While technology prognosticators have been getting sacked behind the line of scrimmage, the oil and gas analysts have been merrily dancing in the end zone, oblivious to an ugly bear market.

With oil and gas prices sky high, it’s been no contest in the six months we’ve had stock gurus offering their Three Stars.

But the first toast at the second quarterly awards banquet goes to the tech analysts — for resisting the temptation to slip a ringer, say an oil company, into their playbook.

Calgary tech analyst Brian Pow, whose picks appeared in the premier issue of Business Edge last Oct. 11, has dusted himself off and come back to bat leadoff in the second round that begins this week with three pure tech picks, including a company that refuses to delete the dot-com from its name.

Sixteen of 25 analysts and money managers are in the red but in fairness to them, six months or less is not a proper investing time frame.

Here are the six-month awards:

* STAR ANALYST: Andrew Boland, oil and gas analyst with Calgary-based Peters & Co., has gained a sizzling 50 per cent with his mid-December trio of Ketch Energy (+77%), Ionic Energy (+39%) and BXL Energy (+35%).

Rounding out the top three were two other Calgary oil-and-gas analysts — Peter Linder of Research Capital (+35%) and Gord Currie of Canaccord Capital (+26%).

But we’d be remiss if we didn’t tip the fedora to Josef Schachter. The president of Calgary-based Schachter Asset Management boasts a 22-per-cent gain on the back of a tech stock picked in early January.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD-NYSE) spiked 65 per cent. The only other gain of five per cent or better was recorded by oil-and-gas analyst Andrew Hogg of Yorkton Securities, up seven per cent.

* BEST STOCK: Linder caught Ketch in October at $3.70. It’s up 84 per cent.

* WORST STOCK: Anna Beukes of Edmonton-based Roche Securities touted Videoflicks.com as a “steal” at 28 cents in November. Its recent price was one cent, a 96-per-cent drop.

Beukes has the worst record, down 51 per cent with Videoflicks.com, which has Burt Reynolds as a director, Photochannel Networks (-91%) and Churchill Corporation (+31%).

Deb Abbey of Real Assets Investment Management, who specializes in “ethical” stocks, also took a pounding, losing 28 per cent with Nortel Networks (-63%), Whole Foods Market (-21%, NYSE) and Calgary-based Canadian Hydro Developers (-1%).

ANALYST'S THREE STARS

Brian Pow of Acumen Capital Finance Partners has a repeat pick — MediSolution (MSH-TSE) — but this time with a more modest 12-month target price of $3.45.

Six months ago, Pow made MediSolution, which provides clinical and management information systems for the health-care industry, a strong buy with a target of $7.75 but it has slipped 13 per cent to $2.10.

With 60 per cent of Canadian hospitals using MediSolution’s technology, Pow anticipates strong growth next year. The stock’s year range is $1.12-$2.95. Acumen Capital helped raise capital for MediSolution last fall

Pow also likes Applied Terravision Systems (TER-CDNX) and Dot Com Entertainment Group (DCEG-U.S. OTC).

Applied Terravision (recent price, .41, year range, .66-$2.89) recently landed a deal with Enron North America which will help market the company’s e-business software to North American oil-and-gas producers.

“This contract has been misunderstood in terms of its potential,” says Pow, giving the stock a 12-month target of $2.10.

Pow terms Dot Com Entertainment “a little jewel in the rough.”

The Ontario-based company, which showed a profit last year marketing software for Internet casinos and bingos, recently traded at $1.53 (year range, .34-$2.25).

Pow’s previous picks: MediSolution (currently $2.10, -9%), RightsMarket (RTS-CDNX .24, -73%), Visualabs (VLI-X $4.80, -64%). Loss: -49%.

* CHEERS: To WestJet CEO Clive Beddoe, whose company’s market value climbed to $883.1 million to eclipse Air Canada by $36.3 million recently.

Seems the big unit is losing more than baggage these days.

* JEERS: To tech companies who can’t explain what they do in simple terms in under 500 words.

HOT STOCK: Gulfstream Resources Canada

Up 35 cents (+43.7%) on 1,085,200 shares (for week ending April 6).

Now the Aussies, like the Yanks, are bounty hunting in the Calgary oilpatch. Roc Oil Company of Australia roused shareholders of Gulfstream with a $28.2-million hostile bid for 40 per cent of the Calgary company that has operations in the Middle East and East Africa. Who’s next? The Kiwis? Take a number.

COLD STOCK: International Datashare

IED-TSE .03

Down 7 cents (-70.0%) on 203,000 shares (for week ending April 6).

In its latest press release, International Datashare said it was “restructuring,” heading in a “new direction” and in litigation against a former director and senior officer over “alleged improper and unauthorized use” of its software and data. That’s not exactly music to the ears of tech investors yearning for some positive bottom-line news.