Armin's Stock Selection

Stuk ( in the Mud ),

You're a lot Smarter than you look.
South African COAL - well - who woulds Thunk it ( and you DID 'sunk it' - Not so ? ).

I did the SASOL II start-up in Secunda, South Africa in the TransVaal ( High Plains ) many years ago - they converted COAL to Diesel & gasoline using the SynThol process ( based on German WWII Fischer-Tropsch Technology ). The refiney was built right over a COAL mine ( a mine-Mouth facility ).
Below the coal ( Black Gold ) was real yellow GOLD. TRUE STORY !!!

With the 'threatened' widening of the Panama Canal & the potential of Canadians opening the NorthWest Passage - the movement of Coal & other Bulk Raw materials looks like a viable Money-making Play.

for your help in this matter, I will tell you a TRUE STORY.

I was working behind the BERLIN WALL in the former East Germany ( DDR ). I went to Berlin with our Instrument man and a Friend of mine - he was of the Hebraic Persuasion from Brooklyn,NY. We went to a Greek restaurant in West Berlin. My friend. Neil. ordered a dish traditionally made of LAMB - He took the first bite and called the Waiter over. It tasted 'funny'. The Manager/Owner came to our table & confessed that Germans didn't appreciate the taste of goat or Sheep-meat, so he had substituted PORK instead into his 'RECIPE'. Neil said, " i'm a JEW & that ain't Kosher !!!". WE were Regaled with infinite Ouzo - the choice of anything & everything on the Menu - treated like Royalty - NO TAB - NO CHARGE, whatsoever. The Owner complained BITTERly of the changes he had had to make to traditional GREEK dishes to satisfy the BarBaric German Palate. the Bakhlava was sweet & good, too. I crawled out of that restaurant - too much Ouzo - I don't even Know how we got back to the Penta Hotel am Zoo off Kufu Strasse ( Kufurstendam )to this day. Next day - through Check-Point Charlie and onto the depressing dreary town of Schwedt on the Oder River on the Polish border.

Armin, Check out CCJMF ( CCJ : TSX ) = a Canadian-owned Columbian Coal miner that has just built a RailRoad & port Facility in Columbia. They will Export Clean, dry,low sulfur,and relatively ash-free coal to the Eastern U.S. & through the Panama Canal ( which they are very close to ). What Shipping Company just might handle their Coal Cargo? It's My QUESTION of the MONTH. Not so ?

Don Lee Ferk ( fka VikingWarrior - aka RoiRRawGnikIV )

Armin,

Are you aware of the Shipping Industry WebCast
that was held Jan 15, 2008 ( today ) @ 2:00 PM The Announcement has a very nice List of Ship Stocks in it. ToWit :

REMINDER - Analyst Panel Discussion on the Dry Bulk Sector;
Today -- Tuesday, January 15, 2008 -- 2:00 pm EST;
Access Only Through a Live Audio Webcast at www.CapitalLinkWebcasts.comJanuary 15, 2008 9:00 AM ET

Stocks mentioned in this articleDryShips Inc (DRYS) ,Diana Shipping Inc (DSX), Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc (EGLE) , Euroseas Ltd (ESEA),
Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd (EXM), FreeSeas Inc (FREE), Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd (GNK), Navios Maritime Ord Shs (NM),
Navios Maritime Partners LP (NMM), Oceanfreight Inc (OCNF) Paragon Shipping Ord Shs Class A (PRGN), Quintana Maritime Ltd (QMAR)
Star Maritime Acquisition Corp (SBLK), TBS International Ltd (TBSI),

Related newsAnalyst Panel Discussion on the Dry Bulk Sector; Tuesday, January 15, 2008 - 2:00 pm EST;
Access Only Through a Live Audio Webcast at www.CapitalLinkWebcasts.comSector Snap: Drybulk shippers sink
Energy Sector Roundup: Oil SlidesOceanFreight to acquire 11th vessel

Shipping Analysts from

-- Bear Stearns (Scott Burk),
-- Jefferies & Company (Douglas Mavrinac),
-- JPMorgan Securities (Jonathan Chappell) and
-- Lazard Capital Markets (Urs Dur)

will participate in a Virtual Analyst Panel Discussion on the dry bulk shipping sector today, on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 2:00 pm.

The Analyst Forum is organized by Capital Link, a New York based Investor Relations and Financial Communications firm focusing on shipping.

LIVE AUDIO WEBCAST

Access to the Analyst Forum is only through a live audio webcast accessible directly at www.CapitalLinkWebcasts.com,
where it will remain archived afterwards. There is no telephone access.

Please access the webcast by going directly to the link www.CapitalLinkWebcasts.com.

Participants to the live webcast should register on the website approximately ten minutes
prior to the start of the webcast.

PANEL STRUCTURE

The panel discussion will be moderated by Nicolas Bornozis, President of Capital Link, which organizes the Analyst Panel Discussion.

The focus of the discussion (and the Q&A) will be only on sector trends and fundamentals, and not on company specifics or
company recommendations. The discussion will cover four topics: demand, supply, freight rates and asset values,
valuations, focusing on current trends and the sector's outlook.

QUESTIONS FROM PARTICIPANTS

Participants can submit questions to the analysts prior to or during the event through the special event page
at www.CapitalLinkWebcasts.com or they can email them to us at shippingforum@capitallink.com.

TRANSCRIPT

A transcript of the panel discussion will be publicly available within approximately 48 hours after the event and t
hose interested can request it when they register for the event or afterwards by emailing us at shippingforum@capitallink.com.

