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Analysts Ecstatic Over Baytex Energy

Does anyone understand that BTE is simply "taking back" the dividend increase from this summer? They are just going back to the same level of distribution they had in the 1st qtr of 2008. Not a big deal as far as I'm concerned.

Canadian Royalty Trusts Will Never Return to Their Former Glory

Author raises some good points. However, I don't think any of us CANROY investors ever thought of them as E&P companies. What continues to amaze me is the shortsighted (idiotic) strategy of the Canadian and Alberta provincial Govt. By destroying the CANROY business model you achieve the following:

1. Less (not more) oil and nat gas production.
2. Less (not more) tax revenue.
3. More (not less) opportunity for Foreign investors to swoop in and buy up cheap assets.
4. Increase the likelihood of these trusts becoming more like an ECA, or IMO whose effective tax rate is 10%. Is that what Ottawa really wants out of their strategy? Talk about the "Law of Unintended Consequences."

Finally, Let's just set the record straight on why there was a Halloween Massacre to start with. Flaherty and his cronies basically caved into the pressures of "Big Insurance" (can you say Manulife?) who despised the thought of Candian investors avoiding their crappy and expensive retirement products in favor of a self-directed low cost/high return investment like the CANROYs. Never did Flaherty and his crooks expect the firestorm they got from private investors. In 2011 we will see a massive move to MLP structures (USA) or a conversion to an Encana-like corporate status. Trusts with the most tax pools like PWE and ERF will fare the best. Who knows what will happen to the rest. Meanwhile the trusts have basically given Alberta the " middle finger" salute. I sat in on a recent ERF investor presentation. Most if not all of their 2009 and 2010 CAPEX will be focused on Saskatchewan and BC, not Alberta. It's going to be a long, hard cold winter for those greedy Alberta politicians. Freeze, baby freeze.

Five Oil and Gas Trust Picks

Canaccord Adams is one of the few analysts that have been "spot on" with their withering criticism of the incompetent Canadian Govt. In their energy trust study earlier this year they correctly stated that with the ill-conceived debacle of trust tax changes in 2011, tax revenues and oil/nat gas production will both DECLINE making it a lose/lose proposition for everyone. Once again, leave it to the politicians to screw up everything again. These guys could mess up a wet dream.