Notes (non-proprietory) from Dennis Miller's discussion with Louis James (international Speculator) on takeovers.

Dennis: I wanted to talk to you sooner rather than later because you've identified some prime takeover candidates in the International Speculator. After reading one of your write-ups, I personally doubled my position in the company.

It looks like the majors have gone from buying everything in sight, to reluctance, to buying only "no-brainers"—meaning those juniors with proven and probable reserves and demonstrated economic value.

Based on your experience, when the tide shifts again, will the higher-quality juniors be snapped up quickly?

Louis: Absolutely. When the tide shifts, I expect a flood of M&A deals. That's almost guaranteed, because no larger company wants to become a smaller one, and the only way to avoid that is to buy the successful explorers.

However, the success of the particular no-brainer you are referring to does not depend on the majors getting off the fence. Its key property is completely surrounded by that of another company that was just bought out, and our little guy has drilled into high-grade gold on both ends of its ground. It is virtually certain that the larger producer that bought the company with the surrounding property will buy our junior explorer; not doing so would defy both common sense and hard-boiled business logic.