Why not?

The numbers were good, and I still believe in the uranium thesis, the risk of CCJ’s management being dicks notwithstanding. I have no evidence of malfeasance; only the hairs on the back of my neck (and they’ve been wrong before, though rarely).

So I added to CCJ at $19.30.

I bought back shares of HCLP and BAS that I unloaded on the run up, as they are both off 10-15% from the highs and we are just a short span away from a bounce.

HCLP reports earnings soon, and I expect nothing less than magnanimous triumph.

Over the past week or so, I raised cash to 25%. This was good fortune, as HCLP, my mantelpiece position, has dropped 8% since I let up.

Today, I repurchased half of those shares, which I sold at $64.19 each, for $59.39.

It seems like good enough of a bet to me. HCLP is growing so fast… it’s trading at just over 17x Q3 2014 earnings estimates. I have no good way to guess what HCLP’s earning’s potential is over time; but 17x doesn’t seem unreasonable, particularly with a steady announcement of 5 year supply agreements being announced and 200% revenue growth last year. When you’ve managed to get in on the ground floor of such a high flying position, it just makes sense to hold long a core stake, and ride the waves.

This 8% drop is just another opportunity to make extra money, until such time as that logic is challenged. For the moment, HCLP just managed to touch its 20 day moving average for the first time since early June.

Next earnings announcement is in August. So tell me, who wants to stand in the way of this thing?

This morning:

I completely sold out of UEC (5% cash raise).

I completely sold out of SLW for +5% (11% cash raise)

I then sold down CCJ and HCLP (my two remaining largest positions) until my cash position was 25%.

HCLP remains my largest and most successful position this year, +170% since I bought it last August. CCJ is an idea I remain committed to, but it’s gone nowhere and I need some cash.

UEC is small, speculative, and just asking for a beat down.

SLW was a quick trade, not an investment.

It’s time to start letting off the gas. Because, let me ask you: isn’t this getting a little out of hand?

I redeployed some cash from yesterday’s sale of BAS, bidding up ETP for $57.64.

They announced today that they’re building a new pipeline connecting the Bakken oil reserves being built out in North Dakota to Illinois. More importantly, they announced they already have commitments from shippers in the form of long term agreements.

I like this partnership a lot. It pays almost 7% in distributions to unit holders annually, and their operation has a lot going for it.

I made a large series of sales in BAS for $26.23 on average. These shares were sold for an average gain of 116% from my initial purchase price a few years ago.

This sale brings BAS back in line to a 15% position in my portfolio. It had been almost 25%. The 10% cash raise will sit on my books for now.

I ran some numbers, and from their last report, I’m thinking BAS was probably worth about $8 a share. This massive move higher has been from the company managing to stop the losses they were taking every quarter. However, the next major risk to the shares will be execution; can the company turn a profit?

I think I can see how the company could make $1.60 a year in earnings pretty easily. That puts an 11 year break even point, which is about the top end of my acceptable range. At this junction, the shares are a fair price, in my book.

But I love the company, so I’ll be keeping the 15% position I have in them. I think they don’t just turn $1.60. I think they surprise us all and make $2.50-3 per share annually, sending the shares into the $30-40 range.

I cannot justify keeping the massive ~25% of my portfolio in BAS though. That’s too much, and I do have a lot of money sitting on the table here. I’m only willing to take regular risks that Basic Energy Services makes the next step successfully, even though I’m confident they will.