The S&A Digest: Why S&A Should Move to Dubai

Bank of Wal-Mart... PetroChina defies common sense... The lovefest continues... Medicare is the true scam... Let's move to Dubai...

 Extreme Value pick Wal-Mart (WMT) will open 1,000 Wal-Mart MoneyCenters - covering a quarter of its stores - by the end of 2008. The company will also launch the Wal-Mart MoneyCard, a reloadable prepaid Visa. The MoneyCenters will allow customers to cash checks and money orders, pay bills, and transfer money. Customers who used Wal-Mart's financial services last year saved an average of $40 a month. Evil, huh?

 Shares of True Wealth pick PetroChina (PTR) surged 5% in early morning trading today after the company announced it will raise up to $5.7 billion in a Shanghai stock offering. The company plans to use the money for overseas acquisitions.

 Sign of a market top... Shares of PetroChina are gaining on the fact that the company will dilute its shareholder equity because the word "Shanghai" is mentioned.

 A delayed reaction... After the news broke that Extreme Value pick Home Depot (HD) sold its supply business for $10.3 billion, nothing happened. After the market closed, the company announced that it would use that money, cash on hand, and $12 billion in new debt to buy back $22.5 billion worth of stock as soon as possible. Shares of Home Depot shot up more than 7% in early morning trading.

 New highs: BHP Billiton (BHP), Covanta (CVA), EnCana (ECA), FLIR Systems (FLIR), Grey Wolf (GW), McDonald's (MCD), Petrobras (PBR), Southern Copper (PCU), Petro-Canada (PCZ), PetroChina (PTR), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-A), Schlumberger (SLB), Van Kampen Senior Income (VVR).

 It's another lovefest in the mailbag. Is it because you miss Porter? He'll be back next week, but I'm sure your praise – and some Irish whiskey – is warming his heart while he's in Ireland. Let's hear what you have to say... feedback@stansberryresearch.com.

 "What, if any, is your relationship to Agora? You consistently slam Steve Sarnoff, and say he's not your guy and never will be, that you disapprove of his methodology, etc. But isn't he a mainstay of Agora? And aren't you a splinter group of the Agora organization?" – Paid-up subscriber Young Simmons

Goldsmith comment: A privately held holding company, Agora Inc. is the major shareholder in our company, as it is in many other publishing businesses. Sarnoff does not work for us.

 "I get a little irritated reading the whiny e-mails from some of your disgruntled customers. Here is what I know about you and your associates. In December 2005, I had extra cash available as the result of the huge run up of IDBE (thanks to you folks). I went through several months worth of your newsletters to see what I should do with that money. I made several picks. They included: Akamai, BHP Billiton, PetroChina. There were others that are performing just as well. As of this morning, I was up 62.57% since I made those purchases. I think that about says it all. Most of my friends who rely on advice from their brokers have not even heard of some of these companies. I keep you in my prayers every night." – Paid-up subscriber Gary Bethune

 "I am a lifetime member of the Alliance. I am also a lifetime member of Agora Financial, the Oxford Club, the Sovereign Society, Taipan, and Louis Navellier. This has cost me a fortune, but I believe in getting the best investment advice I can. I have made costly errors – lost two hundred thousand and made thousands as well. Of all of them the Alliance newsletters would be the best and more honest from a record-keeping standpoint (Taipan and Commodity Trend are very good as well) i.e. the entry price that could have realistically been achieved and the same for the exit price and hence the profit/loss. I find the services evolving all the time and getting better.

"When you mentioned the lack of interest for investing in foreign stocks, I personally don't care where they're from as long as they have been deemed good investments (I am from Ireland). That's what its all about... I make the decision to act and if it doesn't work out its MY fault." – Paid-up subscriber Terry

 "Porter, Thank you, for being so damn honest. I'm a trader/investor with only 4 years of self-taught experience. I started out by paying for sub-par advice and lost 50% of my capital very quickly. I learned from my mistakes and I've been slowly regaining my losses to see my way out of the red. Thanks to you and your incredible colleagues, I will be in the green much sooner. I dug deeper and signed up for Extreme Value when I heard about Dan's 5 picks to stick with and I stuck all 5 in my IRA and I know I did the right thing. Anyway, thanks to the 'housing problem' I've become an un-employed carpenter and had to cancel my Extreme Value subscription, I know... it hurts, but I still have plenty of good S&A advice coming in. When I called your office for what I thought would be a pro-rated refund, I was very surprised to find out it was a 100% full refund. I was not expecting that. Thank you again for coming through when I needed it most. By the way, your Beer Can Chicken could sell for millions!" – Paid-up subscriber John DeProspo

 "I have accounts at 2 major investment firms which include their recos as well as those from The Alliance. I have made more money from your research than either of my 'managed account' brokers. I just wish I had more funds to invest in your suggestions at this time." – Paid-up subscriber Dennis Pipher

 "Porter, where do you buy your patience? I am so... blink... blink about the remark of that scam accusation. Let me tell you how all of us are scammed every day. I am a retired registered nurse who has specialized in trauma and open-heart surgery recovery. I am 68 years old; my husband is a 70-year-old physician, fully employed with plenty of health benefits from Medicare as well as private insurance. We have never been in a hospital except for working in it. You will be hard pressed to find anybody who is so anti drugs as I am (not even Tylenol). Forgot to knock on wood and this month I needed to take some hormone supplement for a month. My pharmacy charged me $35 for a $38 drug. We pay almost $900 a month for health insurance on top of what the hospital pays as a benefit. We very seldom use it except for yearly checks. I took on the Insurance Company personally... and I won. This, my friends, is highway robbery... To all you guys at Stansberry (I know you do not want to hear this, but I am saying it anyway) they have thrown away the mold that formed all of you. In today's society, it is a rare find. By the way, they say that about my husband as well so you guys are in good company. I kind of enjoy the squabbles amongst everybody as long as it is not mean-spirited and dishonest. The harsher the critique, the higher my anticipation of Porter's witty response. Cheers!" – Paid-up subscriber Paula Zina

 "Dear Porter: Your commentary on real scam artists reveals exactly who you are. Your subscribers are fortunate, but it seems those participating in the 'mailbag' don't know it. Thank you for giving my investment life an honest direction..." – Paid-up subscriber Bob Hunter

Regards,

Sean Goldsmith

Baltimore, Maryland

June 20, 2007

Why S&A Should Move to Dubai

There may only be one corporation more widely despised by the American public than Wal-Mart... the former domain of vice president Dick Cheney, Halliburton (HAL).

Last year, Halliburton picked up another group of haters when it angered our tax-hungry Congress and announced it was moving its world headquarters to Dubai, the low-tax, low-regulating Arab Emirate.

One of S&A Oil Report editor Matt Badiali's contacts, who works for oil-services giant Schlumberger (SLB), just sent us this excellent note, which we're sure will stir up the hate mail:

Hi Matt, I had to laugh at the "gift" HAL gave to the politicos by moving to Dubai. Still, the move is just plain smart from a number of viewpoints:

I guess the only question for the move was why not earlier?

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