balance transfer credit cards
    Balance transfer credit cards      Site disclaimer      Email Us    
Balance Transfer to Blue from American Express Blue from American Express®


Blue from American Express

Intro APR: 0%

Issuer: American Express

The Membership Rewards Express® program
Earn Membership Rewards® points for your everyday purchases, and enjoy fast and easy ways to earn and redeem so you can get the rewards you want now.1 Terms and Conditions for the Membership Rewards Express®, program apply. Visit membershiprewards.com/terms for more information. Participating partners and available rewards are subject to change without notice.

Rewards Program Membership Rewards Express® program
Payment Options Flexibility to pay charges over time
Annual Fee No annual fee
APR on Purchases 0% for 6 months, then as low as Prime Rate + 11.99%

Earn Points
Earn 1 point for every eligible dollar spent, 2X points when booking online travel through American Express, 3X points on Bonus Points Mall and up to 10x points with select partners. Terms and Conditions for the Membership Rewards Express®, program apply. Visit membershiprewards.com/terms or call 1-800-AXP-EARN (297-3276) for more information. Participating partners and available rewards are subject to change without notice. To be eligible to earn double points, you must be enrolled in the Membership Rewards® program ("Program") at the time of purchase and you must charge your air, Lowest Rates Guaranteed hotel, Complete Trip (flight + hotel packages), American Express Vacations package and cruise reservations on an eligible, enrolled American Express® Card through www.americanexpress.com/travel. Any portion of a charge that you elect to pay through redemption of Membership Rewards points is not eligible to earn points. Bonus ID 3218 (Air, Hotel, and Complete Trip); Bonus ID 5432 (Cruise); Bonus
ID 3738 (American Express Vacations Packages). Bonus points will be credited to your program account 10-12 weeks after final payment has been made. Some American Express Cards are not eligible for enrollment in the program. Terms and Conditions for the Membership Rewards program apply. For more information on the Membership Rewards program, visit membershiprewards.com/terms or call 1-800-AXP-EARN (297-3276). Participating partners and available rewards are subject to change without notice. To be eligible to earn bonus points in the Bonus Points Mall® website, you must be a U.S. Cardmember and enrolled in the Membership Rewards® program at the time of purchase and you must charge your qualifying purchase through the Bonus Points Mall website (bonuspointsmall.com) on an eligible, enrolled American Express® Card. Bonus points are awarded for all qualifying transactions at participating merchants through the Bonus Points Mall website. Participating merchants are subject to change without notice. Additional ter
ms and conditions apply and appear on the Bonus Points Mall website (bonuspointsmall.com). Bonus points will be credited to your Program account within 6–8 weeks after charges appear on your billing statement. Bonus ID: 1935.

Get Rewards
Rewards start at just 1,000 points, and you can choose from travel, gift cards, cash, merchandise and entertainment options from over 500 leading brands. You can also travel any airline, anytime with no blackout dates when you book online through the American Express Travel Site.

Freedom and Flexibility
Blue comes with no annual fee, flexibility to pay over time, 0% APR for 6 months and exceptional protection to meet your travel and purchasing needs.





Back to the category menu

Apply for Blue from American Express®



“I never thought I would say this,” announced Dustin Garrow, marketing director for Paladin Resources (TSX: PDN) at the close of his presentation to an audience comprised of utility and nuclear fuel insiders. Then, he forecast a rise in the price of uranium in the coming months to between $80 and $100 per pound. A long-time industry consultant, Garrow acts as an intermediary between uranium producers and utility fuel brokers.

The Platts Nuclear Fuel Strategies conference held this past week in Washington, D.C. was sobering for U.S. utilities, yet revitalizing for the assorted suppliers and vendors attending this educational workshop. The jump in the spot uranium price to $55.75/pound, over the weekend, was hardly a surprise for those who participated. The conference’s mood was buoyant and electrifying as steady demand continues to strengthen for the ‘active supply’ of uranium. Analysts may be forced to upwardly revise their price expectations going forward through the end of this year and for 2007.

