The Big Picture
The jobs picture continued to brighten to the end of June. In the first half of 2013, in response, U.S. stock markets rallied to levels not seen in six years. Global markets stagnated. The S&P 500 index traded above the 1670 level in early June. Then, it settled down.
Strong evidence showed capital leaving bonds funds after Fed taper talk picked up. A rising 10-year U.S. risk-free rate is the major issue now.
Fed and Japanese BoJ bond buying is at work, month-to-month. With more job additions, most U.S. stimulus timelines move into this year.
Is it time to buy in early July?
We��e onboard for a further rise in U.S. stocks under global QE. If a Fed taper hits this fall, look for a sell-off. This fall downside risk puts a range-bound market into play for the summer. Markets don�� like uncertainty.
Top 10 Defense Stocks To Buy For 2015: 1st NRG Corp (FNRC)
1st NRG Corp., incorporated on January 18, 1988, is an exploration and production company. The Company is engaged in the development of the Clabaugh Ranch Field, which is a project developing and producing coal bed methane reserves (CBM). This project includes a development of 6,025 gross acres in the Powder River Basin in northeast Wyoming. The Company is expanding its activities into unconventional shale through a participation agreement covering approximately 7,000 acres initially and subsequently acquired acreage covering an Area of Mutual Interest in South Eastern Ohio. Its production revenues are entirely from the natural gas produced at Clabaugh Ranch.
The targeted coal seams in the Powder River Basin are part of the Tongue River Member of the Fort Union formation and have been mapped as natural resource developments and exploration have occurred throughout the region. The Company has 42 drilled wells, which have encountered developed coal seams in the Werner, Upper and Lower Smith, Wyodak/Anderson Lower, Gates and Wall formations. In total the Company has identified 515 separate coals seams for development of which only 126 (42 wells X 3 seams) have been completed.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
What�� the Catch With Quantum Energy Inc? According to various disclosures, transactions of $2k and $3.5k have or will occur to mention Quantum Energy in various investment newsletters. On Friday, Quantum Energy released the pricing of its recently announced $5,000,000 BDC funding to be arranged by Data Capital Corp (DCC) where the latter has agreed to assist the former in the formation of a Business Development Company (BDC) by forming Quantum Funding, Inc. as a BDC to raise an initial $5,000,000. Upon receipt of the funding, Quantum Funding, Inc. will then be acquired as a subsidiary by QEGY in a share exchange where the $5,000,000 subsidiary will be acquired for 10,000,000 shares of newly issued restricted common stock for a valuation of $0.50 cents per share. Otherwise and early in the month, Quantum Energy announced it was shifting its focus from the West Texas Barnett Shale fields to North Dakota with the opening of an office in Williston, North Dakota. However, a quick look on Google Finance (as there are no up to date financials on Yahoo! Finance) reveals Quantum Energy has no revenues; a net loss of $0.01M (most recent reported quarter), net income of $2.01M and a net loss of $0.02M for the past three fiscal quarters; and $0.01M in cash to cover $0.34M in current liabilities at the end of last August. Then again, the recent financing deal could get things moving for Quantum Energy next year.
1st NRG Corp (OTCMKTS: FNRC) Gives a Drilling and Production UpdateSmall cap 1st NRG Corp is an exploration and production company currently developing and producing coal bed methane reserves (CBM) in Wyoming. On Friday, 1st NRG Corp fell 25% to $0.0003 for a market cap of $5.02 million plus FNRC is down 97.1% since the start of the year and down 99.8% since July 2010 according to Google Finance.
Top Japanese Companies To Watch In Right Now: Howard Hughes Corp (HHC)
The Howard Hughes Corporation, incorporated on July 1, 2010, is a developer and operator of master planned communities and mixed use properties. The Company operates three segments: master planned communities, operating assets and strategic developments. The Company specializes in the development of master planned communities and ownership, management and the redevelopment or repositioning of real estate assets generating revenues, also called operating assets, as well as other strategic real estate opportunities in the form of entitled and unentitled land and other development rights, also called strategic developments. In August 2012, the Company purchased 70 Corporate Center office building, located in downtown Columbia, MD.
