Athabasca Oil Sands Corp (ATH.TO)

Has never been particularly positive on this one. They have a lot of time to put in before the oil starts to come out of the ground. They also seem to be on the edge of the cliff with their financing from China. There are lots of other companies that are in production and showing earnings and giving a yield.

He is a little nervous on names like this. The potential is there. The reservoir looks attractive and reserves look attractive, but you have funding issues. It is not a producing mainstream player in the oil sands yet, so you take a huge amount of risk. At best this would be a Hold.

(Top Pick Nov 28/13, Up 2.47%) First there was fear they would not get the money and that put pressure on the stock, then the financing came in and a new set of sellers emerged.

Has a $10-$11 NAV. Had a Put with China that came to fruition recently, which guarantees financing. There is a rumour that Encana (ECA-T) would come in and be their joint venture partner in the Duvernay. There is lots of value here, but it needs one more catalyst. He has a small amount in a resource fund that he manages.

Owns very little. They have new management this morning. They got this cash from Petro China which makes them less risky. Exposure to oil sands and Duvernay. Likes it. Might own more in the future.

They are finally getting their $1.2 billion payment from Petro China, so they will have the money to spend on the rest of their oil sands properties and the Duverney play, of which both are promising, but right now the production base is very small and they need to spend a lot of money. Thinks they have a lot of upside in terms of their reserve/resource production. It really depends on management to execute. Higher risk, so it should be a smaller position in your portfolio.

The potential is tremendous, but you have a corruption scandal with Petro China. For this reason alone it is a hold. It is a lottery ticket. Nothing fundamentally wrong with the name and the strategy, but this is a huge risk that is impossible to quantify.

(A Top Pick July 18/13. Down 4.42%.) Still waiting for the $1.3 billion to come through from Petro China for the Dover oil sands. The longer the time goes on, the less people believe the money is actually coming in. Even without that money coming in, he feels the stock is worth more than where it is trading currently. Light oil assets alone are worth $7-$8.

There are so many better places to play in the oil and gas area. Don`t hang your hat on them getting the money from Petro China.

(A Top Pick July 30/13. Down 1.79%.) Had been on the verge of getting $1.3 billion from a Chinese company, and this is still dragging on. The $1.3 billion is now going to be $1.23 billion. There have also been recent headlines that some Chinese executives that were involved have been arrested. He would rather invest in others. If you own, you could get a gap up if they eventually get the proceeds, which he thinks they will. Continue to Hold.

If you own, you have to stick around to see if the Put that is about to get exercised, actually happens. There has been some chatter in the street lately about things going on in China and if Petro China going to put cash back in this company’s hands. If that doesn’t happen, that is a bad thing, but he thinks it probably will happen.

This is quite complicated, and she wouldn’t purchase at these levels. There were some events that needed to occur to decrease the risk. They didn’t occur, and she wants the most minimal amount of risk.

Not an investment he made. It is a turnaround story. Key catalysts you are waiting for are positive Duverney results. Should get funds through the exercise of an option the Chinese had on some of their assets.

Has not been reacting to oil or gas rally. They are 50/50 oil and gas. There has been some disagreement as to how much the company is valued at. The company does not have a good history of hitting timelines or production estimates. It’s just not a name he needs to own.

(Top Pick Jul 18/13, Up 14.02) Quite disappointed in the performance. Market was expecting a deal done on their light oil properties and that has yet to happen.