Tag - URRE

Even with the catastrophic events in Japan I am still a believer in the "Nuclear Renaissance".

Over the past couple of weeks I've written a number of articles about the uranium market, including "Why I Continue to be a Uranium Bull" and "Is Now the Time to Buy Uranium Miners?"

The following is a list of today’s winners and losers within the Russell Microcap Index.

The nuclear power industry may reap a multi-billion dollar windfall if new legislation passes that imposes regulatory limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Emissions-free nuclear power facilities would benefit, as would nuclear fuel suppliers Uranium Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:URRE) and USEC, Inc. (NYSE:USU).

USEC Inc. supplies uranium fuel to commercial nuclear power plants worldwide. This company operates the only uranium enrichment facility in the United States and supplies fuel to more than half the U.S. market and one-quarter of the world market. USEC also performs contract work for the U.S. Department of Energy; it maintains two uranium processing plants, transports nuclear materials and provides nuclear fuel cycle consulting.

Demand for enriched uranium will likely rise if Congress votes to limit carbon dioxide emissions under a so-called “cap and trade” system. The intent of the program is to cut greenhouse gas emissions 65% below 1990 levels by 2050. As part of this program, the Environmental Protection Agency will create 125 billion purchasable emission allowances, enough for all 38 years of the program, which is scheduled to commence in 2012.

Nuclear facility operators will benefit in two ways. First, since nuclear plants do not emit carbon dioxide, these plants will not be required to purchase emission allowances, giving them a major cost advantage over coal-powered plants. Second, to recover emission-allowances costs, coal-fired utilities would be forced to jack up electricity rates. As a result, nuclear plants would enjoy higher prices for their electricity without higher costs. Finally, carbon emissions penalties would make the economics of developing a new nuclear plant more attractive.

At present, there are some 439 nuclear reactors operating worldwide. Another 33 are under construction and 94 new plants are scheduled to come online over the next five to 10 years. These plants currently consume some 79,000 tons of uranium each year, but each new gigawatt of capacity will require 195 tons of additional uranium production.

The majority of reactors served by USEC are refueled on an 18- to 24-month cycle, and most of the company’s customers refueled in 2007. As a result, USEC . . .

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) posted a decline as investors consolidated their positions following Tuesday’s big rally. The small-cap index declined 17.80 points, or 2.61%, to 664.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) lost 293 points, or 2.36%, to 12,099.66.

On a year-to-date basis, the Russell 2000 has shed 13.30%, while the Dow is down 8.78% and the S&P 500 has let go 11.57%.

Small-cap stocks opened in the green but lost steam and reversed midway through the session. The bullish sentiment in the morning was partially attributed to news that Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) beat analysts’ expectations despite reporting a decline in fiscal first-quarter profit.

That’s good news for investors worried that the pain that from Bear Stearns (NYSE:BSC) could spread to other investment banks.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures have moved slightly higher as investors look to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting on Tuesday.

The Fed will meet on Tuesday to decide on monetary policy, with most observers expecting the U.S. central bank to lower its target interest rate from the current level of 4.5%.

Elsewhere, Swiss banking giant UBS announced $10 billion in subprime write-downs. That will lead the Zurich-based company to report a fourth-quarter loss and sell a stake of itself to investors from the Middle East.

Here are the biggest percentage gainers and losers in pre-market trading among companies with a market cap between $100 million and $750 million:

Biggest percentage gainers:

• Photronics Inc. (PLAB), up 12%.
• Uranium Resources, Inc. (URRE), up 7%.
• China Techfaith Wireless Communication Technology Ltd. (CNTF), up 8%.

Biggest percentage losers:

• Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (PEIX), down 6%.
• Learning Tree International, Inc. (LTRE) down 5%.
• Adolor Corp. (ADLR) down 5%.

DivX, Inc. (Nasdaq: DIVX), Chesapeake Corp. (NYSE: CSK) and Valassis Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VCI) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage gainers:

Slade's Ferry Bancorp (Nasdaq: SFBC), Metabolix, Inc. (Nasdaq: MBLX) and Salary.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: SLRY) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $750 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage gainers:

Shares of Uranium Resources Inc. (Nasdaq: URRE) are higher following news before the opening that the company engaged in developing and mining uranium properties has purchased a similar privately held firm.

Lewisville, Texas-based Uranium Resources, which owns uranium properties in Texas and New Mexico, has agreed to buy a uranium mining company and a mill license from BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) for about $126.5 million in cash. The purchase price includes $110 million for Rio Algom Mining LLC, which has a property with 20 million pounds of U308 uranium ore in New Mexico, and $16.5 million paid to regulators for a license to build a conventional uranium mill.

“The purchase of Rio Algom provides one of the key assets we need to achieve our strategic goal to produce 10 million pounds of U3O8 per year by 2014,” said president and CEO Dave Clark in a statement. He added that production from the new mill could begin within four to five years.

The deal is expected to close before June 2008.

At 11:18 a.m. ET, shares of Uranium Resources (URRE) had advanced $0.84, or 9%, to $9.87. The 52-week high of $12.00 was reached on June 4. The 52-week low of $2.25 was set on Oct. 12.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) and the other major U.S. indices are higher following news of stronger-than-expected September retail sales.

At 10:16 a.m. ET, the small-cap index had added 5.15 points, or 0.62%, to 840.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) had advanced 47.64 points, or 0.34%, to 14,062.72.

Retail sales for September increased 0.6% to $380.2 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau before the opening. That’s more than the projected 0.2% and a sign that the American consumer is alive and well despite the ongoing slump in the housing sector.

The gains were led by sales of autos, electronics and groceries.

On a year-over-year basis, retail sales have increased 5%.

Retail sales excluding motor vehicles and parts added 0.4% to $301.6 billion, outpacing analysts’ forecasts of a rise of 0.3%.

In other economic news, the U.S. Labor Department reported that producer prices for September increased 1.1%, the largest gain since February. That’s above the projected rise of 0.5%. The producer price index declined 1.4% in August.

Maxus Realty Trust, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRTI), Liberty Bell Bank (NJ) (Nasdaq: LBBB) and Silicon Graphics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGIC) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage gainers:

Triad Guaranty Inc. (Nasdaq: TGIC), National Security Group (Nasdaq: NSEC) and NovaStar Financial Inc. (NYSE: NFI) are among the biggest percentage losers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage gainers: