Company is the worlds largest diversified resources group. It has seven divisions: Petroleum, Aluminium, Base Metals, Carbon Steel materials, Diamonds and speciality products, Energy coal and Stainless steel materials.

            Red = 25 day moving average.           Green = 200 day moving average.

SALES PER ACTIVITY (Data as of 30/06/2006)

Carbon steel:   28%
Oil:                18%
Aluminum:       15%
Basic metals:   15%
Coal:               9%
Stainless steel: 9%
:                    3%
Diamonds,
minerals, etc:   3%

Well is this near the point to get in or is it too early, wish I new. Philip Manduca & Hugh........ his surname escapes me, have stated that commodities and BLT in particular is the place to be.
2517

Hi 2517George,

I reckon BLT is fine for the longer term whatever time you join. However, you can also make money on this one by jumping in and out - I am currently out as I wanted to buy shares in some smaller companies recently. What has worked for me was to buy a large-ish number of shares (1,000) and wait for the price to travel upwards by 1; then sell. It had occurred to me to just keep doing that, as the sp yoyos quite a bit, but then I get all excited about other opportunities and get tied up elsewhere!

I agree long term looks exciting, discipline needed for range trading, and regards to other opportunities I suspect many of us are in the same boat, always something greener elsewhere. Good luck all.
2517

Another big market correction, such as the august dip, would take the sp down to the 1400-1500p range. If the banks are all reporting this month on their exposure to sub-prime debt, another dip may be likely, imo.

So what happens if the UK banks report minimal sub prime impact?

"If" being the operative word H.

Countrywide Financial, DeutscheBank, BNP Paribas, Citibank have all reported heavy exposure to sub-prime. It would seem reasonable to assume that the main U.K. banks will not escape unscathed. Lots of 'Ups' & 'downs' to come.
Sorry to have got 'off topic' on this thread. BLT sitting comfortably on the 1700p support level. Lets hope it holds.

BHP Billiton confirms approach made to Rio Tinto, Rio Tinto rejected proposal
AFX


LONDON (Thomson Financial) - BHP Billiton PLC said it approached the board of Rio Tinto about a possible combination of the two companies but that Rio Tinto rejected the proposal.

BHP Billiton said it has again written to Rio Tinto and intends to continue to seek an opportunity to meet and discuss its proposal.

BHP Billiton said it made the announcement following recent speculation in relation to a potential offer for Rio Tinto at a premium.

& the sp went from 1730p to 1850p in nano seconds!

It was quick, makes one think !!

BHP to keep oil, gas business despite Rio bid: analysts
Mon Nov 12, 2007 7:10 AM GMT
Email This Article | Print This Article | RSS [-] Text [+] By Fayen Wong

SYDNEY (Reuters) - BHP Billiton Ltd/Plc (BHP.AX: Quote, Profile , Research) (BLT.L: Quote, Profile , Research) was unlikely to offload its lucrative petroleum division to help fund a $140 billion takeover bid for rival Rio Tinto (RIO.AX: Quote, Profile , Research) (RIO.L: Quote, Profile , Research), analysts said.

BHP is poised to reap major returns from the business, with some of its biggest oil and gas projects due to come onstream in the next two years.

"Selling the assets right now, ahead of completing major developments, means they won't be able to realize the maximum value," said Warren Edney, a resource analyst at ABN AMRO.


Analysts said BHP's strong balance sheet meant it should easily be able to secure the financing needed for such a deal without having to sell the petroleum business to raise funds.

British newspapers reported over the weekend that BHP may look to sell its oil and gas arm for $40 billion to help fund a bid for Rio, which is not in the oil business.

A BHP spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.

BHP has so far proposed an all-scrip bid to Rio, which has rejected the offer, and fund managers have suggested it may need to sweeten the offer with a cash component. Continued...

© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved. | Learn more about Reuters

The chart would suggest we are heading down to the 1400 - 1500p range, but with the possible merger rumour I can't make my mind up which way the sp is heading. In the long term this has got to be a good investment (Falkland Isles etc), imo.

Source ABC News:
"BHP Billiton says it is planning to scale back some of its South African aluminium operations because of the country's power emergency.

South Africa's state power company, Eskom, is forcing major firms to reduce their energy use by 10 per cent because it cannot meet demand.

BHP says it has begun talking to its employees about closing part of its Bayside smelter on the country's east coast.

It is also reducing output at another two of its South African smelters and says in total, aluminium production will fall by about one third."

