4%, there is no way you are going to get 12% or 13% earnings growth.
Zulauf: There is huge room for disappointment in the equity market.
Cohen: We see 2.5% growth in GDP this year and about 3% by the end of next year. There will be substantial fiscal drag [restraint on economic expansion caused by higher taxation] on the order of $200 billion, starting now.
Gross: Can I get a more realistic view of the world, please? The U.S. continues to have a "new normal" economy, with annual growth of 2% or less. Growth rates in the rest of the developed world are even lower. There are several reasons for this. There is too much debt, and the ongoing delevering process creates the fiscal drag we just talked about. There is also a demographic issue: The population is getting older. The baby boomers are receiving more Social Security payments. Japan is way ahead of us in aging, but it is a trend throughout the developed world. Third, de-globalization contributes to slowing growth. Nations are taking care of themselves. They are setting up trade barriers and engaging in currency wars and other practices that are destructive to growth.
In the credit markets, when money yields close to zero, it is destructive, not constructive. Net interest margins at financial institutions come under threat. What does Morgan Stanley [MS] do? The company recently said it would lay off 1,600 people and close branches. Companies pull in. Delevering starts with the financial complex and expands to the real economy. This is not the old economy, where leverage could produce 10% to 15% earnings growth every year. We have to adjust to a new world in which returns have been driven down to perhaps 3%, 4%, and 5%, as opposed to 10% to 15%.
Zulauf: On top of that, the U.S. has more fiscal drag this year than other countries around the world. GDP could grow by 1.5% to 2%. With 70% of GDP dependent on the consumer, whose real disposal income is growing by 1% a year, and whose savings rate isn't going any lower, it is difficult to put together an outlook for 2.5% to 3% economic growth.
Cohen: On the positive side, capital spending is likely to grow by 6% in 2013. A housing recovery also is under way.
Gabelli: That is extraordinarily positive, but it doesn't have a big impact on GDP. Also, on the positive side, the consumer's wealth is at a record and consumer debt is falling.
Zulauf: But the wealth is unevenly split. That is the problem.
Gabelli: No question, the guy making $50,000 a year has a payroll shock this quarter when higher taxes go into effect. Then the shock wears off.
Hickey: No, it doesn't. Every week, every month, people have less money to spend.
Cohen: Monthly debt payments relative to income are at the lowest level since the 1990s. Some of this reflects debt repayments, and some, lower interest rates. As Mario suggested, there has been a dramatic improvement in the average consumer's balance sheet.
Hickey: Yet, consumer confidence plunged at the end of the year. Spending at Christmas was terrible. Electronics sales were down 7%, whether we're talking about personal computers or mobile phones.
Gabelli: But home sales are rising. Auto sales are up.
Hickey: Housing is up from depressed levels, but sales still aren't great. Strength in auto sales reflects pent-up demand.
Gabelli: Baloney!
There is a lot of baloney here today.
Gabelli: The car companies are marketing, and that is inducing demand.
Rogers: Abby, back to your earnings-growth estimates. We would all agree that 12% to 13% growth seems very high. The question is, what is 5%, 6%, 7%, or 8% growth relative to? If you add a dividend yield and compare equity valuations to fixed-income, maybe it is enough. I guess that is my theme for this year. It is going to be enough. One thing we haven't talked about is the great rotation: money coming out of Bill Gross's portfolio and going into the equity market.
Gross: Sorry, that hasn't happened.
Rogers: It hasn't happened, yet. It will be a factor in boosting equity returns this year, unless investor sentiment turns very negative, which could be a risk next month as the debt-ceiling fight gets under way. That is going to be a mess, and February probably will be the worst month for stocks. But a combination of decent economic performance, reasonable valuations, and decent dividend activity suggests stocks could do well this year. Dividend growth substantially outpaced earnings growth last year, and there were a number of special dividends toward year end before tax rates were slated to rise. Right, Mario?
Gabelli: Common sense prevailed. [The board of Gamco Investors (GBL), Gabelli's investment firm, declared a special dividend of $2.20 a share in November.]
Rogers: You will see more of that this year. The ingredients are in place for stocks to rise. The question is the order of magnitude of the potential return. In any case, stocks are attractive relative to fixed income.
Oscar, what do you have to say?
Schafer: I have to disagree with all the people who are trying to relate growth and GDP to the stock market, because historically there has been little relationship. For example, the Greek stock market was up 33% last year, and yet the Greek economy is in shambles. I'm pretty optimistic about U.S. GDP and earnings growth this year. From a psychological point of view, nobody is talking about common stocks at cocktail parties today, the way they used to do 10 years ago. Everybody is talking about bonds. Last year, investors put $248 billion into bond mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, and redeemed $22 billion from equity funds. This year equities will do much better than bonds. All those great pension funds that have hidden in bonds and think they are getting riskless returns could be surprised. I am extremely optimistic about stocks.
Also, the resurgence of domestic energy demand is a big plus. By the end of the year, the U.S. is going to be exporting more energy than it imports. That will have an enormous effect on the manufacturing sector's balance of payments, and on U.S. growth in general.
Zulauf: I don't deny it is a benefit, but becoming a net importer will account for only a $2 billion improvement in a monthly trade deficit of $40 billion.
Hickey: The domestic oil boom has been going on for six years.
Gabelli: And it is accelerating.
Gross: Fracking [hydraulic fracturing, used in oil and gas production] and housing are two positives for the economy. Whether they can offset fiscal drag and structural problems is another question.
Gabelli: If we are reducing government labor and adding labor in manufacturing, isn't the quality of GDP and corporate earnings much higher?
