Stock Market News & Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks » Alaska

SLGLF, TAXS, DrStockPick.com.com Watch List! for Tuesday Nov 24, 2009, Silverado Gold Mines Ltd. and TaxMasters, Inc.

Dr. Stock Pick — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:02:37 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _________________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _________________________________________ DrStockPick.com Watch List! My Picks for Tuesday Nov 24, 2009 are: ************************************************************** SLGLF, Silverado Gold Mines Ltd., SLGLF.OB SLGLF is an exploration-stage enterprise focused on the exploration of gold properties with some past production. SLGLF has gold properties located throughout Alaska, which include a 100 percent (100%) interest [...]

Exponential Growth, Finite World – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:27:04 +0000

I want to talk about the challenge of exponential growth in a finite world. This is a concept that while on its surface seems easy to get, most people don’t fully grasp it.

Any growth rate that is positive will lead to a doubling in size eventually -- the higher the growth rate, the quicker the doubling. A quick "back of the envelope" method of figuring it out is known as the rule of 70. If you divide a growth rate into 70, it will roughly give you the time for something to double. Thus if something is growing at 2% a year, then it will double in about 35 years, at 5% only 14 years, etc. If you want to be more precise, you can always use your Y^x button on your calculator, but the rule of 70 will do for this discussion.

Clearly, exponential growth is what we are looking for when we invest -- better known as compound interest -- and it is vital to anyone’s financial health that they stay on the right side of it. People who get on the wrong side -- for example, by carrying a credit card balance -- are eventually headed towards financial oblivion. If that is you, then your best investment is probably not one of the stocks or ETFs that I recommend, it is paying down you damm Visa bill.

It is also why I try to watch the downside when I make investment decisions. It is far more important to avoid 50% losses than it is to have a 50% gain. After all, if you had a 50% gain in one year, but in the next year you suffered a 50% loss, at the end of two years that dollar would have turned into just $0.75 -- a 25% loss.

However, far more important to the world is the dark side of exponential growth. Let's start with the obvious one: population growth. The table below comes from Wikipedia, but is based on UN data. Note that from 1750 to 1800, the world population grew from 791 million to 978 million -- an increase of 187 million, or 0.4% per year. From 1850 to 1900, it grew from 1.262 billion to 1.650 billion -- an increase of 388 million or at 0.53% per year.

Thus, even very small growth rates can result in some very large increases extended long enough, and as the base grows, the absolute increase gets larger each year even if the rate of increase stays the same. Now look at what has happened more recently. From 1950 to 1999, world population increased by 3.457 billion, more than doubling from 2.521 billion, an increase of 1.78% per year. Lately we have seen a slowdown in the growth rate; from 1999 to 2008 it was just 1.29% per year, but that has meant an increase of 729 million in just nine years, or 92% of the entire world population in 1750.

Looking forward, the U.N does see a further reduction in the rate of growth, to just 0.68% per year, or almost back down to the growth rate in the very earliest days of the Industrial Revolution. But the base is so much larger, the absolute increase is 2.2 billion, or almost the world population of 1950. The effect is that a long-term graph of world population looks like a picture of a rocket launch. And unless you believe in the Mayan calendar or the equally silly "end times" nonsense, this is going to cause some very big problems (not that the end of the world in 2012 wouldn't be a very big problem on its own).

Now look at where the growth is coming from. The combined populations of North America (Mexico is included in the Latin American numbers, so basically the US and Canada) and Europe are actually expected to fall from the current 1.069 billion to 1.020 billion. All of the growth is coming from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The only thing that can keep up with exponential growth is something that itself grows exponentially. Fortunately, the one thing that grows exponentially at a very fast rate is computing power, which in turn allows for technological advances. So far, technology has managed to hold off the worst of the problems that one might expect. After all, this analysis is not exactly original. It was first made by Thomas Malthus back before world population hit the 1 billion mark.

However, you can eat potato chips, not computer chips. One of the things that technology has done is level the playing field, so that people in Asia and eventually Africa will have the same shot at success as people in the U.S. and Europe. They can see how we live, and surprise, surprise -- they would prefer to live the way we do, and are increasingly able to do so. As they do, the economic growth opportunities will be huge.

That is why I like the emerging markets story so much. However, given the challenges of trying to research foreign firms who might be best positioned to take advantage of these trends, it probably makes sense to use ETFs such as the I-shares MSCI Emerging Market Fund (EEM) or more country-specific variants like the Claymore China Small Cap ETF (HAO) or the Wisdom Tree India Earnings ETF (EPI).

One of the things that has been absolutely key to our ability to have so much higher living standards today than back in, say, 1850 is that we use a lot more energy.

So let’s take a look at energy consumption per capita (the data I’m using comes from here if you want to investigate further). In 2005, people in North America used the equivalent of 8157.9 kilograms of oil per year (kgoe/y) per person, up from 7942.9 kgoe/y in 2000. Thus while our rate of increase in energy consumption was just 0.54% per year, it was on a high base so the absolute increase was 215 kgoe/y over that time.

Now look at Asia (excluding the Middle East). In 2000, they were using 865.2 kgoe/y, and by 2005 it was up to 1051.5 per year. That is an increase of 3.98% per year, or to go back to the rule of 70, it means that if it keeps up Asia’s energy consumption per capita will double by 2022. Combine that with a population that is expected to grow at 0.6% per year, and Houston, we have a problem.

However, note that the absolute increase in energy use per capita in Asia was just 186 kgoe/y, or just 86.5% of the increase in North America, despite the far higher growth rate. However, if the relative growth rates continue, that will not last. If we extrapolate out the growth rates of 2000 to 2005 then by 2015, Asia’s per capita consumption will grow to 1,553.0 kgoe/y, an increase of 501.5, while the absolute increase in North America will be "only" 451.4 kgoe/y.

Put another way, right now we use 7.76x as much energy per person as in Asia (keep in mind these figures include relatively rich countries like Japan and South Korea, as well as basket-cases like Burma and Bangladesh), and by 2015 that ratio will fall all the way down to 5.54x as much.

Now, the peak year for actual oil discovery in the world was in 1964, and as you pump oil out of the ground it is gone. Once you reach the point where you have pumped half the original oil in a field, it is basically impossible to increase the annual output from that field without causing serious damage that eventually results in that oil being trapped forever. Most of the currently producing fields are past their peak. As the International Energy Agency (IEA) found last year:

"Output from the world's oilfields is declining faster than previously thought, the IEA said in its annual report. Without extra investment to raise production, the natural annual global crude oil depletion rate is 9.1%. The findings suggest the world will struggle to produce enough oil to make up for steep declines in existing fields, such as in the North Sea, Russia and Alaska. The effort will become even more acute as prices fall and investment decisions are delayed. Even with investment, the annual rate of output decline is 6.4." (See here for full story.)

Now the situation is better for natural gas (NG) than it is for oil, but eventually that will run out as well. However, we have much more time thanks to the new shale plays here in the U.S. We need to shift to more usage of NG as a bridge towards the eventual goal of producing most of our energy from renewable sources like wind and solar. But given the tiny fraction of the world’s energy they now represent, we will need many years of very fast growth in them to make a substantial dent in world energy needs.

Natural gas also has the benefit of being located here in North America, rather than in rather unstable and hostile areas of the world, the way oil is.

The U.S. cannot continue to run massive trade deficits with the rest of the world. The trade deficit is the source of our external debt, not the fiscal deficit. Our external debt is now (as of 6/30/09) at $13.454 trillion -- up from just $7.744 trillion five years ago. That is a growth rate of 11.7% per year, and is clearly not sustainable (that might be overstating it since it is a gross number; we do hold some debts of other countries that offsets it in part). Still, even if the net growth rate is half that amount, it is clearly unsustainable, and is one of the reasons the dollar is going to be under long-term pressure.

Putting this all together it seems clear to me that the price of energy must continue to rise over the long term. Companies that are going to be able to increase their production of oil, such as Petrobras (PBR) are going to be exceptionally well positioned.