TradeTech published on the company’s website commentary on uranium transactions, writing, “Many sellers continue to seek market-related pricing terms for spot delivery and buyers continue to show a willingness to raise bid prices in order to secure supply at fixed prices. The buyer mix remains diverse, with utilities, producers, intermediaries, and speculators seeking market purchases. Long-term uranium demand remains strong and continues to exert upward pressure on the spot uranium price. The spot uranium market is expected to remain active through October.”

We talked further with Gene Clark, Chief Executive of TradeTech, by email after briefly chatting at the Platts conference. He added his company was tweaking assumptions on price projections for utilities in a soon-to-be-published uranium market study. “We expect prices in the fourth quarter to continue to significantly exceed all previous expectations,” Clark wrote to us. “Active supply, which is our measure, determined by telephone interview of uranium actually being offered in the market, is back to the level of its historical low in the second quarter of 2004.” Earlier this year, Clark forecast spot uranium would reach $55/pound.

Clark considers this a major factor for uranium price forecasting. “Many potential sellers of uranium are holding back supply, making it ‘inactive,’ because they are satisfied with their level of sales for this year,” he explained. “Barring the entry of a major new source, active supply is expected to remain low for the rest of the year.” The major source of demand, through the end of the year is likely to come from traders and hedge funds, Clark informed us. He lowered the demand status of primary users such as utilities from the ‘must have’ category to discretionary buying.

World Uranium Mining Trends and Outlook

“We’ve been trying to encourage utility companies to work more closely with junior uranium companies,” announced Michael Knapik, Chief Editor of Platts’ NuclearFuel, before the uranium mining panel began their presentations. In a previous presentation that morning, Charles Peterson, a partner with the DC-based law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP had talked about the security of future uranium supply. Utilities have been hooked on buying low-cost uranium from Canada, Australia and Kazakhstan. Peterson has been advising utilities to begin discussions with speculators who have been purchasing uranium as the price has soared. “Some utilities are cooperating with speculators,” Peterson observed.

As we reported at the conference last week, Scotiabank’s vice president of economics Patricia Mohr believes uranium will continue to be a bright spot in the commodities market in 2007. She pointed out her bank’s commodity index had probably peaked in August, but she felt uranium would be the “exception to this.” Mohr cited inadequate mining supply as the primary driver in the spectacular rise in the uranium price. Uranium producers only contributed 65 percent to last year’s demand, while the balance came from inventory sales and blended down uranium from decommissioned Russian warheads.

Paladin and Namibia

Dustin Garrow talked about Paladin’s amazing success story, discussing how he was approached by the company’s CEO in 2003 when the stock was trading for three cents and offered stock options. Three years later, Garrow remains ebullient on Paladin’s growth prospects in Africa and elsewhere. It is a tribute to unrestrictive environmental regulations in Namibia and Paladin’s rapid execution at the Langer Heinrich uranium project that the company can announce it will be shipping its first yellowcake in early 2007.

In an interesting disclosure, Garrow explained how Paladin had arranged a syndicated loan agreement to fund its mine development and construction. Clauses within this loan agreement required the mandatory forward sale of a portion of the mine’s production. Those two sales contracts of more than 5 million pounds of U3O8 are scheduled for delivery between 2007 and 2012 to two U.S. utilities. Garrow led the audience to believe selling at such a low price was not something Paladin desired. Arranging the sale with his partner, Garrow said, “My partner and I have a combined 50 years in this business, and we provided this uranium to our most preferred customers.”

Currently producing about seven percent of the world’s uranium, Namibia has become a hotspot since we reported on this country last March. At the time, there were but three companies. Since then, the number has grown to 14, according to an announcement by the Ministry of Mines and Energy. We checked the progress on Forsys Metals (TSX: FSY), which we reported upon in March. Forsys spokesman Sean Felker told us, “We are revising our resource calculation and releasing it in the fourth quarter.” The company has spent this year further proving up their resource, while the company’s stock continues flying under the industry’s radar screen.

