Vortex Resources Corp. announced this morning that it has retained the services of Trenergy Development LLC to assist the company’s development plans in West Texas as well as assess its options in the extensive Barnett Shale property where it is currently conducting due diligence.

Mr. Jason Lacewell, the principal of Trenergy, has extensive expertise in field development, with a particular interest in the Barnett shale. Trenergy has more than a decade of supervisory experience in petroleum production, completions, drilling and field operations, and brings a wealth of knowledge to Vortex.

Mr. Lacewell has had a successful career with Pacesetter Energy, Inc. where he led a group developing a $125 million Permian Basin program, while also managing Pacesetter’s non operated Barnett Shale interests with Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN). He has also managed 125 MMCFD gas production and later led the sale of $2.2 billion of

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When people ask me if I think crude oil is going to $50 or $150, I nod sagely and say: “Yes, probably.” I’m not being flip. I’m simply giving both the short-term and the long-term timeframes. Short-term, crude oil is probably heading lower, even though it’s nearly 60% off its highs. The last chance to hold the line on oil prices was at OPEC’s emergency meeting. And the oil cartel choked like a cat on a hairball. They cut 1.5 million barrels per day of production when they needed to cut about 3 million barrels per day. The OPEC meeting was the last obstacle in the way of deflationary forces that are driving oil prices lower in the short-term. Long-term, there are forces that should drive oil much higher. And one of ...

The analysts said they picked their list based on attributes like low leverage, dividend yield, high net income margins and high free cash yields. J.P. Morgan analysts also looked for companies that they believe will outperform in a weakening global economy. Those companies would be able to maintain pricing power, market dominance, and perform counter-cyclically.

Here’s their list, which can be tracked at:

http://trackthepros.com/stocks/category/1846

3M  Baxter International  Colgate  CA Inc. Devon Energy  General Mills  Gilead Sciences  Google  Hewlett-Packard  McDonald’s Corp  Merck and Co  Monsanto  Nucor  Philip Morris  Union Pacific  Visa

      

BP Capital ManagementBP Capital Management | Boon Pickens HoldingsThis post is being written as part of HedgeFundBlogger.com's Investment Securities Tool which analyzes the holdings of hedge fund managers.With all the commotion surrounding energy these days, it never hurts to track an energy focused hedge fund ran by none other than Boone Pickens. If you are unfamiliar with Pickens, he is an energy maverick and his fund returned 300% in 2005. He is a big advocate of Peak Oil Theory and runs an energy-centric hedge fund based in Dallas, Texas. Although he typically holds numerous positions in oil, he is also big on alternative energy (except ethanol) and has numerous holdings there as well. He most recently advocated a large natural gas position and has additionally made a big bet on ...

The recent rise and fall of the commodities market has been giving many oil and gas exploration and development companies issues to deal with. Just when they felt everything was going their way, the bottom dropped out. Most energy companies were left scrambling, but some companies are lucky enough to be able to play both sides of the equation. Companies that can benefit on both sides of the pricing equation can offer cost savings when prices are down and higher volumes when prices are up. If they can be found, a nice even profit could be in the offing.

Ecosphere Technologies Inc., a water engineering and services company, works to provide water reclamation and remediation services primarily to the natural gas exploration and development markets. The company has announced three mobile water reclamation projects in the last quarter, each with the intent of reducing well closing and associated environmental costs.

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JayHawk Energy (JYHW) is a development stage crude oil and natural gas company primarily exploring for the aforementioned resources in Colorado, Kansas and the surrounding areas. JayHawk owns interest in the Uniontown project covering 35,000 gross acres of non-producing coalbed methane natural gas reserves located in Bourbon County, Kansas. The company also shares 12 miles of common boundary with natural gas giant, Devon Energy, in Kansas.

The land shared with Devon is roughly equivalent to 35,000 acres and is estimated to have as much as 78 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Devon, the largest independent gas producer in the U.S. Questa Engineering Corp., said that on the high end, annual revenue for the 35,000 acres owned by JayHawk could be almost $395 million, and that was using a much lower price for natural gas because the assessment was done in 2005. Although natural gas is in abundant supply in

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Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy List Removals and Additions can be tracked at:

http://trackthepros.com/

9/5

1. Goldman Sachs removed EOG Resources, Inc. from its Conviction Buy List. The firm is maintaining its Buy rating but lowers lowers its price target from $181 to $140. 2. Goldman Sachs removed ConocoPhillips from its Conviction Buy List. The firm is maintaining their Buy rating on ConocoPhillips but cut their price target from $126 to $105.

3.Goldman Sachs added Devon Energy  to Conviction Buy list. The firm maintained their Buy rating, but cut their price target from $190 to $160.

4. Goldman Sachs added Quest Software Inc. to their Conviction Buy List. The firm is maintaining their Buy rating on the stock

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There’s nothing slated on the economic calendar for today that will move stocks and with the earnings season winding down, the only two noteworthy companies that are reporting earnings, are Lowes (LOW) and Trina Solar (TSL). So the markets will have to look for other drivers.

We expect oil to be a major factor and we are looking for some near term bounce in the price of crude oil, which may results in stocks trading down. Even if oil does end up dramatically lower in the next three to six months, the fact of the matter is, it won’t go down in a straight line. So look for that bounce and look for oil related stocks to move up nicely in the short term, on an up move in crude oil prices.

Some of the oil related stocks that we like based on a very near term bounce in oil prices

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During the last several years, Devon has been selectively trimming its portfolio. The largest divesture occurred in 2005, when the company sold 14% of its proven reserves for more than $2.3 billion. Devon used the proceeds to repurchase shares and pay down debt. The firm also recently announced it was exiting West Africa and Egypt, which accounts for about 5% of the firm’s proven reserve base. As a result of the all these sales, Devon now has a highly concentrated but eclectic group of assets.

At recent prices, Morningstar analyst Justin Perucki, CFA expects Devon Energy stock to return 31% over the next three years, which is more than the market seems to be expecting.

Track justin’s picks at:

http://trackthepros.com/categories.php?category_id=1368

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I don't own these 2 names directly but do own peers, and these are bellweathers for their sectors so I thought I'd post them. One thing to note today - despite great numbers, the stocks are not reacting. Hence, we could be prone for a pullback shortly in these names. When stocks do not react to great news, that is a potential change in character, just like when stocks shake off bad news and go up. The charts in "commodities" despite some pullback, are still quite overextended and yesterday's call of Goldman $150-$200 oil [Goldman Sachs: Gasoline Not Driving Oil Price - Oil Going to $150-$200] would be the perfect catalyst to mark a near term top... Despite my Kool Aid infusion I am still quite bearish and I view this period akin to Sep/Oct 2007 when we partook in the foolishness to make money but ...