While natural gas should see a big growth in demand, it is not a perfect substitute for oil. Still, big gas producers like EnCana (ECA) have a very bright long-term future. I would also note that what I am saying about oil also holds true for other commodities. Energy and commodities are going to be the real stores of value and of wealth over the next few decades.
Read the full analyst report on "EEM"
Read the full analyst report on "HAO"
Read the full analyst report on "EPI"
Read the full analyst report on "PBR"
Read the full analyst report on "ECA"
Zacks Investment Research

The best sector for your money right now

Andrew Snyder — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:54:04 +0000

pBaltimore (a href="http://www.todaysfinancialnews.com" target="_blank"TFN/a): I cannot say with total certainty that duct tape has ever saved my life. But I can say it has saved the day on more than one occasion, like the time I fell feet first into a frigid river, roaring with the power of Alaska’s springtime snowmelt./p pIn the woods, you have to dry off fast or risk any number of calamities. Living in temperate rainforest, an emergency fire was a challenge. But thanks to duct tape’s inherent desire to burn, I was re-warmed in no time. /p pBut my mundane story has got nothing on the bush pilot that returned to his Piper Cub (the plane, not one of Palin’s kids) to find a pissed off grizzly had utterly#8230;/p

TAXS, DrStockPick.com Stock Report! TaxMasters Inc., Managing Growth, Improving Efficiency, Increasing Speed of Service

Dr. Stock Pick — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:41:19 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Wednesday November 11, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** I’d like to bring your attention to a company that has a remarkable success story and I think this is only the beginning of their outstanding growth and should definitely be on your watch list. TaxMasters, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: [...]

TAXS, DrStockPick.com Stock Report! TaxMasters Inc., TAXS.OB

Dr. Stock Pick — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:29:01 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Tuesday November 10, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** I’d like to bring your attention to a company that has a remarkable success story and I think this is only the beginning of their outstanding growth and should definitely be on your watch list. TaxMasters, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: [...]

Tesoro Beats, Cuts Dividend in Half – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:55:52 +0000

Tesoro Corporation’s (TSO) third-quarter 2009 results came in significantly better than expected, helped by better demand balance in the company’s key West Coast region. Earnings per share came in at 24 cents, against Zacks Consensus Estimate of a penny loss.

Tesoro’s outperformance is in contrast to the steep losses posted by the other major refiners that have already reported -- Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) and Sunoco Inc. (SUN).

However, compared to the year-ago period, Tesoro’s earnings per share plunged 87.1%, while sales declined 45.4% to $4.7 billion -- severely hampered by depressed refining margins and lower throughput on the back of weak fuel demand and high inventories.

Refining Segment Results

Tesoro’s refining segment experienced a significant decline in operating income (operating income of $84 million vs. $476 million in the year-earlier quarter) due to struggling profit margins for the production of distillate fuels (like heating oil and diesel), as well as a narrowing of the sweet/sour crude spread.

Throughput

Total refining throughput averaged 564 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), compared to 622 MBbl/d in the year-ago quarter. Overall throughput volumes in the California region (consisting of the Golden Eagle and Los Angeles refineries) decreased 13.9% year-over-year to 235 MBbl/d. Throughput in the company’s Pacific Northwest refineries (Alaska and Washington) fell 4.3% year-over-year to 155 MBbl/d, while for the Mid-Pacific (Hawaii) refineries, it was down approximately 8.3% to 66 MBbl/d. In the Mid-Continent region, Tesoro’s refining throughput averaged 108 MBbl/d, 6.1% lower than the previous-year period.

Refining Margins

Gross refining margin decreased 42.5% year-over-year to $9.59 per barrel. In terms of different regions, refining margin was down approximately 36.7% in California to $11.54 per barrel, 34.0% in the Pacific Northwest to $9.08 per barrel, 91.4% in the Mid-Pacific to $1.05 per barrel, and roughly 42.8% in the Mid-Continent to $11.50 per barrel.

Realized Costs & Prices

Manufacturing costs before DD&A decreased 8.6% from the year-earlier level to $4.79 per barrel, primarily due to lower energy costs. Total refined product sales during the quarter averaged 611 MBbl/d, down 10.4% year-over-year. Average price realized on product sales decreased 36.2% year-over-year to $83.71 per barrel. Average cost per barrel was also down 35.1% from the third quarter of 2008 to $76.47 per barrel.

Capital Expenditure & Balance Sheet

Tesoro’s total capital spending (including turnaround expenditure) during the third quarter of 2009 was $109.0 million. As of September 30, 2009, Tesoro had cash on hand of $534 million and long-term debt of approximately $1.8 billion, representing a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 36.2%.

Dividend Cut

Tesoro announced a 50% reduction in its quarterly dividend to 5 cents per share (20 cents per share annualized). The new dividend is payable on December 15, to shareholders of record on December 1, 2009.

Guidance

The company informed that it expects capital spending for 2009 to be less than its stated budget of $600 million. For 2010, the company plans to spend $675 million.

Outlook

We believe that the overall environment for refining margins is likely to remain poor going into 2010. The sharply lower refinery utilization (just over 80% of capacity) provides enough evidence that refineries are cutting back on production because the economy is still struggling on the demand side.

The recent rally in crude prices have added to refiners’ miseries by increasing the cost of oil they buy to make gas, jet fuel and other refined products. Being one of the major U.S. independent oil refiners, Tesoro remains particularly exposed to this unfavorable macro backdrop.

We currently rate Tesoro shares as Neutral. Unless the outlook for refiners improves, we expect the stock to perform in line with the market.
Read the full analyst report on "TSO"
Read the full analyst report on "VLO"
Read the full analyst report on "SUN"
Zacks Investment Research

Pioneer Misses, but Volumes up – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:59:10 +0000

Pioneer Natural Resources Company (PXD) reported its third quarter results of 2 cents per share, well below than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 6 cents and year-earlier quarter earnings of 91 cents. Before adjusting one-time items, loss per share was 6 cents.

Despite the increased production volumes and lower production expenses, earnings were down due primarily to weak realized prices. Revenue for the quarter was $410.1 million, down nearly 32% from the year-earlier level.

Total production for the quarter averaged approximately 113 thousand barrels oil equivalent per day (MBOE/d), up 2% year over year, reflecting the strong performance of Pioneer’s low-decline assets. Oil production averaged at 31.7 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), up approximately 7% year over year. Natural gas liquids production slightly decreased to 18.6 MBbl/d. Natural gas production also modestly increased to 374.2 MMcf/d.

On an oil equivalent basis, average realized price was $39.57 per barrel versus $59.04 per barrel in the year-ago quarter. Average realized price for oil in the quarter was $78.20, compared to $80.37 in the third quarter of 2008. Average natural gas price was to $3.64 per Mcf, significantly down from the year-earlier level of $7.98 per Mcf.

Year-to-date, all geographical production areas experienced growth. Production from the Spraberry field (in West Texas), South Texas area, Tunisia and South Africa increased 8%, 4%, 13% and 51%, respectively, from the same period in the last year.

At the end of the quarter, cash balance was nearly $56 million. Long-term debt balance stood at $2.87 billion, representing debt-to-capitalization ratio of 44.8%.

The company is guiding towards fourth quarter production ranging between 105 MBOE/d to 110 MBOE/d. Production costs are expected to average $11.50 to $13.50 per BOE and DD&A expense is expected to average $15.50 to $17.00 per BOE.

Based on the uptrend in oil prices and the solid hedging position, management is confident about the company’s operating cash flow generating capacity to the tune of $1 billion and $1.4 billion in 2010 and 2011, respectively. The company hinted that it will ramp up its production activity in the Spraberry field and will continue its successful oil development program in Alaska.

After having underperformed the peer group for last few years, the company is gaining investor attention with its attractive production growth and resource potential. Another potential catalyst for the company is its ongoing cost reduction initiatives. However, while we like Pioneer’s efforts of reducing debt level, there are other names in the group that have asset bases better positioned to deliver growth. We recommend a Neutral rating for the stock.
Read the full analyst report on "PXD"
Zacks Investment Research

Nabors Just Misses, Eyes Recovery – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:29:02 +0000

Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) – North America’s largest onshore oil and natural gas driller – yesterday reported marginally weaker-than-expected third quarter results on the back of lower rig demand, as producers continued to scale back operations in the midst of falling commodity prices. Earnings per share, excluding non-cash items, came in at 15 cents, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny.

