I have posted info here before on PNP and the fact it had a very large insider buy a couple of months ago. Frankly, it has not been a rocket. Below in case anyone is interested was a writeup of a recent recommendation for it.

"Pinetree Overview

Let's review. Pinetree buys positions in a large number of companies, mostly in the mining and energy sectors. In other words, Pinetree focuses narrowly on the kind of firms in which it invests -- resource firms working on gold, silver, oil, gas, uranium, copper, iron ore, fertilizer, etc.

Pinetree wants "hard asset" development plays. The thing is, many of these companies are small developers that are under the radar screen for most investors. They're exploring for, or developing, a resource play. They're not producing anything -- yet. So they're burning cash, not generating cash flow. And thus, taking a position upfront involves a relatively high element of risk.

What's Pinetree's secret sauce? How does it benefit you, as an OI reader and investor, to buy Pinetree shares?

Pinetree has a large staff that reviews each investment. Then, Pinetree follows each of the companies, day by day. The Pinetree staff read the news flow, review the technical statements and talk with management. Pinetree can find things out sooner-- and at greater depth -- than you'll ever see. Then the idea is for Pinetree to stick with companies that are making good progress and to ride that success to impressive gains within the Pinetree ownership structure.

Thus, Pinetree is a means for you to invest in the huge upside potential of successful "junior" resource development firms. You have the advantage of enjoying a share of the gains, while the Pinetree ownership and management structure is there to guard you from the downside of unsuccessful ideas. You're spreading the risk over a large number of companies under the Pinetree umbrella.

More Than a Mutual Fund

Pinetree offers more than the typical "mutual fund" structure. Pinetree usually takes a large stake in its investments. It's a stake that really matters -- both to Pinetree and to the management of the company in which Pinetree is investing. There's nothing passive about Pinetree.

Based on the stake, Pinetree tends to have an active role in setting the development company's direction, to the point of proposing personnel for key positions such as corporate officers and directors.

In some respects, Pinetree is a financial holding company that owns shares. But it's also a development-savvy firm that knows how to kick-start a junior resource developer and move it along the pathway to eventual success. The idea is for Pinetree is to invest in promising companies and then help -- even mentor -- these companies to become successful. Pinetree is a means of stacking the odds in your favor.

The Upside Potential

So what's the potential here? Just last Friday, Pinetree shares closed in the $3.60 range. I believe Pinetree is still a solid buy at this level, with plenty of upside. How much upside? Consider that the Pinetree share price is a bargain compared with the underlying assets of the company.

That is, as of Feb. 28, the unaudited net asset value (NAV) for Pinetree's holdings was $5.01 per share. In essence, you're paying $3.60 per share of a company with assets worth over $5 -- a discount of 28% upfront. Think about that. If the Pinetree share price just "catches up" with the underlying value of the company, there's a 28% gain right off the bat. Not to mention future appreciation of those assets.

Why is there that difference between NAV and the share price? Part of it is that Pinetree is an undercovered company. It's unique -- sort of like a publicly traded resource hedge fund, in some ways. Much of the market doesn't know how to categorize Pinetree, so there's not much coverage. Also, there's an issue with the recent rapid rise in prices for gold, silver, oil and much more. The markets are behind the curve with Pinetree. (Which is another way of saying that you're ahead of the curve with OI.)

What's the downside with Pinetree? Since the company focuses on resources, any stock market crash that takes down the resource sectors will hurt Pinetree and its share price. That's what happened in the 2008 crash, when most resource plays went down hard. Thing is, the good resource plays came back the fastest, too -- as did Pinetree.

Still, even a sector-specific disaster could have an impact. Consider the uranium plays after the Japan earthquake in March. Essentially, all of the uranium guys took a swoon, but they're starting to recover."