A Comment -- General Comments From an Expert (A Commentary)

Sold their holdings recently because of a disappointing 1st half and not sure how the 2nd half is going to look.

In the mining sector, they've always had good assets, but have not developed them well or have had poor management. Not a fan. If you're owning for a takeover, it's been for sale for a very long time with very little action, even in this good commodity cycle.

(A Top Pick Oct 18/04. Up 40%.) Now absorbed by Magna.

Brascan (BNN.LV.A-T) has given one more month for a potential buyer to come forward. Looking at past results, you should assume that there will be no deal. There are better long term opportunities elsewhere.

Incredibly cheap. Caught up in the bid by Ming Metals and somehow its going to work its way out. Making tons of money.

Has gone up significantly the last couple of months, so probably not a great time to buy it. Has had 3 quarters were production has fallen or just remained flat.

Has a big play in the Pembina area. Has a problem with sour gas which has created delays. Moving into the next phase. Has some decent upside ahead of it.

Cyclical in nature. Will go through tremendous upswings where cash coming in seems unending and then all of a sudden prices come down. If you are a bull and believe in the extended China demand, then it might be a good hold. If you own, wait for Brascan to sell it.

Had a wonderful upleg in '03 and is now correcting. When the stock pulls back to around $18 and finds support, that would be a good place to buy.

Better growth prospects than some of the larger caps. Looking for 50% production growth this year and 30% next year.

Both Noranda and Falconbridge are the cheapest on a Price To Cash Flow basis using this year's and next year's cash flow. There has been a cap on the stock due to the Ming Metals negotiations awaiting some conclusion. Feels the stock is worth near $28. Still buying for new clients.

Natural gas. Relatively long reserve life and a good yield.

It's principle asset is Expedia along with hotel.com. They are spinning out the travel portion as a stand alone company. Feels that business is worth $15 a share. The remainder of the assets is worth $10. There's $5 of net cash, so the company's worth $30.

A pretty good story. Very solid management. Held back a bit by pipe problems (can't get the gas out of the ground) and processing problems. Feels it has room to move up.

Expects more consolidations and mergers in the mining sectors.