Master Planned Communities
The Company�� master planned communities segment consists of the development and sale of residential and commercial land, primarily in projects in and around Las Vegas, Nevada; Houston, Texas; and Columbia, Maryland. Revenues are derived primarily from the sale of finished lots and undeveloped pads to both residential and commercial developers. Additional revenues are earned through participations with builders in their sales of finished homes to homebuyers. The Company�� master planned community in Maryland includes four separate communities that are collectively referred to as the Maryland Communities. Its master planned communities include over 12,500 acres of land remaining to be sold.
Residential sales, which are made primarily to home builders, include standard and custom parcels, as well as parcels designated for detached and attached single- and multi- family homes, ranging from entry-level to luxury homes. Commercial sales include land parcels designated for retail, office, resort, services and other for-profit activities, as well as those parcels designated for use by government, schools and other not-for-profit entities. Spanning the western rim of the Las Vegas Valley and located approximately ni! ne miles from downtown Las Vegas, its 22,500 acre Summerlin master planned community is consists of planned and developed villages and offers suburban living with accessibility to the Las Vegas Strip. With 26 public and private schools, five institutions of higher learning, nine golf courses, and cultural facilities, Summerlin was an integrated community, as of December 31, 2011. As of December 31, 2012, there were approximately 40,000 homes occupied by approximately 100,000 residents.
As of December 31, 2012, Summerlin is consisted of hundreds of neighborhoods located in 19 developed villages with nearly 150 neighborhood and village parks, all connected by a 150-mile long trail system. As of December 31, 2012, Summerlin included approximately 2.1 million square feet of developed retail space, 3.2 million square feet of developed office space and three hotel properties containing approximately 1,400 hotel rooms, as well as health and medical centers, including Summerlin Hospital and the Nevada Cancer Institute. Summerlin is divided into three regions or projects: Summerlin North, Summerlin West and Summerlin South. As of December 31, 2012, Summerlin had approximately 5,184 residential acres and 890 commercial acres remaining to be sold. Bridgeland is a master planned community near Houston, Texas consisted of approximately 11,400 acres, as of December 31, 2011. There were approximately 1,800 homes occupied by approximately 6,250 residents as of December 31, 2012.
Bridgeland�� plan includes four villages, which include Lakeland Village, Parkland Village, Prairieland Village and Creekland Village. Bridgeland�� first five neighborhoods are located in Lakeland Village. The Lakeland Activity Center is anchored by a 6,000 square foot community center and features a water park with three swimming pools, two lighted tennis courts and a fitness room. As of December 31, 2012, Bridgeland had approximately 3,635 residential acres and 1,226 commercial acres remaining to be sold. The C! ompany�� s Maryland communities consist of four distinct projects: Columbia, Gateway, Emerson and Fairwood. Columbia, located in Howard County, Maryland. As of December 31, 2012, Columbia was home to approximately 100,000 people. Columbia�� full range of housing options is located in 10 distinct, self-contained villages. Each village is consists of several neighborhoods, a shopping center and community and recreational facilities.
As of December 31, 2012, the Company owned approximately 35 net acres of land in Columbia. The land consists of raw land and subdivided land parcels readily available for new development. Gateway is a 630-acre master planned corporate community located in Howard County, Maryland. Gateway offers office space in a campus setting with approximately 63 commercial acres. Emerson is a master planned community located in Howard County, Maryland and consisted of approximately 520 acres, as of December 31, 2011. There were approximately 1,210 homes occupied by approximately 3,407 residents, as of December 31, 2012. Emerson offers a range of single-family and townhome housing, which is located in Maryland�� public school districts.
As of May, 2012, the residential component of this project has been completely sold out. In addition, 28 of its townhouse lots were under contract, as of December 31, 2012. As of December 31, 2012, it had sold 28 townhouse lots. Fairwood is a developed master planned community located in Prince George�� County, Maryland, consists of approximately 1,100 acres. As of December 31, 2012, 11 commercial acres were available for sale. There were approximately 1,200 homes occupied by approximately 2,600 residents on December 31, 2012. As of December 31, 2012, Fairwood consisted of single-family and townhouse lots, as well as undedicated open space and two historic houses. In addition to the commercial acres remaining to be sold, it owns a few undedicated open space parcels, and 24 acres of unsubdivided land. The Woodlands is a mixed-use master ! planned c! ommunity situated 27 miles north of Houston and consists of 28,400 acres. The Woodlands is a community that integrates recreational amenities, residential neighborhoods, commercial office space, retail shops and entertainment venues.