Witmer: Yes.
Gross: You can't tell me the U.S. is adding a lot of manufacturing jobs. I won't accept that.
Gabelli: The energy industry has hired a lot of people in the Midwest to build plants and pipelines to process and transport oil and gas.
Witmer: There is a huge capital-spending boom coming in the petrochemicals industry because of the discovery of cheap natural gas and natural-gas liquids. You are actually starting to see some wage inflation. KBR [KBR], the engineering and construction company, said on a conference call last week that it had to reduce earnings guidance because it had some fixed-price contracts in the Texas area and costs were rising. A lot of jobs are being created, and they will lead to other jobs. There is a multiplier effect. A lot of pipelines -- not just the big ones but other lines -- are being built. The natural-gas boom is a huge deal for the U.S.
Zulauf: Because U.S. energy costs are half those in the rest of the industrialized world, the U.S. is the only country building new energy and chemicals plants. That is a positive.
Hickey: One problem is, we don't know if the government will allow all that oil to be transported. That could affect the benefit we're going to get from it. The government blocked construction of the Keystone XL pipeline extension. There is a lot of oil stuck in the U.S. right now. It can't be moved out. That explains the big difference in price between Brent crude [oil from the North Sea] and West Texas Intermediate [the U.S. oil benchmark; on Jan. 14, Brent was priced at $111.88 a barrel, and WTI at $94.14 a barrel].
Witmer: The industry is finding ways around such limitations.
Gabelli: Order backlogs have gone through the roof for rail-car makers such as Trinity Industries [TRN] and Greenbrier [GBX]. Bakken oil will be shipped by rail.
Witmer: It will also get moved by river. The problem with Keystone is that it required federal approval.
Schafer: The manufacturing sector accounted for 15% of GDP in 1990. It has fallen to 9% now. It will start growing toward 20% again.
Cohen: The U.S. has devoted substantial capital spending to the energy sector, which helps explain our competitive advantage. Natural-gas costs only a third as much here as it does on a global level. The U.S. invested $138 billion in the energy industry in 2011. Russia and Saudi Arabia have roughly the same amount of annual liquid-energy production, but Russia invested only $10 billion in 2011, and Saudi Arabia, $5 billion. Using technology to keep energy costs down is a multiyear story in the U.S.
So, Brian, are you still looking for only 5% earnings growth?
Rogers: The earnings recovery since 2009 has been quite strong. At some point, you just can't squeeze blood from a stone. I see limited ability to squeeze great profit gains out of U.S. companies this year. Margins are at historically high levels, and demand will be positive but sluggish. I see positive but sluggish growth on a global basis.
Witmer: Health-care costs are going up, too.
Rogers: And consumer demand might be impacted by higher tax rates. It is tough to paint a really bullish outlook for earnings. But, again, earnings growth of 5%, 6%, 7%, and maybe 8% in an extreme case, is enough relative to returns on fixed-income and money-market assets.
The big story is going to be in the fixed-income markets. Bill can lead us through a lesson in duration math, which most investors don't understand. The high-yield market is about as well exploited as it can get, with yields cracking through 6% on the downside.
Schafer: High-yield-bond yields are lower than the S&P's earning yield for the first time ever.
Rogers: I have a positive outlook generally, but stock prices advanced much further than earnings last year. To me, the great mystery of 2012 was Europe. It looked like a basket case on a fundamental basis, but stock prices, depending on the market, were up 10%, 15%, 25%, or almost 30%. Spain was the only market that had very disappointing performance. The Greek stock market had a great year, so that tells you something about the risk-on trade in 2012.
Zulauf: Greece was down 90% previously.
Rogers: I realize that, but I'm taking it one year at a time. This year, the big story could be that we freak out a bit over the debt-ceiling debate.
Witmer: It might not be so bad. All the worry last time was for naught.
Rogers: The president is playing a game of chicken with the Republican leadership of the House. The fight could go right down to the deadline, and perhaps it will all be forgotten six months later. But there is going to be a lot of rhetoric in the first couple of months of the year that could be somewhat poisonous for the markets.
What is your outlook for inflation? Everyone talks about inflation, but we haven't seen much, except in food prices.
Rogers: We don't have a negative view on inflation this year. We're looking for 2% to 2.5% price increases. At some point, the distant economics student in me looks back and says, when you try to monetize everything and create as much liquidity in the system as we have done for the past five years, inflationary pressures will arise. That's the classic economics view. It hasn't happened yet, but at some point there will be upward inflation pressure.
Hickey: The Fed has done a wonderful job to date of keeping inflation expectations contained. Every time they print money, they say, "We're thinking about not printing." They have done that for four rounds of quantitative easing over multiple years.
Rogers: You have to love the rhetoric and word choices. There was some discussion of the Fed slowing asset purchases as unemployment fell toward 6.5%. Then people thought it was "to" 6.5%. They mean different things. It is clear, however, that the Fed is going to buy fewer securities in the future.
At some point, the Fed has to take the training wheels off this economy.
Hickey: It has to, but it won't until some crisis occurs.
Black: We expect S&P earnings to rise about 5% this year, to $104. That puts the index at 14.2 times 2013 estimated earnings. On that basis, the market is cheap. If you look at risk classes within U.S. equities, large-cap stocks are much cheaper than small- and mid-caps. The Russell 2000 [a small-cap benchmark] trades for 17.5 times 2013 estimated earnings. That doesn't mean you can't find individual mid- or small-cap stocks that are cheap, but large-caps are systematically underpriced. Mario expects the market to rise by single digits. In the past 21 years, there have been only five up years in which the market posted single-digit total returns.
