St. Lawrence LowlandsThe markets have been going down the past few days so it is not surprising some of the speculative gas stocks in the lower St. Lawrence (like cqm, jnx, qec, gmr, ati, pcq) have been getting hit hard. Personally, I think they will go even lower than they are now. However, to say that these stocks are dogs or the area is poor is (imho) completely ludicrous. If you read the QEC announcement that stated they hit 12 million cubic feet per day over their 23 day flow rate test.....or the JNX/CQM announcement that they have 8.67 TCF on one permit.....or the original news release (from April 2008) that Gastem/Forest had reserves of 4.2 TCF in the ground (2.7 TCF recoverable)...then you know the depressed prices of these stocks are the result of a depressed market and a low gas price, not a reflection of the potential of this area. Look at the news release by Gastem - 3 horizontal holes and 1 vertical hole drilled by the end of this year......that isn't cheap. Horizontal holes are three times as expensive as vertical holes. That is like the equivalent of a 10 hole drill program so they obviously have some faith in the area or they wouldn't be taking on such an ambitious drill program. My humble opinion is let all the scared money leave their shares behind at a great discount and then back the truck up. If the shares are cheap, your risk is minimal and you can always dump them on a positive news release. However, if you are patient then pick the shares up cheap, let these companies complete their drill programs and reap the rewards down the road. If a decent investment earning 10.2% takes 7 years to double (the rule of 72), then think of it this way....do you think in the next 7 years the lower St. Lawrence will be developed enough to double your initial investment. I believe it will far exceed that modest goal. As long as people want to have a warm house in winter and fire up their barbeque in summer (and many more practical applications) then we are going to need natural gas. If you don't have time to watch your investment grow then go to a casino and take your chances keeping in mind the house always has a built-in edge. Good luck to all the longs who like this area and are willing to be patient.
Tbonepickens