Keep it simple.
That’s the mantra of Keith Schaefer, editor and publisher of the Oil & Gas Investments Bulletin.
The whole reason Mr. Schaefer started his subscription service in mid-2009 was because all the research on horizontal drilling and fracking used a lot of technical jargon and was hard for him to understand.
He’s a journalist by training, and an investor by practice. He combined those two traits and made it his mission to give retail investors some simple, easy-to-understand information on what was happening in the oilpatch.
“I try not to use any words over nine letters,” he says wryly.
Mr. Schaefer doesn’t just explain these companies to subscribers—he buys them as well, and has a real-time, online portfolio where people can see exactly what energy stocks he owns.
He explains his investing style:
“I’m looking for the best junior in the lowest cost plays. Ideally they have a large land package, and are using the new technologies in the oilpatch to continually lower costs. I also want to find the company with the fewest shares out possible, to give me leverage—but not with debt.”
Usually, he says, his portfolio companies are a mix of these characteristics. It often means he buys stocks with high valuations.
“Expensive stocks stay expensive, because the Market rewards them on good news. Cheap stocks stay cheap. That’s usually a management issue, and that’s rarely fix-able.”
Mr. Schaefer reads all the broker analyst reports in Canada and the US, but also does his own original research. “I talk to the management teams directly, talking to my contacts in the oilpatch, both buy-side and sell-side, and scour company financials, all done with a goal to find the companies with the best chance to provide investor profits.”
The Oil and Gas Investments Bulletin is a completely independent service, with no company ever paying to be profiled in his portfolio.
Email Mr. Schaefer with any questions, or refer to his website’s Frequently Asked Questions.