Pescod Talks about ... BNK and more

BANKERS PETROLEUM
(T-BNK)
$4.68 +0.17
I guess everyone out there knows that for much of the
last part of the year, Bankers Petroleum was one of our fa-
vourite stories (although now Wavefront Energy is very close
on their heels). We thought we were safe sending out a
note on Bankers in the form we did last week—what with
Abby Badwi off speaking in Connecticut and Doug Urch at
an energy conference in Toronto. No one would note any-
thing we would write here, right? Wrong. It’s not as if
Abby took us out behind the shed for a spanking or any-
thing, but there were a few corrections that he figured peo-
ple should be aware of. His points are:
1)
Bankers had a CAPEX of $78 million in 2008 and are
planning a $50 million program this year, despite only
spending $7 million in first half of this year. 2010 he
suggests, will probably exceed $100 million. This point
is made because we has suggested that some people
even within Bankers might love being taken over by a
huge international that would allow them to throw huge
dollars at their projects in Albania, just to see what it
can do. Bankers is already and definitely doing that,
particularly next year.

How Many Tickets Will It Take Before You Fight Back? GPS Radar Detectors Pay For Themselves.

COLOSSUS MINERALS
(T-CSI)
With gold and precious metal prices coming back over
the last six months and so many junior explorers being
financed, there is lots of exploration out there these days
around the world and there have been some stunning drill-
ing results.
All of a sudden, there seems to be more and more good
gold deposits out there from drilling that has been re-
ported, but few compare with the absolutely stunning re-
sults announced from Colossus Minerals today. Not only
were the widths unbelievable, with 70 metres, but the grade
of 53 g/t gold and 20 g/t platinum and 31 g/t palladium, was
the kind of stuff an explorer can only dream of.
Huge widths, unbelievable grades, when does Colossus
get bought out? They are working in an area of Brazil
known to have rich ore that had been mined by garimpuros
for a long time, so finding stuff isn’t the surprise. The big
question remains how big this project could be.
Canaccord had recently raised their target from $5.50 to
$7.25; Thomas Weisel from $4.50 to $7.00 and we suspect
there might even be future additions.

Globe says Oilsands Quest joins upticking oil stocks

In the News

See In the News (U-BQI) Oilsands Quest Inc

The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition the massive bump in share price for Opti Canada has some of the hallmarks of a high-frequency trading blitz, say traders and analysts who cover the oil sands stock, which has swung wildly over the past two days. The Globe's Nathan Vanderklippe writes that on Wednesday, Opti closed up 34 per cent. The rapid movement was mirrored by another small oil sands player, Oilsands Quest. It is up 22 per cent over the past two trading days. Volatility also affected UTS Energy and Connacher Oil and Gas, and raised eyebrows across the oil patch, not least among those affected.

"It's interesting that the markets swing this far this fast. It puzzles all of us, I think," said Oilsands Quest executive chairman Murray Wilson. Mr. Wilson believes the jumps came from a combination of technical trading and more normal activity among long-term investors and hedge funds. Oilsands Quest is not seeking a merger or acquisition, although it is often approached, Mr. Wilson claims. "We have absolutely no specific knowledge about matters which could cause the shares in ourselves, or the rest of our peer group, to move in the manner that they have," he said.