Revenue & Profitability

Compared to the third quarter of 2008, Nabors’ adjusted earnings per share declined 77.6% (from 67 cents to 15 cents) due to persistent weakness in its North American gas-centric businesses combined with less robust international results. Revenues were down 44.2% to $804 million as sales declined in all of the company’s segments.

Nabors’ main operating segment is ‘Contract Drilling’, which accounts for bulk of the company’s revenues and operating earnings. Its operations are spread across 6 sub-segments: U.S. Lower 48 Land Drilling, U.S. Well Land Servicing, U.S. Offshore, Alaska, Canada, and International.

Contract Drilling Segment: Analysis

During the quarter, contract drilling revenues were down 43.7% year over year to $738.3 million, while the segment’s operating income declined approximately 64% to $134.1 million. The negative comparison reflects lower activity levels during the quarter, which was down 44.6% to 249.8 rig years.

Both the U.S. Lower 48 Land Drilling and the U.S. Land Well Servicing sub-segments suffered year-over-year declines in their sales and profitability, affected by lower operating hours in the company’s area of operations.

In Canada, revenues were down more than 50% and the company incurred a loss, as business did not improve coming out of the seasonally slow second quarter.

Regarding international operations, revenues and operating income were lower than expected and declined year over year. This primarily reflects the suspension of a large number of maturing contracts, resulting in lower utilization.

Nabors’ U.S. offshore operations recorded quarterly revenue below the year-ago level and posted its first ever loss on the back of a continued slump in drilling activity that led to a 59.4% dip in activity levels.

Alaska posted solid quarterly results as revenues and operating income both went up from the previous-year period, benefiting from lump sum payments in settlement of two contracts that would have expired at the end of the year. This more than offset an 18.2% decrease in rig years.

Balance Sheet

At the end of the quarter, the company had $1.1 billion in cash and short-term investments and $4.1 billion in long-term debt, with a net debt-to-capitalization ratio of approximately 44.1%.

Outlook

Management indicated that drilling activity is picking up and hoped that the third quarter represented the eventual bottoming of the North American natural gas driven land drilling operations, though the company’s international operations may take a further quarter or two to rebound. Nabors anticipates activity levels to pick up next year, buoyed by a demand recovery.
Read the full analyst report on "NBR"
Zacks Investment Research

STZ Consolidates Distribution – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:55:28 +0000

Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ), the world’s leading wine company, has signed a multiyear distribution agreement with Young’s Market Co. and its affiliates (Young’s) as the company’s exclusive distributor in Alaska, Washington and Oregon. Young’s, a recognized market leader in the Pacific Northwest, already has a longstanding business relationship with Constellation. With more than 1 million cases sold annually, Constellation is currently Young’s largest supplier in volume in the Pacific Northwest.

The company has recently signed a multi-year agreement with distributors to consolidate its network in the U.S. for better sales efforts. The main objectives of this realignment are improving organic growth, creating distributor teams focused exclusively on Constellation’s portfolio, and improving the coordination of marketing and promotional programs to support the brands. Constellation is also in the process of rolling out an enhanced incentive structure for the distributors to drive organic growth.

This agreement is therefore, a part of the company’s ongoing realignment of its distributor network and benefits almost 22 states, with 8 potential markets remaining.

In addition, the company has also recently divested its low margin value spirits business and entered into a joint venture for marketing imported beer in the U.S. Constellation is also undertaking various restructuring initiatives to streamline operations in an effort to save costs.

Constellation Brands’ largest operating company, Constellation Wines U.S., has a solid portfolio of wine and spirits, including iconic brands such as Robert Mondavi Winery, Clos du Bois, Blackstone, Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, Arbor Mist, Estancia, Ravenswood, Kim Crawford, Toasted Head, Black Box, Black Velvet Canadian Whisky and SVEDKA Vodka.

Read the full analyst report on "STZ"
Zacks Investment Research

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/08/09, SIRI, TMEN, TRGT, AA, TEX, GRMC

Dr. Stock Pick — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:33:21 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Thursday October 8, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** SIRIUS XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) today announced that OutQ, the nation’s first and only 24/7 radio channel dedicated to the LGBT community, will broadcast extensive coverage of the National Equality March in Washington, DC this weekend including [...]

Ruinous Debt to Create Futureless Suburbia

Contrarian Profits — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:33:54 +0000

pIn our history, the American nation committed obvious sins against select groups of people, and we’ve paid bitterly for some of that. But now it’s our sins against the land itself that threaten to sink the USA as a viable enterprise./p pIt’s odd, that in his otherwise excellent blow-by-blow account (”Eight Days,” in the Sept 21 emNew Yorker Magazine/em) of the September 2008 Wall Street meltdown that left Lehman dead, and a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=AIG"AIG/a croaking in a ditch, and the banking system in general functionally crippled, reporter James B. Stewart never got around to really describing the cause of it all — namely, the on-the-ground material catastrophe of American suburbia./p pIt was the worthlessness of the tradable securitized debt associated with all those overpriced (and#8230;/p

General Environmental Management Inc. (GEVI.OB) Offers a Variety of EnviroConstruction Services

QualityStocks — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:04:10 +0000

General Environmental Management Inc. is an integrated environmental services company which offers clients a variety of environmental and waste-related services. Among the services offered by the company are enviroconstruction and brownfield reclamation services. The company has had great success in “recycling” brownfield sites and turning them back into useful real estate. General Environmental’s expertise is [...]

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – September 17, 2009

Robert Amsterdam — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:37:29 +0000

TODAY: US to modify or jettison missile defense plans? NATO chief to meet with Russian envoy; Lukaschenko sends out mixed messages. South Ossetia denies book burning; think tank leader says Putin could be heading for Brehznev-style decades in power; Medvedev...

Commodities Market: Dig Your Way to Riches

Andrew Snyder — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:01:02 +0000

pThe commodities markets have been kicked into high gear. As America’s lenders change their mind, the world’s mining companies are on a surefire path to riches. /p pIf you can’t farm it, you have to mine it. It is a great message, no matter if you are an investor or an out-of-work cowboy./p pRiding through the streets of Alaska’s ever-wet capital, you see all sorts of bumper stickers. There are three main categories – fishing, mining and Sarah Palin./p pIt is the miners getting all of the attention this week./p pThere are several reasons the world’s mining industry is opening a big ‘ole bottle of bubbly, but none more poignant than the fact that America is shelling out debt faster than a hot-rod blackjack#8230;/p

BP: British Petroleum. Big Profits

Investment U — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:43:57 +0000

BP: British Petroleum. Big Profits by Tony Daltorio, the Investment U Research Team Not too long ago, seven major oil companies – commonly referred to as the Seven Sisters – controlled their market. But that was then and this is now. Today, they’re scrambling to find new oil fields, while “smaller” companies rock the industry. That’s why [...]

General Environmental Management, Inc. (GEVI.OB) – A Leader in Cleaning Brownfield Sites

QualityStocks — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:05:37 +0000

General Environmental Management Inc. is an integrated environmental services firm which provides enviroconstruction services, transportation, on-site field services and off-site treatment for both hazardous and non-hazardous materials for a variety of public and private entities. One of the sectors that General Environmental provides services is in the area of enviroconstruction and brownfield support services. The [...]

Conoco: New Unit Approved – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:13:10 +0000

ConocoPhillips (COP) recently received approval from federal officials to pull a collection of North Slope oil and gas leases into a new oil-field unit, a predecessor to development and production. For this purpose, the company partners with Anadarko Petroleum (APC). The leases are in the National Petroleum Reserve (Alaska) and on the western side of Alaska's North Slope.

The new oil-field unit, named Bear Tooth Unit, includes 23 leases and approximately 105,000 acres, located northwest of the company’s Mooses Tooth Unit. The company said that both the units have sites of known oil discoveries. While production from the Mooses Tooth Unit is expected to commence sometime between 2012 and 2014, Bear Tooth would be online later.

ConocoPhillips has recently relinquished a few leases that do not fit within its strategic plan based on the potential for commercial development.

ConocoPhillips has significantly transformed its asset portfolio over the last few years through major acquisitions and targeted divestitures. As a result, the company has a high level of exposure to and presence in the fiscal and politically stable OECD markets.

