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The Keystone Delay Won't Stop These Canadian Oil Sands Stocks
I'm not a knee-jerk hater of the Obama administration.
But the President's decision to reject the Keystone pipeline was one of his worst.
Aside from creating jobs, the pipeline would have decisively swung U.S. energy supplies more toward domestic sources and those of our friendly neighbor Canada.
Granted, the pipeline wouldn't create energy independence but it would mean importing less oil from the Middle East.
It is the kind of switch that could help save the U.S. large amounts of blood and treasure in the future.
Because in practice, our dependence on Middle Eastern oil forces us to incur huge foreign costs – after all, we just finished paying $800 billion for the Iraq war. As you know, that is just a drop in a much larger bucket.
Add in the human losses and the costs are incalculable.
In this case, caring less about what goes on in the Middle East – other than ensuring the safety of our ally Israel – would save us all those costs, and get us that much closer to balancing the damn Federal budget.
So let's just say shelving the Keystone pipeline wasn't exactly the president's finest hour.
Bullish on Canadian Oil Sands Stocks
However, while the Keystone Pipeline continues to twist in the wind, investors shouldn't ignore the Canadian energy sector – especially the Athabasca tar sands.
Because with oil prices on the rise, these Canadian resource plays are likely to offer investors serious returns.
Here's why: oil prices are headed higher.
In fact, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's recent promise that U.S. interest rates will remain near zero until the end of 2014 has given a huge boost to commodity and energy prices.
What's more, the $600 billion injection into EU banks and the promise of another $600 billion this month just adds more fuel to the inflationary flames.
Eventually, oil prices will get so high that they will cause a recession all by themselves, just like they did in 2008. But remember, that happened at $147 per barrel, so we've still got quite a way to go. This time oil could get closer to $200 per barrel.
That's bullish for places like the Athabasca tar sands.
Glencore International, Xstrata Could Make the Next Biggest Deal in Global Commodities
Tags: (PINK: GLCNF), (PINK: XSRAF), Coal, Commodities, Copper, Glencore International, market value, Mining, nikel, Xstrata Plc
What the Next Decade Holds for Commodities
What a decade!… A rapidly urbanizing global population driven by tremendous growth in emerging markets has sent commodities on quite a run over the past 10 years.
In fact, you would find that all 14 commodities are in positive territory if you annualized the returns since 2002.
The best performer was silver with an impressive 20% annualized return.
Surprisingly, that was higher 19% annual return on gold.
Notably, all commodities except natural gas outperformed the S&P 500 Index 10-year annualized return of just 2.92%.
However, last year did not seem reflective of the decade-long clamor for commodities.
In 2011, only four commodities we track increased: gold (10%), oil (8%), coal (nearly 6%), and corn (nearly 3%).
The remaining commodities listed on our popular Periodic Table of Commodity Returns fell, with losses ranging from nearly 10% for silver to 32% for natural gas.
I think this chart is a "must-have" for investors and advisors because you can visually see how commodities have fluctuated from year to year…
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QE3, $2,200 Gold, and the Trillion Dollar Bazooka
It's the beginning of a new year, and there's no shortage of big headlines…
Europe is on the financial brink, Iran is a powder keg, and precious metals like gold have retreated.
It's also a time when there is no shortage of financial forecasts.
Even though these kinds of predictions about the future can be tough to make, I'll admit it's kind of fun to look forward and see what the future may hold.
Like in December 2010, when I said I expected gold to reach $1,900/oz in 2011. Some people thought that I was crazy. At the time, gold was trading for just $1,390/oz.
But just nine months later, that turned out to be a pretty good call as gold hit a new high of $1,923/oz. before eventually pulling back.
Better yet, in January 2010, I even said gold would eventually top $5,000. Of course, most people thought that call was preposterous.
Now, even Standard Chartered bank's analysts expect gold to climb to $5,000.
Don't Be Fooled by Gold's Recent Dip – We'll Still See $2,000 an Ounce in 2012
If you're concerned about where gold prices are headed after yesterday's (Wednesday's) bear-market buzz, don't be. This is just a brief pit-stop in what continues to be an epic bull-run for the yellow metal.
Gold prices fell below $1,600 an ounce Wednesday for the first time since October, settling down nearly 5% at $1,586.90 an ounce Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). That's below the closely-watched 200-day moving average for the first time since January.
There are a few reasons for this slump: Panic over the Eurozone and its weakening currency, banks' need for cash, and year-end profit-taking have all taken their toll on gold this week.
Still, while gold prices may be stumbling right now, they are not headed for a long-term bear market – not even close. In fact, it's something our own gold and global resources specialist predicted months ago.
Money Morning Global Resources Specialist Peter Krauth said as far back as August that gold prices were due for a pull-back, so this minor blip isn't surprising – and it definitely isn't permanent.
