The market remained highly volatile as we wound up last week. But the reason for that chaos seemed to be shifting from U.S. debt concerns back to the condition of credit in Europe.
Debt contagion in Western Europe was the primary reason for last week's market dives. The focus is now the condition of European banks - a disquieting shift when you remember the cause of the market slide beginning in late 2008...
Then, the credit crunch was enveloping economies worldwide. Banks could not get overnight funds from other banks, so access to business loans dried up, and the prospects of deep recession (or worse) led the worries in the United States and Europe.
At least the banking system is much better off this time around (even though financial institutions continue to withhold trillions of dollars from the flow of credit).
Now comes word that French banks may have the same endemic problems already identified in their counterparts elsewhere in Western Europe. If the trouble is real - and last week's actions by Asian banks do render credence to it - that will guarantee further turbulence in trading markets.
So much for Standard & Poor's example of France as the model for setting the U.S. debt house in order.
Actually, why anybody still lends any credence to these fiscal alchemists on sovereign debt matters is beyond me. The sub-prime collateral mortgage obligation catastrophe indicates they are not so hot on the private issuance side, either. Ultimately, whether the debt bubble is buried in commercial bank ledgers or in the public budget does not change the issue. It will have the same net effect when it bursts - disaster.
We should demand some accountability for rating agencies to understand what they are reviewing and forecasting. Otherwise, I would be about as successful with a Ouija Board.
One other matter before I stop kicking this dead horse...
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The Secret Indicator That Points to Much Higher Oil Prices
Crude oil has taken on a life of its own. As I have noted on several occasions, oil is both a commodity in wide demand and a financial asset in its own right.
In the former case, as a commodity, the so-called "wet" barrels (the actual oil) will respond to traditional marketplace pressures - particularly supply and demand.
In the asset role, which involves futures contracts (the "paper" barrels), oil becomes something that can be used as a store of value. As we'll see momentarily, oil's role as a financial asset underpins a crucial new development.
Six catalysts are behind the recent increase in oil prices. Five are well known in the marketplace. But it's the sixth catalyst - not as widely known or understood - that is central to our forecast that oil prices will continue their march.
This sixth catalyst also enabled us to uncover a significant opportunity for you to make a great deal of money.
In the former case, as a commodity, the so-called "wet" barrels (the actual oil) will respond to traditional marketplace pressures - particularly supply and demand.
In the asset role, which involves futures contracts (the "paper" barrels), oil becomes something that can be used as a store of value. As we'll see momentarily, oil's role as a financial asset underpins a crucial new development.
Six catalysts are behind the recent increase in oil prices. Five are well known in the marketplace. But it's the sixth catalyst - not as widely known or understood - that is central to our forecast that oil prices will continue their march.
This sixth catalyst also enabled us to uncover a significant opportunity for you to make a great deal of money.
To find out about those profit plays, please read on...
Is BP Dealing Away Its Future?
In the aftermath of the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history, the Gulf of Mexico relief-well saga continues to monopolize our attention.
But here's the reality: Money problems - not the relief wells - could prove to be the undoing of BP PLC (NYSE ADR: BP). And that means the company's fate is most closely tied to its ongoing efforts to raise money by selling key assets from around the world.
BP is looking to divest $30 billion in assets during the next 18 months.Selling its assets is one way for the company to raise the money needed to cover its expected liabilities. But here's the problem: Those sales are moving right into the teeth of a new round of mergers-and-acquisitions (M&A) deals that were already taking place in the oil-and-gas sector, due to rising volatility there and the inability of some to withstand the uncertainty.
As a result of all this wheeling and dealing, the big will get bigger - and BP will get smaller. Indeed, the BP that emerges from the mess that it created should be smaller, leaner and smarter. But will that be good enough?
But here's the reality: Money problems - not the relief wells - could prove to be the undoing of BP PLC (NYSE ADR: BP). And that means the company's fate is most closely tied to its ongoing efforts to raise money by selling key assets from around the world.
BP is looking to divest $30 billion in assets during the next 18 months.Selling its assets is one way for the company to raise the money needed to cover its expected liabilities. But here's the problem: Those sales are moving right into the teeth of a new round of mergers-and-acquisitions (M&A) deals that were already taking place in the oil-and-gas sector, due to rising volatility there and the inability of some to withstand the uncertainty.