Management has ruled out major deals as well as relinquished leases, instead focusing on exploration efforts such as the Chukchi Sea. The shift in focus is commendable, but is not expected to produce material changes anytime soon. Therefore, we rate the stock as a Neutral.
Read the full analyst report on "COP"
Read the full analyst report on "APC"
Zacks Investment Research

BP’s ‘Giant’ Discovery Gives the Gulf of Mexico New Life

Jason Simpkins — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:54:31 +0000

Why Is Beijing Investing $200 Billion in One Company? The answer is simple. This rail company hauls 25% of the world’s freight – but it only has 6% of the world’s track. Right now, freight supply is 65% shy of demand. Sales for this company have grown on average 47% over the last five year. [...]

BP’s ‘Giant’ Discovery Gives the Gulf of Mexico New Life

Contrarian Profits — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:39:42 +0000

pBP PLC (NYSE ADR: a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=BP" target="_blank"BP/a) yesterday (Wednesday) announced a “giant” oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico that may contain more than 3 billion barrels of oil. The find is evidence of the Gulf’s resurrection as a major oil producer, as well as the great lengths – or depths – to which major oil companies must go to find vibrant wells./p pThe well, known as the Tiber Prospect, is one of the deepest wells ever drilled with a total depth of a href="http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=2012968#38;contentId=7055818" target="_blank"about 35,055 feet, or 6½ miles/a. An appraisal will be required to determine the size and potential commercial value of discovery, but preliminary estimates suggest the field is bigger than Kaskida, a 2006 discovery that boasted 3 billion barrels of#8230;/p

TSO Taps Reversed Panama Pipeline – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:00:40 +0000

Tesoro Corp. (TSO) shipped its first barrels of crude oil through a reversed Panama pipeline, which runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific Basin. Owned by Petroterminal de Panama (PTP), a cooperative venture between the Government of the Republic of Panama and private industry, the 81-mile pipeline formerly flowed from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

At the time of signing the agreement to use the PTP pipeline in December 2008, Tesoro said that it will ship 107,000 barrels per day (Bbl/d) of crude through the pipeline under a seven-year agreement.

Reversal of the pipeline establishes a new conduit for crude oil transportation and will help Tesoro to economically deliver a broader range of crude oils produced in Africa, the Atlantic region of South America and the North Sea, through Panama, to the company's five Pacific Rim refineries (two in California and one each in Washington, Hawaii and Alaska).

Additionally, Tesoro’s ability to utilize the tankage dedicated for its exclusive use at PTP is likely to provide the company with strategic advantages related to freight, storage, blending, and delivery scheduling optimization.

San Antonio, Texas-based Tesoro is an independent refiner and marketer of refined petroleum products in the western U.S. It owns and operates seven refineries with a combined crude oil processing capacity of approximately 665,000 Bbl/d.

We currently rate Tesoro shares as Underperform.
Read the full analyst report on "TSO"
Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Nabors Industries, Guaranty Financial Group Inc., Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and BB&T Corporation – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:25:31 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 25, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Transcept Pharmaceuticals (TSPT) as the Bull of the Day and Nabors Industries (NBR) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Guaranty Financial Group Inc. (GFG), Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) and BB&T Corporation (BBT).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

We recently initiated coverage of Transcept Pharmaceuticals (TSPT) with an Outperform rating and $12 price target. We think Intermezzo is a product that can fill a much needed void for insomnia patients with chronic nocturnal awakenings.

An FDA decision on the pending new drug application is expected in late October 2009. We think approval is a high likelihood event at that time.

With the commercialization partner signed and the financial position solid (estimated $95 million on hand), the stock is significantly under-valued, in our view.

Bear of the Day:

Nabors Industries (NBR) second-quarter earnings of 32 cents per share topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 28 cents, buoyed by stronger margins associated with new rig deployments in its international operations and solid performance from the Alaska sub-segment.

However, results were significantly below year-earlier levels, reflecting a sustained slowdown in North American activity levels. We remain concerned about the North American land drilling scene and its impact on Nabors, the largest onshore driller.

This, coupled with the company's relatively weak balance sheet in an environment of continued credit market turmoil, accounts for our Underperform recommendation.

Nabors Hurt by North American Biz – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:34:14 +0000

Our Underperform recommendation for Nabors Industries (NBR) reflects our bearish view of the North American land-drilling scene, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the company’s total contract drilling earnings. The drop-off in drilling activities in response to the combination of commodity-price weakness and credit market tightness is weighing on the fortunes of all oilfield service players in general and land drillers (such as Nabors) in particular.

The company did manage to post better-than-expected second-quarter earnings (topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4 cents) on the back of stronger margins associated with new rig deployments in its international operations and solid performance from the Alaska sub-segment. However, results were significantly below year-earlier levels, reflecting a sustained slowdown in North American activity levels.

We remain concerned about the North American land-drilling scene and its impact on Nabors, the largest onshore driller. This, coupled with the company’s relatively weak balance sheet (net debt-to-capitalization ratio of around 46%) in an environment of continued credit market turmoil, accounts for our grim outlook.

While the current U.S. land rig count is already down more than 52% from its all-time peak in August 2008, we see significant room for further decline in the coming months before the market stabilizes. This idled drilling capacity will continue to weigh on dayrates and margins into 2010, even as natural gas’ outlook improves towards the end of 2009, in our view.

In order to offset the relatively soft U.S. drilling scene, the company is looking more and more towards international growth opportunities. After spending around $1.5 billion in 2008, management is guiding towards capital investment of approximately $1.1 billion in 2009. This may be significantly burdensome for the company’s future cash flows and stretch its balance sheet.

Given these headwinds, we expect Nabors shares to be under pressure in the medium- to long-term until fundamentals in the land-drilling market improve meaningfully.
Read the full analyst report on "NBR"
Zacks Investment Research

S2C Global Systems, Inc. (STWG.OB) Enters into Discussions with Government Officials in Mexico City and Southern California to Supplement Fresh Water Supply

QualityStocks — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:53:26 +0000

S2C Global Systems, Inc., an exporter of natural bulk water and supplier of water distribution technologies, recently announced that the company has entered into discussions with government officials in Mexico City and the Municipal District of Southern California to supplement their fresh water supply. The current water shortages in Los Angeles and Mexico City threaten [...]

Prime Mortgages Going Sour – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:53:20 +0000

At the end of the second quarter, 4.3% of all residential mortgages were in some part of the foreclosure process, up from 3.85% at the end of the first quarter and 2.75% a year ago. In addition, on a seasonally adjusted basis, 9.24% of all mortgages were delinquent (behind by at least one payment), up from 9.12% at the end of March, and just 6.41% at the end of June 2008.

Both were records since the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) started keeping track back in 1972. On a non-seasonally-adjusted basis, the delinquency rate was not quite as bad at 8.86%, but still a record.

That means that 13.16% of all residential mortgages (NSA basis) are in trouble. With about 51 million houses with mortgages in the country, that means 6.71 million bad mortgages out there. With the number of people out of work still rising, the problem is likely to continue to get worse for quite a while.

The chief economist for the MBA expects that foreclosures will not peak until the end of 2010. I suspect he might be a little bit on the optimistic side, but that projection is reasonable. If someone is also in a house where the value of the house is less than the amount of the mortgage, the probability that they will continue to pay the mortgage falls rapidly.

If they are also out of work while they are underwater, then continuing to pay their mortgage is simply not an economically rational thing to do. Far better to simply live rent- and mortgage-free until the sheriff shows up at the door. Given the overwhelming case-load, that can often be well over a year (though it varies greatly by location).

Once upon a time, people liked to think that the mortgage problems were contained to the subprime market. It was just a problem of irresponsible people on the wrong side of the tracks. That is clearly no longer the case.

While as a percentage, subprime mortgages are still much more likely to be delinquent or in foreclosure than are prime mortgages, there are far fewer subprime mortgages than prime mortgages. In absolute numbers, there are far more bad prime mortgages than bad subprime mortgages.

The graph below (from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) shows just how bad the loans are going sour on the people who had good credit when they took out the mortgages.

The percentage of prime loans in foreclosure jumped to 3.00% at the end of the second quarter vs. 2.49% at the end of March. The percentage delinquent rose to 6.41% from 6.06% at the end of March.