As of December 31, 2012, approximately 28% of The Woodlands land consisted of green space, including parks, pathways, open spaces, golf courses and forest preserves. As of December 31, 2012, the Woodlands has full or partial ownership interests in commercial properties totaling 436,042 square feet of office space, 201,280 square feet of retail and service space and 393 rental apartment units. It also own and operated a 440 room resort and conference center facility and a 36-hole golf and country club, as of December 31, 2012. As of December 31, 2012, The Woodlands had approximately 857 acres of unsold residential land, representing approximately 2,750 lots, and approximately 961 acres of unsold land for commercial use. The Woodlands includes a waterway, outdoor art and an open-air performance pavilion, a resort and conference center, a luxury hotel and convention center, educational opportunities for all ages, hospitals and health care facilities and office space.
Operating Assets
The Company�� operating assets segment contains 26 properties and investments, consists of commercial mixed-use, retail and office properties. As of December 31, 2012, these assets included nine mixed use and retail properties, seven office properties, a resort and conference center, a 36-hole golf and country club, a multi-family apartment building, two equity investments and five other assets. Ward Centers is consists of approximately 60 acres situated along Ala Moana Beach Park. As of December 31, 2011, Ward Centers included a 665,000 square foot shopping district, which consisted of six specialty centers and over 140 shops, a variety of restaurants and an entertainment center, which included a 16 screen movie theater.
South Street Seaport! is compr! ised of three mid-rise buildings and the Pier 17 pavilion shopping mall located in a historic waterfront district on the East River in Manhattan. The Company also leases 24,000 square feet for sublet to retailers at the base of an adjacent 1.1 million square foot office tower. All of the property except the office tower retail space is subject to a lease with the City of New York. As of December 31, 2012, the total property controlled by us approximates 300,551 square feet of leasable space, substantially all of which is retail. As of December 31, 2011, anchored by Macy�� and Sears, Landmark Mall was an 879,294 square foot shopping mall located in affluent Alexandria, Virginia. This mall is located nine miles west of Washington, D.C. and the Pentagon. Park West is a 249,168 square foot open-air shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Peoria, Arizona.
Park West is approximately one mile northwest of the Arizona Cardinals��football stadium and the Phoenix Coyote�� hockey arena. Park West has an additional 100,000 square feet of available development rights as permitted for retail, restaurant and hotel uses. Rio West Mall is located in Gallup, New Mexico, which is 521,194 square foot shopping center. Riverwalk Marketplace is located along the Mississippi River in downtown New Orleans. The 193,874 square foot shopping center is consists of more than 100 local and national retail shops, restaurants and entertainment venues. Cottonwood Square is a 77,079 square foot community center located in Salt Lake City, Utah. 20 & 25 Waterway Avenue are two retail properties located in The Waterway Square commercial district in The Woodlands Town Center. The properties total 49,972 square feet. Waterway Garage Retail is attached to The Waterway Square Garage located within The Woodlands Town Center.
The Company owns a 99% joint venture interest in an entity that has a ground leasehold interest in the land underlying a 226,000 square foot office building located at 110 N. Wacke! r Drive i! n downtown Chicago. It owns five office buildings and is a master tenant of a sixth office building. The buildings consists of approximately 491,000 square feet in the heart of downtown Columbia including American City Building (master tenant), the Columbia Association Building, the Columbia Exhibit Building, the Ridgley Building, the newly acquired building known as 70 Columbia Corporate Center, and the Columbia Regional Building. This group also consists of the Merriweather Post Pavilion, an outdoor amphitheater and concert venue. 4 Waterway Square is a nine-story office building located within The Woodlands Town Center, which totals 218,551 square feet. 9303 New Trails is a four-story office building located within the Research Forest district of The Woodlands. The property totals 97,705 square feet.
1400 Woodloch Forest Drive is a five-story office building located at the entrance to The Woodlands Town Center, which totals 95,667 square feet. 2201 Lake Woodlands Drive is a two-story office building located in the East Shore commercial district of The Woodlands. The property totals 24,119 square feet. The Woodlands Resort and Conference Center is located approximately two miles south of The Woodlands Town Center. As of December 31, 2012, the property operated 440 hotel rooms, has 90,000 square feet of meeting space. The Club at Carlton Woods is located within the communities in The Woodlands. As of December 31, 2012, the Club at Carlton Woods included an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course and an 18-hole Tom Fazio Championship Course, in addition to two clubhouses, spa, tennis, and fitness facilities. The wholly owned Waterway Square Garage, located within The Woodlands Town Center, is a five-story parking garage, which includes1,933 parking spaces and 21,513 square foot of retail space.