Your point?
Black: It is unusual to see a market that is up just 3% or 5% for the year. If earnings come through and the market is cheap, it will go up by more. The one hindrance I see is the debt-ceiling situation. From a July 7, 2011, market peak until an Oct. 3, 2011, trough, a period encompassing the prior debt-ceiling fight, the S&P 500 fell 18.8%. You can't rule out the possibility of something similar happening this year.
The U.S. needs to slow the growth in entitlement spending by $2 trillion to come close to our budget goals. Social Security and Medicare account for 36% of federal-government expenditures. That's where the money is going. Cutting at the edges of some other government programs isn't the answer. Nor is gutting the Defense Department. I'm a Democrat from the old school. Unfortunately, President Obama hasn't led. He let his legislation be written by Representative Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid. It is time he put his own political capital on the line and said, "For better or worse, we have to slow the growth in entitlement spending."
Public debt is 104.8% of GDP, the highest level since the end of World War II. The U.S. is on an unsustainable path. The Social Security system will run out of money by 2033 under current proposals, and Medicare will run out in 2024. If both parties can come to a reasonable agreement on slowing entitlement spending that doesn't go down to the wire or cause the rating agencies to question the solvency of America, the market could explode to the upside.
Hickey: Why would you expect anything like that to happen? Pelosi is already on record saying she won't touch entitlement spending.
Black: The president is no longer running for re-election. At this point, he has to know that we are on an unsustainable course.
Hickey: He should have known that for the past four years. He did nothing about it.
Black: I expect some kind of deal. The Republicans will hold firm and refuse to lift the debt ceiling unless some action is taken to rein in spending.
Gross: If we continue to run deficits, our debt-to-GDP ratio will begin to resemble some countries' in southern Europe. That will precipitate debt-rating downgrades and higher interest rates.
Bill, what is your inflation outlook?
Gross: To mimic economists, inflation will be relatively benign in 2013. I'm always amazed that they come up with such soothing adjectives. We're expecting 2% inflation. At the moment, money-printing by the Fed and other central banks isn't generating inflation. The problem could come in later years -- 2014, '15, and '16 -- but it depends whether you're talking good inflation, such as wage inflation, which increases consumers' spending power, or bad inflation, such as commodities inflation. We see more bad inflation than good inflation in the future. The Fed recently said it would be satisfied with 2.5% inflation for a year or two. So, all central banks, including our own, are basically accepting greater and greater inflation. The Bank of Japan, which had a zero-inflation target, now wants 2% inflation, and quickly. Almost all central banks are in a reflationary mode.
Zulauf: At some point this year, I expect to see the consumer-price index rise by more than 3%. In the first half of the year, oil prices could have upside of $10 to $20 a barrel. Food prices could rise by 15% to 20%. That would hurt consumers.
Cohen: Why would energy prices go up so much?
Zulauf: The forecast for demand is stable to slightly down in the developed world. But demand is rising elsewhere. Even if China's economy grows only 3% or 4%, the country's energy bill is going up as more motor vehicles are added to the national fleet. That is going to make a difference in the price of oil.
Almost every country is trying to devalue its currency. The world economy isn't growing enough to keep structural problems under control, much less fix them. Therefore, nations are trying to grab more of the pie by devaluing their currencies. The U.S. started this nonsense, and the Fed's money-printing has made the dollar a weak currency.
Gross: This is a replay of the 1930s, when competitive devaluations were perceived to be the solution to the problem. Ultimately, they weren't.
Zulauf: This will end in national confrontations. It is a very dangerous game. The Japanese have entered the game, and the Europeans will be next. Just because earnings might be up by 5% or whatever doesn't mean the financial system isn't fragile. We could have a shock at any time, and possibly this year. If you want to fix the situation, you can't expect to have a high level of economic growth. The outlook for growth is less and less attractive. That is why a decline in the stock market's valuation would be justified.
Schafer: Economic growth and the stock market have nothing to do with each other.
Black: If we get some sort of agreement in Washington on roughly $2 trillion of spending cuts, they can't be front-end loaded. GDP growth could decline by 0.7% this year just from the recision of the 2% payroll-tax cut. We want to be careful not to push the economy back into a recession in the short term.
At the same time, it must appear to the financial markets that the U.S. is taking tangible steps to remedy the problem. If Washington keeps kicking the can down the road, it doesn't bode well for our long-term economic growth or the stock market.
Also, somebody talked today about real disposable income going up. In the U.S., it is actually going down. The consumer has been losing out, and when that happens, the savings rate falls. Installment credit is rising again. A huge consumer-led economic recovery is not in the cards this year.
Witmer: If unemployment falls, that would help.
Gabelli: More people will be employed if housing picks up.
Black: All this said, the stock market is cheap. Nominal interest rates are low, and assuming cooler heads prevail in Washington, it wouldn't surprise me to see the market up 10% to 12% this year, including reinvested dividends.
Rogers: I'm not holding my breath, although to Scott's point, Medicare fixes combined with a resolution of fiscal-cliff tax issues would be huge. The market doesn't need a permanent solution. It needs a directional agreement. There is some chance that could happen after the you-know-what hits the fan over raising the debt ceiling. It could happen later this spring. At some point the president is going to stop just sitting there and try to lead a little. He may be willing to make some changes.
Gross: Can I introduce some evidence from the Office of Management and Budget, the Congressional Budget Office, the International Monetary Fund, and the Bank for International Settlements? Four out of four, using different sets of numbers, basically say the U.S. is one of the world's most grievous offenders in not reducing the level of its deficit relative to GDP. They are talking about a structural deficit that takes into account future payments for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
Their numbers suggest this structural deficit continues at 8% a year. The structural deficit needs to be reduced by a trillion dollars a year, not a trillion dollars over 10 years. This country is in deep doo-doo. These numbers aren't mine or Pimco's, but those of government and international authorities. Yet, we continue to deny what is going on.
