The Top Five Gold Producing Countries

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As the Euro dipped to a four-year low and stocks fell further today gold prices rose. Gold for August delivery rose 0.6% to reach $1,217,90 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

South Africa no longer holds the title of the world’s largest gold producer.Currently China is the world’s top gold producing country. The total global output is 2,350 metric tons.

The world’s top five gold producing countries with the share of their global output are listed below:

  1. China – 12.8%
  2. Australia – 9.4%
  3. South Africa – 8.9%
  4. USA – 8.9%
  5. Russia – 7.9%

Source:  UPI

Peru is the sixth largest producer with 182 metric tons or 7.7% of the total output. However the country is producing more gold than last year due to government policies towards the mining industry and is poised to take the fifth position. In 2009 gold exports brought in revenues of $6.8 billion.

In the first quarter of this year, gold has replaced copper as the  leading Peruvian export. Gold exports reached $1.4B in first quarter. From a recent CEIC Macro Watch article:

“Gold and copper are the more important commodities exported by Peru. Together these account for approximately 50% of the total revenue from exports of traditional products.

Gold prices have been on an upward trend for a long time. For that reason, gold has become a serious alternative for investors keen on protecting their investments. Recent worries over the economic outlook for Greece and Portugal have generated some concerns among investors, which it is likely to mean that gold prices will continue to climb.

As a consequence, gold is becoming the leading Peruvian export product. Up to now, copper has been Peru’s main export product, but this is now changing.”

Related ETFs:
iShares MSCI All Peru Capped Index Fund (EPU)

Also checkout:
The World’s Top Diamond-Producing Countries 
The List of Diamond Mining Stocks by Country

5 European Non-Financial Stocks Paying More Than 5% Dividends

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The following five European stocks trading as ADRs in the US markets currently have dividend yields of more than 5%:

1. Company: Reed Elsevier NV(ENL)
Sector: Printing & Publishing
Country: The Netherlands
Current Dividend Yield: 6.91%

2. Company: Magyar Telekom Nyrt (MTA)
Sector: Telecom Services
Country: Hungary
Current Dividend Yield: 10.61%

3. Company: Repsol YPF SA (REP)
Sector: Oil & Gas – Integrated
Country: Spain
Current Dividend Yield: 5.86%

4. Company: Mobil’nye Telesistemy OAO (MBT)
Sector: Telecom Services
Country: Russia
Current Dividend Yield: 6.62%

5. Company: Veolia Environnement SA (VE)
Sector: Utility Services
Country: France
Current Dividend Yield: 6.23%

Bloomberg BusinessWeek: The Tech 100 List

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Bloomberg BusinessWeek has published the Top 100 global tech companies. These companies have a market capitalization of least $1 B in addition to other factors. Out of the 100 companies, 44 are US-based. The only Canadian firm to appear in this ranking is Research in Motion(RIMM).

The Top 10 Companies in the Tech 100 list are:

1. BYD
China

2. Apple (APPL)
USA

3. Tencent Holdings
China

4. Amazon.com (AMZN)
USA

5. Tata Consultancy
India

6. Priceline.com(PCLN)
USA

7. CenturyLink (CTL)
USA

8. Cognizant Tech
India

9. Infosys Tech(INFY)
India

10. Softbank
Japan

The complete list of the Tech 100 can be found here.

Some U.S. Banks Are In Better Shape Than Their European Peers

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The European Central Bank warned yesterday that euro-zone banks faced an additional $239 billion in write-downs this year and next due to the economic outlook that is “clouded by uncertainty.”

From the Journal’s article titled ECB Warns Write-Downs Could Reach $239 Billion:

Europe-US-Banks-Leverage-Ratio

“The U.S. and U.K. moved aggressively in 2008 and 2009 to replenish their banks’ capital buffers, sometimes with taxpayer funds.

Most of Europe didn’t follow suit, because their banking systems were largely spared the carnage of their Anglo-American counterparts. But as a result, most European banks today have thinner capital cushions and heavier debt loads than their U.S. and U.K. rivals, leaving them vulnerable to an economic slowdown.

“Some European banks have less capital and more leverage than their U.S. counterparts and…the crisis in Europe seems to have lagged behind that in the U.S. in both the writing off of losses and in the speed of raising more capital,” said Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in a speech in May.

OECD figures show that a selection of major U.S. banks are operating with leverage ratios—the ratio of assets to common equity—of between 12 and 17. By comparison, the same ratio for a group of major European banks ranged from 21 to 49, according to the OECD.”

It is interesting to note that the Spanish banking giant Banco Santander (STD) has a lower leverage ratio than France’s BNP Paribas(OTC: BNPQY) and Societe Generale(OTC: SCGLY), Germany’s Deutsche Bank (DB) and Switzerland’s UBS AG (UBS). Banco Santander was recommended recently by David G.Herroof Harris Associates, named international fund manager of the decade by Morningstar. STD closed at $.983 today putting it very close to the 52-week low of $9.17.