As of December 31, 2012, the Company had an 83.55% interest in a 393-unit apartment building located within The Woodlands Town Center. Forest View apartments are a 216 unit, multi-f! amily ren! tal community. Timbermill apartments are a 256 unit multi-family rental community. The Company owns 100% interests in Hexalon Real Estate, LLC (Hexalon). Hexalon owns a 1.42% interest in Head Acquisition, LP, a joint venture between GGP, Inc. (GGP), Simon Property Group, L.P. and Westfield Group. The partnership owns certain retail mall interests. It owns a 20% interest in three office/industrial buildings located in The Woodlands Research Forest district within The Woodlands. The portfolio consists of 132,050 square feet. The Company has an indirect ownership interest of approximately 6.8% in the Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. This property is a 450-bed hospital located on a 32-acre medical campus near Las Vegas. It owns a 50% interest in Stewart Title, a company located in The Woodlands, which handles the residential and commercial land sale closings for The Woodlands.
Strategic Developments
The Company�� strategic developments segment is made up of near, medium and long-term development projects for 21 of the Company�� real estate properties. As of December 31, 2012, its development projects included Ala Moana Condo Project, Bridges at Mint Hill, Columbia Parcel Done, 3 Waterway Square, Alameda Plaza, AllenTowne, Century Plaza, Circle T Ranch and Power Center, Cottonwood Mall, Elk Grove Promenade, Fashion Show Air Rights, Kendall Town Center, Lakemoor (Volo) Land, Maui Ranch Land, Nouvelle at Natick, Redlands Promenade, The Shops at Summerlin Centre, Village at Redlands and West Windsor. It owns the rights to develop a residential condominium tower over a parking structure at Ala Moana Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Bridges at Mint Hill property consists of vacant land located southeast of Charlotte, North Carolina. The parcel is approximately 210 acres and consists of 120 developable acres and is zoned for approximately 1.3 million square feet of retail, hotel and commercial development.
Alameda Plaza is located in Pocatello, Idaho at the intersection of ! Yellowsto! ne Park Highway and Alameda Road. The 22-acre site contains 190,341 square feet of mostly vacant retail space. AllenTowne consists of 238 acres. Century Plaza is located on the eastern side of Birmingham, Alabama. Circle T Ranch is 20 miles north of downtown Fort Worth, in Westlake, Texas. The property is approximately 279 total acres on two parcels. The Circle T Ranch parcel contains 128 acres while the Circle T Power Center parcel contains 151 acres.
Cottonwood Mall is located 7.5 miles from downtown Salt Lake City, in the city of Holladay, Utah. Kendall Town Center is a mixed-used site located at the intersection of North Kendall Drive. It owns the 70 acres, which are entitled for 621,300 square feet of retail, 60,000 square feet of office space, and a 50,000 square foot community center. Lakemoor (Volo) Land is 40-acre vacant land parcel is located 50 miles north of Chicago in a growing suburb. Maui Ranch Land consists of two, non-adjacent, 10 acre undeveloped land-locked parcels located near the Kula Forest Preserve on the island of Maui, Hawaii. The land is zoned for native vegetation.
Nouvelle at Natick is a luxury condominium community consists of 215 residences located in the Natick Collection in the Boston suburb of Natick, Massachusetts. Nouvelle at Natick�� amenities include a 4,000 square foot private club, a 2,800 square foot fitness center and a 1.2-acre rooftop garden with winding boardwalks, native grasses, flowers and trees. As of December 31, 2012 the condominium units were sold out. Redlands Promenade is a 10 acre site located at Eureka, which is entitled for 125,000 square feet of retail development.The Redlands Mall is a single-level, 174,787 square foot enclosed shopping center at the intersection of Redlands Boulevard and Orange Street. As of December 31, 2012, anchored by CVS, Denny�� and Union Bank, the site is located in downtown Redlands two blocks south of the Redlands Promenade site. West Windsor is a former Wyeth Agricultural Research & Deve! lopment C! ampus on Quakerbridge Road. The land consists of 658 total acres.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By George Putnam]
With a new CEO and board of directors it emerged from court protection in November, 2010 as two companies, General Growth, a REIT, and Howard Hughes Corp. (HHC), which focuses on master planned communities.
