Purging and Merging

MOL Global (NSDQ: MOLG) broke through its stop-loss price of $1.50 last week and should be sold. This Internet-payments company had a poor first quarter, slipping into a loss as margins declined faster than revenues increased. It now trades more than 80% below its initial public offering price last October. For this kind of Silicon Valley–type investment, momentum is all-important, and MOLG appears to lack momentum both in its operations and its stock price.

Sell MOL Global.

Australian energy producer AGL Energy (OTC: AGLNF) announced it would write off about US$327 million from the reduced value of its gas power plants as part of its transition to a renewable energy company. It reaffirmed its estimate of operating profits for the year to June 30 of US$426 million to US$470 million, but of course the write-off will badly affect its bottom line. This is a typical example of accountants negatively distorting the underlying operating reality, and the market seems to have recognized this, with the stock holding up well.

Mexican poultry producer Industrias Bachoco S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: IBA) announced it would acquire the Arkansas assets of Morris Hatchery Inc., which consist mostly of a million breeding fowl, thereby strengthening its U.S. distribution operations.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd. (OTC: TNABY), our Malaysian electric utility, submitted a bid for five domestic and eight foreign power assets owned by the troubled Malaysian holding company 1Malaysia Development Berhad, which nearly defaulted on $11 billion of loans earlier this year. Tenaga’s stock price fell on the news, as investors worried that the utility might become overextended from the acquisition. Tenaga believes the troubled company’s assets are a good fit for its growth strategy, though the bid is non-binding. Given 1Malaysia’s problems, I would expect Tenaga to have a strong negotiating position for the transaction.

Deutsche Bank cut its earnings forecast for Crown Resorts (OTC: CWLDY) about 6% on reports of weak revenue from the Australia-based hotel and casino operator’s Macao joint venture. Turnover from high-rolling gamblers fell 51% the first six months of 2015 in Macao, known as the Orient’s Monte Carlo, after China’s crackdown on corruption.

Still, unless Crown Resorts is expanding too rapidly, I’d regard this as just a hiccup; we’ll know more when earnings for the year to June 30 are announced next month.

Nintendo’s (OTC: NTDOY) chief executive Satoru Iwata, who led the Japanese video games giant starting in 2002, died July 11. Under Iwata, the company pioneered the Wii range of game consoles. Either one of two internal replacement candidates, Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda, would be fine as CEO.We plan to sell, however, if Nintendo copies Sony’s disastrous move of 2005 and imports a Western CEO who adopts short-termism and destroys the corporate culture.

Singapore-based commodity producer and trader Olam International (OTC: OLMIY) received EU approval for its $1.3 billion acquisition of Archer Daniels Midland’s cocoa business. The combined group will have 16% of the world’s cocoa-processing capacity and account for more than 20% of global production.

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