steady growth

Industrial Gases exposure

I expect natural gas to go up.

Top Dividend Increasors

an increase of 6.7% yield of 2.5%

TODAY, THE TOP HOLDING IN her $150 million fund is Connecticut-based Praxair (PX), an industrial-gases company with big exposure to key emerging economies like China, India and Brazil.

And of course we have no idea when today's liquidation is going to be over. I don't know which hedge funds have what to sell. I don't know why Anadarko's (APC) down huge and Apache's (APC) not down; I don't know what's wrong with Air Products (APD) and Praxair (PX). Numbers too high? I don't know. It does feel as if everything is just too hard, too hard to buy.

The Danbury, Conn.-based industrial gas supplier announced a new $1 billion buyback program. This program is in additional to its previous $1 billion buyback program which was initiated in July 2007.

Under the previous program, $931 million of stock repurchases have been completed. The buybacks are expected to be completed over the next two years and will be financed with free cash and some debt.

“This new share repurchase program reflects the confidence we have in the long-term growth outlook for our business, and our commitment to increasing shareholder value," said Steve Angel, chairman and CEO.

The largest industrial gas supplier in North and South America reported stellar second-quarter results. Net income came in at $349 million, or $1.08 a share, compared to $291 million, or 89 cents a share in the same period last year. This represents net income and EPS growth of, 20% and 21%, respectively.

Total sales surged 23% to $2.87 billion from strong sales in every area, especially South America and Asia. Sales in South American experience growth of 31% while Asia sales jumped 30%.

PX raised its full year EPS estimates by 3% in the range of $4.20 share and $4.30 a share. This represented sales growth in the range of 16% to 20%.

Analysts at Oppenheimer research said Praxair is their top large-cap pick, "blending growth, defensiveness, and multi-year visibility due to take-or-pay contracts and a large backlog of global energy and infrastructure projects." They have an outperform rating on PX and 12-month price target of $105.

In its 15 years as a public company, Praxair has never had down EPS, even in recession. The Oppenheimer analysts noted that PX has the No. 1 franchise in key BRIC (Brazil, Russian, India, and China) markets and that it would benefit from energy scarcity. Seeing as the average size of new PX's new projects has doubled in the past three years, increasing demand will continue to drive growth.

The Danbury, Conn.-based industrial gas supplier announced a new $1 billion buyback program. This program is in additional to its previous $1 billion buyback program which was initiated in July 2007.

Under the previous program, $931 million of stock repurchases have been completed. The buybacks are expected to be completed over the next two years and will be financed with free cash and some debt.

“This new share repurchase program reflects the confidence we have in the long-term growth outlook for our business, and our commitment to increasing shareholder value," said Steve Angel, chairman and CEO.

The largest industrial gas supplier in North and South America reported stellar second-quarter results. Net income came in at $349 million, or $1.08 a share, compared to $291 million, or 89 cents a share in the same period last year. This represents net income and EPS growth of, 20% and 21%, respectively.

Total sales surged 23% to $2.87 billion from strong sales in every area, especially South America and Asia. Sales in South American experience growth of 31% while Asia sales jumped 30%.

PX raised its full year EPS estimates by 3% in the range of $4.20 share and $4.30 a share. This represented sales growth in the range of 16% to 20%.

Analysts at Oppenheimer research said Praxair is their top large-cap pick, "blending growth, defensiveness, and multi-year visibility due to take-or-pay contracts and a large backlog of global energy and infrastructure projects." They have an outperform rating on PX and 12-month price target of $105.

In its 15 years as a public company, Praxair has never had down EPS, even in recession. The Oppenheimer analysts noted that PX has the No. 1 franchise in key BRIC (Brazil, Russian, India, and China) markets and that it would benefit from energy scarcity. Seeing as the average size of new PX's new projects has doubled in the past three years, increasing demand will continue to drive growth.

1.5%

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