3 Things to Watch When BHP Billiton Limited (ADR) (BHP) Reports

What’s the game plan?
While Warren Buffett generates a lot of talk for his elephant hunting skills, BHP CEO Marius Kloppers is known to aim at really big targets as well. He fired and missed in attempts to acquire Rio Tinto and PotashCorp until settling on U.S. natural gas producer Petrohawk in a deal that was much smaller in comparison. Given the amount of vanishing capital within the industry, is Marius done hunting?

If so, how does he plan to grow the company going forward? We know that the company is scaling back its ambitious plans for Olympic Dam due to questions surrounding near- to mid-term demand. How will he differentiate BHP from its peers and not squander shareholder capital?

My Foolish take
I do think BHP Billiton is one of the better positioned global miners. I like the added diversification of its oil and gas business, and I’m a fan of Marius Kloppers. I think his attempts to grow the company by large acquisition are ambitious, though in hindsight it appears that being turned down by both Rio Tinto and PotashCorp were blessings in disguise. That being said, his visionary leadership is one that I can stand behind as an investor.

The article 3 Things to Watch When BHP Billiton Reports originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Matt DiLallo.

Fool contributor Matt DiLallo owns shares of BHP Billiton Limited (ADR). The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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