One of the real charms of energy sector is the potential for fast gains. Unlike staid utility stocks, energy stocks are so volatile that a six or 12-month price target can be secured in a matter of months. My “Better than Exxon” pick of Sandridge Energy (NYSE:… Read More

In 1999, just months before his death, a respected geochemist named Leigh Price was working on a research paper that would soon send shockwaves through the energy sector. Dr. Price had spent much of his career with the US Geological Society (USGS) assessing the hydrocarbon potential in… Read More

Big Oil is accustomed to a high return on investment (ROI). It makes some sense. After all, it costs millions to drill a conventional oil well and hundreds of millions to drill offshore, with no guarantees. With that in mind, it would be foolish… Read More

I recently watched the classic man-eating fish movie “Jaws” and the latest action in the precious metals space reminded me of the tagline for the film, “Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water…” Is it safe to swim in the water?… Read More

February 18, 2011 may turn out to be a notable day for investors. That’s when the S&P 500 hit a 30-month high. Since then, the index has plunged, rebounded and cooled anew, even as global conditions have become much more challenging. Throw in the fact that consumer sentiment and spending levels are dropping as gas prices rise, and we may not reach back to those February highs for the rest of the year. At least that’s how short-sellers hope things will play out. They’re stepping up bearish bets, hoping the broader market will help their investment… Read More

February 18, 2011 may turn out to be a notable day for investors. That’s when the S&P 500 hit a 30-month high. Since then, the index has plunged, rebounded and cooled anew, even as global conditions have become much more challenging. Throw in the fact that consumer sentiment and spending levels are dropping as gas prices rise, and we may not reach back to those February highs for the rest of the year. At least that’s how short-sellers hope things will play out. They’re stepping up bearish bets, hoping the broader market will help their investment targets to fall in price. If they’re wrong and the market can power up to new highs, then these short sellers may be forced to close out those bearish bets and re-buy shares, unwittingly adding buying pressure to the very stocks they want to go down. With that in mind, I’m looking at three stocks that are increasingly in the sights of short sellers. Each stock has seen at least a 25% spike in short interest in the two weeks ended March 30. What do the shorts see? And how will this play out?… Read More

The price of oil is around $110 a barrel. This with nearly 9% unemployment, anemic consumer spending and less-than-robust growth in the United States and European Union. Even China and India’s economic juggernauts are beginning to decelerate. It’s time to think about the inevitable future. And I think things are going to get better. We’re in the early stages — leaders are starting to put forth serious, detailed plans to significantly reduce federal outlays, including a complete overhaul of Medicare and Social Security. I think… Read More

The price of oil is around $110 a barrel. This with nearly 9% unemployment, anemic consumer spending and less-than-robust growth in the United States and European Union. Even China and India’s economic juggernauts are beginning to decelerate. It’s time to think about the inevitable future. And I think things are going to get better. We’re in the early stages — leaders are starting to put forth serious, detailed plans to significantly reduce federal outlays, including a complete overhaul of Medicare and Social Security. I think we’ll see a balanced budget before the end of the decade, as well as an honest-to-goodness budget surplus. I predict that Washington’s spending, currently around 25% of GDP, will fall dramatically in the coming years as these events unfold. When that occurs — notice I’m not hedging my bets here with conditional language like “if” — two things will result: 1. Businesses will be created as the nation’s entrepreneurs begin to feel more optimistic about the long-term future and more comfortable taking risks. We’ll see this in… Read More

Score one for the bulls. When I recommended shares of Couer D’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE: CDE) back in late January, there was a raging debate about whether silver prices would rally to new highs or finally come back to earth. I thought the bulls had a stronger case,… Read More

Gold is one of the most malleable and least reactive elements known to man. It’s used for both practical and symbolic purposes. Historically, gold has been one of the most common forms of monetary exchange throughout human history. Its secondary place to paper currency did not come about until the 20th century. And after continuously rising to new highs even after a multi-year bull market, one other thing can be said about gold: It can also make traders a lot of money… With gold rallying to… Read More

Gold is one of the most malleable and least reactive elements known to man. It’s used for both practical and symbolic purposes. Historically, gold has been one of the most common forms of monetary exchange throughout human history. Its secondary place to paper currency did not come about until the 20th century. And after continuously rising to new highs even after a multi-year bull market, one other thing can be said about gold: It can also make traders a lot of money… With gold rallying to record highs almost daily, it’s seen increasingly as a way to protect oneself against worldwide currency inflation. Inflationary worries were prominent news this trading week. China’s central bank raised its interest rates — for the fourth time since mid-October — to head-off price increases running at nearly 5% a year. The European Central Bank also raised rates for the first time in nearly two years, in order to curtail rising food and energy costs. In the United States, rising interest rates may… Read More

“Beat and Raise.” The pattern of beating estimates and raising forward guidance has been the key theme in each earnings season of the past two years. This time will be different. The “beat” part will likely hold as companies and the analysts that follow them continue to play the game of low expectations that then get exceeded. The “raise” part? That just got much trickier. Companies raise guidance when they have a lot of certainty about what the coming months will bring. Right now, few can say with certainty about how… Read More

“Beat and Raise.” The pattern of beating estimates and raising forward guidance has been the key theme in each earnings season of the past two years. This time will be different. The “beat” part will likely hold as companies and the analysts that follow them continue to play the game of low expectations that then get exceeded. The “raise” part? That just got much trickier. Companies raise guidance when they have a lot of certainty about what the coming months will bring. Right now, few can say with certainty about how the wide range of domestic and global events will play out. Here’s a checklist of the issues these companies face. Later on, I’ll look at the potential impact on specific sectors.   Oil prices bring caution. Expect a number of companies, especially those that are focused on consumers or have high transportation costs, to express real concern about surging oil. Stressed consumers are in no mood to help shoulder the burden. For example, airlines had successfully pushed through six fare hikes since the start of the year. On the seventh try, consumers appear to have balked and airlines had… Read More

While most energy-driven headlines today deal with $100-plus oil, dirty coal, dangerous nukes or solar dreams, one cheap, plentiful and clean fuel is usually left off stage out of the spotlight — natural gas. That’s odd, because Americans use about 62.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day, with some 2.1 quadrillion cubic feet in reserve. (One quadrillion is a thousand trillion.) It supplies 65 million households, 5.3 million commercial users and nearly 200,000 industrial-scale customers. Natural gas is critical to electrical power production and its importance in this area is growing dramatically. Read More

While most energy-driven headlines today deal with $100-plus oil, dirty coal, dangerous nukes or solar dreams, one cheap, plentiful and clean fuel is usually left off stage out of the spotlight — natural gas. That’s odd, because Americans use about 62.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day, with some 2.1 quadrillion cubic feet in reserve. (One quadrillion is a thousand trillion.) It supplies 65 million households, 5.3 million commercial users and nearly 200,000 industrial-scale customers. Natural gas is critical to electrical power production and its importance in this area is growing dramatically. In the past 15 years, the amount of U.S. electricity provided by natural gas has grown from 13.2% to 23.2%. The total number of kilowatt hours attributable to natural gas is up 102.3%. And there are two reasons this trend is going to accelerate in coming years. First, gas is super efficient; it can approach 60% efficiency, nearly twice that of coal, which makes it an easier and more cost-effective way to generate power. Second, natural gas is far less polluting than coal, which is similarly cheap and abundant, and is… Read More