Top Japanese Companies To Watch In Right Now: EastGroup Properties Inc. (EGP)
EastGroup Properties, Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT), focuses on the development, acquisition, and operation of industrial properties in the United States. As of December 31, 2007, it owned 202 industrial properties and 1 office building, as well as approximately 1.7 million square feet properties in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California. The company has elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code. As a REIT, it would not be subject to federal income tax purposes, provided it distributes at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its shareholders. EastGroup Properties, Inc. was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Sunbelt industrial property investor�EastGroup Properties� (NYSE: EGP ) �announced yesterday its second-quarter dividend of $0.53�per share, the same rate it paid for the last three quarters after raising the payout 2%, from $0.52 per share. It had previously maintained that same payout rate since 2005.
- [By Brad Thomas]
Other REITs mentioned: (O), (NNN), (STAG), (DCT), (EGP), (PDM), (DRE), (LRY)
Source: Chambers Street: More Liquidity Magic On The Way In REIT-DomDisclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)
Top Japanese Companies To Watch In Right Now: Yappn Corp (YPPN)
Yappn Corp., formerly Plesk Corp., incorporated on November 3, 2010, is focusing on social media Website that will host multi-language conversations based on different topics, such as interests, brands and activities. Its platform will enable users to meet people from all over the world without any language barriers and to interact with them through online chatting and forums by providing access to topical discussion boards in almost 70 languages. This will permit real-time multiple language conversations to co-exist without the fracturing that comes as a result of many people posting in multiple languages to a single chat area or splintering the audience by segregating posts by language. Yappn is a topic or interest focused site bringing people together to discuss current events, celebrities, technology, sports, entertainment and other popular areas of conversation. On March 28, 2013, it purchased social media platform and related group of assets known as Yappn.
The Company will have gamification system that will reward users for their engagement through virtual trophies, badges, and medals for participation in selected events. The Company, with the power of Ortsbo offers a set of communication tools where users can create opportunities to meet, chat, engage and consume in their own virtual location creating global social engagement for private events and closed networks. Users can also connect to social networks and engage friends and followers on Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter and more. It will be available on all devices through mobile, portable and desktop online access. With Yappn, user generated content be closed captioned in multiple languages in minutes, using Ortsbo�� pending business processes and tools for a translation experience. Commercial enterprises can use its Website to communicate their content, their e-commerce offerings and other messaging on a global scale.
The Company competes with Facebook, LinkedIn, Craigslist, Google and Apple.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap stocks Digital Caddies Inc (OTCMKTS: CADY), MEDL Mobile Holdings Inc (OTCMKTS: MEDL) and Yappn Corp (OTCMKTS: YPPN) offer different ways to potentially profit from Internet or mobile technology. However, all three small cap stocks have also been the subject of paid promotions or investor relations types of activities. So will investors actually profit from the efforts of these small caps to profit from the Internet or mobile technology? Here is a quick reality check:
Top Japanese Companies To Watch In Right Now: Workday Inc (WDAY)
Workday, Inc., incorporated in March 2005, is a provider of enterprise cloud-based applications for human capital management (HCM), payroll, financial management, time tracking, procurement and employee expense management. It is focused on the consumer Internet experience and cloud delivery model. Its applications are designed for global enterprises to manage complex and dynamic operating environments. The Company provides its customers the applications to manage critical business functions for their financial and human capital resources. In February 2014, Workday Inc acquired Identified Inc, a provider of online recruitment analytics services.
Multi-Tenant Architecture
The Company�� architecture enables customers to share the same version of its applications while securely partitioning their respective application data. Because customers utilize its information technology (IT) resources and operational infrastructure, this framework reduces the costs of implementation, upgrades, and support.
Object-Oriented Technology Framework
The Company�� applications use objects to represent real-world entities such as employees, benefits, budgets, charts of accounts, and organizations.
In-Memory Data Management
The Company�� use of in-memory processing brings data physically closer to the central processing units and into main memory, eliminating the need to run a disk-seek operation each time a data look-up is performed. This allows for the delivery of embedded business intelligence to facilitate actionable analytics and reporting.
Consumer User Interface (UI)
The Company has built a UI platform that allows it to embrace new UI technologies without needing to rewrite the underlying application logic. It supports all browsers, run natively on Apple�� iOS with applications specifically designed for the iPad and iPhone, and support other mobile platforms such as Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian thro! ugh its HTML5 client.
