PAAS - Sector: Basic Materials---Industry: Gold & Silver

[setravis]

Top Strategist: Silver Surging To At Least $50
Should you buy silver on the pullback? According to strategist John Stephenson there's no time like the present.

He thinks silver is on the brink of a surge. In fact, he's calling for silver to hit new record highs - - $50 / ounce. The Fast Money traders were so intrigued by this very bold call they wanted to hear more.

In a live interview Stephenson, the author of "The Little Book Of Commodity Investing" tells the desk that his $50 prediction may be conservative. That's right, conservative.

"If you look at the ratio of silver to gold during the 1970's (which is the last time it hit an all time) it was 16-1." Now that ratio is even greater. "It's currently at 50-1. That would imply silver should be at $88," he says.


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John Stephenson's Ways To Play Silver
Silver Futures [SIC1  29.31    -0.057  (-0.19%)   ]
iShares Silver Trust  [SLV  28.61    0.04  (+0.14%)   ]
Pan American Silver [PAAS  40.04    0.4475  (+1.13%)   ]
Hecla Mining [HL  10.77    0.03  (+0.28%)   ]
Silver Wheaton [SLW  36.74    0.31  (+0.85%)   ]

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If you're concerned about demand for silver falling off, Stephenson says don't be. He thinks money continues to rotate into silver (and all precious metals for that matter) due to growing "concerns with the level of debt that the government is racking up in the US." In other words Stephenson expects the so-called race to debase will generate investor interest in metals for some time to come.

How should you trade?

Of all the names listed above, Stephenson tells the desk he likes Silver Wheaton best "because it's not really a miner it's a royalty company. And its going to double production over the next two years."

[setravis]

Profile: 

1500 - 625 Howe Street
British Columbia
Vancouver, BC V6C 2T6
Phone: 16046841175
Fax: 16046840147
Sector: Basic Materials
Industry: Gold & Silver
Employees: 4,000 
Complete Financials: 12/31/2009
Earnings Announcements: 06/30/2004 
Last Updated: Dec 18, 2010 


Business Summary   

Pan American Silver Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, extraction, processing, refining, reclamation, operation, and production of silver producing properties and assets. It also produces and sells gold, zinc, lead, and copper minerals. As of March 23, 2009, the company had eight mining operations in Mexico, Peru, Argentina, and Bolivia. Pan American Silver Corp. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Business Overview

BRIEF: For the nine months ended 30 September 2010, Pan American Silver Corp.'s revenues increased 47% to $440.9M. Net income increased 94% to $66.2M. Revenues reflect an increase in income from Argentina region. Net income also reflects a decrease in doubtful accounts provision, a raise in mine operating earnings, the presence of foreign exchange gains vs. losses, increased operating profit margin and lower accretion of asset retirement obligation. http://www.panamericansilver.com

[setravis]

Is Pan American Silver the Perfect Stock?
March 3, 2011

Everyone would love to find the perfect stock. But will you ever really find a stock that gives you everything you could possibly want?

One thing's for sure: If you don't look, you'll never find truly great investments. So let's first take a look at what you'd want to see from a perfect stock, and then decide if Pan American Silver (Nasdaq: PAAS) fits the bill.

The quest for perfection
When you're looking for great stocks, you have to do your due diligence. It's not enough to rely on a single measure, because a stock that looks great based on one factor may turn out to be horrible in other ways. The best stocks, however, excel in many different areas, which all come together to make up a very attractive picture.

Some of the most basic yet important things to look for in a stock are:

•Growth. Expanding businesses show healthy revenue growth. While past growth is no guarantee that revenue will keep rising, it's certainly a better sign than a stagnant top line.
•Margins. Higher sales don't mean anything if a company can't turn them into profits. Strong margins ensure a company is able to turn revenue into profit.
•Balance sheet. Debt-laden companies have banks and bondholders competing with shareholders for management's attention. Companies with strong balance sheets don't have to worry about the distraction of debt.
•Money-making opportunities. Companies need to be able to turn their resources into profitable business opportunities. Return on equity helps measure how well a company is finding those opportunities.
•Valuation. You can't afford to pay too much for even the best companies. Earnings multiples are simple, but using normalized figures gives you a sense of how valuation fits into a longer-term context.
•Dividends. Investors are demanding tangible proof of profits, and there's nothing more tangible than getting a check every three months. Companies with solid dividends and strong commitments to increasing payouts treat shareholders well.

With those factors in mind, let's take a closer look at Pan American Silver

Factor.......What We Want to See..............................Actual.......Pass or Fail?

Growth      5-Year Annual Revenue Growth > 15%    38.9%         Pass
                 1-Year Revenue Growth > 12%                39%            Pass
Margins     Gross Margin > 35%                                 51.6%         Pass
                  Net Margin > 15%                                    17.8%         Pass
Balance
Sheet         Debt to Equity < 50%                                0%            Pass
                  Current Ratio > 1.3                                  4.76            Pass

Opportunities   Return on Equity > 15%                     7.9%          Fail
Valuation          Normalized P/E < 20                          32.57          Fail
Dividends         Current Yield > 2%                              0.3%         Fail
                         5-Year Dividend Growth > 10%           NM            NM
       
  Total Score   6 out of 9

Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard and Poor's. NM = not meaningful; Pan American Silver just started paying a dividend in 2010. Total score = number of passes

Pan American Silver scores six points on an adjusted nine-point scale. But with silver prices having skyrocketed recently, investors have seen the silver miner's stock perform just about perfectly.

Given how strongly the price of silver has risen lately, picking a silver-related investment may seem like shooting fish in a barrel. Even bullion ETF iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) has more than doubled in the past year, while silver streamer Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW) is getting close to a triple since early 2010.

But miners like Pan American have growth potential that bullion ETFs lack. The company recently announced that it grew its production for the 15th straight year to 24.3 million ounces, with profits surging 67% over the year-ago quarter. Unfortunately, higher labor costs and exchange rates have forced Pan American to project higher costs in 2011, and the miner expects production to decline this year, breaking that growth streak. But the company still holds out hope that it will be able to double production if the Argentine government allows its Navidad project to go forward.

With average annual share returns of 75% over the past two years and 29% since 2001, Pan American has grown to the point where it likely won't deliver the truly explosive multibagger returns that smaller miners Great Panther Silver (AMEX: GPL) and Endeavor Silver (AMEX: EXK) could see if silver continues its run. But for those seeking a solid silver play, Pan American is a great place to start.

Keep searching
No stock is a sure thing, but some stocks are a lot closer to perfect than others. By looking for the perfect stock, you'll go a long way toward improving your investing prowess and learning how to separate out the best investments from the rest.



Day's Range: 38.90 - 39.86
52wk Range: 21.86 - 42.33
Volume: 1,797,690
Avg Vol (3m): 1,715,280
Market Cap: 4.24B
P/E (ttm): 37.67
EPS (ttm): 1.05
Div & Yield: 0.10 (0.30%)

Technicals
Last Price Quote is:
4.85%above 13-day EMA
8.70%above 50-day EMA
RS Rating: 55 

[hectorgr]

Missed this one on friday GRRRRR!
BO this years high and also March 2008.
In last year SLW and CDE outperformed PAAS, but in the last 3 months CDE was the best.
PAAS seems to be accelerating. I´ll keep SLW for long and will watch gold/silver prices at
far east opening (how will US budget approval affect precious metals?)

GLTA