Topic: How To Invest

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, $0.34, symbol ANP on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 85.2 million; Market cap: $29.0 million, www.angiotech.com), is undertaking a recapitalization to stave off bankruptcy. It looks like it will survive, but that’s not a certainty. The recapitalization, which involves issuing new shares to pay off debtholders, will result in considerable dilution for current shareholders. The company gets most of its revenue in the form of royalties from Boston Scientific Corp, which makes the Taxus drug-coated stent. (Stents are tiny tubes used to prop open arteries.) Angiotech developed the technology for the Taxus stent and Boston Scientific makes it. Rival products have hurt sales of Boston Scientific’s stents in recent years. To lower its reliance on the Taxus stent, Angiotech focusing on bringing its Quill SRS suture product to market. Angiotech has little investment appeal right now. We don’t recommend the shares.

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Belo Sun Mining, $0.88, symbol BSX on Toronto, (Shares outstanding: 138.5 million; Market cap: $121.9 million, www.belosun.com), moved up recently after it reported strong results from drilling at its Volta Grande project in Brazil. So far, Belo Sun has outlined a deposit of as much as 2.3 million ounces of gold on the property. It continues to drill to upgrade the size of the deposit. Belo Sun hopes to complete a feasibility study on a mine late next year. Right now, it’s projecting a mine that would produce 200,000 ounces of gold a year over 10 years. The company has taken advantage of the share-price jump to raise $5.5 million in a share issue at $0.75 each. Belo Sun is okay for highly aggressive investors to hold. ..