A research report by Orion Securities in Toronto, which participated in raising money for Forsys, suggested the all-in cost to mine the company’s Valencia project could come in under $25/pound and would have an IIR of 30 percent after tax. Early estimates show the Valencia project might annually produce 2.5 million pounds of U308 over ten years. This was sufficient to interest the fuel broker for a major U.S. utility. Felker said, “We’ve started the process of marketing our uranium after the utility sent a consulting geologist to study the property.” Due diligence was done on site in Namibia. Felker explained his company’s Valencia project was about 30 months away from where Paladin’s Langer Heinrich is today.

Forsys appears to be following Paladin’s lead. As success was developing for Paladin in Namibia, the company moved to near completion of a bankable feasibility study at the Kayelekera uranium project in Malawi. Now, Forsys is considering other uranium properties in Africa. Both companies, and others developing uranium projects in Africa, will utilize the open pit method to maximize recovery of uranium from their mines.

David Miller Predicts More U.S. Uranium Will be Conventionally Mined

It is likely that rising uranium prices will beget more costly uranium extraction methods, which of course will provide a more solid floor for the uranium price over the next ten to fifteen years.

The presentation made by Strathmore Mineral’s President David Miller vividly illustrated why the United States can continue mining uranium over the next two decades. Admittedly, the United States is unlikely to return to the glory uranium production years of the 1950s and 1960s. “The U.S. can still become a medium size uranium producer,” Miller told the audience. He predicted conventional mining would replace the preferred method of ISR mining in the United States in less than ten years. In Miller’s presentation, he forecast conventional uranium mining – through underground and open pit mining methods – might exceed 16 million pounds annually by 2020.

Miller’s research demonstrated a number of uranium companies whose combined annual production could reach nearly 30 million pounds by 2020. In several slides, he extrapolated production estimates from various companies – such as Uranerz Energy (Amex: URZ), UR-Energy (TSX: URE), Energy Metals (TSX: EMC) and Strathmore Minerals (TSX: STM) – to reach annual uranium production in excess of ten million pounds after 2012.

Miller explained to the audience that U.S. production could surpass 20 million pounds later in the second decade and help provide U.S. utilities with more than one-quarter of their annual consumption. He has argued, along with the Uranium Producers of America, for the development of a domestic uranium supply to benefit U.S. utilities from over-dependence upon foreign uranium.

We talked with him after his presentation about time frames and the mine operating costs at various uranium grades. Miller told us, “It will take the U.S. about four to six years to get up to steam.” A lot of the hurdles to overcome were not the mining issues or fund raising to bring those projects into production. “There are a number of interested parties wishing to participate in different U.S. uranium projects,” he told us without naming anyone in particular. “It is the permitting time which takes so long.”

He calculated, from studies he was recently involved with, that the operating costs for an underground mining and milling operation would cost about $80 to $120/ton. An average grade of 0.1 percent U3O8 would yield two pounds per ton, but a feed grade averaging 0.2 percent would yield four pounds per ton. Uranium ore yielding four pounds per ton would cost about $25/pound. Miller explained that grades at Green Mountain, which SXR Uranium One is currently investigating for purchase, and his company’s Roca Honda property, should be profitable using the $100/ton benchmark. Both properties have reported economic grades through various studies.

Strathmore’s Roca Honda property in New Mexico demonstrated its resource through a National Instrument 43-101. Miller emphasized the higher percentage of recovery in New Mexico. “Historically, the Grants Uranium District in New Mexico recovered mid 90s percent,” he told us. “You don’t produce mine 340 million pounds (historical production in this area) by having poor recovery.” By comparison, Miller said the recovery rate in Wyoming was in the low 90s percentage-wise. These percentages exceed conventional mining average recovery rates as stated in the IAEA Red Book.

