Before I get started with our “Idea of the Month” thoughts for you, I have two unrelated things to quickly share:

First, on my portfolio: I did some rebalancing in my Sandstorm Gold (SSL.V, SNDXF) holdings as part of a broader reshuffling with my brokerage accounts — the end result is that I still have roughly the same (large, for me) exposure to Sandstorm Gold, but now have more warrant than equity exposure. That means my largest personal equity holding is now Africa Oil (AOI.V, AOIFF), a position that at today’s $5.30ish price has tripled in just a few months … which makes me very nervous. It’s delightful to have that kind of share performance from a company with a promising but unproven oil discovery, but the shares could easily be cut in half on bad news (they should finish up drilling their first hole within a few weeks, don’t know how long it will take for them to fully assess it, and we’re also awaiting the tangential, at least to me, results from their subsidiary’s drilling in Somalia).

So I should let you know that I might take profits on a third of my Africa Oil holdings over the next few days to recoup my initial investment, we’ll see how the news flow and my blood pressure are doing and I’ll let you know if I actually make that trade. I tend to be a lousy short-term trader when it comes to taking profits on winning positions or cutting losses in a timely fashion, so I wouldn’t necessarily urge any of you to follow my lead on that.

And second, on my personal life: I know that many of you have been sending prayers and good wishes (and some lovely cards, thank you) to help my family, and that you’ve been patient when at times our family commitments have slowed down the publishing schedule at Stock Gumshoe. Our family crisis was, and is, that my wife’s young sister, who lives nearby with her family, had a horrific brain aneurysm burst in February and, subsequently, a miraculous survival of the fight with that aneurysm and a very hopeful move to a rehab facility. We are all very grateful for her progress, and for the terrific support of the community as friends and neighbors have pulled together a number of events to help her family with shocking medical bills, ...