The following will help to prepare you for Friday’s nonsensical jobs data.
Trade well and follow the trend, not the so-called “experts.”
COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America.
ABBOTT: Good Subject. Terrible Times. It's 9%.
COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?
ABBOTT: No, that's 16%.
COSTELLO: You just said 9%.
ABBOTT: 9% Unemployed.
COSTELLO: Right 9% out of work.
ABBOTT: No, that's 16%.
COSTELLO: Okay, so it's 16% unemployed.
ABBOTT: No, that's 9%...
COSTELLO: WAIT A MINUTE. Is it 9% or 16%?
ABBOTT: 9% are unemployed. 16% are out of work.
COSTELLO: IF you are out of work you are unemployed.
ABBOTT: No, you can't count the "Out of Work" as the unemployed. You have to look for work to be unemployed.
COSTELLO: BUT THEY ARE OUT OF WORK!!!
ABBOTT: No, you miss my point.
COSTELLO: What point?
ABBOTT: Someone who doesn't look for work can't be counted with those who look for work. It wouldn't be fair.
COSTELLO: To whom?
ABBOTT: The unemployed.
COSTELLO: But they are ALL out of work.
ABBOTT: No, the unemployed are actively looking for work... Those who are out of work stopped looking. They gave up. And, if you give up, you are no longer in the ranks of the unemployed.
COSTELLO: So if you're off the unemployment roles, that would count as less unemployment?
ABBOTT: Unemployment would go down. Absolutely!
COSTELLO: The unemployment just goes down because you don't look for work?
ABBOTT: Absolutely it goes down. That's how you get to 9%. Otherwise, it would be 16%. You don't want to read about 16% unemployment do ya?
COSTELLO: That would be frightening.
ABBOTT: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Wait, I got a question for you. That means there are two ways to bring down the unemployment number?
ABBOTT: Two ways is correct.
COSTELLO: Unemployment can go down if someone gets a job?
ABBOTT: Correct.
COSTELLO: And unemployment can also go down if you stop looking for a job?
ABBOTT: Bingo.
COSTELLO: So there are two ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier of the two is to just stop looking for work.
ABBOTT: Now you're thinking like an economist.
COSTELLO: I don't even know what the hell I just said!
And now you know why Obama's unemployment figures are improving!
Friday, March 9, 2012
USA Employment Numbers Going Up Or Down?
Monday, February 27, 2012
G20 close their wallets
G20 close their wallets
The chase by Marty Cej:
The dialogue in last night's winner for Best Picture at the Oscars was more riveting than what emerged from the G20 meetings over the weekend. Finance ministers from the world's "leading economies" told Europe that it must put up more of its own money if it hopes to get more cash from the rest of the world. The statement was a relatively straightforward exhortation to Germany to drop its opposition to a bigger bailout fund and to contribute more for the benefit of the union. The finance ministers and central bankers who attended the meeting – setting the groundwork for a conference of G20 leaders in the weeks ahead – told Europe that they would be willing to throw more money at the IMF but that the IMF cannot be a substitute for a stronger, effective firewall and that the IMF can't move forward anyway without a clear plan for Europe by Europe. In short, the week begins where last week ended.
European stocks are lower and U.S. stock index futures are pointing to early declines in the wake of the G20's communiqué. Investors are also pointing to the rally in crude oil as an excuse for Monday's declines in Asian and European stocks, though the oil rally started back at the beginning of October. Oil is up more than 40 percent since October 4 and needs to stay near the top of our news agenda. Mike Mazar, energy services analyst at BMO Capital Markets, joins us at 10:10 am Eastern to talk about the best opportunities in the sector.
Warren Buffett sent his annual letter out to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders this weekend, apologizing for getting the bottom of the housing market wrong and insisting that the board had found the right guy to lead the company once he steps down, only Buffett wouldn't name the Next in Line. Buffett continues to insist that stocks are the way to go and that they will perform better than bonds, gold or any other investment this year. He also says single-family homes are relatively cheap and recommends that first-time buyers step into the market now and lock in a 30-year mortgage for next-to-nothing. This week sees a raft of housing data, starting with today's pending home sales for January, then the Case-Shiller U.S. home price index Wednesday and mortgage applications due out Thursday.
Today marks the beginning of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Among the keynote speakers this week are the CEOs or Chairmen of Nokia, Cisco, Vodafone, Spring Nextel, Google, Ford Motor Co., Ebay, Best Buy, China Mobile, Alcatel Lucent and Deutsche Telekom. Among our focuses this week is the relevance of Research In Motion, as in, is it relevant any more.
Bank of Montreal kicks of Canadian bank earnings season tomorrow, followed by RBC and TD on Thursday.