In evaluating production costs, derived from discussions with other industry insiders, it is likely the resurgence of conventional mining could potentially double the capital and operating costs of several uranium projects. While it is possible some or several ISR uranium projects in Wyoming, Texas or New Mexico could enjoy operating costs for less than $30/pound, the capital cost for an underground U.S. uranium mine and mill could reach $200 million.

Rising labor costs, environmental regulations, increased start-up costs and even weather-related occurrences, such as the cyclone impacting production at Australia’s Ranger uranium mine, point to a continued rise in the price of uranium over the next few years. At the very least, utilities might be facing a new floor price should the overheated uranium market step back a few price levels over the coming year or years.

In the next feature in this series, further conversations we had at the Platts conference confirm Gene Clark’s comments, and those made by others, that the uranium price has exceeded nearly everyone’s expectations. And it should continue doing so in the months ahead. To be continued.








  • Transfer your balance to Blue from American Express®
  • 1) You must find an EAP in your city or state. Finding an EAP in your home city or state makes little to no difference in the scope and quality of service you will receive from your EAP. Most EAPs have an extensive nation-wide network of counselors. Let's say your company is based in St. Louis. An EAP in New York might actually have more counselors under contract in St. Louis than another EAP that is actually based in St. Louis. It is important to remember that EAPs are facilitators and they can perform their tasks sucessfully from any location within the United States. Instead of being concerned about the location of an EAP, you should concern yourself with their network coverage in your area. It's alot like cell phone reception. If you live in Key West, Florida and your shopping for a new cell phone plan, would you be concerned with how well Cingular covers your area, or if they have an office down the street. 2) EAP can only assist in facilitating mental health treatment for your troubled employees. This issue is a hot topic among EAPs. There are some EAPs that focus solely on facilitating mental health treatment for your troubled employees. After all, this is how EAP began and what it was originally intended for. However, there are some EAPs that are evolving and offering extra incentives to their client's employees. These extra incentives vary from EAP to EAP and can range from pet care to fitness training. The EAPs that only provide mental health services would argue that offering these types of unrelated incentives could dilute the value of traditional EAP services. The EAPs that offer these extra incentives would argue they are further promoting the overall wellness of each employee thus these extra services could prevent future mental health problems for their client's employees. Looking at current trends you could argue that the leading EAPs are evolving into a more balanced view on this subject. They seem to be offering wellness related services such as health clinics, fitness management, and even substance abuse testing services and preventative programs. But, they are not offering pet care, travel incentives, coupon books etc. Again, this will vary from EAP to EAP. 3) EAP will have little effect on your bottom line Nothing could be further from the truth. Many companies that utilize EAP services experience a tremendous return on their investment. Troubled employees cost the company money in productivity and job loss. The EAP is specifically designed to drastically improve this by providing treatment and preventative care for your employees. When choosing an EAP ask them for client references and you will likely be inundated with testimonies from companies that state a positive impact on their overall bottom line. 4) EAP is an expensive benefit There are certain EAPs that do over charge for their services. But, you can likely find a great EAP for a little over a dollar per employee per month. EAPquotes.com is a must visit web site when it comes to comparing EAP services and costs. They have an online form that you can fill out in a few minutes, select which EAP will receive your contact info, and press "submit". Within hours you will receive customized cost proposals from some of the nations leading EAPs. Click on the link below to access EAPquotes.com 5) There are really only a handful of employee assistance programs out there. This may have been true in 1980 but no longer. There are over a hundred active, nation-wide, employee assistance programs in the United States today. We hope this article has clarified some common myths related to EAP. Good luck in finding the right EAP fit for your company!
  • Raise your credit score with a help of Credit-Rocket! Read the Chase credit card reviews
  • Tired of high charges? Find the best database for credit cards! Read the fine print and find the Annual Percentage Rate (APR). This is the interest rate the companies charge you if you carry a balance. You want the lowest rate possible; as each percentage point drop will save you money on the months you have an outstanding balance.