On a percentage basis, subprime loans continue to be an absolute horror show. At the end of the quarter more than one in four (25.35%) subprime loans were delinquent (up from 24.95% at the end of the first quarter) and 15.05% were somewhere in the foreclosure process, up from 14.34% the quarter before.

Thus, the combined troubled mortgage rate is now over 40% on subprime loans. This is of course bad news for the banks with big mortgage operations like Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC) and PNC Financial (PNC).

Regionally, California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada are still being hit the hardest, but other states are starting to catch up. Those four states had 44 percent of all of the nation’s new foreclosures during the second quarter of this year, down from 46 percent in the first quarter.

Foreclosures are less of a problem in the relatively unpopulated states. Very few people (relatively) are falling behind in North Dakota, Wyoming or Alaska as shown in the second graph (also from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/).

Florida still has the worst mortgage performance, closely followed only by Nevada. In Florida, 12 percent of mortgages were somewhere in the process of foreclosure -- the highest in the nation -- and another 5 percent were at least 90 days past due as of the end of June. A total of 22.8 percent were delinquent at least one payment or in the process of foreclosure, which is almost twice the national percentage (excluding Florida).

In contrast, the next highest states are Nevada at 21.3 percent, Arizona at 16.3 percent and Michigan at 15.3 percent. California is still a problem by virtue of its sheer size, but on a percentage basis, and combining both levels of the problem, Mississippi and Indiana are now in marginally worse shape than is California.

Some of the delinquencies will get cured, but far from all of them. The farther the house is underwater, the less likely it is to get cured. Many more houses are going to end up in the hands of the banks, which will then dump them onto the market and further depress prices.

Housing is normally the locomotive that pulls the U.S. economy out of recessions. It is hard to see how that locomotive will work up a good head of steam with so many foreclosures blocking the tracks.

The first-time homebuyer credit has helped to clear out some of the existing bank owned properties, but that program will end just after Thanksgiving. Unless the program is renewed, that source of buying is likely to dry up significantly. This could lead to another sharp down-leg for the housing market.

Shifting my metaphor, the economy’s vital signs have stabilized, but that is due to the powerful drugs that the "doctors" (Bernanke and Obama) have been giving it. Those drugs (printing money, super-low short-term interest rates and massive budget deficits) are known to have very serious long-term side effects -- ones that have been known to be fatal (Weimar style hyperinflation) if given in to big doses and for too long.

The doctors had no choice but to give them to the patent, since doing nothing would have also been fatal (we narrowly avoided a second Great Depression), but it is a huge question if the patient will be able to get up and about after he is taken off the meds.
Read the full analyst report on "BAC"
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Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Becton, Dickinson, Baxter International, Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories and Tesoro Corporation – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:30:27 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 31, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Becton, Dickinson (BDX), Baxter International (BAX), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Tesoro Corporation (TSO).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Becton Beats Zacks Estimate

Management at Becton, Dickinson (BDX) has increased its EPS guidance for the year. For 2009, it now expects profit from continuing operations to increase 11% to 12% over that in the last year to $4.92 to $4.96. Earlier, management estimated an increase of 7% to 9% in EPS.

Becton, Dickinson and Company develops, manufactures and markets medical devices, supplies, laboratory equipment and diagnostic products globally. The company is a world leader in safety needle products.

Becton competes with players like Baxter International (BAX), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT), all of which have large resources. However, we believe that the company’s sound business model and product line should weather the current economic turbulence, and is capable of withstanding this competitive pressure. We feel that investors will benefit by adding this stock to their portfolios. As such, we continue to rate Becton a Buy.

Tesoro Misses, Outlook Gloomy

In the year-ago period, the Texas-based marketer of petroleum products earned $0.03 per share. Revenue was down 53.0% year-over-year to $4.2 billion.

Tesoro’s refining segment experienced a significant decline in operating income (operating income of just $7 million vs. $85 million in the year-earlier quarter) due to struggling profit margins for the production of distillate fuels (like heating oil and diesel), as well as narrowing of the sweet/sour crude spread. The company’s throughputs also suffered from the maintenance at its Alaska and Golden Eagle, California refineries.

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Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

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Tesoro Misses, Outlook Gloomy – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:29:43 +0000

Tesoro Corporation (TSO) reported a weaker-than-expected second-quarter 2009 loss, reflecting lower gross margins and decreased throughput on the back of weak fuel demand and high inventories. This was partially offset by lower operating costs. Loss per share came in at $0.33, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.30.

In the year-ago period, the Texas-based marketer of petroleum products earned $0.03 per share. Revenue was down 53.0% year-over-year to $4.2 billion.

Refining Segment Results

Tesoro’s refining segment experienced a significant decline in operating income (operating income of just $7 million vs. $85 million in the year-earlier quarter) due to struggling profit margins for the production of distillate fuels (like heating oil and diesel), as well as narrowing of the sweet/sour crude spread. The company’s throughputs also suffered from the maintenance at its Alaska and Golden Eagle, California refineries.

Throughput

Total refining throughput averaged 565 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), compared to 610 MBbl/d in the year-ago quarter. Overall throughput volumes in the California region (consisting of the Golden Eagle and Los Angeles refineries) increased marginally (by 0.4%) year-over-year to 251 MBbl/d. Throughput in the company’s Pacific Northwest refineries (Alaska and Washington) decreased 20.6% year-over-year to 139 MBbl/d, while for the Mid-Pacific (Hawaii) refineries, it was down approximately 7.0% to 66 MBbl/d.

Refining Margins

Gross refining margin decreased 15.6% year-over-year to $8.52 per barrel. In terms of different regions, refining margin was down more than 42% in California to $8.09 per barrel, and roughly 18.5% in the Mid-Continent to $11.29 per barrel. Gross margin in the Mid-Pacific and Pacific Northwest regions increased significantly to $2.52 and $9.70 per barrel, respectively.

Realized Costs & Prices

Manufacturing costs before DD&A decreased 13.5% from the year-earlier level to $4.63 per barrel, primarily due to lower energy costs. Total refined product sales during the quarter averaged 607 MBbl/d, down 10.9% year-over-year. Average price realized on product sales decreased 48.7% year-over-year to $69.63 per barrel. Average cost per barrel was also down 50.6% year-over-year to $61.80 per barrel.

Capital Expenditure & Balance Sheet

Tesoro’s total capital spending (including turnaround expenditure) during the second quarter of 2009 was $173 million. At the end of the first quarter, Tesoro had cash on hand of $279 million and long-term debt of approximately $1.8 billion, representing a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 36%.

Guidance

With demand for almost all fuel products remaining in a downtrend, Tesoro expects its six refineries to operate at below capacity (83.3% of their combined capacity) during the third quarter. Total refining throughput is expected to average 550-590 MBbl/d. The company further informed that it expects capital spending for 2010 to be in the $600 million range and is not planning to acquire new refineries in the short-term.

Following the poor financial results, we maintain our Sell recommendation on the stock.
Read the full analyst report on "TSO"
Zacks Investment Research

Nabors Profit Slumps on Lower Drilling Activity – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:14:55 +0000

Yesterday, Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) – North America's largest onshore oil and natural gas driller – reported second-quarter results. Recurring earnings per diluted share, excluding non-cash items, came in at $0.32, marginally better than our estimate of $0.31 and well above market expectations of $0.26. The Bermuda-based company’s outperformance was driven by strengthened margins associated with new rig deployments in its international operations and solid results from the Alaska sub-segment.

However, on a year-over-year basis, Nabors’ adjusted earnings per share declined 46.7% (from $0.60 to $0.32) due to weakness in its North American gas-centric businesses combined with less robust international results, particularly in Latin America. Revenue was down 32.6% to $878 million as sales declined in almost all of the company’s segments.

Nabors’ main operating segment is ‘Contract Drilling’, which accounts for bulk of the company’s revenues and operating earnings. Its operations are spread across 6 sub-segments: U.S. Lower 48 Land Drilling, U.S. Well Land Servicing, U.S. Offshore, Alaska, Canada, and International.