Today also marks the trade deadline for the NHL. Fingers are crossed in the BNN newsroom that the Toronto Maple Leafs will be traded for an NHL hockey team.
Friday, February 24, 2012
TSX Leader Board
| Symbol | Name | Last Trade | Change | Volume | Related Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UUU.TO | URANIUM ONE INC. | 3.31 |  0.10 (3.12%) | 4,781,129 | Chart, Profile, More |
| FBK.TO | FIBREK INC. | 1.24 |  0.05 (3.88%) | 3,512,100 | Chart, Profile, More |
| BBD-B.TO | BOMBARDIER INC., CL. B, SV | 4.83 | 0.04 (0.82%) | 2,597,310 | Chart, Profile, More |
| SU.TO | SUNCOR ENERGY INC. | 36.90 | 0.51 (1.40%) | 2,064,528 | Chart, Profile, More |
| AIM.TO | GROUPE AEROPLAN INC | 12.28 | 0.18 (1.49%) | 1,513,564 | Chart, More |
| CLL.TO | CONNACHER OIL | 1.08 | 0.04 (3.85%) | 1,309,190 | Chart, Profile, More |
| IMG.TO | IAMGOLD CORP | 16.27 | 1.23 (7.03%) | 1,097,478 | Chart, Profile, More |
| ELD.TO | ELDORADO GOLD | 15.11 | 0.25 (1.68%) | 1,059,398 | Chart, Profile, More |
| DHX.TO | DHX MEDIA LTD | 0.99 | 0.02 (1.98%) | 1,019,214 | Chart, Profile, More |
| CNQ.TO | CDN NATURAL RES | 38.07 | 0.37 (0.96%) | 1,004,849 | Chart, Profile, More |
| LUN.TO | LUNDIN MINING CORP. | 5.15 | 0.08 (1.58%) | 975,628 | Chart, Profile, More |
| MFC.TO | MANULIFE FIN | 12.49 | 0.02 (0.16%) | 917,612 | Chart, Profile, More |
| DML.TO | DENISON MINES CORP. | 1.96 | 0.00 (0.00%) | 902,504 | Chart, Profile, More |
| RMP.TO | RMP ENERGY INC | 2.52 | 0.01 (0.40%) | 889,885 | Chart, More |
| CNE.TO | CANACOL ENERGY LTD | 1.05 | 0.01 (0.96%) | 756,575 | Chart, More |
| YRI.TO | YAMANA GOLD INC | 17.73 | 0.17 (0.95%) | 737,536 | Chart, Profile, More |
| PDN.TO | PALADIN ENERGY LTD. | 2.04 | 0.01 (0.49%) | 706,866 | Chart, Profile, More |
| BXE.TO | BELLATRIX EXPLORATION LTD | 5.37 | 0.08 (1.51%) | 704,790 | Chart, Profile, More |
| K.TO | KINROSS GOLD CORP. | 11.23 | 0.19 (1.66%) | 660,641 | Chart, More |
| TLM.TO | TALISMAN ENERGY INC. | 14.15 | 0.10 (0.70%) | 637,169 | Chart, Profile, More |
| G.TO | GOLDCORP INC | 48.46 | 0.89 (1.80%) | 608,628 | Chart, Profile, More |
| SPB.TO | SUPERIOR PLUS CORP. | 7.16 | 0.26 (3.77%) | 577,415 | Chart, Profile, More |
| L.TO | LOBLAW CO | 34.81 | 0.44 (1.25%) | 549,205 | Chart, Profile, More |
| GUY.TO | GUYANA GOLDFIELDS INC | 7.13 | 1.27 (15.12%) | 537,224 | Chart, Profile, More |
| LAM.TO | LARAMIDE RESOURCES LTD. | 1.06 | 0.09 (9.28%) | 522,247 | Chart, Profile, More |
Thursday, February 23, 2012
BNK-T, BNK-L Mark Hodgson VP Talks To Canaccord's Pescod
AN INTERVIEW WITH MARK HODGSONVP BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTWITH BANKERS PETROLEUM(As of February 15, 2012It was a while ago that we were offto Albania and saw first-hand thesize of Bankers Petroleum’s heavy oilproject there. The first sight isawe-inspiring as oil is everywhere(on the roads, the ditches) andthere are hundreds upon hundredsof old Chinese and Russian der-ricks as far as the eye can see.
