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Politics : High Tolerance Plasticity -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sharp_End_Of_Drill who wrote (626)	2/28/2001 8:40:19 PM
From: Frank	Respond to of 23153

Sharp--my thoughts on GW revolve around (1) their spare rig capacity, (2) their deep rig inventory, (3) their strong presence in key NG areas,and ( 4) good quality rigs and crews. Your points on debt are well taken but if the cycle plays out as I expect that will diminish in importance. I could be wrong of course. I bought heavy in GW at 0 .75 in 1999 and sold recently at 6.30ish--perhaps I am biased but I'm edging in again. Good Luck--Frank

To: Sharp_End_Of_Drill who wrote (626)	2/28/2001 8:52:06 PM
From: excardog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23153

Sharp I thought you hated RIG? Like it better do to FLC? Just curious. TIA

To: Sharp_End_Of_Drill who wrote (626)	2/28/2001 9:34:34 PM
From: kollmhn	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 23153

Sharp- I can't comment on the other names but because I own a slug of NBR I'd like to offer a heads up. Your .47 debt/equity ratio for NBR, while accurate for the Dec.31 date, is not really reflective of its situation. NBR has about 300MM in regular LT debt. It also has about 500mm of zero coupon cvt debt with a cost of money at 2 1/2% per annum. Those proceeds are being held in cash investments, at a positive carry. Additionally, on Jan 31, '01 they borrowed another $1.15 billion (at 2 1/2%) with proceeds of $700mm. This is also being held as cash investments, as well. Obviously this latest borrowing increased the debt/equity ratio again. However, net of cash on hand (about $1.2 billion) NBR's debt/equity ration is actually under .20, thus moving it well up your list. The devil is in the details and that's why one always needs to really look beyond the numbers that "screens" offer. As for GW, I think the interest is (1) it's in the hot U.S.landrilling sector, (2) it;s a low priced (not cheap)stock and (3) it's 20% off its high in two weeks. $5 is a good buy point, in my opinion.