During the quarter, contract drilling revenue was down 28.4% year-over-year to $817.7 million, while the segment’s operating income declined more than 33% to $190.5 million. The negative comparison reflects lower activity levels during the quarter, which was down 31% to 381.6 rig years.

Both the U.S. Lower 48 Land Drilling and the U.S. Land Well Servicing sub-segments suffered year-over-year declines in their sales and profitability, affected by lower operating hours in the company’s area of operations.

In Canada, despite a year-over-year fall in revenue, Nabors managed to reduce its operating loss with the help of cost reduction initiatives.

Regarding international operations, revenue and operating income were down marginally contributions from six recent rig startups were more than offset by project deferrals and suspensions.

U.S. offshore operations recorded quarterly revenue and operating income below the year-ago levels as customer cash flow constraints from weak natural gas prices and the onset of hurricane season collectively led to a 28.7% dip in activity levels.

Alaska posted solid quarterly results as revenue and operating income both went up from the previous-year period on the back of an 8.7% increase in rig years.

Management indicated continued lack of visibility with respect to the depth and duration of the downturn although it hoped that the third quarter will likely represent the eventual bottoming of the natural gas driven land drilling operations. Nabors, however, stuck with its forecast of $300 million in 2009 free cash flow.

Despite the better-than-expected second quarter results, we maintain our Sell recommendation on Nabors’ shares as we remain concerned about the North American land drilling scene and its impact on Nabors, the largest onshore driller.
Read the full analyst report on "NBR"
Zacks Investment Research

Supply Side Economics – How Is Gold Going to Fare This Year?

Contrarian Profits — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:00:38 +0000

pGold started the summer doldrums looking strong and has retreated since, but what are its prospects for the rest of the year and beyond? That will largely be determined by the interplay between supply and demand; let’s take a look at the supply side./p pReports of dwindling supply are accurate in some areas; however, the story is not that simple. Unlike most metals that are consumed in industrial use, most of the gold ever mined is still around. Gold is forever. Thus newly mined, refined, and fabricated gold is not all that’s entering the marketplace; there are multiple ways of meeting demand. Here’s a look at each./p pBreaking Rocks/p pImagine that you could turn back the calendar to late 1848, as word was#8230;/p

These 6 Large Cap Commodity Based Companies are in the News

Lorimer Wilson — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:54:50 +0000

Most people think of warrants as being associated primarily with micro/nano cap i.e. junior gold and silver mining companies but that is not entirely the case. Of the 35 companies offering warrants of 24 or more months duration (of which there are 47 in total) 6 are large-cap commodity based companies (2 gold mining companies; [...]

Huge Move for Kodiak (KXL.V; KXLAF.PK)

QualityStocks — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:23:32 +0000

Accolades are accomplishments in our lives. They are deemed unto us after we make the correct decision(s) to achieve a desired goal. With self motivation, self will and determination, it is possible for this to span decades. The word “Kodiak” represents visions and feelings of being stout, strong hearted, and able to not only adapt, [...]

State Budgets Are Anti-Stimulus – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:54:00 +0000

Today is the end of the 2009 fiscal year, and many states are still scrambling to get budgets in place for the 2010 fiscal year.

It is not easy since when the economy turns south, so do tax revenues, and states are not allowed to run deficits or borrow for operating needs. Some states have managed to cut costs or raise taxes enough to close their deficits for the upcoming year. The only two states without a budget problem are Montana and North Dakota.

As shown in the table below (from http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=711), the total spending cuts or revenue increase needs to be $166 billion or 24% of the projected budget. To some extent states have used "rainy day funds" and the money from the Federal Stimulus bill to close some of the gap. Still the problem is very severe with 5 states (CA, AZ, NV, IL, NY) facing shortfalls of greater than 30%. California is in the worst shape with a gap of 58.2%.

STATES WITH PROJECTED FY2010 BUDGET GAPS
State	FY2010 pre-budget	FY2010 mid-year gap	FY2010 Total	FY2010 Total % of Budget
Alabama	$1.2 billion	0	$1.2 billion	16.70%
Alaska	$1.3 billion	0	$1.3 billion	30.00%
Arizona	$4.0 billion	0	$4.0 billion	41.10%
Arkansas	$146 million	0	$146 million	3.20%
California*	$34.2 billion	$19.5 billion	$53.7 billion	58.20%
Colorado	$1.0 billion	$384 million	$1.4 billion	18.60%
Connecticut	$4.1 billion	0	$4.1 billion	23.20%
Delaware	$557 million	0	$557 million	17.60%
District of Columbia	$650 million	$150 million	$800 million	12.70%
Florida	$5.9 billion	0	$5.9 billion	22.80%
Georgia	$3.1 billion	$750 million	$3.9 billion	22.30%
Hawaii	$682 million	$297 million	$978 million	19.10%
Idaho	$411 million	0	$411 million	16.40%
Illinois	$9.2 billion	0	$9.2 billion	33.00%
Indiana	$1.1 billion	0	$1.1 billion	7.50%
Iowa	$779 million	0	$779 million	13.20%
Kansas	$1.4 billion	Yes, DK size	$1.4 billion	22.60%
Kentucky	0	$1.1 billion	$1.1 billion	11.30%
Louisiana	$1.8 billion	0	$1.8 billion	21.60%
Maine	$640 million	0	$640 million	21.40%
Maryland	$1.9 billion	Yes, DK size	$1.9 billion	13.60%
Massachusetts	$5.0 billion	0	$5.0 billion	17.90%
Michigan	$2.4 billion	0	$2.4 billion	12.00%
Minnesota	$3.2 billion	0	$3.2 billion	21.00%
Mississippi	$480 million	0	$480 million	9.60%
Missouri	$923 million	0	$923 million	10.30%
Nebraska	$150 million	0	$150 million	4.30%
Nevada	$1.2 billion	0	$1.2 billion	37.80%
New Hampshire	$250 million	0	$250 million	16.20%
New Jersey	$8.8 billion	0	$8.8 billion	29.90%
New Mexico	$345 million	0	$345 million	6.30%
New York	$17.9 billion	0	$17.9 billion	32.30%
North Carolina	$4.6 billion	0	$4.6 billion	21.90%
Ohio	$3.3 billion	0	$3.3 billion	12.30%
Oklahoma	$600 million	0	$600 million	10.50%
Oregon*	0	0	0	0.00%
Pennsylvania	$4.8 billion	0	$4.8 billion	18.00%
Rhode Island	$590 million	0	$590 million	19.20%
South Carolina	$725 million	0	$725 million	12.50%
South Dakota	$32 million	0	$32 million	2.90%
Tennessee	$1.0 billion	0	$1.0 billion	9.70%
Texas	$3.5 billion	0	$3.5 billion	9.50%
Utah	$721 million	$279 million	$1.0 billion	19.80%
Vermont	$278 million	0	$278 million	24.80%
Virginia	$1.8 billion	Yes, DK size	$1.8 billion	10.90%
Washington	$3.4 billion	$195 million	$3.6 billion	23.30%
West Virginia	$200 million	0	$200 million	5.30%
Wisconsin	$3.2 billion	0	$3.2 billion	23.20%
Wyoming	0	$32 million	$32 million	1.70%
Total	$143.2 billion	$22.7 billion	$165.9 billion	24.40%

This will lead to very drastic cuts in state budgets. Access to medical care by the poor will likely be one of the first things to be cut.

Education budgets will also probably be pared. This could be decreased spending on new textbooks, which would not be good news for publishers like McGraw-Hill (MHP) and Scholastic (SCHL).

Another area that is likely to be hit is new equipment at the municipal level. For example, I would not expect Oshkosh (OSK) to have a very good year selling new fire engines and snow removal equipment to municipalities.

Layoffs of state and municipal workers will simply add to the already high and rising unemployment rate. In short, a big part of the federal stimulus spending is being offset by (legally mandated) anti-stimulus actions at the state level.

As the graph shows, state fiscal problems tend to persist well after the recession is officially over. Indeed the problem is usually worse in the second or third year since by then the "rainy day funds" have already been used up.

Following the last recession, states collectively had their worst year in 2004 with a shortfall of $80 billion (or less than half what they face for fiscal 2010), which was well after the recession officially ended. Thus 2011, and possibly even 2012, will be a very lean year at the state level as well.