Zulauf: Switzerland had a similar problem on a much smaller scale. About 10 years ago we introduced a debt-limit law that prevents the government from spending more in any given year than it spent in the previous year. It has worked, but it takes political will. We have had balanced budgets for the past 10 years. We have even run surpluses.
Rogers: Our debt ceiling is like Swiss cheese.
Gross: On the other hand, Switzerland has taken on enormous risk in trying to peg the Swiss franc to the euro [to reduce the franc's value and protect exports]. The Swiss aren't right about everything.
Zulauf: The Swiss National Bank is playing a dangerous game and knows it. When the next euro crisis hits and the market is flooded with euros, it won't be able to continue to protect the franc. The next step could be capital-control measures that prevent foreigners from buying unlimited quantities of Swiss francs.
Hickey: Since Marc isn't here today, I'll say what I know he would: We are all doomed. I just don't know if a date has been set. We are living in a dream state. To have every developed country printing money at the same time is unprecedented.
Zulauf: Thirty-eight countries are pursuing a zero- or negative-real-interest-rate policy. I have never seen anything like it.
Isn't that a comment on globalization?
Zulauf: No. It is a comment on irresponsible central bankers and irresponsible political leadership.
Hickey: Japan is printing a trillion dollars. Everything looks fine, and the Japanese stock market is going up. But everything isn't fine, and Japan will have another recession. When the Fed printed money, our stock market doubled.
Does that mean you are long stocks?
Hickey: I own a lot of gold stocks. I am not short anything. I don't know when this thing is going to blow. The European Central Bank promised to print unlimited amounts of money, and it suddenly looked like Europe's problems were solved. They aren't. The Bank of England is on QE6 [a sixth round of quantitative easing], and England is heading back into recession. Money-printing doesn't work. It has been tried for 2,000 years and hasn't worked. It always ends in tears.
Fred, gold wasn't such a great investment last year.
Hickey: It has been great for 12 years, but it doesn't always go up. In the last great gold bull market, gold rose from $100 an ounce in 1970 to $800 in 1980. But it fell 46% in 1975-76. Anyone who left the market then missed the best part of the rally -- a subsequent rise of 600%. In the latest 12-year period, there have been five corrections in the gold price, ranging between 15% and 30%. The latest correction was 19%, and gold has bounced off its recent lows already.
You have to be in gold. You have to be in real estate. Semiconductor sales have been poor, yet semiconductor stocks are rising. That is a result of money-printing. That is why the performance of stocks isn't related to the performance of the economy. Stocks could go up again this year. All assets could go up in price. But you'd better protect yourself. At some point, stocks will underperform and inflation will run higher. That is the history of all monetary inflations.
Stocks will hold some but not all of their value. If you were an investor in Weimar Germany, your stocks lost 90% of their value. The best places to be were in other currencies and gold. But this time around, there is no alternative currency to the dollar.
Gross: There are a few countries with positive real interest rates, decent balance sheets, and good growth prospects. Mexico is one, and Brazil is another, despite its recent problems.
The Mexican peso and the Brazilian real aren't major currencies, although both countries have seen 3%, 4%, 5% economic growth in recent years, and their balance sheets are much healthier than ours.
Hickey: The central banks of both countries, and Korea, are buying large quantities of gold. They know that all the developed-market currencies are on a path to destruction.
Witmer: If a currency is losing its value, wouldn't you want to own a great company in that market? Things might implode for a time, but then they get better and the company holds its value over time.
Zulauf: Actually, things get worse, spurring social debates about whether to tax people who made smart investment decisions and take away the benefits of their intelligence.
Witmer: Here's my two cents. The stock market looks like it is trading around intrinsic value. It might not move much this year one way or the other. The U.S. economy is doing pretty well. People could experience a paycheck shock early in the year when taxes go up, and then they will adjust. They will save less and keep spending. More people will be employed, and there could be some wage inflation in the Midwest and Texas. You'll basically collect your dividend and maybe make a percent or two in addition.
That isn't too exciting.
Gross: I am returning to Brian's comment about duration, which is the amount of price risk in a bond relative to 100 basis points [one percentage point] of change in interest rates. The 30-year Treasury bond has a duration of about 20. The five-year has a duration of about five. Stocks have a technical duration of one divided by the dividend yield. If dividend yields are 2%, the duration of a stock is about 50. If you are content to just clip your coupon in terms of dividend payments, without any prospect for growth, you are taking on enormous risk in terms of duration and price volatility.
Witmer: Companies grow over time. The dividend yield isn't the right measure. You should probably use the earnings yield.
Rogers: Bill, you are assuming a static dividend yield.
Gross: OK, let's assume the company grows some. We'll use 3%. So let's give stocks a duration of 33 as opposed to the long bond's 20.
Rogers: I raised the duration issue because I am not sure individual investors know that if interest rates rise by one percentage point and they own a 10-year bond, they could lose 9% of the principal.
They know now.
Gross: All assets are artificially "bubbled." The trick is to figure out which are less bubbled, because, as Brian explains, you could lose your year's income from bonds almost overnight if interest rates rise. Similarly, you could lose your 2% dividend yield almost overnight if stocks fall 2%. We have priced assets -- stocks, bonds, and other financial assets -- to a point where even a minor price movement on a daily basis could eliminate income on an annual basis.
