Paperstand

According to the WSJ’s „Heard on the Street” column, now that energy prices have tumbled from their summer highs, some of the hot money is shifting from bets on commodities to speculative energy stocks. In just a few months, hedge funds and other big investors have scored huge gains on these shares, and the profits could continue if energy prices rebound strongly. But some analysts are raising yellow flags about these co’s b/c there is no assurance they will succeed in their production and profit goals. Their share prices are so high that they may not go much higher and could tumble, especially if there is another retreat in oil and natural-gas prices. "It seems ppl's risk tolerance has gone up in the last month and a half," says George Shiau, of Copia Capital. "The hottest plays lately are co specific [investments] as opposed to the direction of oil and gas." Stocks mentioned include: DPTR, GDP, PLLL, CCJ and ECA.

The Deal.com reports that private equity firms weigh Sprint (S) buyout. The sheer size of a deal for the $70bn telecom could be prohibitive, however.