As the Obama administration gets set to spell out the restrictions placed on offshore drilling, one thing is clear: The domestic supply of oil and natural gas is bound to be cut — at least in the near-term. This should have little impact on oil prices, as the commodity is global in nature, and the Gulf contributes only a tiny fraction of the world’s output. Natural gas — that’s a different story. It’s not a fungible commodity. Natural gas costs more to transport from distant lands and the Gulf accounts… Read More

As the Obama administration gets set to spell out the restrictions placed on offshore drilling, one thing is clear: The domestic supply of oil and natural gas is bound to be cut — at least in the near-term. This should have little impact on oil prices, as the commodity is global in nature, and the Gulf contributes only a tiny fraction of the world’s output. Natural gas — that’s a different story. It’s not a fungible commodity. Natural gas costs more to transport from distant lands and the Gulf accounts for about 12% of all domestic gas production. That means the market for natural gas, which has recently had greater supply than demand, could come into balance. If that happens, the folks digging for gas on dry land would finally have a reason to cheer. Land-based drillers were euphoric a few years ago when they discovered that the United States was sitting on massive pockets of underground gas that could now be tapped thanks to new technology. The euphoria was short-lived as it quickly became apparent there was perhaps too much gas yet to be tapped. Prices… Read More

Can you imagine anything worse than being a retailer in this recessionary environment? What if you knew there was a retailer so adept at reinventing itself while catering to the beautiful people, that it will survive the recession in very good shape? As an investor, it would certainly grab my… Read More

In investing, boring can be beautiful. Many investors like to chase stocks with hot new products from the likes of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), with the tradeoff being that emotions can create volatile stock prices as greed and fear play as much a part as underlying business… Read More

Here’s the most important number you need to know today: $8 billion. That’s the amount of cash that BP (NYSE: BP) is likely to generate, year-in and year-out, assuming energy prices stay where they are right now. And that number should be kept in mind as investors tally up all… Read More

Rome wasn’t built in a day. That refrain is often employed when management embarks on a turnaround. The problem, though, is that investors may begin to lose their confidence. If they’re forced to wait too long, they may lose hope, sell out and force… Read More

One of the pitfalls of being a global brand name is that investors may think of a company as a one-trick pony that captured lightning in a bottle. They may think a company has leveraged its brand to a point where one can find its product in the most remote… Read More

On April 26, the Dow hit a 52-week high of 11,258.01. It lost -11.0% through June 2 and has since clawed back some ground but remains -8.5% below its late-April high point. We lived through some big swings in May. Those big moves don’t look like they will abate in the near-term: The “Fear Index,” a measure of investor sentiment based on options trading, has risen to 30 today from 22 in late April, signaling investors are increasingly edgy and uncertain. The soft economic recovery at home and troubles in… Read More

On April 26, the Dow hit a 52-week high of 11,258.01. It lost -11.0% through June 2 and has since clawed back some ground but remains -8.5% below its late-April high point. We lived through some big swings in May. Those big moves don’t look like they will abate in the near-term: The “Fear Index,” a measure of investor sentiment based on options trading, has risen to 30 today from 22 in late April, signaling investors are increasingly edgy and uncertain. The soft economic recovery at home and troubles in Greece and Spain and elsewhere aren’t helping anything, nor is the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In a climate like this, when the market has the opportunity to cathartically dispel its anxiety, it will generally take it — and send prices plummeting. But despite the challenging environment, a select basket of stocks are still delivering tremendous returns. Even on the market’s worst days, some securities are actually rising in price, sometimes substantially. Great stocks can see their shares gain a lot of ground in a… Read More

After plunging steadily in recent weeks, share prices in the oil and gas exploration appear to have finally found a floor. Some stocks such as Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) and Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) sharply rose on Wednesday after falling close to their 52-week lows, while other stocks such as Diamond Offshore… Read More

Company executives may not know much about the stock market. But they know plenty about their own business. That’s why many investors track their every move. When these insiders notify the Securities and Exchange Commission that they have just bought company stock, investors sit up and take notice, because… Read More

On May 6th, a group of heavyweight private equity firms began to circle the wagons. The aim: the largest private equity buyout since the financial crisis began in 2007, a deal estimated to be worth nearly $15 billion. Discussions continued for… Read More