About Dry Bulk Shipping:

International shipping plays a vital role in global trade given that 2/3 of the world's goods are transported by sea.
The shipping industry provides a cost effective and practical means of transportation internationally of large volumes of cargoes.

The dry bulk carrier market refers to the transportation of homogeneous commodities in bulk. Dry bulk commodities are
divided into two distinct categories, major bulks and minor bulks. Major bulks include iron ore, coal and grain,
which are usually shipped on the larger size Capesize and Panamax vessels and comprise about 67% of dry bulk trade.
Minor bulks are fertilizers, steels, sugars, cement etc., which are shipped in smaller more versatile vessels such as
Handymax and Handysize, and comprise about 33% of the dry bulk commodities trade.

Dry bulk carrier ownership is fragmented with many owners and operators of shipping tonnage, including independent operators,
state-controlled shipping companies and proprietary owners. Vessels utilised for transport of dry bulk cargoes are usually
classified into four categories based on their carrying capacity in deadweight tons (DWT)
(i) handysize (10,000-39,999 DWT) (ii) handymax/supramax (40,000-59,999 DWT)
(iii) panamax (60,000-99,999 DWT) and (iv) capesize (higher than 100,000 DWT).

The shipping industry is highly cyclical, experiencing volatility in profitability, vessel values and charter rates resulting
from changes in the supply of and demand for shipping capacity. Fluctuations result from the interaction of various factors
between demand and supply. The demand for vessels is influenced by global and regional economic conditions,
international trade developments, port congestion, trading routes and weather pattern changes, crop yields,
armed conflicts, political developments, embargoes and strikes, demand for consumer goods, dry bulk commodities,
and crude oil and oil products.

Supply of shipping capacity is mainly a function of the delivery of new vessels and the number of older vessels
scrapped and is also affected among other things by port congestion and regulation of maritime transportation
practices by governmental and international authorities.

Dry bulk companies listed on US Exchanges include Diana Shipping (NYSE: DSX), DryShips (NASDAQ: DRYS),
Eagle Bulk (NASDAQ: EGLE), Excel Maritime Carriers (NYSE: EXM), Euroseas (NASDAQ: ESEA),
Freeseas (NASDAQ: FREE), Genco Shipping (NYSE: GNK), Navios Maritime (NYSE: NM),
Navios Maritime Holdings (NYSE: NMM), OceanFreight (NASDAQ: OCNF),
Paragon Shipping (NASDAQ: PRGN), Quintana Maritime (NASDAQ: QMAR),
Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ: SBLK), TBS International (NASDAQ: TBSI).

Dry bulk companies listed in London include Goldenport (LSE: GPRTL), Globus Maritime (AIM: GLBS),
Global Oceanic Carriers (AIM: GOC) and Hellenic Carriers (AIM: HCL).

About Capital Link and www.CapitalLinkShipping.com:

Capital Link is a New York-based Investor Relations and Financial Communications firm with a strategic focus
on shipping. Capital Link Shipping is a web based resource operated by Capital Link whose objective is
to facilitate investor knowledge and understanding of shipping and its listed companies, and to facilitate the
exchange of information among listed companies, industry participants and investors.
The site provides information on the major shipping and stock market indices, as well as on all shipping stocks.
It also features industry reports from major industry participants and interviews
with CEOs, analysts and other market participants.

The information on the website is not an offer to buy or sell any kind of securities nor does it constitute investment advice
of any kind. Capital Link does not represent or warrant the accuracy of the information in this site.
The user of the site acknowledges that he/she accesses the information at his/her own risk and cannot hold
Capital Link liable for any matter in any way and will use the website in accordance with the
Terms and Conditions specified on the website.

Contact for Capital Link Shipping:
Nicolas Bornozis
President
Capital Link, Inc.
230 Park Avenue - Suite 1536
New York, N.Y. 10169
Tel. (212) 661-7566
Fax (212) 661-7526
E-mail: nbornozis@capitallink.comhttp://www.capitallinkshipping.comhttp://www.capitallink.comCopyright 2008 Market Wire

UPDATE 1-Excel Maritime to buy Quintana Maritime
Jan 29 (Reuters) - Greek drybulk carrier Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd (EXM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it will buy Quintana Maritime Ltd (QMAR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) in a cash-and-stock deal, a move that strengthens Excel's fleet and client base.

Quintana, which had put itself up for sale last year, had taken itself off the market last week citing lack of financially attractive proposals and a volatile drybulk charter market.

Excel Maritime will pay $13 a share and 0.4084 of its common stock for each Quintana share as part of the deal. Including the assumption of debt and other costs, the deal is valued at about $2.45 billion.

Based on Excel's Monday closing price of $33, and unadjusted for dividend payments, the deal values Quintana at $26.48 per share, a 57 percent premium to its closing price of $16.89, the company said in a statement.

The companies expect to close the deal in the second quarter of 2008.

Shares of Quintana Maritime were up about 29 percent at $21.76 on the Nasdaq, while those of Excel were down more than 5 percent at $31.25 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Excel Maritime said it has received a financing commitment for $1.4 billion from a syndicate of international banks led by Nordea Bank Finland PLC, London.

The combined company will operate the fleet of 47 vessels with a total carrying capacity of 3.7 million deadweight tonnes, the company said in a statement. (Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan)
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Comment:
In fact, Excel Maritime Carriers will have now more diversified fleet of Panamaxes, Handys, Capesizes and Khamsarmax vessels.