As a result of all this wheeling and dealing, the big will get bigger - and BP will get smaller. Indeed, the BP that emerges from the mess that it created should be smaller, leaner and smarter. But will that be good enough?
To understand BP's financial strategy, please read on...
Cold-Weather Investing: Coal, Natural-Gas and Heating-Oil Investments Will Pack a Punch in January
The irony about cold-weather investing is that the biggest profits come to those who position their money during the hottest months of the year - even during the record heatwave Americans have been experiencing this year.
In short, now's the time to start thinking about such winter-related topics as heating bills, and such cold-weather investments as natural gas, heating oil and coal.
According to the American Petroleum Institute (API), natural gas provides heat for 55% of homes in the United States, followed by electricity, which warms 39%. Heating oil, propane and coal play only minor direct roles, although coal is used to fire 49% of America's electric generating plants, with another 20% fueled by natural gas.
That means natural gas is the natural choice of investors looking for winter-related profits - although Dr. Kent Moors, editor of Oil & Energy Investor newsletter and a frequent contributor to Money Morning, cautions that factors other than routine home-heating demand play a major role in setting prices.
In short, now's the time to start thinking about such winter-related topics as heating bills, and such cold-weather investments as natural gas, heating oil and coal.
According to the American Petroleum Institute (API), natural gas provides heat for 55% of homes in the United States, followed by electricity, which warms 39%. Heating oil, propane and coal play only minor direct roles, although coal is used to fire 49% of America's electric generating plants, with another 20% fueled by natural gas.
That means natural gas is the natural choice of investors looking for winter-related profits - although Dr. Kent Moors, editor of Oil & Energy Investor newsletter and a frequent contributor to Money Morning, cautions that factors other than routine home-heating demand play a major role in setting prices.
During the Hottest Summer in Years, it's Time to Start Pursuing Cold Weather Profits
Take our word for it: Even though much of the nation has experienced record high temperatures this month, it'll be plenty chilly before you know it - and if you want some hot profits to warm you up come January, you'd be smart to think "winter" in August.
No, we haven't been sneaking refreshments from a St. Bernard's K9 cask: The reality is that a lot of companies that specialize in cold-weather products are stuck in the summer doldrums right now, meaning their share prices are in the cellar.
But, when rising winter demand ramps up their sales and profits, those stock prices will likely march higher, right along with your monthly heating bills.
No, we haven't been sneaking refreshments from a St. Bernard's K9 cask: The reality is that a lot of companies that specialize in cold-weather products are stuck in the summer doldrums right now, meaning their share prices are in the cellar.
But, when rising winter demand ramps up their sales and profits, those stock prices will likely march higher, right along with your monthly heating bills.
Why You Should Worry About the Iran Oil Sanctions
I cut my teeth doing energy-related deals in the Soviet Union and still spend a lot of time consulting in Russia and the Caspian Sea basin. These days, my work takes me all over the globe. But the part of the world where my career began still holds the key for future oil supplies.
Especially the Caspian.
This land-locked body of water borders five countries, each having major oil-and-gas reserves.
One of those countries is Iran - the focus of the latest problem that's cropped up in the global energy sector.
And that "problem" - Iran oil sanctions - is certain to bring about an increase in the price of crude oil.
Especially the Caspian.
This land-locked body of water borders five countries, each having major oil-and-gas reserves.
One of those countries is Iran - the focus of the latest problem that's cropped up in the global energy sector.
And that "problem" - Iran oil sanctions - is certain to bring about an increase in the price of crude oil.
Two sanction-spawned catalysts will boost oil prices. To see them, read on...
Special Report: New CEO Dudley Isn't the Long-Term Answer at BP, Expert Says
When readers ask me how Dr. Kent Moors could be up nearly 60% on a portfolio that he only launched July 6, I don't give them an answer.
I tell them a story.
When the BP PLC (NYSE ADR: BP) CEO-replacement saga began to unfold earlier this week, and the Money Morning news team was working the story, I contacted Dr. Moors to ask him if he knew anything about anointed successor Robert Dudley.
With that response, Dr. Moors underscored, yet again, why he's the ultimate energy-sector insider: He doesn't just know about Dudley - he actually knows him.
In fact, Dr. Moors went on to give me an analysis of the new CEO's managerial style, including Dudley's strengths and weaknesses. Dr. Moors even went as far as highlighting the elements of Dudley's managerial proclivities - and the elements of BP's strategy - that pose the biggest risks to the Big Oil company's turnaround.
