Portfolio Update: August 2012

Here’s the monthly update for the BTI portfolio for August of 2012. The HELOC portfolio is basically a non-registered account with money borrowed from my home equity line of credit. I will use the bank’s ‘Performance’ tool for the monthly results when possible because it takes into account deposits and withdrawals. On to the results:

heloc-snapshot-aug12heloc-performance-aug12

YTD Results from January 1 2012

TSX YTD performance:??-0.05%

BTI YTD performance:??-19.00%

Monthly Review

The YTD performance is so far nothing to be proud of; it’s mainly the result of holding HYX and MQL throughout thick and thin. Last week I covered Hyperion Exploration and Marquee Energy following their latest quarterly releases.

As for the other big losers LEA and XDC, well I tend to be early to the party. The turnaround in CF for both companies might have to wait until Q3 or even Q4. Q2 is typically weak for services companies. That does not mean I will make money on them by then, probably just recover the investment unless I increase my position before the end of the year.

The risk is high with those 2 but I don’t believe they’re going down in flames anytime soon. Obviously, the share price reflects high risk in an uneasy market. XDC and LEA operate in a growing segment of oilfield services and they both have a replacement value north of 100% of their current share price.

Long term they both have capital gains potential. In the short term, the share price will be dependent more on ongoing events in Europe and the US.

WIX is sitting on a spring that will propel the share price above $3 quiet easily. They either get sold or they report a positive operational update on their recompletion program. I could sell now for a 25% gain but like I said last time: I’m not in a hurry (give me $3+). The fundamentals of the company are excellent in my opinion. What if it falls below $2.30 again? Fantastic, I’ll put my hands on more (unless they’re kick starting another revolution in Tunisia).

Eagle Energy Trust currently yields more than 12% on cost. I recently discussed the growing pains of Eagle Energy Trust following its last quarterly update. EGL is one of my??favourite??oil and gas dividend paying companies that I wish to keep for the long run.

It’s time to welcome Peyto Exploration in my portfolio. The shares are the result of Open Range Energy getting acquired by Peyto. You might have noticed I stay away from companies that are heavily weighted to NG. Even though there might be trading opportunities in NG stocks, I do not believe natural gas will reach $4/mcf??any-time??soon (until export facilities become operational). Id rather keep a partial exposure to the sector.

In this case of PEY, it is the lowest NG producer in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Not only will I sleep on my shares, I am looking to increase my position on any price weakness courtesy of Europe et al. This should be my one and only pure player on NG in my entire portfolio and obviously for the long run.

From here, the ROI might still head lower before it heads higher and that’s normal given the roller coaster we are on. There’s a lot to watch for in the next 3 months and I expect a lot of volatility. Finally, Im Looking forward to tax loss selling later in the year as so many opportunities will be present just like last year.

Hope you enjoyed your long weekend,

How’s your portfolio doing? Have you bought or sold any stocks lately?