"I'm attaching this perspective to the buyout question too. If a buyout were to happen it would mean that the market is willing to take on risk. So the current market conditions would no longer exist. The market would be different at that time and the SP would most likely have already been boosted. IMHO."

This may be so but I would submit that the majors move ahead of the market. They are the ones with massive amounts of money on the side and who are looking for cheapies to bolster their current diminishing resources. They'll pick their time and move when it is expedient and that certainly won't be after prices have risen. If NOT survives without having been raped it may well be the tactics of the current BOD, as in flying below the radar, that will have saved NOT from low ball takeover. Even with NOT's published reserves it's not a slam dunk for a major to consider NOT before other interests as NOT in many respects has not put the spices on the meal yet. No infrastructure and FN issues along with other Ontario uncertainties may be silver linings in the end in spite of our present frustration with them. This is an extremely dangerous time for companies with the goods and and sp that is a mockery of their assets. We unfortunately live in a market that is dominated by speculative moves as opposed to investing in real value, hence a company could go quickly just because majority holders made a quick buck to move onto the next deal.