ERHE Gains 6 Cents On Volume Of 7,125,427

Displaying its underlying strength in the face of heavy selling early in the day, ERHE soared $06.10 or 12.71 percent today to $0.541 on its heaviest volume in recent memory, topping more than 7,125,000 shares.

As predicted here yesterday, the movement fell squarely between $0.04 and $0.08 cents we advised; the high for the day was $0.555. We were far off on volume, though, expecting about 3 million shares, and we did not anticipate hitting the 7 million mark until Friday.

The sure, swift trading that opened the day boomed the stock $0.03 cents - a gain of $3,600 for the ERHC On The Move portfolio - before the opening, when a record 270,000 shares traded before the bell, but traders ran into heavy water they struggled against and finally overcame by late afternoon. More than 72,500 shares traded in the aftermarket.

It was a devastating day for ERHE short sellers, and millions of shares traded at $0.51 before other sellers realized they were playing a losing hand against a determined group of stockholders who understand the fundamentals of the "minnow" from Houston that has been a media phenomenon for almost two years. In the end, holders simply refused to sell at the bottom-feeder prices.

Remarkably, the ERHC Energy minnow swam upstream aginst a current of bearish sentiment that swept the Dow far downstream, closing lower by nearly 175 points. The NASDAQ Index fell 28.3 points, and the day ended up one of the worst for conventional stocks in many months.

According to the New York Times, much of the selling on the NYSE and other boards was driven by a 6.1 percent one-day hike in crude oil prices that lifted crude prices $2.80 to $51.15 a barrel. Oil prices rose when the dollar fell against the yen and other currencies, but majors did not fare well; ChevronTexaco hit a high of $61.08 before falling back to $59.45 and closing down $0.28. ExxonMobil fell $1.03 to $58.38 after briefly flirting with a high of $60.08.