BHP Billiton Limited (ADR) (NYSE:BHP)

the great australian

Company is into Metal...and in this economy, metal is the place to be.

I'm looking at BHP to cover the commodities my other pick AAUK doesn't. Another good bear market buy here in the midst of this oil market firestorm. Good fundamentals coupled with a solid and diversified business.

Go Long,

Fool On!!!

Best miner in the business. Will dominate the World commodity market.

I've owned this for many years. Wish they had not made a bid for Rio Tinto, but still a great stock. That's all factored in now, so I'll add it to my CAPS. They now own the largest uranium mine in the world. China will buy all they can deliver. Even if U3O8 price quadruples, it's still an incredibly cheap source of energy.

Good things about BHP:
-Growing demand for its products
-Great fundamentals
-large market share
-good valuation
-historic dividend growth
-good management as shown through high ROE
-active globally

Commodities boom will continue and BHP has market leading positions in many areas. Solid growth and dividends for the foreseeable future.

i dont see the rio bid coming off and think when it unravels this will hurt the stock.

having said that still a very good bet.

supercycle

Metals are a hot sector right now. This was in the top 5 most active dollar volume (#4) on Friday 2/15 per Google. They are working on buying a piece of Rio (RTP)

BUY

Asumming the buy out of Rio Tinto goes through. The company will acquire the largest market share in the industry.

It is said that BHP would "Walk Away" from it's Rio Tinto Take-Over Bid if the Price was higher han their present BID.
On Feb 1, 2008 Chinalco and Alcoa announced a joint purchase of 12% of Rio ZTinto stock.

I guess that BHP will defer the Bidding War & walk away from the deal. Acquirers stock drops on Take-Over announcements & rises when the deal falls through.

I bought BHP as a "Coal Play"w/ a Gold Kicker.

anyway, I added BHP to my MSN CAPS Port on an UP day, because I THINK it has MORE UP 2 GO !!!!!

RioRRawGnIkIV

Along with just about every other large-scale international conglomerate producer of industrial metals, petroleum, etc... BHP had been hammered down to ridiculous valuations lately on the irrational fear of a global slowdown being deflationary on base metal demand and thus prices. While there may well be a slowdown... some economies will slow more than others, and the US will clearly top the list. Therefore, the big international conglomerates like BHP (Australian), Teck Cominco (Canadian), Aluminum Corporation of China (China, ACH), Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (Brazil), and even 2 American companies FCX and CLF... these companies will be amazing investments in the long run, and I was buyer throughout the recent wave of selling. BHP had been one of my best performers for the last couple of years, and at today's prices it's back to where it has plenty of room to run again (I had sold most of my BHP above $80. Just like Freeport McMoran in the low $70s, BHP in the mid-$50s was one of those memorable entry points tht felt right in every way... and I believe time will bear this out. It's still not too late, BHP is still very cheap here with a P/E of 13.5! Of all the companies lited above, however, I believe ACH is one of the best values available anywhere at present. After topping out over $90, it currently trades well below $40 (a temporary interruption in power supply at 2 Aluminum plants has halted production). I plan to ride each one of the above-listed companies through to new 52-week highs when the world realizes that there still aren't enough resources to fuel even a diminished level of global demand. It was scarcity that began driving the bull maret in metals in the first place... and scarcity will revalue the related equities once the market realizes how cheap these companies are!

Good sales and Income growth.

Well diversified; in many high growth commodity areas with great sales in China.

BHP is one of the world's leaders in producing iron ore and cloa-related products, primarily from Australia. MarketWire quotes various industrial executives about two interesting points -- that the Chinese infrastructure requirements for steel, etc. are growing >20% a year, and that the Chinese factory expansion is occurring on the southeast coast of China to be closer to the shipborne supply of raw materials (from places like Australia). It's noteworthy that transportation costs are a big deal in the above commodities, and with the shorter hauls from Australia to China -- and India, too -- BHP has a significant delivered-cost advantage.

Of course there's always the chance that China and India might put the brakes on their economies, but given the political realities of their huge, now-upwardly mobile populations, it seems to me unlikely on any visible horizon.

I bought the stock in April 2006, and its current price of ~71 is an appreciation of 2/3 over that, with a recent high at 87. It's off that high because of the world's liquidity problems and fear of recesssion, but even a modest attentuation of those fears should see it rise toward 90 straight-away.

Weather it's bid for Rio Tinto is successful or through its sheer size and market dominance BHP will continue to be a huge presence in the mining sector, this well run company should continue to return impressive figures over the next few years, this should be a staple stock in any of our portfolio's.

BHP Billiton's $125 billion effort to acquire rival Rio Tinto isn't just about locking up more copper, coal or iron ore.

That proposed deal, as well as others sweeping the mining industry, will help determine access to some of the congested ports and rail lines needed to get raw materials to the world.

Five years into the biggest commodity boom in a generation, port and rail bottlenecks are hindering the mining industry's ability to bring enough resources to market.

BHP's bid for Rio Tinto

BHP, has reported a hefty cashflow from operating activities of $10.5 billion for the year to June 30, 2006, and even promised shareholders it would add a massive $10 billion to its share buyback program in February,making it realistically the only miner able to support a bid which may be accepted by Rio share holders.

One aspect in BHP's favour is that most of Rio's major share holders are also major holders of BHP which would ease the way some what if and when real negotiations begin.

A bid from BHP Billiton also looks compelling because of the synergies that could be achieved between it and Rio through their existing joint ventures. BHP's dual listing on the Australian and London stock exchanges, along with its being partly based in Australia, would also stand it in good stead with the Australian government since a takeover of Rio would see it gain control of the company's huge iron ore operations in Pilbara, Western Australia. Rio derives about 40% of its earnings from its mines there.

Commodities!