From Barron's 3-19-07 Bill Barrett [ticker: BBG] was our worst-performing name, down about 15% in 2006. It's a small-cap. They are exclusively a Rocky Mountain natural-gas play. It's actually a name that I still like very much. They announced fantastic earnings and they are really beginning to show their growth potential.

From Barron's 3-19-07 Southwestern Energy [SWN], a U.S. natural-gas exploration and production company. They have the largest land position in the Fayetteville Shale in northwest Arkansas, an unconventional gas position and one of the few U.S. natural-gas growth areas. That's why we like them; they are a longer-term play. We feel this stock will add a significant value per share in the next five years with more natural-gas production at a low cost. In the past year, it has been trading between 30 and 40, and we think, longer-term, it will trade significantly higher. It is trading at 16 times 2008 earnings, but we think earnings will go up.

From Barron's 3-19-07 One name not in our portfolio -- though it's a very cheap stock and I may just buy it anyway -- is ConocoPhillips [COP]. They had the highest leverage per share of any of the major oil companies in Venezuela, where [President Hugo] Chavez wants a bigger share, and we have stayed away for the past nine months or so. I'm actually warming up to the stock. How much further can it go down? The stock sells at seven times earnings.

From Barron's 3-19-07 ExxonMobil [XOM] was absolutely spectacular. It was up 40%, including dividends. Exxon is a fantastic company. There's not a thing wrong with them. They have growth whereas most of the [majors] don't have it. I am not overly bullish for 2007. I'm more bullish as we get to 2008 and 2009. Every year this decade, most analysts have expected earnings declines for this group, and they've been wrong. Exxon, we've got to remember, is a very big chemical producer in the world, and if economies are slowing, that would affect Exxon. However, Exxon has had a way of mitigating that very well over the years. I love the company, to be honest. I don't think Exxon is going to be up 40% this year. And we've taken some profits, but it's still a major holding.

From Barron's 3-19-07 We bought Petrobras (Petroleo Brasileiro) last September at six times earnings. We bought it in the 70s. The stock got up to 107, but it has corrected pretty hard here -- down about 17%. Petrobras [PZE] actually has one of the best growth profiles of any of the major oil companies. I do consider it a major oil company. They are expanding. Most of their production is oil, in Brazil, but they are also expanding fairly aggressively into the Gulf of Mexico.

From Barron's 3-19-07 National Oilwell Varco [NOV] is the world's largest supplier of oilfield rigs and rig equipment. As new rigs are re-equipped or new ones are built, National Oilwell is going to be the supplier of much of that equipment. Their backlog is going up, and it is likely to increase. The stock was trading at about 60 last March and today it is at 67 [it's since jumped above 74, near its 52-week high]. They just blew through earnings numbers and everyone seems a little surprised. It's a name that I think is still going to do very, very well going forward.

From Barron's 3-19-07 Grant Prideco [GRP] looks pretty cheap at about 10 times earnings for 2007. And estimates are too low on the Street.

From Barron's 3-19-07 We also happen to like Schlumberger [SLB]. Schlumberger has a lot of international focus. That is where a lot of the spending is being done. We think Schlumberger will continue to be a good stock through this decade. It is trading at 16 times 2007 earnings. It always sold at a premium. I am not overly concerned about it.