Destination 5

With all the reading that you can do online, it becomes overwhelming to sort and sift through hundreds of newsletters. One such newsletter I get everyday is the Forbes.com Ecommerce Newsletter. I normally browse through it and if it doesn’t make an appeal I cut it!

In a recent Men’s Breakfast meeting we acknowledged the need to begin investing wisely - Destination 5 (“Savings are put into risky investments that turn sour… the man who speculates is soon back to where he began – with nothing.” Ecclesiastes 5:13-15). With that said sift through the following 10 African stocks and invest wisely. Oh! If you need to read the complete article, mouse here

Top 10 African Stocks
MTN Group
South African Cellular Phone Company provides phone services to more than 40 million subscribers in Africa and the Middle East, though about half are in South Africa and a third in Nigeria. MTN Group (other-otc: MTNOY) was cited as one of Forbes.com's "exotic growth bargains" in 2005. Since then, the stock has more than doubled to around $17. Its American Depositary Receipts, which are 1:1, can by bought through the Bank of New York or a broker.

Murray & Roberts Engineering Holdings
This South African construction company has annual sales of $1.4 billion and a market capitalization of $4.4 billion. In early October the American fund manager Capital Group Companies bought 15.8% of the company. Murray & Roberts (NASDAQ: MURSF) shares have risen more than 180% in the last year, but they only trade in Johannesburg

Standard Bank Group
The South African lender operates in 17 African countries and provides banking, insurance broking, mutual fund management, and property fund management services. Levitt recently hired a portfolio manager from Standard Bank (other-otc: SBGOF) to work for him in Florida. It has ADRs and trades primarily in Johannesburg. The shares have risen 366% since 2002.

Naspers
Based in Cape Town, this media company operates primarily in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, but also does business in Asia, Europe, and North and South America. Naspers (other-otc: NPSNY) produces newspapers, but its Internet division, which includes instant messaging in China, generates the bulk of sales. The company has ADRs and the stock is up 19% since year to date.

Guaranty Trust Bank
A Nigerian financial institution for which Fitch Ratings upgraded its outlook to "positive" from "stable" in August, citing its growing franchise and enhanced earnings capacity. The company also has a global depository receipts (GDRs) listed in London under the symbol GRTB LI, and its local symbol is GRTB NL.

United Bank For Africa
The largest financial services company in Nigeria and West Africa trades on Nigerian Stock Exchange and also through an unlisted GDRs program currently administered by the Bank of New York. It merged with South Africa's Standard Trust Bank in August 2005 and sales have risen 350% since then.

Zenith Bank
This is Levitt's third and final Nigerian financial institution, offering deposit and fund transfer services, trade finance and foreign exchange payments. The company is the most capitalized on the Nigerian stock exchange and works with JPMorgan to act as global custodian for Nigeria's foreign reserves of $46.7 billion. Profits rose 24.1% in 2006. The local symbol is ZNBK NL.

Orascom Construction Industries
Cairo-based Orascom Construction (other-otc: ORSDF - news - people) is a leading cement maker and construction contractor in North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. It takes advantage of the low cost of natural gas in Egypt for producing cement and fertilizer. It has ADRs and an active London listing under the symbol ORSD LI. Its London shares have risen more than 9,000% since October 2002.

First Quantum Minerals
First Quantum (other-otc: FQVLF) is a copper company with operations primarily in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The primary market is Canada, though it does have ADRs and is also traded in London under FQM LN. Its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange have nearly doubled year to date.

Ridge Mining
This London-listed mining company has operations in South Africa and has also seen its shares double since January 2007. Ridge Mining (other-otc: RDGMF) has substantial equity investments and assistance from Chinese companies. The stock trades primarily in London, though it also has ADRs.

Classic Cars

I love antique cars. Call them classic cars, antique cars, vintage cars, hot rods etc, I think they have a timeless beauty. There is such a dignity and poise in some of these old regal cars that is almost seems to take on a personal character. Well, I would not say that for the muscle cars because to me that is what they are, just muscle cars. I know I will incur the wrath of the muscle car lover but I think they lack the beauty and class that say the old Fords and Chevy's of the '1920s, 30s and 40s.

One to the things I have come to realize is that the owners of these cars are crazy about them! It is almost like a cult! See, these cars have been babied – the owners buy a frame/ skeleton and then look for all the other parts from all over the country (some of which are not available) then they start the work of restoring the car and remodeling. This is usually a time and money consuming project that can take years to complete. No wonder some of these cars are just for show, they are never driven- lest they get scratched or something.

There is usually an antique car show every Friday evening during the summer in the main street of downtown Somerville, New Jersey. Here are some pictures that I took at one of these. The camera was acting up but you can still appreciate the beauty of these cars! You will also note that there is a picture of a beautiful dog that had come car-watching…it is not there by mistake. That dog was as huge as a lamb and she had the whitest fur and was very friendly! She was all groomed with a hair clip too! She just seemed to fit right in with those beautiful cars.

Like I keep saying, when I become rich and famous (ok, scratch the famous part, just give me rich!) I will splurge on at least one or two beautiful red or maybe white antique classic cars. The only thing is that my hot rods will be fun ride cars and not just for show. OK enjoy the pictures.