Inbetween the antique Russian andChinese technology is new equip-ment helping to clean up a bit ofthe mess and hopefully more effi-ciently extract the oil.Time to get caught up as a new resource and production re-port was just released and it brings up a few questions…Wego to VP Business Development Mark Hodgson for an update:
David Pescod: Mark, this production number for the pastquarter of just over 14,000 barrels a day is a bit of a disap-pointment to followers of the company. We’ve heard rumorsof problems getting people with the right skills and equip-ment over there. What should we know about that and howsoon do you expect to see 20,000 barrels a day?Mark
Hodgson: With 5 drilling rigs operating full time we arenow able to drill 10 horizontal wells per month which meansproduction is certainly on its way. In 2010 and 2011 we grewproduction by 50% and 30% respectively, and we are target-ing similar growth in 2012 and over the next several years.Skilled industry professionals are in fact difficult to findwithin the country so we recruit heavily from Alberta for bothour technical and operations teams.
Competition, as you know, is fierce for skilled heavy oil workers within the prov-ince, but we do feel that the combination of the opportunity towork on rotation in Southern Europe, the excitement of work-ing with such a work class asset, and also the options, allmake for an attractive employment package, and that is re-flected in the growth we have seen in quality staff over thepast few years. Equipment challenges relate mostly to leadtime as most of our supplies are based in other countries.That said, the proximity to the coast makes it quite easy tobring equipment in and out of the country.
DP: The reserve/resource report bounces out numberslike 200 million and 400 million barrels - numbers that mostjunior or intermediate oil companies would only dream of.But for the followers of Bankers, we dream of billions.What should we know about the numbers and how much ispotentially recoverable?
MH: That is the great thing about this field David, not onlydo we keep finding new applications of existing westerntechnology that enhance the recovery, but we also keepfinding more oil! As of this year we see an incremental 1billion barrels of contingent resource that we can begin toconvert into reserves, and the best part is, it is all extract-able using off the shelf technology from heavy operationshere in Canada.
DP: Abby Badwi and members of the senior mgmt teambrought Rally Petroleum in Egypt to a certain point andthen sold it. The suggestion by many is that a big com-pany, sooner or later, will take over Bankers and with big-ger resources, will be able to increase production quicker.Where does that thought sit currently?
MH: I think Abby puts it best when he refers to this field asthe field of dreams. “Build it and they will come” he says,and he is right. Patos-Marinza is the biggest onshore oilfield in Europe, and when developed to peak production itwill be one of the largest suppliers of heavy oil to the re-gion for years to come. We are certainly making amazingstrides in terms of delineating the prize, but we still see somuch potential. The big players will come eventually, andwhen they do, we will be looking out for the best interest ofour shareholders, be it a corporate sale, a joint venture, ortaking more time to see the proper value recognition re-flected in the transaction. In the meantime we are buildingthis company like we will be there for the next 25 years.
DP: Albania being in Europe may have issues these days.Any concerns being in Europe that we should be aware of?
MH: Albania is a member of NATO and has applied to theEU, however it has a very isolated economy with the pri-mary industry being farming. It has very little sovereigndebt and as such has stayed out of the kind of troubles wesee elsewhere in the region. Investment in the country isexpanding at a rapid rate as are government tax revenuesthrough the reemergence of industries like the oil sector.
We feel lucky to be in such a stable region, and are pleased with the forward thinking of the Albanian govern-ment with their open policy towards foreign investment.
DP: Shell have just farmed into some of the exploration blocks of your neighbor in Albania, PetroManas. What doesthis mean for Albania and for Bankers?
MH: It is obvious great news to see Shell back in the country. Shell was the first company to license our Block F ex-ploration concession. We wish the new partnership every success in their high impact exploration campaign just tothe east of Patos-Marinza. For Albania, this is a significant event because it really paves the way for more interestfrom other large players. For Bankers this will definitely be a relationship we look to build on, be it through partner-ship on gas usage, or potentially larger infrastructure projects.
DP: What are your thoughts on what next for oil prices and a stock pick that wouldn’t be a conflict of interest?
MH: Most people are aware of the key factors effecting oil prices in general over the past few months. First is tighten-ing supply from OPEC (by that I mean that Saudi and Libyan production increases seem to have been absorbed by themarketplace), you can add to that the risk of a supply shock around some sort of escalation of conflict in Iran.
Second is the effect of the Euro zone crisis on global growth and subsequent demand. Third is the how a US election year andresults will effect foreign policy and impact points 1 and 2!From where we sit, we also keep a close eye on the WTI-Brent differential because all of our sales are priced off Brent.
All indications from new production coming on near Cushing seems to point toward that differential staying strong inthe months to come. It makes what we are doing in Europe all the more attractive.As for a stock pick, I’d have to say Porto Energy.
Joe Ash and the team have got some great exciting wells coming up,and with the shares down to $0.15 from their $1.00 IPO, the risk/reward is more compelling than ever.
DP: Thank you very much Mark!
