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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jbe who wrote (23660)	6/9/1998 2:08:00 AM
From: Lee Fredrickson	Respond to of 95453

j, OT You mentioned pharma.s and I soon afterward ran across this which mentions them and the oil patch.... biz.yahoo.com I'm dipping a couple of toes in one also, thinking 'Why glean all my grief from one sector, when there are so many out there to teach me about losing money the easy way! Have some fun. Feed the squirrels. Buckle up. Lee

To: jbe who wrote (23660)	6/9/1998 9:05:00 AM
From: JZGalt	Respond to of 95453

{OT} Cement They are: Southdown (SDW); Lone Star Industries (LCE); and Texas Industries (TXI), which makes steel as well as concrete products. I've owned SDW for quite a while now (nov 1996) and it has done well (+120%). They have modern low cost plants that were upgraded for capacity and efficiency in 1996 and 1997. They are an integrated supplier in southern California and consistently register some of the highest profit margins in the group. Acquisition of Medusa allows some synergistic effects but on the whole the big next task will be this (from press release): Recent actions by both the Senate and the House of Representatives to reauthorize a multi-year highway spending bill have been very encouraging and are expected to increase annual Federal infrastructure spending by more than 30% compared to current levels. In addition, the Company is very excited about the pending merger with Medusa Corporation (NYSE: MSA - news) that will allow Southdown to capitalize on the current strong construction economy which provides a continuing favorable outlook for both cement and aggregates. p/e is now getting a bit high for a construction materials company and is now trading near the highest level since 1994. Typical p/e on a forward earnings basis for SDW was a maximum of 13-15, but the growth wasn't forecast as being high during those years either. If you take 15X 1999 estimates you get an $80 stock which is currently selling for $64. Not a great return, but do your own homework, you made decide otherwise. ;-) You forgot Lafarge (LAF) in your list.