Interesting Found on Goog Finance 4-Jul-08 01:54 am Oil is nearing the end of its life, and coal has never been in higher demand. With oil prices topping an incredible $140 dollars per barrel, the search for alternative fuels has been ever-increasing. Analysts at major companies like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, are predicting oil to be at $200 per barrel by the end of this year. (2008). Lets do some math now. Its 2008 now and its been 145 years since the birth of oil industry. That means it began at around 1863. If the peak was at 1970 that means we have only about 69 years until oil reserves are completely eradicated. I came up with that number when I subtracted 1863 from 1970 and got 107. So that means it took the oil reserves to peak in 107 years, and by that it means it will take another 107 years to deplete. 38 years have already gone by since 1970, you do the rest of the math. Well, actually I already stated how long oil reserves will be around until its gone, 69. This is considering all current market conditions but as we know in recent year and especially since 1970, we have been consuming oil at an alarming rate. That number could easily be cut by 1/3 or even a ½. That is in our lifetime people.
This is where coal and Quest Minerals and Mining comes in. Coal demand is rapidly increasing and will keep increasing for at least the next five to ten years. Quest Minerals and Mining stated in an article dated April 5, 2007, ?Tests on the Lower Cedar Grove, which Quest seeks to reopen once it has reopened the Pond Creek mine, ran 13,476 BTUs. Eugene Chiaramonte, Jr., President of Quest, said, "This seam is known as a metallurgical 'hamburger helper.' While the coke button is somewhat low, we believe that the high BTU and very good fluidity should permit shippers to blend this into high price orders to the international met market." International markets is exactly where this company is heading once production starts. China will be a major catalyst, China have been importing from us for about two years or so. Now, many people would ask, ?why would China go to Quest Minerals and Mining to get coal instead of major companies like Peabody Energy, or Massey Energy. Well, the Chinese population is a smart population, that is why they have double digit GDP growth and that is why the U.S. is less than 3%. The reason is that major companies require major dollars. So, why not get a bargain for the same coal they would get with one of those major companies.
This is the reason why QMNM will prosper in the next two to three years. If not less. Considering the recent exceptionally good quarterly report, QMNM has a lot of room to grow. QMNM is one of the most highly leveraged companies in the Coal industry and has a Debt to Total Capital ratio of 1,898.40%. Additionally, the percentage of debt used in its capital structure grew this year. Mind you, the Debt to Total Capital ratio for the Industry is 49.38%. QMNM grew earnings in the face of decreased revenues over the past twelve months. This is a trend that is not sustainable if profits are to continue to grow at this rate. However, this result was better than that of the average company in the Coal industry where earnings fell over the period.
Taking all of these factors together, it is somewhat possible to make predictions. I do not believe the share price will reach over $100 per share as it was back in 2004, but I do believe it could easily reach $1.00 by the end of this year. If $1.00 is reached, QMNM could easily see $5.00 a share. In my eyes, Quest Minerals and Mining will be very successful when production starts and then with that it is a domino effect. With production comes new contracts. With new contracts comes more revenue. With more revenue comes shareholder profit.
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