The following appeared in June’s Business Diary Botswana:

Private equity (PE) has long been considered a viable way to achieve risk-adjusted returns that exceed those possible in the public equity markets (though per University of Chicago scholar Steven Kaplan, during the three decades ending in 2005, the average private equity firm’s annual return was no better than that of Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index). Accordingly, institutional investors include private equity (or even funds of funds) in order to concurrently achieve optimal diversification and risk premia. And while such “limited partnership interests” demand that investors lock-in their contributions for an appreciable time period, such that general partners can commit to any number of strategies, in recent years the once highly illiquid asset class has given way to a vibrant secondary market available for sellers of private equity assets, which in turn has spread risk and further fueled

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Recently, Fundamental Research announced that it has initiated coverage on Enterprise Oilfield Group Inc. (TSX: E) with a report entitled “Initiating Coverage - Small Diameter Pipeline Construction and Utility Infrastructure & Directional Drilling Company in Alberta.” The full report is now available on their website: www.researchfrc.com.

In the 25 page report, the firm provides an overview of the company and its history, price forecasts for oil, analysis of Alberta and its economy, overview of management team, financial analysis, and a valuation of the company. Fundamental Research Analyst Brian Tang, CFA believes the company is a “Buy” with average risk. He affirmed the company is significantly undervalued, establishing a fair value estimate of $1.15.

Let us hear your thoughts: Enterprise Oilfield Group Inc. Message Board

Highlighted stocks include Medifast, Inc. (...

It is estimated that China will spend $42 billion to host the Olympics. To put that into perspective, that is almost three times what Greece spent on the Athens Olympics and roughly the cost of Hurricane Katrina reconstruction. That infrastructure build out has certainly been a major boost to the Chinese economy, but China plans on spending even more on the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai and the Sichuan earthquake reconstruction is expect to cost $140 billion. The Chinese building boom is going to last for a lot longer.

I don't see why all the hoopla - it seems like a relatively minor purchase at $600M but the market is loving it, pushing Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) up nearly 9%.Cabot Oil & Gas Corp (COG) said on Wednesday it has agreed to pay $602.8 million for producing properties, leasehold acreage and a gathering infrastructure from a private party in East Texas. The acquired acreage lies near Cabot Oil's existing property and will enhance its development of the Pettet, Travis Peak and Cotton Valley formations, the company said. The tract includes 25,000 gross acres in the Minden area of East Texas. The company said it will finance the deal through a combination of debt and common equity. I continue to not own enough of this name...Long Cabot Oil & Gas in fund; no personal position...

My recent post about Plum Creek Timber, client holding, was re-run on Seeking Alpha and a reader left the name of a stock I had never heard of before; Timberwest Forest (TWF-UN.TO in Canada and TWTUF on the pink sheets).Timberwest is one of these Canada listed products that ties in with some sort of resource and pays an enormous dividend, the hydro funds fall into this category.The chart goes back a year and compares Timberwest with Plum Creek Timber and Macquarie Infrastructure (MIC), which is also a client holding. Timberwest and Plum Creek are obviously both timber companies and Timberwest and MIC are both not so simply constructed businesses with high dividend payouts.An investor who bought MIC or Timberwest at the wrong time may not have necessarily known that this sort of stock would ...

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