Suncor--any Info?

[fisher26]

Hey guys,

 

It's been a while since I've posted here (but I'm still a lurker!). Anyways, I was wondering if anyone has any business insight into Suncor, as a company that is. I'm thinking of investing in an oil sands producer and I'm looking for a long term company with a good asset base and management. Has anyone on here worked for

Suncor and has an idea of the company's culture? How are they after the PetroCan merger?

 

Any insight would be appreciated. I know a lot of guys here are in the oil and gas sector and have a pretty good idea about what some of these companies are like from the inside out. Any other recommendations for a long-term (~5 year) buy and hold oil company?

Regards,

Fisher

[jksnijders]

 

Look at a chart of their share price history then decide.

[Ricinus]

Maybe look at an Oil sands ETF and give yourself some diversity.

 

Mike

[fisher26]

I've already looked at the share price... What I'm curious about is if anyone has personal experience with how the company is run, particularly after the PetroCan merger. Any insight from guys who have worked in the oil sands?

[AlpineJames]

I've already looked at the share price... What I'm curious about is if anyone has personal experience with how the company is run, particularly after the PetroCan merger. Any insight from guys who have worked in the oil sands?

 

[AlpineJames]

I think you might be pushing the limits on 'Insider Trading'. Just a thought, but I know guys that's been caught.

James

[alan2]

I have a good friend who joined PetroCanada 29 yrs ago. She has given her resignation and says since the merger there has been an exodus of good people from the ranks. In her dept, the supervisor downgraded her perf. review because she failed to attend the team bonding meetings and did not participate in a vision statement meeting, having chosen to do actual work instead. True story.

 

I hold quite a few SU shares myself, but I am not a fan of some of their management styles. You could just buy the ishares ETF XEG and you'll hold quite a bit of Suncor, Cdn Natural Res and many others too, but without the risk of just holding one company.

[slingshotz]

I think you might be pushing the limits on 'Insider Trading'. Just a thought, but I know guys that's been caught.

James

 

Maybe if some here told you to buy and you bought a million shares and the next day it went up 15% it might draw attention. Buying a few thousand shares compared to the massive daily volume is nothing. There's a big difference between saying the company is running well after the merger and the company is going to split up tomorrow. The amount of insider and shady trading I've seen ignored by the CSA is insane, that's pretty much how many brokerage houses operate to stay successful.

 

One of the biggest public indicators of how well things are would be how many insiders bought in after the merger. There are many legitimate reasons for insiders to sell but really only one reason to buy.

 

I don't work for Suncor but my company is quite involved with them in Fort Mac and from a business side of things they are crazy busy and have huge expansion plans on the horizon (which is public knowledge).

[fisher26]

Thanks for the insight guys. I think this group bonding/airy fairy stuff is pretty common in most companies, but it probably isn't that harmful in the big picture (your friends position is unfortunate though). With regards to insider trading, there is nothing illegal about getting a feel for a company's management. The worst thing an investor can do is ignore the underlying business of a company and just jump in on the basis of the stock chart.

 

As I see it, Suncor has huge potential upside in the long term. Their properties have enough oil for 30+ years of production, and cheap oil is a thing of the past. 7 billion people, emerging market demands, and the slowdown of discoveries means that oil prices are going to remain over the next few decades.

[Smitty]

Overall I am bullish on the Oil Sands, but I think it behooves this country to find additional buyers for our oil, besides the United States.

 

I have always really liked Guy Lamphier, terrific business news writer for the Edmonton Journal. His perspective - and it happens to be be bearish in this article, can be read here:

 

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/Lam...2452/story.html

 

Interesting read.

 

Smitty