Northern bounty: Ken Kammal of BASE Investment Management says companies in Canada are expanding.When Ken Kammal, founder, chief executive, and chief investment officer of BASE Investment Management Co., looks at Canada, he sees a strong economy and undervalued Undervalued A stock or other security that is trading below its true value. Notes: The difficulty is knowing what the "true" value actually is. Analysts will usually recommend an undervalued stock with a strong buy rating. gold and energy companies. Kammal has placed great faith in the Canadian market, making significant investments through the BASE Aggressive Growth Hedge Fund Aggressive Growth Hedge Fund In the context of hedge funds, a style of management that focuses primarily on equities that are expected to have strong earnings growth. . He boldly projects that the fund will see a 52% gain by the end of 2005, "its first year of the gate." Kammal says he and his business partners created the firm in August 2004 after working at two other Fortune 500 firms--National City Corp. and KeyCorp--both in Cleveland, where BASE is headquartered. The Canadian market intrigued him because of its strength, he says, pointing out that Canada reached a $1 trillion gross domestic product in 2004--economic growth that is partly due to a bustling population attracted to the country's reputation as a great place to live and work Canada has also benefited from trade with China, says Kammal. Low-cost imports from the Asia superpower are keeping prices down on clothing, furniture, and other goods, which has had the effect of raising the real wages of Canadian residents. And China supplies Canadian producers with lower-cost computer hard drives and plastic moldings, increasing their overall productivity. When selecting Canadian stocks, Kammal says he looks for undervalued companies with the "potential for substantial upside." Two such names are Bema Gold Bema Gold Corporation is a Vancouver, British Columbia based intermediate gold producer with operating mines and development projects in Russia, South Africa, Chile and Canada. Corp. (AMEX AMEX See: American Stock Exchange : BGA (Ball Grid Array) A popular surface mount chip package that uses a grid of solder balls as its connectors. Available in plastic and ceramic varieties, BGA is noted for its compact size, high lead count and low inductance, which allows lower voltages to be used. ) and Rio Narcea Gold Hines Ltd. (AMEX: RNO RNO Russian National Orchestra RNO Race National Origin (EEO) RNO Radio Network Optimization RNO Rosettanet Object RNO Resident Naval Officer RNO Recipient Network Operator (mobile communications operator) ). "What I like about them both is that most of their income comes from outside North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , which illustrates the international demand for gold," says Kammal. "Banks and institutional investors are buying gold and gold companies as a hedge against the weak dollar." Bema's holdings include the Juliette Mine in Russia and the Petrex Mines in South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. . Rio Narcea has gold mines and also extracts nickel, the price of which is at an "all-time high because it's not easily mined and demand is increasing from emerging markets that need it as an industrial metal," Kammal explains. Another Canadian company that counts on international demand is oil and natural gas exploration firm Canadian Superior Energy Inc. (AMEX: SNG SNG abbr. 1. substitute natural gas 2. synthetic natural gas ) The company, which has offshore drilling Offshore drilling typically refers to the act of extracting resources, primarily oil, in an ocean or lake. Controversy As with all oil drilling, there has been a certain level of controversy surrounding the issue. operations as close as Nova Scotia Nova Scotia (nō`və skō`shə) [Lat.,=new Scotland], province (2001 pop. 908,007), 21,425 sq mi (55,491 sq km), E Canada. Geography and as far away as Trinidad, is benefiting from rising oil prices as well as the demand for gas for home heating, says Kammal. Resin Systems Inc. (OTC OTC See: Over-the-counter. OTC See over-the-counter market (OTC). BB: RSSYF.OB)has been doing a Johnny-Appleseed-like job of replacing wooden electric utility and telephone poles with poles it manufactures made of composite materials in Canada; the U.S.; and most recently, Sydney, Australia. "The secret to this company is that it has patents on its system for producing polyurethane resin," Kammal says. That makes Resin Systems the only supplier of its plastic, which is used to make a host of other plastic parts. His final pick, Clearly Canadian Beverage Corp. (OTC BB: CCBEF CCBEF Clearly Canadian Beverage Corporation (Canada) .OB), should be able to use the equity financing Equity Financing The act of raising money for company activities by selling common or preferred stock to individual or institutional investors. In return for the money paid, shareholders receive ownership interests in the corporation. it received after completing its restructuring earlier this year to fund sales and marketing initiatives. Kammal says the company was "spread too thin" because it was shipping its soft drinks into markets where it didn't have consumer demand. Clearly Canadian is currently working to consolidate its widespread distribution network, improve its field sales force, and concentrate on markets that will drive sales. Kammal believes each of these stocks could see a 50% gain or better in the next 12 to 18 months.
12- to
Company 18-Month
(Exchange: Symbol) Price * Price Target
Bema Gold Corp. $2.86 $4.29
(AMEX: BGA)
Rio Narcea Gold Mines Ltd. 1.35 2.03
(AMEX: RNO)
Canadian Superior Energy Inc. 2.33 3.50
(AMEX: SNG)
Resin Systems Inc. 2.12 3.18
(OTC BB: RSSYF.OB)
Clearly Canadian Beverage 1.20 1.80
Corp. (OTC BB: CCBEF.OB)
P/E on Est. 5-Yr.
Company Projected Annual EPS
(Exchange: Symbol) 2005 Earnings Growth Rate
Bema Gold Corp. NA 1%
(AMEX: BGA)
Rio Narcea Gold Mines Ltd. NA 22
(AMEX: RNO)
Canadian Superior Energy Inc. NA -5
(AMEX: SNG)
Resin Systems Inc. NA 2
(OTC BB: RSSYF.OB)
Clearly Canadian Beverage NA 10
Corp. (OTC BB: CCBEF.OB)
Company
(Exchange: Symbol) Why Stock Will Outperform
Bema Gold Corp. Company will benefit from the
(AMEX: BGA) increasing international demand
for gold.
Rio Narcea Gold Mines Ltd. Company will benefit from mining
(AMEX: RNO) nickel, which is in high demand
in emerging markets.
Canadian Superior Energy Inc. Company will benefit from rising
(AMEX: SNG) oil and natural gas prices.
Resin Systems Inc. Company is the only supplier of the
(OTC BB: RSSYF.OB) material used in the replacement of
wooden utility poles.
Clearly Canadian Beverage Company will benefit from
Corp. (OTC BB: CCBEF.OB) restructuring and improving its
focus on markets that drive sales.
SOURCE: KEN KAMMAL, BASE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CO.
* AS OF SEPT. 26, 2005.
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