"This is something I saw coming," said Krauth. "Back in late August, as gold was pushing $1,900, I told my subscribers it was due to pull back, and likely to trade in a range between $1,600 and $1,800, and that's exactly what we've seen so far. We could see a bit more weakness, but I think we're much closer to a bottom at this point."
Here's why.
A Weak Euro and the Scramble for Cash
One of the biggest factors contributing to lower gold prices is the Eurozone and its increasingly weak currency. The euro fell Wednesday to $1.2998 against the dollar, its lowest level since January. That forced many traders into the dollar.
"As investors flee the euro, the "risk off' trade means they're falling back on the U.S. dollar," said Krauth. "A higher U.S. dollar, in turn, means lower gold because gold is priced in U.S. dollars."
Krauth said Europe's economic turmoil has forced the region's banks to hunt for more cash, which has led to more gold leasing transactions, further pressuring the precious metal's price.
"European commercial banks are desperate for cash," said Krauth. "They could well be "borrowing' central bank or other sourced gold to lend out simply to raise cash temporarily. Interestingly, gold lease rates just spiked back up on Dec. 7, the very same day we started that recent bout of gold price weakness."
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Gold Price Outlook 2012: Miners Will Shine as Prices Soar
[Editor's Note: This special report on currency investing is part of Money Morning's annual "Outlook" series, which forecasts the prospects for stocks, commodities, and other top profit opportunities in the New Year. Our last forecast focused on currencies.]
Despite a pullback from its all-time high of about $1,920 an ounce set in September, gold is still trading in the $1,750 range. In fact, the glittering metal has gained 22% in the past 12 months.
What's more is that I believe gold prices will eclipse $2,200 an ounce next year, and shoot beyond even $5,000 an ounce after that.
So there's obviously still time to get in on this once-in-a-lifetime bull-run, if you haven't already.
Of course, every investor should at least have shares of a gold-based exchange-traded fund, but if you really want to profit from the price surge, you ought to look at gold mining companies.
Let me explain.
A Golden Opportunity
While gold prices have surged 22% over the past year, gold mining stocks have lagged curiously behind over that period.
The Amex Gold Bugs Index, a weighted benchmark made up of 16 of the world's largest gold and silver mining companies, began the year at 540, and after numerous troughs and peaks, we're back near those same levels.
Normally, gold stocks will leverage gold on a 2-for-1 basis, but in this case, we've seen miners move sideways as gold has advanced.
Yet with gold's price powering skyward, the gold miners have seen their margins expand, making them very profitable at current levels. That makes them absolute steals at these prices.
You don't have to take my word for it, either. Just look at what industry insiders are saying.
"A substantial disconnect has developed between the price of gold and the mining companies," said David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital. "With gold at today's price, the mining companies have the potential to generate double-digit free cash flow returns and offer attractive risk-adjusted returns even if gold does not advance further. Since we believe gold will continue to rise, we expect gold stocks to do even better."
Portfolio managers Michael Bowman and Allan Meyer of Wickham Investment Counsel Inc. concur.
"We are now finding a large number of gold stocks are hitting our value screens, something that has been unheard of in the past," said Meyer.
What else are experts noticing?
Well, as gold prices have risen and stayed high, the price/earnings (P/E) ratios of gold miners have been cut in half. That means the sector as a whole is at as compelling a value as it's been in three years. And with the price of gold set to rise still higher on the back of incessant money printing in the United States and Europe, these miners are only going to get more profitable.
How high is gold likely to go?
My own research tells me we should expect gold to easily reach $2,200 in 2012.
Rising Food Prices Will Boost Debt-Free Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) to New Highs
With so many companies – and countries – choking on the combination of slow growth and massive debt, investors are finding that there's a definite formula for success.
You need to look for companies that have healthy cash reserves, a global presence in a high-growth sector, and whose shares are available at a bargain price.
I've already found one to help get you started.
I'm talking about The Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS), an agricultural leader that's positioned to benefit from the worldwide run-up in food prices.
Mosaic is the world's leading producer of concentrated phosphate and potash, two of the primary nutrients required to grow food crops.
One of the main reasons I really like Mosaic is that it has enough cash – $3 billion – to fund its own growth. It doesn't need to borrow from banks to continue generating profits from crop-nutrient sales.
That's a profitable niche, since global food prices are expected to increase 4% next year, and could climb higher on supply squeezes. Increasing food demand and poor harvests have caused sharp climbs in the price of corn and other crops. And those price increases have translated into higher prices for pork, beef and poultry. The profitable agricultural industry outlook is enticing farmers to grow more, and will create a steady profit stream for Mosaic.
Mosaic's shares recently hit a 52-week low; but don't let that price dip fool you: While the market is currently pricing Mosaic for a significant slowdown in earnings, the reality is far brighter. It's time to buy The Mosaic Co. (**).
Gold Prices Back on Track for $2,500 an Ounce
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