So, production will fall, thus reducing BLT revenue, but the shortage should push up the price of Aluminium, so...........??? Who knows?

SYDNEY, Nov 18 Reuters) - "BHP Billiton Ltd/Plc says it wants to develop one of Australia's largest untapped uranium deposits, after the state government where the deposit is located lifted a ban on mining the nuclear power feedstock.

The 10-kilometre-long (6 miles) Yeelirrie deposit, located about 1,000 km north of Perth in west Australia, is estimated to contain about 52,000 tonnes of uranium.

That's 7 percent more than total world production last year, according to figures from the World Nuclear Association.

Prices have fluctuated widely in recent years, with uranium currently selling for about $48 a pound.

BHP said it had notified the Western Australia government it was initiating a drilling exploration program to confirm the amount of uranium at the long-dormant Yeelirrie deposit, discovered in 1972.

Western Australia on Monday officially ended its ban on uranium mining, paving the way for miners to step up exploration inside its borders.

The state's newly-elected Leader Colin Barnett ran a successful campaign on support for uranium mining, predicting new mines could be dug within five years to meet international demand, in turn generating millions of dollars in royalties for the state.

A BHP spokesman declined to provide a timetable for developing the project."

Information is to be released regarding a joint venture with Bhp billington and Cambridge Minerals resources. As this company is started to exstract big amounts of Gold in Columbia and makes this company worth buying into CMR price in region of 8p.

RNS 05.06.09 - Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton announce West Australian Iron Ore Production Joint Venture

Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton today signed a non-binding agreement to establish a production joint venture covering the entirety of both companies' Western Australian iron ore assets. The joint venture will encompass all current and future Western Australian iron ore assets and liabilities and will be owned 50:50 by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.

The joint venture is expected to unlock significant value from the companies' overlapping, world-class resources. Both companies believe the net present value of these unique production and development synergies will be in excess of US$10 billion (100 per cent basis). These substantial synergies are anticipated to come from:
*Combining adjacent mines into single operations;
*Reducing costs through shorter rail hauls and more efficient allocations of port capacity;
*Blending opportunities which will maximise product recovery and provide further operating efficiencies;
*Optimising future growth opportunities through the development of consolidated, larger and more capital efficient expansion projects;
* Combining the management, procurement and general overhead activities into a single entity.

The joint venture will operate as a cost centre and deliver iron ore, in equal volumes, to ships designated by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto to sell independently through their own marketing groups. In order to equalise the contribution value of the two companies, BHP Billiton will pay Rio Tinto US$5.8 billion for equity type interests at financial close to take its interest in the joint venture from 45 per cent to 50 per cent.

Senior management of the entity will be determined jointly on the basis of the 'best person for the job' with broadly equal participation from Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. The initial Chairman of the non-executive owners' council will be Sam Walsh, currently Rio Tinto Chief Executive Iron Ore, and the initial CEO of the production joint venture will be BHP Billiton Iron Ore President, Ian Ashby. Future CEOs will be appointed by mutual consent."

Final results wednesday 12th Aug '09.

Business Financial Newswire
"Mining giant BHP Billiton reported full year revenues fell 15.6% to $50.211bn and an attributable profit before expectionals down 30.2% at $10.72bn. The miner said this was a strong financial result, despite challenging market conditions.

Billiton said it had record net operating cash flow of $18.9bn, underlying EBIT margin 40.1% and underlying return on capital of 24.6%.

The group said it maintained a strong balance sheet, with net debt of $5.6bn, gearing of 12.1% and underlying EBITDA interest cover of 57 times.

Full year dividend was raised 17.1% to 82 cents per share.

Capital and exploration expenditure amounted to $10.7bn in the year.

The group said lower sales volumes (predominantly in Base Metals and Manganese) reduced Underlying EBIT by $2.523bn. Copper sales volumes were impacted by lower ore grade and reduced output from milling operations at Escondida (Chile). Manganese sales volumes decreased significantly due to weaker demand.

This was partially offset by stronger volumes, predominantly in Iron Ore, which increased Underlying EBIT by $158m.

Costs increased by $2.528bn compared to the corresponding period last year. This included the impact of higher non-cash costs of $153 million. The bulk of the cost increases took place in the first half of the financial year. "

Goes ex-divi wed 2nd sept '09. (24.9p)

Business Financial Newswire
"BHP Billiton downgraded to neutral from buy at Barclays Wealth, fair value 1950p"

Sp already back to pre-credit crunch level.