Schafer: Speaking of bubbles, Lee Cooperman [chairman of Omega Advisors] pointed out the other day that Cisco Systems [CSCO] sold for 100 times earnings in 2000, and paid no dividends. The 10-year bond was yielding 6.5% at the time. Today Cisco sells for 10 times earnings, or less if you subtract its cash, and yields 3%. The 10-year yields 1.9%. Where is the bubble? It isn't in the stock market. It is in the bond market.
We haven't solved anything this morning, and we probably won't. So let's move on to your investment picks. Felix, you're first.
Zulauf: We have talked today about structural problems in the global economy and financial system. Policy makers dreamed a dream that they could take volatility out of the economy. They tried to fine-tune it, and instead have led us into a miserable situation. People believe the risk in the market is low, because volatility indexes are low. Perceived risk in March 2009 was very high, but market risk was low. Right now, it is just the opposite, and that mismatch could persist. But we should be aware that we are operating in a high-risk environment.
We are well aware.
Zulauf: I made two recommendations at Barron's Art of Successful Investing conference in New York in October. One was to buy the U.S. dollar versus the Japanese yen. At that time, the exchange rate was 79 yen to the dollar. Now a dollar buys ¥89. Within two years, the exchange rate could go to ¥120. The Japanese government is in a difficult position, with the country's debt running at 230% of GDP. Japan is in a recession. The budget deficit exceeds 8% of GDP, and could top 10% this year and next. The deficit was easy to finance as long as Japan was running a structural current-account surplus and the domestic pool of savings was large enough to do so. In recent times the country's external accounts have deteriorated, and that could continue.
Felix Zulauf's PicksInvestment/Ticker 1/11/13PriceU.S. dollar vs. Japanese yen $1=¥89.18USD/JPYCall Option Strike95Exp.12/31/2014 ¥89.48WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund/DXJ $38.53 iSharesMSCIBrazil Index Fund/EWZ 56.41iShares FTSE China25Index Fund/FXI 41.09iSharesMSCIEmergMkts Index Fund/EEM 44.47Gold (spot price, per ounce) 1,662.98
Source: Bloomberg
Japanese institutions have always been the largest and steadiest buyers of Japanese government bonds, or JGBs. They recently announced they lack the funding sources to keep buying on the same scale. Japan Post Bank is an example. It formerly was a government institution in which individuals held savings of more than $2 trillion. It was a big buyer of government debt, as were pension funds and life insurers. All said recently they can't keep buying. The moment has arrived where the Bank of Japan needs to bridge the gap and buy more JGBs with newly printed yen. In other words, the supply of yen will increase dramatically. Japanese inflation will be pushed from slightly below zero to 2%, and the yen will be weakened. This is a major change for Japan, because the yen has been one of the world's strongest currencies for a long time, right behind the Swiss franc.
There is definitely a trend here.
Zulauf: Japan's big life insurers are pension-fund-style entities for the Japanese public. They are big investors overseas, and because of the yen's strength, have hedged part of their exposure to the currency. What would happen if they unwound 10% of their hedges? The four largest life insurers would have to buy $25 billion worth of dollars and sell yen. Many pension funds and industrial companies are in a similar position. The potential purchase of dollars and sale of yen is gigantic. Of course, Japanese bond yields would rise under this scenario, which is another problem, as Japanese banks have 900% of their Tier 1 equity capital in JGBs. To prevent the bond yield from rising, the Bank of Japan will have to buy even more bonds, and print more yen. They will keep things under control for a while, but eventually this plan will fail.
The dollar/yen trade could have a mild correction, dropping back to the €86 area. I would buy on that correction. Professional investors could employ an options strategy, buying $1 million of yen futures with a strike price of ¥95 at the end of 2014, for $35,000. Break-even would be ¥98.30. At ¥120, you quintuple your money.
Gross: The critical question for all central banks is, can they generate real economic growth and solve a debt crisis at the same time? Japan is attempting to devalue the most to get a head start on growing at the expense of other countries. Can they do it?
Zulauf: They will be partially successful for a few years. But can they push the dollar/yen to ¥160 to help things further? That is probably unrealistic.
Does a lower yen benefit Japanese stocks?
Zulauf: If the yen weakens as I expect, I would feel sorry for German exporters of cars, machinery, and such, and South Korean car manufacturers. But this is bullish for Japanese stocks. I'm not saying the Japanese economy will heal, but reflation is bullish for equities. The last time I discussed Japanese stocks was at the 1990 Roundtable, when Paul Tudor Jones and I recommended selling the Nikkei at 40,000. We said it would be cut in half. The Nikkei hit a low of 7,000 in 2009 and since then has traded in a range of 7,000 to 11,000. Japan has one of the cheapest equity markets in the world, as it has disappointed for years. The market trades for 20 times earnings, but the price/earnings multiple isn't relevant because earnings are so depressed. Price-to-book is one. Seventy percent of all Japanese stocks trade below book. Price-to-sales is 0.5, compared to 1.5 times in the U.S. Fiscal and monetary stimulus are the keys to change.
Gross: Can the Japanese government generate nominal GDP? Can it produce inflation of a positive sort that will generate corporate profits?
Zulauf: GDP has been stagnant in nominal [noninflation-adjusted] terms for 20 years. The price for generating growth is higher indebtedness. In the past 22 years, the market capitalization of Japanese stocks has fallen by 75%. The capitalization of the bond market has risen by four times. A major reallocation from bonds to stocks is beginning. I would be surprised if the Japanese stock market didn't rally 50% in the next two years. The best instrument to play this trend is a currency-hedged exchange-traded fund listed in the U.S. It is the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity fund, or DXJ. It trades for $38.53.
