It's another down day for the S&P / ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) as the banks continue to see selling pressure having gone ex-dividend recently, while Japanese stocks took a dive after the country reportedly fell into recession after a dismal third quarter of 2014.
Gold stocks and others have rallied though after the spot gold price lifted in Friday's trade. Let's take a look at some of today's movers.
Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) has lifted 27 cents or around 3% to $9.38 as the spot gold price held onto Friday's gains to be selling for around USD$1,187 an ounce, although gold has been in a multi-year bear market on the back of the U.S. economic recovery.
Newcrest's all in sustaining costs to dig and sell the gold remain substantially below today's spot prices, but with a weakish short to medium-term outlook for gold the company remains a high-risk investment.
Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) as the second lowest-cost gold producer listed on the ASX has seen its stock lift 8 cents or more than 7.4% to $1.16 today. Despite the positive production margins Northern Star's outlook is also patchy given the gold price outlook for 2015 is generally regarded as flat at best by the most credible analysts.
Of course gold could see a price surge on the back of unforeseen geopolitical or economic crises materialising in the year ahead, however, on the balance of probabilities gold stocks look best avoided for now.
Western Areas Ltd (ASX: WSA) is a nickel miner that has seen its shares climb 12 cents or 2.74% to $4.50 today most likely as a result of a steadily strengthening nickel price over the prior week. Unlike gold, nickel appears to have a generally positive price outlook based on limited supply and growing demand.
Western Areas' share price popped as high as $5.30 in October and the share price is likely to run hard again if Nickel prices return to levels seen last month.
Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) has climbed 17 cents or 1.74% to $9.97 today as the corporate travel facilitator continues to experience strong new client wins and marginal rises in average ticket prices. The kind of clients it services are those often in the resources and energy sector that need to regularly fly large amounts of staff into and out of projects worldwide.
Corporate Travel's simple and easy to sell travel solutions are what's raking in the new business wins, with earnings forecast to grow at least 41.8% over the prior year. The company appears to have hit a growth recipe as it is able to deliver a return on investment to clients, while making money for itself.
Travel companies can be excellent investments, but it's important to hold them as part of a balanced portfolio as any unforeseen global health epidemic or terrorist act could hit the industry hard.
