Bankers Is Rocking Again

Pescos Talks Stock

EAST ASIA MINERALS

Today was recognition that it is a new, new world out

there as India suggests their economy is now chugging

along at 7% GDP growth rate and they feel that within two

years, it will be back up to 9%.

It definitely is a new world out there as China, India and

Asia chug ahead, while the United States looks like it

could be mired in a bit of mess for years to come and

Europe, the old, old world, has too many countries with

too much debt problems.

Of course today making it an almost perfect world was

Greece looking like they are going to do what they have to

do to get their budget in line because after all, wouldn’t it

be embarrassing to have such a historical country declare

bankruptcy down the road.

With all the good news out today, it was a near perfect

day in the markets as oil for a while was above $80.00;

gold was flying and once again, it’s a reminder that as

long as the Indian, Chinese and Asian economies chug

along, our little sector of the world of metals, mining and

oil and gas can still be a profitable niche to be in.

Meanwhile, time to catch up with David Coffin, the Van-

couver-based editor of the Hard Rock Analyst because

East Asia Minerals comes up with another sweet result an-

nouncing 3.2 grams of gold over 61 metres within a much

bigger section of 116 metres of over 2 grams per ton gold.

Coffin suggests that this is just “more of the same in a

market that is still a little bit soggy.” “They keep building

up the resource” he suggests, “slowly and steadily.” We

ask, are they going to be hit like many other stocks with

the curse of PDAC?

Coffin replies that no, he is still more concerned with

tightening financial conditions in China and he doesn’t

think that the debt crisis is over.

Meanwhile, Coffin who had a great seat watching all

the developments on the Olympics, as he could see

Robson Square and the happenings right from his office

window. He takes his hat off to the volunteers of the

Olympic Organizing Committee and suggests that Robson

Square, with the fireworks every so many nights, the free

bands almost every night, all helped it make 17 wonderful

days. He suggested that the weather, which was so un-

usually warm and hurt some of the snow conditions, actu-

ally helped everyone get into the mood and party in down-

town Vancouver.

It truly was folks, an event Canada will be proud of for

some time...

OIL

(V-TAO)

As we mentioned earlier, it’s an almost perfect day world-

wide for the economy and it’s a time that Peter Tertzakian,

Chief Energy Economist at Arc Financial does a look/see at

the oil and gas sector.

He has quite a profile as the author of several books on

energy, but yesterday on a piece he writes, “Back to A Thou-

sand Barrels a Second...After over 18 months of crisis and

recession, world oil consumption has recovered back to

where it was at its pre-crash peak. Numbers published for

December 2009, and January 2010 show that demand for the

wonder-fuel once again touched 86.4 MB/d, or A Thousand

Barrels a Second. It’s a milestone rate-of-consumption that’s

tough to fathom, but can be envisioned by imagining an Olym-

pic sized swimming pool being drained every 15 seconds.

Admittedly, a metaphor from the winter Olympics would be

more appropriate, but frozen liquids don’t flow.”

Tertzakian continues, “A quick conclusion stemming from

this recovery in global oil demand is that one of the primary

pillars supporting positive price momentum is back in place.

That’s true, but consumption is only one pillar. The next indi-

cator that has to start aligning into place is a gradual decline

in OPEC spare capacity. It’s a likely trend; analysis shows

that the current 6.5 MMB/d capacity surplus, twice what it was

18 months ago, should start retreating again by year-end, po-

tentially by up to 8%.”

He continues, “The third pillar of oil price strength, produc-

tion declines among non-OPEC producers, is going to take a

little longer. Nevertheless, two out of three supporting factors

should be enough to gradually reinforce prices by the latter

half of this year.”

He continues, “While the barrels appear to be lining up for

higher prices, it’s too early for Canadian oil producers to pop

open the bubbly. That’s because the character of global oil

consumption, and the dynamics of oil supply, have shifted

over the past year and a half.”

Tertzakian also points to China noting, “China’s year-over-

year oil use continues to lead the emerging world’s uptrend.

Recent numbers continue to validate that world oil consump-

tion is going to grow by another 1.15 MMB/d in 2010. Impor-

tantly, none of the increment will come from North America,

the European Union or Japan.”

Meanwhile, for those looking for ultra-high risk, hopefully

high impact drilling plays, we featured recently, a pick by

Clive Stockdale, the analyst that some time ago got us into

Ultra Petroleum, one of the biggest plays we probably ever

been involved in. He now says Tag Oil is one to watch.

Internet news overtakes printed papers for US readers

For the first time ever, Americans are more likely to turn to the internet for news rather than printed newspapers or the radio, research revealed yesterday.

Internet and mobile phone technology had changed news "into a social experience", said the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, based in Washington DC.

Most respondents to a Pew survey said they turned to multiple sources for news – about 46pc used up to six different sources a day. The number of people going online has overtaken newspapers and radio and is fast catching up with the TV.

Half of those polled read the news in a local newspaper and 17pc read a national such as the New York Times or USA Today. This compares with 61pc of respondents who searched the internet for their news.

About 54pc said they listened to a radio news programme at home or in the car. The most popular news sources were local TV stations, with 78pc, followed by the 73pc who watched the news on a national network such as CNN or Fox News.

"Americans' relationship with news is changing in dramatic and irreversible ways due to changes in the 'ecology' of how news is available," the report said. "Traditional news organisations are still very important to their consumers but technology has scrambled every aspect of the relationship between news producers and the people who consumer news."

The most common online news sources were portals such as AOL and Google, which are visited by more than half of online news users a day.