Emerging-market equities will have the wind at their backs in the year's first half. The U.S. dollar is weakening because of the Fed's moves. But emerging markets don't want their currencies to rise because they need more trade and growth. They will try to lean against the Fed with some monetary stimulation of their own. Whether this will help their economies is a question, but it will help their stock markets, which will do well in the first half of the year. I would buy Brazil because it is a commodity producer, and commodities traded in dollars will benefit. I would buy the EWZ, or iShares MSCI Brazil Index ETF, which is trading at $56. I would also buy the iShares FTSE China 25 Index, or FXI, which I recommended at the October conference. China's market has been disappointing and could probably rally a little longer. The Chinese market is trading where it did in 2001. It is not a market for widows and orphans. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index, or EEM, is another pick, as the whole emerging-markets complex will outperform the U.S. I reserve the right to take all these trading recommendations off the table at the midyear Roundtable in June.
You're allowed.
Black: Felix, the Brazilian government is pursuing a socialist path. This has stymied the economy's growth rate. What gives you confidence in Brazil?
Zulauf: That is why it is only a trade, and not an investment.
Oil prices could rise. What do you think about Russia?
Zulauf: Russia is part of the emerging-markets complex, and it is a beneficiary of higher oil prices. I expect oil prices to rise in dollar terms in the year's first half but retreat in the second half, because the world economy won't revive to the extent the optimists believe. They are using recently positive data out of China to justify a more optimistic view of the world. I don't see it. Nor do I trust Russia as a country. Putin [Russian President Vladimir Putin] blew it. He had the chance to democratize Russia and create free-market structures. Instead he went the other way and helped the oligarchs. This is bad for Russia, and the country's demographics are awful.
We are living in a world of money-printing. Almost 40 countries are pursuing a policy of zero or negative real interest rates to spur more economic growth. We have never seen anything like this in modern history. The people will try to protect themselves against this monetary baloney. It is accelerating the debasement of paper currencies around the world. That is why I have to recommend gold again. Gold's fundamentals are strong; although some technical indicators of sentiment and momentum turned down in the summer of 2011, gold is at the very end of a cyclical correction and the gold price will be up and running again soon. Once gold surpasses $1,800 an ounce, it will run to the low- to mid-$2,000s.
Thank you, Felix. Mario, what did you bring us today?
Gabelli: If you had been sitting here 12 years ago, you wouldn't have heard of Twitter or Facebook [FB] or Google [GOOG]. If you were here 15 years ago, you were focused on Cisco and a bunch of tech companies. I am going to talk about something that has been around much, much longer. Homer's Odyssey mentioned one of the oldest forms of processed food: sausages. The city of Frankfurt, in Germany, honored the creation of the hot dog at its 500th anniversary. Sausages will be around for the next couple of hundred years, too.
Abby and I have discussed how you will be able to make money this year from spinoffs, split-ups, and old-fashioned mergers and acquisitions. She suggested M&A activity will pick up because companies want to grow. So, how do you combine sausages and spinoffs?
We haven't a clue.
Gabelli: Hillshire Brands [HSH] makes sausages and hot dogs. It was spun out of Sara Lee, which I recommended in the past. Hillshire has 122 million shares outstanding. Investors got one share for every five shares of Sara Lee. Hillshire had $694 million of net debt as of Sept 29. It will generate $4.1 billion of revenue in the fiscal year ending June 30. Earnings will be $1.60 to $1.65 a share. Three or four companies were looking to buy Hillshire from Sara Lee before it was spun off.
The sausage market is growing by about 5% a year in the U.S. Breakfast sausages are a $4.6 billion annual business. Lunch meats are $4.8 billion. The lowly hot dog is about a $2.5 billion market. Hillshire is a leader in all three categories. It could earn about $2.40 a share in fiscal 2017. Debt is falling substantially. The stock trades for $29 and change, and could be $35 to $50 a share two years out.
Mario Gabelli's PicksCompany/Ticker 1/11/13 PriceHillshire Brands /HSH $29.58 Post Holdings / POST 35.27Viacom / VIA 60.08Xylem / XYL 27.18Graco /GGG 53.48Patterson Cos. /PDCO 35.49Weatherford International /WFT 11.53National Fuel Gas /NFG 49.1Boulder Brands /BDBD 12.32Fisher Communications /FSCI33.26
Source: Bloomberg
Is Hillshire still an acquisition target?
Gabelli: It will be bought by someone. Meanwhile, management is doing a terrific job of getting back to basics. I must say a kind word about another sausage company whose stock is too small to recommend. This company was founded in Coney Island in 1916. It sells Nathan's hot dogs [holds aloft a plastic package of Nathan's franks]. One of the dynamics behind Nathan's Famous [NATH] is a capitalization shrink. The company has reduced its share count to 4.2 million from 6.2 million. The shares are $35, and the company has a $140 million market capitalization. It cut a deal with Smithfield Foods [SFD], which will market its products starting in March 2014. As a result, earnings will explode upward to about $3 a share in 2015 from an estimated $1.20 this year. The market soon will start discounting that.
Grape Nuts [holds up cereal box] was founded in 1897. Ralcorp Holdings [RAH], which owned the brand, was approached about two years ago by ConAgra Foods [CAG], which wanted to buy it. Management decided not to sell. It then spun off the cereal business as Post Holdings [POST]. ConAgra is buying Ralcorp for $90 per share, but I'm recommending Post. Bill Stiritz, who runs Post, is a proven money maker, like Dr. John Malone of Liberty Media [LMCAD]. Stiritz sold Ralston Purina to Nestlé [NESN.Switzerland]. He has done other deals. We have been talking today about how to preserve wealth if inflation accelerates. You want to buy cash-generating companies with pricing power that have had some sort of short-term hiccup. They must be run by CEOs who understand how to create value. The sun, moon, and stars are aligned at Post.