Configurable Processes
The Company offers a set of tools for configuring, managing, monitoring, and optimizing the business processes that organizations rely on to manage their business. It includes over 270 pre-defined business process definitions to help deployments and provide a starting point for additional configuration.
Web Services-based Integration Platform
By offering an enterprise-class, embedded Web services integration platform and toolset at no additional cost, it relieves customers of many of the burdens associated with legacy systems integration and greatly reduce the risk of implementation failures or delays. In addition to open, standards-based Web services application programming interfaces, it provides a growing portfolio of pre-built, packaged integrations and connectors called Integration Cloud Connect.
Security and Audit
The Company endeavors to adhere to the security standards. It voluntarily obtain third party examinations relating to security and data privacy. It delivers configurable, user-level access control policies as well as a comprehensive, always-on auditing service that captures and documents changes to both data elements and business processes.
The Company competes with Oracle Corporation (Oracle), SAP AG (SAP), Ceridian and NetSuite, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Small cap Paycom Software Inc (NYSE: PAYC) is the latest cloud HR software stock to debut in an IPO, meaning its worth taking a closer look at along with the performance of potential peers like Paylocity Holding Corp (NASDAQ: PCTY), TriNet Group Inc (NYSE: TNET) and Workday Inc (NYSE: WDAY). I should note that I recently wrote about TriNet Group Inc (see: Small Cap TriNet Group Inc (TNET): The Best of the Recent HR Software IPOs? PCTY & WDAY) right after it debuted�with Paylocity Holding Corp also having its IPO a few trading days earlier.
- [By Alex Jordon]
A variety of acquisitions ramps up Oracle's presence in cloud computing, like deals with RightNow, Taleo, and Eloqua. The annual run-rate of their cloud business is already over $1 billion, larger than Workday (WDAY) and SAP (SAP) combined. New customers include British Telecom (BT), BMC Software (BMC), Siemens (SI), Yahoo (YHOO), and Intuit (INTU).
- [By John Udovich]
The IPO of small cap HR software stock TriNet Group Inc (NYSE: TNET) jumped around 20%�in its fist day of trading today, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of potential peers like�Paylocity Holding Corp (NASDAQ: PCTY) and Workday Inc (NYSE: WDAY) which also had recent�IPOs while Paycom Software, a profitable�cloud-based human-capital management software firm�based in Oklahoma City, has recently filed to go public. However, its important to also remember that the HR software solutions space is pretty crowded already with various offerings.
Top Japanese Companies To Watch In Right Now: CONSOL Energy Inc (CNX)
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CONSOL Energy), incorporated in 1991, is a producer of coal and natural gas for global energy and raw material markets, which include the electric power generation industry and the steelmaking industry. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company produced 62.6 million tons of high-British thermal unit (Btu) bituminous coal from 12 mining complexes in the United States. In addition, it provides energy services, including river and dock services, terminal services, industrial supply services, coal waste disposal services and land resource management services. The Company operates in two segments: Coal and Gas. In July 2012, Cloud Peak Energy Inc. acquired Youngs Creek Mining Company, LLC (Youngs Creek) joint venture and other related coal and surface assets from Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (Chevron) and the Company.
Coal Operations
The principal activities of the Coal unit are mining, preparation and marketing of thermal coal, sold primarily to power generators, and metallurgical coal, sold to metal and coke producers. The Coal division consists of four reportable segments, which includes Thermal, Low Volatile Metallurgical, High Volatile Metallurgical and Other Coal. Each of these reportable segments includes a number of operating segments (mines or type of coal sold). During 2011, the Thermal aggregated segment included the Bailey, Blacksville #2, Enlow Fork, Fola Complex, Loveridge, McElroy, Miller Creek Complex, Robinson Run and Shoemaker mines. During 2011, the Low Volatile Metallurgical coal aggregated segment included the Buchanan mine. During 2011, the High Volatile Metallurgical coal aggregated segment included Bailey, Blacksville #2, Enlow Fork, Fola Complex, Loveridge, Miller Creek Complex and Robinson Run coal sales.
