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Investing in energy ventures has traditionally been associated as having greater potential returns, with corresponding risks, than any other type of investment. The high-risk/high-potential of certain categories of these ventures (commonly referred to as “wildcats”) drove investment for many years. There are many such opportunities available today. However, the Fund’s oil and gas investment strategy is to focus on projects where risk dollars are substantially moderated and returns of 20% to 40% are the expected norm.

Risk and at-risk dollars are moderated by investing in projects fitting three categories. In order of decreasing risk, these are:

1. Possible Reserves: Known, productive zones within a field where additional reserves may be separated from proved reserves by faulting. These types of projects are of significant interest among independent energy companies and investors because geological data from existing wells is available to aid in developing the geological hypothesis. Both risk and at-risk dollars are moderated because the existing geological evidence dramatically increases the probability of success.

2. Probable Reserves: These type of projects involve re-entering abandoned oil and natural gas wells to test potentially productive natural gas zones bypassed when natural gas prices were under $0.75 per thousand cubic feet (MCF). Natural gas is now over $5.00 per MCF and is expected to increase in value as the push for cleaner burning, non-imported fuels grows stronger. Risk is moderated because geological data from the original well is available to develop the geological hypothesis, thus increasing the likelihood for a successful new well.

3. Proven Reserves: The most actively pursued subcategory today. After a discovery well locates hydrocarbons in commercial quantities, a multi-well drilling program to exploit newly discovered reserves commences. The exciting part of these projects is that in many cases, the major oil companies have already discovered the field, yet it fails to meet their minimum size criteria (For example: Large oil companies usually will not even consider developing a field unless it is at least a 50 to 500 well project. A 3 to 4 well project is not worth their time. Yet, to a smaller independent and their private individual investors, a 3 to 4 well project can be quite lucrative. Smaller independents, if they have the capital, can pick up the “nuggets” that the major oil companies leave behind.

In order of decreasing risk, both risk and at-risk dollars are moderated by investing in:

1. A known productive zone in a field where reserves may be separated from proved reserves via faulting.

2. Re-entering abandoned oil & gas wells to test for productive natural gas zones.

3. A multi-well drilling program to exploit proven reserves.

Article was written by Mouser57 Online Stock Trading

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With roots that date back to the 1930s, value investing is a price-driven discipline that seeks companies whose shares are selling at a discount to their true, or intrinsic, value.

While growth-oriented investors focus on firms whose earnings are growing at a rapid pace, a quality that makes them highly sought after, value investors seek companies that are temporarily out of favor. Their shares may be depressed due to factors ranging from company-specific issues to shifting investor sentiment, poor economic conditions, cyclical trends or an overall market decline. Sometimes they’re being ignored by the market for no good reason.

Over the past 25 years, three factors have amply made the case for the value style of investing: performance, diversification and risk control.

* Performance: First and foremost, value investing as a strategy has done well over time, rewarding investors with strong risk-adjusted performance. That has certainly been true over the past quarter-century.

Additionally, it is important to note that dividends have and continue to be a significant component of the stock market’s total returns – and particularly those of value stocks. In fact, according to Ibbotson Associates, a leading authority on asset allocation, dividends contributed, on average, 44 percent of the stock market’s total return from 1926 through 2003.

Diversification: Over time, value and growth stocks have tended to move in different cycles. When growth stocks are in favor, they tend to outperform value shares, and vice versa. That knowledge encourages many investors to construct portfolios employing both value and growth strategies, helping to ensure that they have equity investment with the potential to perform in changing market environments.

More to the point, the value strategy has more than held its own against its growth counterpart. Value’s outperformance has been particularly pronounced in recent years. From March 2000 through December 2004, value stocks, as measured by the Russell 1000 Value index, topped their growth counterparts as measured by the Russell 1000 Growth index by nearly 17.5 percentage points annualized.

* Risk control: By their nature, value stocks generally tend to be less volatile than their growth counterparts. In addition, because their shares are typically selling at depressed prices, value firms are better positioned to withstand market declines. Meanwhile, shares of growth companies normally have higher earnings expectations built into their prices and thus are subject to wider price swings as those expectations change.

American Century introduced its first value portfolio in 1993, complementing its long-standing efforts in the growth field by offering equity investors a lower-risk investment style. More than 11 years later, American Century’s stable of value offerings has grown to six funds, totaling more than $14 billion in assets.

THISVIDEO CONTAINS A LOG OF MY PERSONAL ACTIVITIES AND OPINIONS ONLY. IT SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS ADVICE OR AS A RECOMMENDATION FOR ANY ACTION ON YOUR PART. ACT ON THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS VIDEO AT YOUR OWN RISK. I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL, I AM NOT AN ADVISOR, AND I AM NOT A PSYCHIC. USE YOUR OWN MIND AND CONSULT WITH A PROFESSIONAL TO DETERMINE WHETHER ANY INVESTMENT IS A GOOD ONE FOR YOU. HAPPY TRADING AND GOOD LUCK! – ALEX

THISVIDEO CONTAINS A LOG OF MY PERSONAL ACTIVITIES AND OPINIONS ONLY. IT SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS ADVICE OR AS A RECOMMENDATION FOR ANY ACTION ON YOUR PART. ACT ON THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS VIDEO AT YOUR OWN RISK. I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL, I AM NOT AN ADVISOR, AND I AM NOT A PSYCHIC. USE YOUR OWN MIND AND CONSULT WITH A PROFESSIONAL TO DETERMINE WHETHER ANY INVESTMENT IS A GOOD ONE FOR YOU. HAPPY TRADING AND GOOD LUCK! – ALEX

THIS VIDEO CONTAINS A LOG OF MY PERSONAL ACTIVITIES AND OPINIONS ONLY. IT SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS ADVICE OR AS A RECOMMENDATION FOR ANY ACTION ON YOUR PART. ACT ON THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS VIDEO AT YOUR OWN RISK. I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL, I AM NOT AN ADVISOR, AND I AM NOT A PSYCHIC. USE YOUR OWN MIND AND CONSULT WITH A PROFESSIONAL TO DETERMINE WHETHER ANY INVESTMENT IS A GOOD ONE FOR YOU. HAPPY TRADING AND GOOD LUCK! – ALEX