Make Money off Natural Gas Hot Spots, Latin American eBay
Let’s talk about Whiting Petroleum (NYSE:WLL).
The company formed in January 1980. It has one of the largest acreage positions in the Bakken Resource Play in North Dakota, and 120,000 net acres in the DJ Basin of Colorado…one of the largest enhanced oil recovery projects in the Permian Basin. This company is in all the hot spots.
As of the end of last year, the total reserves were 438 million barrels equivalent -- that was up 16% year over year. That’s absolutely huge.
WLL keeps finding more and more oil, or natural gas. The numbers have been off the chain, getting better and better since last year. And I think it’s going to continue.
The company guided production expectations higher for the year. Earnings estimates have been gradually increasing over the last 3 months, and I think the Street is feeling much better about the next 2 quarters. Following an impressive earnings beat on July 30th, management said they are going to increase capital spending ($100 million) due to better expected earnings. That’s really good stuff.
And also, keep in mind, the company is merging with Kodiak Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE:KOG). Together the companies are a home-run. I think the stock will go to $110.
Now let’s talk about MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI).
Let me give you some background notes. This is regarded as “the Latin American eBay,” and in fact it really probably is. (The company has a big partnership with eBay.) It's the largest e-commerce ecosystem in Latin America, and operates in 13 countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico.
It was started in 1999 by Marcos Galperin, who at the time was a student driving a guest speaker, a private equity guy, to the airport when he made a pitch. Well, it worked.
In 2001, eBay bought almost 20% of the company in exchange for a Brazilian business.
The stock has spent the early part of this year under a lot of pressure. And Latin America’s booming economy… did run into a brick wall. But MELI’s 2Q earnings report started to show signs of a comeback.
The company sold almost 24 million items via its site last quarter, that was up from 20 million from a year earlier. Revenues are $1.8 billion, only up 5% year-over-year, but using constant dollars, which takes out wild fluctuations, and revenues were up 67%. Same thing with volume, 785 million, up 77% in constant dollars.
This company is a cash machine, EBIT soared almost to $44 million - second highest ever. I'd like to see them consolidate the stock here, to stay above $110, then your next leg up will rally to $140.
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