The Other Coal segment includes its purchased coal activities, idled mine activities, as well as various other activities assigned to the coal division but not allocated to each individual mine. During 2011, the Company! �� reserves were located in northern Appalachia (62%), the mid-western United States (17%), central Appalachia (15%), the western United States (4%), and in western Canada (2%). As of December 31, 2011, the Company had an estimated 4.5 billion tons of proven and probable reserves. During 2011, 94% of its production came from underground mines, 6% from surface mines, and 91% of its production came from mines equipped with longwall mining systems. As of December 31, 2011, CONSOL Energy operated 22 towboats, five harbor boats and a fleet of 625 barges that serve customers along the Ohio, Allegheny, Kanawha and Monongahela Rivers. During 2011, over 84% of all the coal it produced was sold under contracts with terms of one year or more.
Gas Operations
The principal activity of the Gas division is to produce pipeline methane gas for sale primarily to gas wholesalers. The Gas Division consists of four reportable segments, which include Coalbed Methane (CBM), Marcellus, Shallow Oil and Gas and Other Gas. The Other Gas segment includes its purchased gas activities, as well as various other activities assigned to the gas division but not allocated to each individual well type. Its gas division focuses on developing the Marcellus acreage position in southwest Pennsylvania, central Pennsylvania and northwest West Virginia. CONSOL Energy�� all Other segment includes terminal services, river and dock services, industrial supply services and other business activities. Its gas operations primarily produce CBM, which is a gas that resides in coal seams. The Company�� Coalbed Methane operations are located in central Appalachia in Southwest Virginia. Its CBM production also comes from northern Appalachia in northwestern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania where it drills vertical-to-horizontal CBM wells.
As of December 31, 2011, the Company had rights to extract CBM in Virginia from approximately 359,000 net CBM acres, which cover a portion of its coal reserves in Cen! tral Appa! lachia. CONSOL Energy produces gas primarily from the Pocahontas #3 seam, which is the coal seam mined by its Buchanan Mine. The Company also has right to extract CBM in northwestern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania from approximately 859,000 net CBM acres, which contains its recoverable coal reserves in Northern Appalachia. CONSOL Energy produces gas primarily from the Pittsburgh #8 coal seam.
In central Pennsylvania, the Company has the right to extract CBM from approximately 263,000 net CBM acres, which contains its recoverable coal reserves, as well as leases from other coal owners. In addition, CONSOL Energy controls 810,000 net CBM acres in Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee. It also has the right to extract CBM on 139,000 net acres in the San Juan Basin, 20,000 net acres in the Powder River Basin and 92,000 net acres in eastern Ohio and central West Virginia. Its Marcellus wells are primarily horizontal wells with 2,500 to 5,000 feet of lateral length. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had the right to extract natural gas in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York from approximately 361,000 net acres.
CONSOL Energy controls approximately 346,000 net acres of rights to gas in the New Albany shale in Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana. The New Albany shale is a formation containing gaseous hydrocarbons, and its acreage position has thickness of 50-300 feet at an average depth of 2,500-4,000 feet. CONSOL Energy has 249,000 net acres of Chattanooga Shale. It has 457,000 net acres of Huron shale in Kentucky and Virginia. During 2011, the Company drilled 254.9 net development wells and 47 net developmental wells.
Other Operations
CONSOL Energy provides other services to its own operations and others. These include land services, industrial supply services, terminal services, including break bulk, general cargo and warehouse services, and river and dock services water services. Fairmont Supply Company, which is CONSOL Energy�� subs! idiary, i! s a general-line distributor of mining, drilling, and industrial supplies in the United States. During 2011, approximately 12.6 million tons of coal was shipped through CNX Marine Terminal Inc.�� exporting terminal in the Port of Baltimore. CONSOL Energy�� river operations, located in Monessen, Pennsylvania, transport coal from its mines, coal from other mines and non-coal commodities from river loadout facilities located primarily along the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers in northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania.
As of December 31, 2011, it operated 22 towboats, five harbor boats and 625 barges. In 2011, its river vessels transported a total of 19.1 million tons of coal and other commodities, including 6.2 million tons of coal produced by CONSOL Energy mines. CONSOL Energy provides dock services for its mines, as well as for third parties at its Alicia Dock, located on the Monongahela River in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Its subsidiary CNX Water Assets LLC acquires and develops existing sources of water used to support its coal and gas operations.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Maxx Chatsko]
Last year was not very fun for coal investors. Luckily, CONSOL Energy (NYSE: CNX ) has made alternative investments other than naming the home arena for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The leading diversified energy producer in the Appalachian Basin has invested heavily in natural gas in the Marcellus Shale and unconventional gas production from coal bed methane. Additionally, the majority of its coal reserves are of the cleaner-burning, high-BTU variety.
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