Portfolio review of the week 3rd April 2010

Falkland Island Oil Explorers  -Another bullish week on the markets was tempered by the collapse in the Falkland Island oil drillers on Monday as Desire Petroleum (DES) was forced to issue a premature news release on the progress of the Liz well following a report in the Sunday Times that reservoir quality was poor. Another update from Desire on Thursday afternoon indicated that drilling was continuing to greater depths after hydrocarbon shows with  final report due late next week. It seems that there is a significant amount of gas (yet to be confirmed) but oil seems to be elusive to date and given the geographical location and the current world gas price this is clearly not an advantageous position. Desire's share collapsed 50% on Monday to around 50p and have held steady for the rest of the week. Fortunately a holding in Desire was sold the previous week. Position's in Falklands Oil and Gas (FOGL) and Rockhopper (RKH) fell through stop losses on Monday as sentiment turned against the explorers. However, having stabilised later in the day I bought back both as the geological structures are unrelated to Desire's prospect and Rockhopper' s well is due to be drilled next by the Ocean Guardian rig with spudding in early April.

GW Pharma (GWP) - GW Pharma continues to drift downwards following the positive news on Sativex a couple of weeks ago. Things are expected to be quiet until May onwards when an update on national approval from the UK and Spanish regulatory authorities would be expected. The interims are also in May and news on other regional licensing deals outside North America and Europe would be expected as well as the U.S. FDA cancer pain application wit Otsuka Corp.. I sold around 2/3 of my holding on the news and bought back some at 115p. I am monitoring this share closely for a further buying opportunities on a slide back below 110p because May and June news should drive this to well over 130p.

Norseman Gold (NGL) - A position was started in this Australian gold company on Monday. See the previous article, http://contrarianinvestoruk.blogspot.com/2010/03/norseman-gold-looks-solid-australian.html.

Coal of Africa (CZA) - The Coal of Africa position was increased this week as Morgan Stanley increased their share target to 200p  (current 145p) and a full UK market listing is due.

BHP Billiton (BLT) - A contrarian short on BHP Billiton was placed on Thursday morning following a week of strong rises as the rise in commodity stocks seems overcooked.

Genzyme (GENZ) - The position was closed on the rebound to $53.

Micron (MU) - Short term trades at just over $10.2 were made and closed before the quarterly earnings at $10.8