How big is the cereal market?
Gabelli: Cereal is a $28 billion market worldwide, and a $10 billion market in the U.S. Cereal is consumed not only by young folks but also by older folks at an increasing rate. Kellogg [K] is the industry's big kahuna, with a 34% market share. General Mills [GIS] has 33%, and Post has 10.5%. Post came out of the box, so to speak, in February 2012. It was spun off with 34.5 million shares, and bought back 1.7 million. The stock is trading for $35. Net debt is about $890 million. The company will earn about $1.50 a share in the current year, ending Sept. 30, which can grow to $3 in the next three or four years. Stiritz stared out in the business by filling shelves. With product innovation, marketing attention, a focus on cash flow, and a brand with longevity, you don't have to worry about the next Twitter. I have a large number of Twitter followers. You can become my second one.
We figured as much.
Gabelli: Let's talk about using cash flow to buy back stock. Viacom [VIA] has been doing this. I have been a Viacom investor for 25 years. Viacom and CBS [CBS] split on Dec. 31, 2005. CBS is doing well under Les Moonves, and Viacom is doing extraordinarily well under Philippe Dauman and Tom Dooley. Viacom had 755 million shares at the time of the split. They are now down to 507 million. In the next three or four years, share count will fall to about 355 million. Viacom reported $13.9 billion of revenue for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30. That could increase to $18 billion in the next several years. The company generates revenue from two sources: advertising and subscription fees. It also owns Paramount Pictures, which at some point may be merged with either Malone or Columbia Pictures.
Viacom earned $4.36 a share in fiscal 2012, and could earn $9 by 2016, as earnings grow slowly and shares outstanding shrink. Founder and Chairman Sumner Redstone controls the company. The A stock is fully exchangeable into the B. The A shares sell for $60, two dollars more than the nonvoting B shares. I want to own the A shares. Net debt is $7.3 billion, and capital spending is de minimis at $100 million a year. The company generates $4.3 billion a year of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or Ebitda. The question is, what is Redstone's exit strategy? He is a young 90-plus.
Black: Nickelodeon lost a lot of market share last year.
Gabelli: You don't have to buy it. I recommended the stock at $30 a share several years ago. I said it would double in four years. It doubled in three years. You will get $100 a share in three years.
Xylem [XYL] was spun out of ITT [ITT] in October 2011. It is assembling one of the best packages of water-infrastructure and water-treatment companies in the world. When I talked about it here last year, I was worried about a slowdown in state and local spending. Business in southern Europe is slow. Short term, earnings are lackluster. The stock rose about 10% in the past year, to $28. There are 186 million shares. The company had $788 million of net debt as of the end of September, the latest published number. Revenue last year was an estimated $3.8 billion, which could rise to $4.6 billion by 2016. Ebitda could rise to $800 million from $625 million. Capital spending is about $130 million a year. Per-share earnings could go from $1.80 to $2.50. This is a yummy for a large corporation that wants to have distribution and products in water industry. Europe accounts for a third of the business; the U.S. is a third, and Asia-Pacific is 11%. They are accelerating their involvement in acquaculture [fish farming].
What is your target price?
Gabelli: The company could be bought at a 50% premium to its current stock price within two years.
Graco [GGG] was founded in 1926. The stock is $53. There are 60.7 million shares outstanding. Net debt is $570 million. The company makes equipment to apply foam on drilling rigs, and products for painters. It uses a razor and razor-blade model [applications are sold separately from applicators] and is a great cash generator. Graco tried to acquire a company from Illinois Tool Works [ITW] for $650 million, but the Federal Trade Commission gave it a hard time. So it had to sell a part of the ITW acquisition. Revenue is tied to the housing market, which has a long runway. There are a lot of ways to make money from housing. This is a side-door play. Pat McHale, who runs Graco, is terrific. The company could earn $2.20 a share for 2012, down from $2.32. Earnings could double in three or four years.
Schafer: How so?
Gabelli: Through a combination of growth in the housing market and the absorption of some costs tied to the Illinois Tool Works acquisition. Also, Graco buys back stock from time to time, and introduces product innovations.
Patterson Cos. [PDCO], formerly Patterson Dental, is in one of my favorite industries. As you age, you spend more per tooth. There are approximately 185,000 dentists in the U.S., including 5,000 orthodontists. Three or four companies sell products to the dental market. Ebitda has been flat at about $400 million a year for the past four years, but is starting to ramp up. Capital spending is only $25 million a year, so the company generates a lot of cash. Local practitioners are buying more products such as dental-imaging systems, which they sell. The company competes with Henry Schein [HSIC], which is more cutting-edge. Patterson also has a veterinary-supply business. There are 170 million companion pets in this country.
How big is the veterinary-products market?
Gabelli: It is about $3 billion a year, and three companies are important. MWI, out of Boise, does the best job, as far as I can tell. Patterson trades for $35 a share and there are 108 million shares. Net debt is $275 million. The company's cash is held in Canada, but its debt is in the U.S. It could pay off the debt but would incur a tax hit to bring home the cash to do so. Patterson will earn $2.30 in the year ending in April 2013, marching up to $3 in the next three or four year. This is a takeover or split-up candidate.
Domestic energy also has a long runway. I am recommending two companies. Weatherford International [WFT] is a turnaround story. It was put together through acquisitions and had some issues with accounting, taxes, and foreign corrupt practices.