Read the full analyst report on "MHP"
Read the full analyst report on "SCHL"
Read the full analyst report on "OSK"
Zacks Investment Research

Resource Stock Roundup: Friday, June 26th, 2009

Doug Casey — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:58:20 +0000

pThe resource bulls continued to trample the bears during Thursday trading on the Canadian Markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added 2.52%, while the TSX Gold Index climbed another 4.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, tacked on 1.14% with the advancers edging out the decliners by a 411 to 374 margin on a weak 123 million shares traded./p pTeck Resources (NYSE:a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:TCK"TCK/a) cut its 2010 copper production forecast by 13 percent because of geotechnical issues at its Highland Valley mine in British Columbia. Copper production estimates for next year now stand at 755 million pounds down from the previous 870 million pounds, while this year’s output from Highland Valley drops by 12 percent#8230;/p

Energy Blast – June 25, 2009

Robert Amsterdam — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:10:11 +0000

France's Total and Russian independent gas producer Novatek have concluded a $900 million project to develop a Siberian gas field. 'The cooperation can expand even further', says Vladimir Putin. Gazprom has defended its performance in response to recent criticism about...

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Exxon, TransCanada Corp., ConocoPhillips, BP and National Semiconductor. – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:53:29 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 15, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Exxon (XOM), TransCanada Corp. (TRP), ConocoPhillips (COP), BP (BP) and National Semiconductor (NSM).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579.

Here are highlights from Friday's Analyst Blog:

Exxon Throws Weight Behind Alaskan Pipeline

Exxon (XOM) has finally decided to throw its weight behind the TransCanada Corp. (TRP)-sponsored Alaska Pipeline project that will bring stranded Alaskan natural gas to consuming markets in the U.S. Lower 48. TransCanada's 1,700 mile, 48-inch diameter pipeline has the support of the Alaskan and Canadian governments. The Alaska government passed legislation last year that would subsidize the initial project costs by up to $500 million.

While details of the deal between the two companies were not released, it is expected that TRP will remain the project's operator. This pipeline, expected to cost approximately $26 billion to build, would be the largest civil engineering project in North America. The pipeline would stretch from the North Slope of Alaska through Yukon and British Columbia to the Alberta border, where it would be linked to existing infrastructure reaching the U.S. market.

While a number of companies have natural gas reserves in Alaska, three are the most important; Exxon, ConocoPhillips (COP) and BP (BP). The last two have been sponsoring their own rival pipeline project.

Without the inclusion of BP and COP, it would be difficult, if not altogether impossible for the XOM-TRP project to get off the ground. But with Exxon, the largest natural gas resource holder in Alaska, getting behind the project, its prospects have brightened significantly.

National Semi Results Digested

Yesterday afternoon after the bell, National Semiconductor (NSM) reported results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009 ending May 2009. Revenue for the third quarter was $280.8 million, down -4.0% sequentially and down -39.2% year over year.

The gross margin was 59.3%, up 37 bps sequentially. The slight increase was mostly due to employee layoffs and cost reductions.

The utilization rate remained very low, increasing from 37% in Q3 to 38% in Q4. NSM is particularly hit by lower utilization rates as the company manufactures around 90% of its products in-house.

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Zacks Investment Research

Exxon Makes Alaska Pipeline Deal – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:05:16 +0000

Exxon Throws Weight Behind Alaska Pipeline

Exxon (XOM) has finally decided to throw its weight behind the TransCanada Corp. (TRP)-sponsored Alaska Pipeline project that will bring stranded Alaskan natural gas to consuming markets in the U.S. Lower 48. TransCanada's 1,700 mile, 48-inch diameter pipeline has the support of the Alaskan and Canadian governments. The Alaska government passed legislation last year that would subsidize the initial project costs by up to $500 million.

While details of the deal between the two companies were not released, it is expected that TRP will remain the project's operator. This pipeline, expected to cost approximately $26 billion to build, would be the largest civil engineering project in North America. The pipeline would stretch from the North Slope of Alaska through Yukon and British Columbia to the Alberta border, where it would be linked to existing infrastructure reaching the U.S. market.

While a number of companies have natural gas reserves in Alaska, three are the most important; Exxon, ConocoPhillips (COP) and BP (BP). The last two have been sponsoring their own rival pipeline project.

Without the inclusion of BP and COP, it would be difficult, if not altogether impossible for the XOM-TRP project to get off the ground. But with Exxon, the largest natural gas resource holder in Alaska, getting behind the project, its prospects have brightened significantly.

At its maximum capacity, the pipeline would transport 5.9 billion cubic feet per day, roughly 10% of total U.S. demand. Proved reserves in Alaska are around 35 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), but the state's overall resource potential is believed to be much higher. As a comparison, the total U.S. natural gas consumption in 2008 was 23.2 Tcf.

A number of hurdles remain for this long-delayed project. In the next stage, the project needs commitments from companies who would use it to ship their gas before it can get the final go-ahead signal from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Aside from these procedural/logistical issues has been the question of long-term U.S. natural gas outlook, which has changed materially following the recent discovery of abundant shale natural gas. Exxon's reputation for conservatism and investment savvy goes some way to answering that question. In the best case scenario, the pipeline would begin operations in 2018.
Read the full analyst report on "XOM"
Read the full analyst report on "TRP"
Read the full analyst report on "COP"
Read the full analyst report on "BP"
Zacks Investment Research

Thursday’s Market Recap (06/11/09)

Bullish Bankers — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:37:05 +0000

The markets were up today led by energy stocks as oil settled at $72.68. The Dow Jones was up 0.37% closing at 8770.92, with the S&P up 0.61% closing at 944.89. The NASDAQ was up 9.29 closing at 1862.37. Treasury prices were down as the yield closed at 3.862%. Gold settled at $962.00 as the dollar [...]

The Great Oil Price Shell Game

Contrarian Profits — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:25:45 +0000

pThe shell game is one of the oldest cons on record. Greek historians tell of ancient Egyptian slicksters stripping rubes of spare coins in the shadow of the pyramids. We have concrete evidence dating back to 1670, wherein Richard Hull writes of rogues cheating farmers at “thimblerig” at ye old faire./p pThe con was supposedly brought to the colonies by a Dr. Bennett, who was infamous for his ability to hide a pea amongst three walnut shells. Jefferson Randolph Smith – a.k.a. “Soapy Smith” – set up mobs of shell men throughout the Midwest and Alaska before he was caught out and shot in Juneau in 1898./p pToday we are once again seeing the rise of this classic fiddle. I am not#8230;/p

Heavy Oil Becomes More Appealing As Light, Sweet Crude Runs Out

Byron King — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:01:36 +0000

pWhen most people think of oil, they think of light, sweet crude that comes up out of little holes in the ground. You describe oil by its API gravity. For example, oil like Brent crude or West Texas Intermediate has an API gravity of 38-40. The oil that Col. Drake pulled from the ground at Titusville, Pa., in 1859 had API gravity near 60. These types of oil are relatively easy to pump from a reservoir, lift to the surface and transport via pipeline to the refinery./p p style="text-align: center;"strongThe Shift to Heavy Oil, with an “Energy Microsoft” at the Forefront/strong/p pBut a significant portion of the world’s oil is much lower quality than the light, sweet stuff. Indeed, most oil that’s found in#8230;/p

“Hyper-local” Stats Show Housing Market Has Bottomed

Don Miller — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:37:25 +0000

pPerhaps the mishmash of numbers floating around the housing market have you confused. For those who follow the market closely, the daily news seems to bring a never-ending stream of contradictory data. /p pHere are just a few statistics in the news lately from respected market mavens like the a href="http://www2.standardandpoors.com/portal/site/sp/en/us/page.topic/indices_csmahp/0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0.html" target="_blank"S#38;P/Case-Shiller Indices/a and the a href="http://www.realtor.org/" target="_blank"National Association of Realtors/a:/p ul listrongThe “average” price of homes in the U.S. is down almost 35% from the record highs of 2006. /strong/li /ul ul listrong“Median” housing prices are down 19% in 90% of the major markets in the United States. /strong/li /ul ul listrongBuilding permits were up 4% in April from last year, and homebuilder confidence increased from 16 to 18./strong/li /ul pSo what do these numbers mean to you?/p pProbably nothing./p p“It’s like a weatherman who combines conditions#8230;/p