For the full story on BP’s new CEO, please read on...
I tell them a story.
When the BP PLC (NYSE ADR: BP) CEO-replacement saga began to unfold earlier this week, and the Money Morning news team was working the story, I contacted Dr. Moors to ask him if he knew anything about anointed successor Robert Dudley.
With that response, Dr. Moors underscored, yet again, why he's the ultimate energy-sector insider: He doesn't just know about Dudley - he actually knows him.
In fact, Dr. Moors went on to give me an analysis of the new CEO's managerial style, including Dudley's strengths and weaknesses. Dr. Moors even went as far as highlighting the elements of Dudley's managerial proclivities - and the elements of BP's strategy - that pose the biggest risks to the Big Oil company's turnaround.
For the full story on BP’s new CEO, please read on...
The BP Relief Wells ... And the Two Nightmare Scenarios to Fear
Although the global energy sector is entering its most-promising stretch in decades - with more new technologies and more investment opportunities than ever before - I just can't seem to get away from BP PLC (NYSE ADR: BP) and its problems.
Take last Thursday, for instance. I began the day at FOX Business News, where the interviewer wanted me to explain what will happen if the BP relief wells fail. Then I spent an hour as the guest on a radio talk show from Johannesburg, South Africa, detailing what options are available to BP. Later still, I served as a consultant to a Wall Street investment crew - via conference call - once again on the status of the BP relief wells.
The BP relief wells are right now the dominant topic on everyone's mind. But there are two potential scenarios - of "nightmare proportions" - that investors need to know about.
Let me explain...
Take last Thursday, for instance. I began the day at FOX Business News, where the interviewer wanted me to explain what will happen if the BP relief wells fail. Then I spent an hour as the guest on a radio talk show from Johannesburg, South Africa, detailing what options are available to BP. Later still, I served as a consultant to a Wall Street investment crew - via conference call - once again on the status of the BP relief wells.
The BP relief wells are right now the dominant topic on everyone's mind. But there are two potential scenarios - of "nightmare proportions" - that investors need to know about.
Let me explain...
To understand the possible nightmares that BP faces in the months to come, please read on...
New 'Energy Advantage' Advisory Service Uncovers Top Energy-Sector Profit Opportunities
Oil prices will reach a record $150 a barrel in the next 12 months, sending gasoline prices to $3.80 a gallon. Commercial nuclear power will continue its comeback, but as small, sealed "mini-reactors" that can produce energy for up to 60 years - instead of as the hulking power plants of years gone by.
New global-warming regulations will turn air-pollution credits into financial assets that can trade like stocks or bonds. And a little-known U.S. pipeline and East Coast shipping terminal will transform the formerly fragmented U.S. natural-gas market into a fast-moving global marketplace - with profit opportunities to match .
To help investors profit from these global opportunities, Dr. Kent Moors - a career-energy-sector insider who is an advisor to six of the world's Top 10 oil companies and a consultant to some of the world's largest oil-producing nations - has launched the Energy Advantage advisory service.
New global-warming regulations will turn air-pollution credits into financial assets that can trade like stocks or bonds. And a little-known U.S. pipeline and East Coast shipping terminal will transform the formerly fragmented U.S. natural-gas market into a fast-moving global marketplace - with profit opportunities to match .
To help investors profit from these global opportunities, Dr. Kent Moors - a career-energy-sector insider who is an advisor to six of the world's Top 10 oil companies and a consultant to some of the world's largest oil-producing nations - has launched the Energy Advantage advisory service.
The "New" Global Energy Sector: "The Profit Opportunity of Our Lifetime"
Oil prices will reach a record $150 a barrel, sending gasoline prices to $3.80 a gallon. Commercial nuclear power is making a comeback - but in "nuclear batteries," instead of in hulking power plants of the past. New global-warming regulations will turn air-pollution credits into financial assets that can trade like stocks or bonds. And China's zooming growth will turn the global energy sector upside down.
If this sounds like a view of the distant future - the global energy sector's own version of "Future Shock" - think again.
All of these "predictions" are becoming a reality, even as you read this. And while these transformative events will likely make the global energy sector more volatile and confusing than ever, they are also creating the largest wealth-creating opportunities that most investors will ever see, says Dr. Kent Moors, a career energy-sector consultant who works with governments and corporations throughout the world.
