The Burkenroad Reports program of Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business, New Orleans, is thriving, and for more than one reason. Since its inception in 1993, more than 260 of its alumni have begun careers in the investment and banking fields. Graduates have been employed at companies such as Banc of America Securities, BankBoston, CIBC Oppenheimer, the former Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, Chase Corp., Citibank, Goldman Sachs & Co., Jefferies & Co., Lehman Brothers Inc., Simmons & Co. International and Salomon Smith Barney Inc. Second, the program has tallied great results lately. In 2000, an index of the 34 companies covered by the Burkenroad Reports easily trumped all the major averages, returning 15.05% versus the declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Standard & Poor's 500, the Nasdaq Index and the Russell 2000. Last year, about one third of the firms under coverage by the business students returned in excess of 50%. The bulk of those were oil and gas related. "The majority of 2000's best-performing companies operate in the oil patch," says the recent edition of Burkenroad Reports. "While energy shares are not as cheap as they once were, we continue to believe that investors have not yet fully recognized the strength of this new cycle and will bid prices higher in 2001. Several energy companies, particularly those in oil-field fabrication, are still priced at only a fraction of the levels they reached at their peaks in 1997." The top-four performing companies of the 34 were <$iThe Shaw Group >, up 295%; <$iTrico Marine Services >, 118.6%; <$iOcean Energy Inc. >, 124.7%; and <$iGulf Island Fabrication Inc. >, 94%. Eight of the stocks studied last year lost more than half their value, although only one, <$iBlue Dolphin Energy >, was energy related. It fell 51%. Energy companies for which the students rate Buy currently include Gulf Island Fabrication and <$iPetroQuest Energy Inc. > Coverage was initiated recently on several energy companies for which ratings are pending: <$iEnergy Partners Ltd. >, <$iInput/Output >, <$iOsca Inc. > and <$iRPC Inc. > The nationally recognized program, named in honor of alumnus and supporter William B. Burkenroad Jr., publishes investment research on publicly traded companies based in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The students themselves do the analyses and write the reports. Complete research reports are available at www.burkenroad.org.