This will provide organisations such as Rupert Murdoch's News Corp with more ammunition against search portals.

He has accused them of profiting from others' content, while the editor of The Wall Street Journal, Robert Thomson, has said the aggregators "encourage promiscuity" among readers.

Source: The Independent

Canada Wins More Gold In A Mens Hockey Nail Biter

Damien Cox

Sports Columnist

February 28, 2010

VANCOUVER- When it was over, when the third Olympic Games held on Canadian soil had been brought to a competitive conclusion by a wondrous hockey game, it seemed so obvious.

Sidney Crosby. Of course.

Therein lies the difference between two of the greatest hockey heroes in Canadian history, Paul Henderson and his winning goal at the 1972 Summit Series and Crosby for the flick of the wrists that produced a goal Sunday afternoon that meant everything to his country.

Henderson was a spectacular surprise and the moment found him.

Crosby was no surprise. He was expected to do it. And when it didn’t seem as if he would produce the moment in an Olympic tournament that appeared determined to push him to the rear and make him something other than the main story, he did it anyway.

He found the moment. And therein lies the difference.

Steve Yzerman, who organized Team Canada 2010 and thus laid the blueprint for the country’s record-setting 14th gold medal at these Games, could tell you that.

Yzerman was one of the best Canadian-born players to don skates over the past quarter-century. He won Stanley Cups and Olympic gold medals.

But he never had a moment like the one Crosby produced on Sunday.

“He’s got a little bit of destiny to him,” Yzerman said, shaking his head slowly. “It’s another monumental moment in his career. He’s a special, special guy. Like (Wayne) Gretzky.”

Crosby’s overtime goal in the 68th minute came after a game in which he couldn’t have been described by anyone as the best player on the ice. Not even close. Teammates Rick Nash and Jonathan Toews both had wonderful games. That old smoothie on defence, Scott Niedermayer, too.

On the American side, centre Patrick Kane had been, according to Canadian coach Mike Babcock, “magic,” while U.S. goalie Ryan Miller was named tournament MVP before overtime even began.

Crosby had even botched a clean breakaway with three minutes left in regulation, hurried from behind by a hustling Kane.

Yet Crosby still decided it. An instant after beating U.S. defenceman Brian Rafalski off the boards and shrieking for the puck from linemate Jarome Iginla, Crosby gathered a pass at the left circle slightly behind his left heel and, without looking or even seeing the result, whipped the winner between Miller’s legs.

As though he had been born for just that moment in Halifax on Aug. 7, 1987.

“I dunno about that,” he said, blushing. “But I dreamed of this moment.”

That a remarkable, two-week international sports festival produced this conclusion seemed almost overkill. See, while the suggestion had been for months, years really, that nothing Canada could accomplish at the Vancouver Games would ease the national angst if the men’s hockey team wasn’t victorious, that proved not to be the case at all.

The U.S. could have won the gold-medal game — heck, only Roberto Luongo’s shoulder getting in the way of a Joe Pavelski drive in OT stopped it from happening — and these Olympics would still have been proclaimed a joyous, wondrous success.

The 13 golds that preceded the hockey victory proved there were other sports in which Canadian men and women could not only rise to the challenge, but also capture the imagination of the country. We fell in love with Maelle Ricker, the Hamelin brothers, Jon Montgomery and, of course, Joannie Rochette.

It was a Games that didn’t require a signature moment because before the hockey game even began, that signature had already been provided by the spirit and organizational excellence of the event.

Plus, of course, all those gold medals.

Still, Canadians naturally wanted the hockey gold. Bad. Birthright and all that, although there’s a generation of post-Lake Placid Americans who clearly have started to believe that birthright is shared every bit as much as the continent is.

They sure contested the gold-medal game that way. After Crosby missed his breakaway late, Zach Parise — son of a member of Team Canada ’72 — shocked the arena and the country by tying it 2-2 with 25 seconds left in regulation.

But in a four-on-four OT session played in such a pleasingly aggressive way by both countries that you knew it couldn’t last long, Crosby ended it, and then it was a blur. A mob around Sid the Kid. Shattered Americans receiving their silver medals. Crosby the last Canadian to get his from IOC boss Jacques Rogge. Drew Doughty, then Scott Niedermayer, then Luongo, then Crosby skating around the ice with a giant Canadian flag tied to a 20-foot-long pole.

“We said going into the dressing room after the third that it would just feel better when we scored in overtime,” said Crosby’s linemate, Eric Staal. “It sure did.

“This country loves sport and loves hockey and loves hockey players. For us to be able to come to Vancouver and deliver is pretty awesome.”

One Canadian player after another agreed that Crosby was the appropriate hero.

“He’s the face of hockey in Canada. On this stage, he stepped up and scored a huge goal for Canada,” said Staal. “People are going to remember that. For a long time.”

To attach meaning to such events is always the challenge and often a fool’s pursuit. This wasn’t redemption for Canada, or the end of a drought, or victory over a hated foe.

What this was, in retrospect, was a national drama similar in many ways to ’72, played out over 14 days at the greatest hockey tournament ever held. Over that fortnight, Canada celebrated and agonized on a shift-by-shift basis. New stars emerged. Toews, for example, was seen as a spare part coming in, a player “who might check a bit,” according to Yzerman, and emerged with a heightened reputation in the sport and the country.

A devastating loss to the U.S. in the preliminaries was the turning point. It gave Canada an extra game against Germany to “sort things out,” as Babcock said, and to make a controversial goaltending change to Luongo that proved to be the correct one.

There were no great lessons learned. Just greatness in one athlete confirmed.

Of course.