If this sounds like a view of the distant future - the global energy sector's own version of "Future Shock" - think again.
All of these "predictions" are becoming a reality, even as you read this. And while these transformative events will likely make the global energy sector more volatile and confusing than ever, they are also creating the largest wealth-creating opportunities that most investors will ever see, says Dr. Kent Moors, a career energy-sector consultant who works with governments and corporations throughout the world.
For all the details on Dr. Moor's energy-sector predictions, please read on...
The 'New' Energy Sector: Windfall Profits for Investors, Energy Independence for the U.S. Economy
The BP PLC (NYSE ADR: BP) oil spill has been a wakeup call for energy-sector regulators.
But it's been an even bigger wakeup call for investors.
Years from now, investors will look back at this period as a turning point - the start of the greatest profit opportunity of this generation. And that's not all. The post-oil-spill period will go down in history as the period during which the United States was finally able to break its dependence on foreign oil, says Dr. Kent Moors, a career energy-sector consultant who works with governments and corporations throughout the world.
Investors who understand the energy-sector shifts that are taking place "will make more money in energy investments over the next several years than in any other sector during any other period in their lifetimes," says Dr. Moors, who is also the editor of the Oil & Energy Investor newsletter. With the changes he's currently projecting, "a large measure of energy independence for the U.S. becomes possible. And I'm not just talking about a mere economic 'recovery' here. We'd be looking at a standard of living that's 60% higher, an economy expanding at 5% to 7% a year and - most important of all - a future that we could dictate."
But it's been an even bigger wakeup call for investors.
Years from now, investors will look back at this period as a turning point - the start of the greatest profit opportunity of this generation. And that's not all. The post-oil-spill period will go down in history as the period during which the United States was finally able to break its dependence on foreign oil, says Dr. Kent Moors, a career energy-sector consultant who works with governments and corporations throughout the world.
Investors who understand the energy-sector shifts that are taking place "will make more money in energy investments over the next several years than in any other sector during any other period in their lifetimes," says Dr. Moors, who is also the editor of the Oil & Energy Investor newsletter. With the changes he's currently projecting, "a large measure of energy independence for the U.S. becomes possible. And I'm not just talking about a mere economic 'recovery' here. We'd be looking at a standard of living that's 60% higher, an economy expanding at 5% to 7% a year and - most important of all - a future that we could dictate."
To understand the top trends unfolding in the new energy sector, please read on...
Free Report: The New Global Power Broker in Oil
Uganda has found oil, and lots of it. But it lacks the ability to turn crude into needed oil products, like gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and low-sulfur heating oil. Unless it can develop a local way to process the oil coming out of the ground, it must rely upon exporting that production as raw material […]
Oil Sector Expert Kent Moors Sees Tough Times, Stricter Regs For BP After Oil Spill
Energy expert Dr. Kent Moors is angry. And the main target for that anger is BP PLC (NYSE ADR: BP).
At its core, the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill is a human tragedy: 11 workers were killed, others were injured and now many Gulf Coast residents will end up losing their homes and livelihoods.
But that's not all that has Dr. Moors seeing red: The accident that resulted from BP's incomprehensible risk-taking has killed an energy bill that could have set the U.S. economy on a course for energy freedom, and is going to summon the heavy hand of government in a way that will cost American consumers dearly while also keeping regular U.S. investors from reaping green.
At its core, the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill is a human tragedy: 11 workers were killed, others were injured and now many Gulf Coast residents will end up losing their homes and livelihoods.
But that's not all that has Dr. Moors seeing red: The accident that resulted from BP's incomprehensible risk-taking has killed an energy bill that could have set the U.S. economy on a course for energy freedom, and is going to summon the heavy hand of government in a way that will cost American consumers dearly while also keeping regular U.S. investors from reaping green.
What Insiders Don't Want You to Know About "Peak Oil"
Why did the oil industry impose a media blackout at a recent summit of industry giants in Mexico? The answer explains why thirsty nations are already pitted against each other in a cutthroat brawl for ever-dwindling oil supplies. Read this report to find out two ways to profit from the coming shortage of black gold.
How to Profit from the Other Oil Story in the Gulf
While much of the attention remains fixed on BP (NYSE: BP), Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG), Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL), and on the attempt to plug a gusher in the Gulf, I have been watching another development down here in the Caribbean this week. It is going to impact crude oil and oil product movements throughout […]