Bloomburg analyst says BP good value at 410p (he can't see 'em going much lower) and, according to him, Shell are 10% cheaper (372p)and even better value. Recommends buying Shell.
He also added - Oils lost ground because they're defensive and money is going into techs. Now the time to pick up a bargain. Yield of 4.1%. 370p ought to offer support chartwise?

Hi folks, forgive my ignorance as not being a trader as such. Just a quick question to any one prepared to answer.

When trading for serious short term gains, how does the spread come into play. For example I hear of a tight-spread, or a large-spread etc, but is it an inication of a good time to purchase? Essentially what does it indicate?

Thank you

LP, spread is more of an indications of how liquid a share is, for ftse stocks its almost always fairly small about shell is normally about .25 p, for some illiquid shares it can be a large percentage. In my opinion it does not say much about wheteher a share is worth buying although there are patterns with some shares where the spread tightens at certain times, I do not use them as indicators (but then I dont use many indicators).

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2718-1511236,00.html

March 05, 2005

Can Shell's Canadian sands yield more oil than the Saudi deserts?
By Carl Mortished
Transforming black sand into oil is costly and dirty, but there is plenty of itabout.

Altogether, we have 10 billion barrels of oil in place, with 6 billion recoverable, Camarta says. That would give us 30 years production at 500,000 barrels per day. To get there, Shell needs to invest a further C$12 billion in three phases over the next decade.....

....Shell has cut back the cost of producing a barrel of synthetic crude to C$18 and its upgrader plant in Edmonton transforms carbon-heavy bitumen into a light, sulphur-free crude that sells at a $2 premium to the US crude benchmark price.....