Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) is a Chinese web services company well known throughout China: so much so, in fact, that it is commonly regarded as significantly more popular than Google China. Founded in 2000, the company - headquartered in Beijing - offers a myriad of features to its predominantly Chinese audience. Baidu is the number one search engine in China, fifth in the Alexa Internet rankings, and the first Chinese company to be included in the NASDAQ-100 index.
As a site operating in the first language of most of its users, Baidu boasts the key advantage of brand recognition: it is recognized almost everywhere in China; its strong marketing and allegiances with the Chinese government allow it to account for nearly 80% of all search traffic in China (in comparison, as of 2014, Google holds approximately 1.6% of the market after a rapid drop from 11.25% or so in 2010). While we think it is safe to say that Baidu may be a decent long-term investment, pending domination by Qihoo or another search engine, several factors contribute to the idea that it is presently at immediate risk of dropping. Read The Full Article On Seeking Alpha Here
Iron ore prices have fallen more than 25% so far this year and seem bound to fall further according to major financial institutions. Larger mining conglomerates, which own more diverse portfolios of mineral resources as well as have better quality and more efficient iron mines, will be better able to weather the decline in iron prices than smaller producers, such as Cliffs Natural Resources that rely overwhelmingly on iron ore. Additionally, since most iron ore producers have stopped negotiating long-term contracts with their largest consumer, the steel industry, they are much more susceptible to iron ore price fluctuations.
Cliffs Natural Resources has the additional misfortune of being saddled with years of poor management, an inefficient coal division, increased costs of producing iron ore, increased operating expenses, mounting debt, activist investors, lawsuits, and a particularly harsh U.S. winter. I Know First's algorithm indicates that Cliffs has much room to rebound, and it ranks Cliffs as one of its top investments for both the medium and long-term time horizons. Read The Full Article On Seeking Alpha Here
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