Leading Independent Investment Research, Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar

Leading Independent Investment Research

Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. We offer an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. 

Morningstar provides data on more than 500,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 16 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $180 billion in assets under advisement or management as of June 30, 2015. We have operations in 27 countries.

Download the Morningstar Fact Sheet : http://corporate.morningstar.com/US/documents/MarketingFactSheets/AboutMorningstarFactsheet.pdf

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul><li>The precipitous slide in oil prices since fall 2014 has eroded the financial health of most exploration and production, or E&amp;P, firms.</li><li>Natural gas has been no safe haven either, with prices entrenched near 10- year lows.</li><li>Near-term fundamentals remain challenged for both commodities, and investors should be prepared for weak pricing to persist for much if not all of 2016&ndash;17.</li><li>As a result, many operators&mdash;who outspend cash flows even during the best of times&mdash;are currently hemorrhaging cash and seeing leverage rise to uncomfortable levels.</li><li>Investors are right to be concerned about whether the upstream space has the financial wherewithal to endure this sustained period of low oil and natural prices, and which firms might be casualties of such an environment.</li><li>Having analyzed the balance sheets, cost structures, and operations of our E&amp;P coverage list, we found that in the vast majority of cases, the E&amp;P firms we cover are well-equipped to cope with multiple years of low prices.</li><li>That's partly due to cost deflation and efficiency gains but most critically from the prompt utilization of capital markets earlier this year to prop up liquidity reserves.</li><li>To be sure, even within our coverage there exists a handful of firms that entered the downturn with too much leverage and hold lower quality assets&mdash;these are the few that may not emerge from the current environment unscathed.</li><li>But as a group, our E&amp;P universe seems more financially sound than headlines and investor sentiment might otherwise suggest.</li></ul>Analysts: David Meats, Mark Hanson CFA, Stephen Simko CFA, Brandon Hurst.Full report below the fold....

The precipitous slide in oil prices since fall 2014 has eroded the financial health of most exploration and production, or E&amp;P, firms.Natural gas has been no safe haven either, with prices entrenched near 10- year lows.Near-term fundamentals remain challenged for both commodities, and investors should be prepared for weak pricing to persist for much if not all of 2016&ndash;17.As a result, many operators&mdash;who outspend cash flows even during the best of times&mdash;are currently hemorrhaging cash and seeing leverage rise to uncomfortable levels.Investors are right to be concerned about whether the upstream space has the financial wherewithal to endure this sustained period of low oil and natural prices, and which firms might be casualties of such an environment.Having analyzed the balance sheets, cost structures, and operations of our E&amp;P coverage list, we found that in the vast majority of cases, the E&amp;P firms we cover are well-equipped to cope with multiple years of low prices.That's partly due to cost deflation and efficiency gains but most critically from the prompt utilization of capital markets earlier this year to prop up liquidity reserves.To be sure, even within our coverage there exists a handful of firms that entered the downturn with too much leverage and hold lower quality assets&mdash;these are the few that may not emerge from the current environment unscathed.But as a group, our E&amp;P universe seems more financially sound than headlines and investor sentiment might otherwise suggest.Analysts: David Meats, Mark Hanson CFA, Stephen Simko CFA, Brandon Hurst.Full report below the fold....

E&P Financial Health: Better Than You Think. Liquidity Reserves Will See Most Firms Through Downturn

United States

Nucor Corporation manufactures steel products.  The Company's products include carbon and alloy steel, steel joists, steel deck, cold finished steel, steel grinding balls, steel bearing products, and metal buildingsystems. Nucor also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and HBI/DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. distributes and processes steel and aluminum. The Company's products include carbon, alloy, stainless and specialty steel, aluminum, brass, and copper.  Reliance operates processing and distribution centers throughout the United States. Reliance Steel & Aluminum operates in Spain.

Steel Dynamics, Inc. is a diversified carbon-steel steel producer and metals recycler in the U.S, located in Fort Wayne, IN. The Company's operating segments include Steel Operations, Metals Recycling & Ferrous Resources Operations, and Steel Fabrication Operations. Steel Dynamics products include flat rolled steel sheet, engineered bar special-bar-quality, structural beams.

Royal Gold, Inc. acquires and manages precious metals royalties.  The Company seeks to acquire existing royalties or to finance projects that are in production or near production in exchange for royalty interests.  Royal Gold Inc.'s gold-focused portfolio contains royalties ranging from those in production and development to those in the evaluation and exploration stages.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. is an international natural resources company. The Company operates large, long-lived, geographically diverse assets with significant reserves of copper, gold, molybdenum, cobalt, oil, and gas.

Southern Copper Corporation conducts mining operations in Peru and Mexico.  The Company owns and operates open pit mines and metallurgical complexes that produce copper, molybdenum, zinc, and precious metals.

United States Steel Corporation operates as an integrated steel producer. The Company manufactures flat-rolled and tubular products with production operations in North America and Europe. United States Steel serves the automotive, appliance, container, industrial machinery, construction, and oil and gas industries.

Alcoa Corporation manufactures metal products. The Company produces and sells bauxite, alumina, and aluminum products. Alcoa serves aluminum industry worldwide.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is an American iron ore mining company. The Company supplies iron ore pellets, lumps and fines to blast furnaces in the global steel industry. Cliffs is in the process of expanding its customer base to Electric Arc Furnaces.

Carpenter Technology Corporation manufactures, fabricates, and distributes stainless steels, titanium, and specialty metal alloys.  Carpenter processes basic metal alloying elements into finished products such as billets, bars, rods, and various special shapes. The Company also manufactures engineered products such as ceramics and metal injected molded designs.

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. explores for and produces iron ore. The Company conducts business worldwide.

POSCO Holdings Inc. manufactures and distributes steel products. The Company produces crude steel, hot rolled steel, cold rolled steel, stainless steel, steel plates, wire rods, galvanized steel, electrical steel, and other related products. POSCO Holdings markets its products worldwide.

JFE Holdings, Inc. is a holding company which was established through the merger of NKK Corp and Kawasaki Steel Corp.  The Company manages and conducts its subsidiaries' business, which is steel production and integrated engineering services.

Vedanta Limited mines, produces, and exports base metals. The Company mines and distributes metals such as zinc, iron ore, copper, silver, and aluminium, as well as operates power plants. Vedanta markets its products worldwide.

Newcrest Mining Limited is a gold mining, exploration and production company. The Company is geographically focused in Australia, the Pacific region and Asia. Newcrest Mining operates projects within six provinces in four countries, focusing on the Cadia East and Lihir MOPU expansion projects and the Wafi Golpu and Namosi greenfield projects.

Glencore Plc is a diversified natural resources company. The Company operates in three groups: Metals and Minerals, Energy Products, and Agricultural Products. Glencore Plc offers its products and services around the world.

Nippon Steel Corp is an integrated steel maker. The Company produces various types of steel products used for industrial machinery & equipment and exports them worldwide.  Nippon Steel provides plant construction and urban development and also develops new businesses such as chemicals, ceramics, electronic equipment and information & communication systems.

China Steel Corporation manufactures and markets a variety of steel products. The main products are hot rolled coils and sheets, cold rolled coils and sheets, wire rods, steel plates, and steel bars.

China Hongqiao Group Ltd. manufactures aluminum products. The Company's aluminum products consist of molten aluminum alloy, aluminum alloy ingots and aluminum busbars.

Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. manufactures and markets a variety of iron and steel products including cold rolled plates and coils, hot rolled plates and coils, seamless steel tubes, high-speed wire rods, and steel billets.  The company also operates in related energy production businesses.

Newmont Mining Corporation acquires, explores, and develops mineral properties. The Company produces gold from operations in the United States, Australia, Peru, Indonesia, Ghana, Canada, New Zealand and Mexico. Newmont also mines and processes copper in Indonesia.

Price Gauge
52-week Range	0.00 - 0.00
Market Cap (USDm)	0.00
P/E	0.00
Dividend (Yield)	0.00

Newmont Mining (NEM US)

E&P Financial Health: Better Than You Think. Liquidity Reserves Will See Most Firms Through Downturn

The precipitous slide in oil prices since fall 2014 has eroded the financial health of most exploration and production, or E&P, firms. Natural...

Morningstar, Inc.

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)