Energy is vital for every nation in the world — yet no other sector gets as much bad press.  According to 2011 statistics from BP (NYSE: BP), oil is the predominant source of energy production around the world, followed by coal, natural gas, renewables and nuclear. The energy sector is… Read More

It’s been all the rage the past few years. And with good reason… This new technology has literally reshaped the world energy market and put America back on the oil and natural gas map. Of course, I… Read More

The proposed expansion of the Keystone pipeline is probably the most hated energy project in America. The project has become a rallying cry for environmentalists who claim the harvesting of oil sands in Alberta poses unacceptable risks… Read More

The proposed expansion of the Keystone pipeline is probably the most hated energy project in America. The project has become a rallying cry for environmentalists who claim the harvesting of oil sands in Alberta poses unacceptable risks to the ecosystem. Last week, The New Yorker published an extensive article describing how Tom Steyer, a California billionaire and former hedge-fund manager, is spending millions of his own fortune to defeat the measure.#-ad_banner-# That’s interesting, especially considering that Steyer’s hedge-fund, Farallon, invested in fossil-fuel companies. From the New Yorker:… Read More

The proposed expansion of the Keystone pipeline is probably the most hated energy project in America. The project has become a rallying cry for environmentalists who claim the harvesting of oil sands in Alberta poses unacceptable risks to the ecosystem. Last week, The New Yorker published an extensive article describing how Tom Steyer, a California billionaire and former hedge-fund manager, is spending millions of his own fortune to defeat the measure.#-ad_banner-# That’s interesting, especially considering that Steyer’s hedge-fund, Farallon, invested in fossil-fuel companies. From the New Yorker: “After being criticized by some Republicans for holding some investments in the fossil-fuel industry, including stock in Kinder Morgan, which has proposed extending a rival pipeline to Keystone, Steyer said that he would fully divest his portfolio of its “dirty energy” holdings within a year.” The pipeline has also become a political issue. During last year’s presidential race, President Barack Obama refrained from taking a strong stand on the project despite… Read More

Many investors think commodities are too risky. It makes sense when you look at the history… Before the 2008 recession, oil was nearing $150 a barrel. Then it fell to the rock-bottom price of $35. Copper approached $1.20 per pound from a high of… Read More

When Syria uses chemical warfare or Iran threatens to launch missiles, it puts the collective world on edge, pushes stock markets over the edge and launches oil prices off the charts. The mere mention of Middle… Read More

Different market sectors carry different risks. In the precious metals sector, and for mining companies in particular, there are geopolitical risks not normally associated with investments closer to home. If you purchase… Read More

For a brief time in 1991, there was no question that I was going to earn a fortune.  By making a few lucky stock and option trades, I had accumulated a modest sum of trading capital in my brokerage account. Knowing that the United States was about to invade Iraq, I had no doubts that the markets would plunge as fears of Iraq’s weapons and military capacity reached a fever pitch around the globe. I decided to short the… Read More

For a brief time in 1991, there was no question that I was going to earn a fortune.  By making a few lucky stock and option trades, I had accumulated a modest sum of trading capital in my brokerage account. Knowing that the United States was about to invade Iraq, I had no doubts that the markets would plunge as fears of Iraq’s weapons and military capacity reached a fever pitch around the globe. I decided to short the market with all of my meager funds. Knowing that the U.S. would invade any day, buying put options on the S&P 100 index provided the most return for when the market plunged. As fate would have it, my timing on the invasion was dead on — the U.S. launched the first airstrike the day after I purchased the put options.#-ad_banner-# But I couldn’t have been more wrong with the direction of the market. U.S. Read More

Different market sectors carry different risks. In the precious metals sector, and for mining companies in particular, there are geopolitical risks not normally associated with investments closer to home. If you purchase shares of Bed Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY), you don’t need to worry about guerrilla fighters coming in and stealing your stores at gunpoint. But in the mining sector, this threat is real. I’m referring to is known as nationalization or… Read More

Different market sectors carry different risks. In the precious metals sector, and for mining companies in particular, there are geopolitical risks not normally associated with investments closer to home. If you purchase shares of Bed Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY), you don’t need to worry about guerrilla fighters coming in and stealing your stores at gunpoint. But in the mining sector, this threat is real. I’m referring to is known as nationalization or expropriation.#-ad_banner-# Nationalization occurs when a government takes assets held by individuals or private companies and converts them into public or government property. Sometimes compensation is offered. Often it is not. When Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba in 1959, he gradually nationalized all foreign-owned private companies. After a great deal of protest from former owners, the Cuban government eventually paid out $1.3 million to U.S. interests. It was a paltry sum, barely a fraction of what had been taken. When Salvador Allende became president of Chile in 1970, his government finalized the nationalization of Chile’s copper mining industry. The… Read More

For a brief time in 1991, there was no question that I was going to earn a fortune.  By making a few lucky stock and option trades, I had accumulated a modest sum of trading capital in my brokerage account. Knowing that the United States was about to invade Iraq, I had no doubts that the markets would plunge as fears of Iraq’s weapons and military capacity reached a fever pitch around the globe. I decided to short the… Read More

For a brief time in 1991, there was no question that I was going to earn a fortune.  By making a few lucky stock and option trades, I had accumulated a modest sum of trading capital in my brokerage account. Knowing that the United States was about to invade Iraq, I had no doubts that the markets would plunge as fears of Iraq’s weapons and military capacity reached a fever pitch around the globe. I decided to short the market with all of my meager funds. Knowing that the U.S. would invade any day, buying put options on the S&P 100 index provided the most return for when the market plunged. As fate would have it, my timing on the invasion was dead on — the U.S. launched the first airstrike the day after I purchased the put options.#-ad_banner-# But I couldn’t have been more wrong with the direction of the market. U.S. Read More