Thursday, October 28, 2010

Stocks to watch today

*Gunson Resources (GUN) - Very good volumes traded the last 3 days with levels not seen since January this year.  Buyers have been strong and the stock closed at $0.12 yesterday after hitting a high of $0.14.  GUN hired a corporate advisor a few months ago to assist with seeking offtake partners and funding for it's flagship Coburn Zircon Project.  Trading suggests a deal may be around the corner.

*Curnamona Energy (CUY) - Again, another stock with volumes traded that havent been seen for a long time.  The stock has come up from $0.18 close on Friday to $0.23 yesterday and has a tight share register.  I'm unsure what is pushing this uranium junior.

*African Energy (AFR) - I've been following this one for a few weeks now.  There's been plenty of big buyers around for some time now and it appears that the company is getting a re-rating due to it's Sese coal project in Botswana, that or theres quite a few speculators getting on board in the lead up to drill results to be released soon for this project.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Strategic Energy Resources, great exposure to Graphite

When you hear of graphite you immediately think of the material that they use to make pencils, right?  Graphite has many other traditional applications in that it is used for steelmaking and is consumed for refractories, brake linings, clutches and lubricants.  This is all a little boring thus far however the exciting part is that the global demand for Graphite is increasing as it becomes more utilised in new age applications such as fuel cells, semi conductors and nuclear energy.  Other applications also include lithium ion batteries for electric and hybrid cars.

Strategic Energy Resources (SER) is one stock with exposure to Graphite through it's Uley project in South Australia.  The company through former management and under a different name have had Uley project for some time however due to low prices for graphite the project has been under care and maintenance since 1993.  This is about to change.  Demand for graphite is increasing and the mineral has been noted as one of 14 by the European Union as critical as a result of it only being produced by a small amount of countries.  China produces 80% of the world's graphite and recently introduced taxes to curb export of the mineral.  Sound familiar to rare earths?

Strategic Energy Resources recently made a non price sensitive announcement to the market on 05/10/2010 detailing much of this information in the form of a project update.  The market took a day to respond but did push the share price to a high of $0.057 on 06/10/2010.  Since then we've seen the stock hit a high of $0.079 on 18/10/2010.  The share price has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride but it's only been in the last few days has the volume really dropped off and the share price steadied so maybe now is probably the time to accumulate.

Catalysts for the share price over the next couple of months include the possibility of a joint venture with Japanese companies and thus the recommencement of production.  Shares in Strategic Energy Resources last traded at $0.062 (12:30PM).

Monday, October 25, 2010

Counter bid for Sphere Minerals looking slim

I've posted a couple of times on the takeover bid of Sphere Minerals (SPH) by an Xstrata subsidiary (Sidero Pty Ltd) and the chance of a bidding war occurring.

Unfortunately the chances of this happening are fading and those that are holding may need to seriously consider selling on market above $2.50 or accepting the takeover at $2.50 per share.  Risks on holding this one are increasing.  Management for Sphere Minerals signed a 'no shop, no talk' clause which means that they cannot solicit any other offers (without paying a break fee) whilst Sidero Pty Ltd has extended the takeover offer period twice after acceptances have been slow rather than increasing the offer to encourage acceptances.  The other problem is that Sin-Tang, the possible other bidder, has accumulated a stake over 10% which means Sidero Pty Ltd will have to drop it's 90% acceptance condition.  Rumours are that Sin-Tang is going to announce some form of alternative proposal rather then counter bidding and the market tends to agree with the shares now starting to trade below $2.50, something which has not occurred for some time now.  One thing is for sure, without the bid of $2.50 the share price will drop.

Macquarie Harbour Mining Broker Report (updated)

  • RB Milestone Group have issued an updated research report on Macquarie Harbour Mining (MHM)
  • Report dated 21/10/2010
  • Target: $3.92 (previously $3)
  • MHM last trade: $1.25 (22/10/2010)
  • Research report link

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Time out

Moving house.  It's a real joy.  Unfortunately I'm going to be a bit time poor for the next week or so whilst I move into a new apartment.  As a result I wont have too much time to follow the market or conduct any research, so the posts will be few and far between.  I haven't forgotton about my readers so do drop by every so often!  See you again soon.

Toro Energy trending up

Uranium stocks are ones that have been out of favour for a while now.  The big boys such as Paladin Energy (PDN) and Energy Resources (ERA) have been trending downwards and sideways respectively whilst uranium spot and contract prices have also been doing the same.  Despite this something appears to be going on behind the scenes with Toro Energy (TOE) if the trading in its shares are anything to go on.

I briefly mentioned Toro Energy in a post at the end of August and was impressed with an article that covered the company in the Australian Financial Review.  At the time the shares were trading at $0.099.  Since this time they have bobbled up and down however trading in the last couple of days has caught my eye.  At 3pm AEST the shares are up $0.015 to $0.13 on volume of 13.7 million and these kind of volumes haven't been seen since January this year.  I believe some form of good news is around the corner.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

BC Iron Research Report

  • Argonaut Securities has issued a research report on BC Iron (BCI)
  • Report dated 29/09/2010
  • Valuation: $2.90
  • BCI last trade: $1.925 (05/10/2010)
  • Research report link