Zulauf: The company moved its headquarters from Texas to Switzerland.
Gabelli: More money is being spent on drilling, particularly in the Bakken shale and other fields in the U.S. Weatherford has a pre-eminent position in the artificial-lift market. Artificial lifts are mechanical devices inserted in wells that increase the flow of crude. Weatherford has a disproportionate share of the rod-lift market. Once the company gets some accounting, tax, and management issues settled, it will do well.
Give us some numbers, please.
Gabelli: The stock trades for $11.53, and there are 767 million shares. Debt has been reduced but at glacier-like speed. There is about $8.5 billion of net debt, so enterprise value is $17.5 billion. This isn't a small company, but it could be a good acquisition for a major capital-equipment company that wants to be in all segments of oil service. Earnings are a little hard to figure out. Weatherford earned maybe 60 cents a share in 2012, but in three or four years it could earn about $2.40. It could be acquired in the next two years at somewhere between $18 and $24 a share. Management is motivated to sell.
National Fuel Gas [NFG] has been a disappointment. Shares haven't moved much, because the price of natural gas has fallen to $3 per Mcf [thousand cubic feet] from $5. There are 83 million shares, and the stock trades for $49. Net debt is $1.5 billion. The company owns large acreage in the Marcellus shale. It also operates the gas utility in Buffalo. The third part of the business is a midstream pipeline in the Marcellus area that they can monetize by creating a master limited partnership. There is no reason this company can't be split up. It pays a nice dividend. If natural gas were to rise to about $4.50 per Mcf, you would have a $100 stock. At current gas prices, the stock is worth about $85. The MLP could be worth $20 to $25 a share.
You're exhausting us. Is that it?
Gabelli: No. Let's talk about Glutino. Three million people in the U.S. and many around the world suffer from celiac disease. Consumers are looking for gluten-free foods, which are taking up more shelf space in supermarkets. My next company owns the Glutino brand. [Displays bag of Glutino gluten-free pretzels and passes it around.]
Rogers: Should we try this and see if it is any good?
Gabelli: It is. The company changed its name from Smart Balance to Boulder Brands [BDBD]. It is run by Steve Hughes. Shareholders profited when he sold Celestial Seasonings to Hain. About two years ago, the company bought Glutino, which was based in Canada. It bought another company, Udi's, in Colorado. It now has more brands, and its products are gaining traction.
Boulder has about 60 million shares. The stock is $12.30. The company will generate $370 million of revenue for 2012. It has $238 million of net debt. Earnings growth has lagged revenue growth due to spending on advertising, and start-up expenses. You'll see 15 cents in earnings for 2012, but earnings go straight up thereafter. A large company might want to buy this for its brands. Boulder is a small-cap stock.
My last pick is Fisher Communications [FSCI]. The company announced it is for sale. It has 8.9 million shares outstanding, and no debt. It operates ABC-affiliate television stations in Seattle and Portland, Ore. The stock is selling for $33 a share, and the company could be worth between $40 and $45.
Thanks, Mario.
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
I went to this week�s Moral Monday protest to learn what all the rancor is about and gained some insights from the experience.
I didn�t find a bunch of lefty loonies, morons or outsiders. Because of tornado alerts and impending rainstorms the crowd numbered less than a thousand. The call from Episcopal religious leaders across the state brought out a large number of clergy persons. The crowd contained more whites than blacks and obviously they were more philosophically liberal; if there were conservatives or Republican legislators present they kept a low profile.
Speakers on stage were mostly black, almost all men, and the message focused almost entirely on the disenfranchisement of the poor and minorities. If this movement is really interested in engaging mainstream North Carolinians and bringing about significant change it must become more inclusive. The needs and concerns of women, middle-income taxpayers, parents of school children and people of all races and ages must become more integrated into their message that too many are being shut out of the legislative and decision-making process. And while the numbers of those arrested each week might get news headlines those arrests do clog up our legal system and reach a point of diminishing returns.
For their part, Republican leaders seem to be doing more to help this protest movement grow into a statewide imperative than calming it. Every time one of them calls the protestors �outsiders� or ridiculous names like �morons,� whenever these leaders say they are not open to civil discourse and refuse to back down, they throw fuel on the protest fires. These leaders might win today�s legislative and government battle but they are losing the public opinion war.
Current leaders were elected on a platform of more accountability, smaller government and lower taxes, but voters did not hand them the keys to government expecting them to be arrogant, unresponsive and unwilling to work for the common good. As public servants they need to remember they represent all the public, even those who don�t agree with them.
In truth, there have also been outlandish statements made by protest leaders. It�s time for everyone to take a deep breath, dial down the dialogue and stop playing to the media or partisan supporters. We are at a crossroads and it is now time for those involved to take the moral high ground and get off their moral high horses. North Carolina has too many serious issues for us to be fighting with each other.
Unyielding demagoguery isn�t getting us anywhere. Each side claims they are willing to meet the other and seek resolution, but if that were true we would see evidence of honest and respectful dialogue underway. Now is a time for statesmen and true leaders to surface, to sit and reason together, seeking to understand as much as to be understood. And that likely means both sides might have to compromise, an essential element that has kept our republic viable for as long as we have existed. North Carolinians are watching, hoping all involved will demonstrate their care and concern for one another and our future.
Tom Campbell is former assistant North Carolina State Treasurer and is creator/host of NC SPIN, a weekly statewide television discussion of N.C. issues airing Sundays at 10:30 p.m. on WJZY-TV and at 10 p.m. on WMYT "MY TV 12."