You've heard the cliche -- it wasn't the prospectors who made it big out West, but the folks who sold them picks and shovels. Well, between the Southern Copper
In addition to the acute issues mentioned above, industrywide cost inflation has also proved insidious. Given this backdrop, it would be most Foolish, in my view, to keep at least one eye on the firms selling the modern analogue of picks and shovels: draglines, blasthole drills, plow systems, and other mainstays of large-scale mining operations.
Bucyrus International
Though it's still smaller than competitor Joy Global
Selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses invariably inflate temporarily after a merger, because of legal, severance, and other one-time costs. For that reason, I'm not worried about the leaner margins, so long as they prove temporary. If pressures persist, we'll need to dig for deeper problems.
Related Foolishness:
- The coal miner's hotter.
- Investors have been stoked about coal for a while now.