Most investors read a company's news releases, but don't read between the lines to understand in which direction the company is heading. Too often, a company tries to say everything in the headline and the first paragraph. Why? Because they know, as we do, that most investors scan the headline, a few sentences and perhaps look at some drill intercepts or key technical data (which few really understand). Then, the investor looks at how the share price reacts to the news, rejoicing or complaining on a stock chat board. Often, key phrases or sentences are buried inside the release, sometimes near the bottom. These may give you a clue as to what is really happening with the company.

We pulled up some recent news releases of several uranium companies we have been following to help investors read between the lines. Only a keen, ruthless appraisal of each news release, or a series of their news releases, could give you an accurate interpretation of how well the company is doing. Hopefully, the guidance which follows may help you better understand what is really going with a company's plans.

Let's take this one as our first example. Northwestern Mineral Ventures (TSX-V: NWT; OTCBB: NWTMF) announced on Thursday the completion of its airborne survey. It also announced multiple potential uranium targets in the country of Niger (Africa). Reading an earlier interview we conducted with Dr. John North, a director of this company, (Click here: http://www.stockinterview.com/nwt.html), he told us, "There appear to be no scarcity of drill targets on the concessions." So what was the big news? The CEO announced they had "identified several near-surface targets with significant uranium mineralization potential." That wasn't the news. Not even close. They already knew that!

The company covered 24,000 line kilometers, more than 14,000 miles. Their first pass-through was cherry picking. The real news was buried in the third paragraph, "…a second airborne survey to further delineate areas with strong uranium potential is expected to commence in the summer." That should pick out the strongest targets for drilling at a later phase of the company's exploration. That line also told us they had very encouraging news. If the second airborne confirms strong uranium potential, raising money to push the project through into drilling and advanced exploration will come more easily.

Sometimes, when there is a lack of news, one can learn to dig around and find a company can be doing quite well. In other instances, one can study the news releases and try piecing together where the company is heading. We hope this guidance helps you become a more sophisticated investor. We neither recommend stocks nor give buying and selling advice. As always, speculating on natural resource companies can be very risky and suitable only for certain investors. One should always check with their registered financial advisor about what is suitable or not for one's investment decisions.

James Finch contributes to StockInterview.com and other publications. Sign up now and get your free copy of our new book, "Investing in the Great Uranium Bull Market: A Practical Investor's Guide to Uranium Stocks." Just visit http://www.stockinterview.com for details.