I tried the Uranium play some last year but got out before the "Sell in May" annual stock collapse ....thank God I did as the big "U" has been a real dog for the last year!!

Same here, but I didn't bail as quickly as I should have and the result was a wash. I still think U has a bright future, but it's a difficult play with a longer horizon than most are willing to accept. I'm still in Denison and U308 Corp. but I cut the rest (STM, PXP, CXX, UUU) loose for market reasons, not because they're bad companies (although I'm a bit skeptical on UUU)

I see consolidation across the whole mining sector, but the more important trend may be vertical integration of the plant builders/operators. Nuclear power plants are an expensive undertaking that can best be achieved through economies of scale, standardization of basic components and operating practice, and by integrating supply chains - which implies owning resources in the ground plus refining operations since most customers want a guaranteed supply of uranium as part of the deal. This is an area I'm looking at closely. GE, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Areva & Westinghouse are all in the race. What alliances will they form, and what smaller companies are on their radar? Looking into it and will report back.

I think I will look into the drillers as you mentioned.....

There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth around here when I sold RIG too soon. (spooked by the falling dollar). Likewise for not moving sooner on MDI. What was I thinking?

I also think there is something to this Bakken Oil play also...but I am sticking with the Cresent Point there with my spec eye on Painted Pony ( I think it is a little pricey though)

I'm looking into the Bakken myself. I think the trick here is to ask yourself, where's the next Bakken? The story lately has been one of re-thinking and re-visiting areas that were thought to be unproductive or played out. So who out there is doing this that we haven't yet heard of?

ebear