Resource Stock Roundup: Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

Doug Casey — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:29:16 +0000

pThe Canadian Markets continued to fall ever so modestly during Tuesday’s session as the price of bullion dropped below the $900 per ounce mark. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange fell 0.50%, while the TSX Gold Index lost 2.4% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, gave back 0.98% with the decliners beating out the advancers by a 416 to 336 margin on volume of 126 million shares traded./p pa href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=UTS+Energy+"UTS Energy/a shareholders have rejected the C$1.75 cash per share offer tabled by Total E#38;P Canada. As a result, Total has terminated the offer. UTS ended the session down C$0.06 at C$1.52./p pPetro-Canada (NYSE:a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:PCZ"PCZ/a), which is in the midst of merger with Suncor (NYSE:a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:SU"SU/a), reported a first quarter#8230;/p

Russia’s Pork Barrel Politics in the East

Robert Amsterdam — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:13:28 +0000

A reader has directed my attention to this interesting article by Clifford Levy published in The New York Times about a seemingly unnecessary $1 billion bridge - which would be the longest suspension bridge in the world - connecting Vladivostok...

APC Group, Inc. (APCU.OB) is “One to Watch”

QualityStocks — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:26:26 +0000

APC Group, Inc. manufactures and distributes the Arctic Leash™ watertight retractable extension cord reel, the MedReel® and a proprietary line of all weather, indoor/outdoor extension cords. Headquartered in Fairbanks, Alaska, the Company manufactures and distributes these for home and industrial use. APC Group Inc.’s corporate mission is to be a leader in the innovative design, [...]

Virtual Stock Portfolio Update – March 5th, 2009

Steve Warshaw — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:08:45 +0000

Yesterdays Virtual Stock Portfolio Update Summary Added 100 shares of CPLA @ 49.35, target 38.15, stop 55.52 Sold 73 shares of XOM @ 62.22. Target was 61.69 Sold 110 Shares of Alaska at 14.8, target was 14.63 Sold 31 shres of SPY. Market bounces is coming, taking profit and will short the rally. Totals - Profits Taken - $1680.90 Current Positions - Up $940.59 Open The Video Screen

Alaksa Airlines (ALK) – Short Stock Pick Suggestion

Steve Warshaw — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:15:59 +0000

Wow how the might have fallen. Upon the crash in crude oil prices, Alaska airlines precipitously ran from just over $10 to over $30 in just over 6 months! It had been a great long pick, but, all things must come to an end, and Alaska’s bull run is indeed over. I typically don’t like trading the same equity over and over again, but this trade is just too juicy. I have been watching ALK fall like a ton of lead bricks, and yesterday, once it broke below Friday’s low of ...

Bald Eagle Energy Inc. (BEEI.OB) Shows How Oil Can Act Like Gold

QualityStocks — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:36:21 +0000

Oil exploration company Bald Eagle Energy, Inc. recently showed how a little oil stock can, like gold, do remarkable things. Even though the sluggish economy has brought oil prices down to earlier levels, oil stocks can also be viewed as having a counter-cyclical element. From 2/19 to 2/24, the Dow Jones Industrial Average made another [...]

Bald Eagle Energy, Inc. (BEEI.OB) Optimism in Alaska Shared By Many

QualityStocks — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:38:59 +0000

Bald Eagle Energy, Inc., (BEEI.OB) is in good company as it seeks out oil and gas deposits in the Arctic regions of Alaska. Some of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world are exploring or producing, both on shore and off shore, in and around Alaska. • ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) has been in Alaska for [...]

Taste of the Juice

QualityStocks — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:56:12 +0000

Over the past ten years, oil prices have captivated the attention of nearly every American. This is not surprising as the price for a barrel of oil has risen from less than $15 to more than $150 in just the past decade, generating massive profits for oil and gas companies, as well as those who [...]

Bald Eagle Energy (BEEI.OB) is Confident In Alaska’s Potential

QualityStocks — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:01:04 +0000

Bald Eagle Energy, Inc., (BEEI.OB) is convinced that Alaska’s North Slope still holds vast undiscovered reserves of oil and gas. It’s a belief shared by some of the biggest oil companies in the world, fueled by continued discoveries in the area starting in the 1970s, and encouraged by record producing wells. It takes 150-200 wells [...]

Bald Eagle Energy (BEEI.OB) Works toward American Energy Independence

QualityStocks — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:39:43 +0000

Bald Eagle Energy, Inc., (BEEI.OB), a Texas based oil and gas exploration company, has its eyes on Alaska’s North Slope. The company is actively acquiring leases in the area, based upon two important facts: • National and world demand for oil and gas will inevitably continue on an upward slope for years to come, in spite of [...]

Bald Eagle Energy Inc. (BEEI.OB) Recognizes the Boundless Opportunity in Alaska

QualityStocks — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:24:45 +0000

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin recently stated, “Alaska remains the most prospective oil and gas area in North America. Thanks to our attractive geology, our stable business climate and our reasonable government environment, Alaska continues to attract healthy interest from the global energy industry.” When petroleum production from the 48 states began to decline in the early [...]

President Obama Can’t Save The Dollar

Justice Litle — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:58:40 +0000

pHope and expectation is high as Obama becomes president. But strongJustice Litle/strong says saving the US dollar is one miracle he cannot perform. America has spent and borrowed itself into a hole that it cannot get out of. And that#8217;s why the writing is on the wall for dollar hegemony./p pThis from a href="http://www.taipanpublishing.com" class="alinks_links"Taipan/a Daily:/p blockquotepToday the season of miracles begins./p pIn his June 2008 acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination, President-elect Obama (now President Obama) said the following:/p p style="padding-left: 30px;"emGenerations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless#8230; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and#8230;/em/p/blockquote

Guest Article: Heaven, Hell, and Happiness by Robert and Emi Kiyosaki

Fred Fuld — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 08:59:00 +0000

span style="font-weight:bold;"Heaven, Hell, and Happiness/spanbr /span style="font-style:italic;"by Emi Kiyosaki and Robert Kiyosaki,/spanbr /Authors of a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593154933?ie=UTF8tag=antiquestocka-20linkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=1593154933"Rich Brother Rich Sister/aimg src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=antiquestocka-20l=as2o=1a=1593154933" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /br /br /Sunday School taught us that heaven was a place in the sky where people sat around, floating on clouds, playing harps. Hell was the flaming center of the earth, where the devil (with horns, a long tail, and carrying a pitchfork) lived, waiting for sinners.br /br /As adults, we do not know if there is a heaven or a hell after death. There are heaven and hell here on earth, and one person's heaven can be another person's hell. A secure job with the government would be our father's heaven, but Robert's hell. Being an entrepreneur is Robert's heaven. For our dad, having to become an entrepreneur at the age of fifty was his hell.br /br /Marriage can be either a heaven or a hell. Even though we may deeply love someone, life together can be a living hell.br /br /Money can be the reason for heaven or hell on earth. Many financial advisors recommend, "Live below your means." They say this because many people are barely surviving -- in a living hell -- using borrowed money to live a lifestyle they cannot afford. For others, heaven is having more than enough money to afford their lifestyle.br /br /Since one's heaven can be another person's hell, the question is, what creates a person's heaven or hell? While there are many possible answers, one answer is happiness . . . or the lack of it.br /br /ROBERT: SELFISH AND UNSELFISH GOALSbr /br /As with so many things in life, for every action there is a reaction. If a person is unhappy, he may do something to make him happy, for example, like drink alcohol. Feeling low, he may go to a bar, drink a lot, and feel happy. The next day, he pays for his happiness with a hangover. Do this on a regular basis and that unhappy person becomes an alcoholic, still in search of happiness.br /br /Others take chemical drugs to escape their pain and unhappiness. According to the Washington Post, today in America, more than one in every one hundred people are in jail, as many as 20 percent, for drug-related issues.br /br /Being in jail is not my idea of heaven. Some people go shopping to relieve the pain. Money is their drug. The more money they have, the more they shop. Rather than finding heaven, they find hell, living under a mountain of credit card debt.br /br /My drug of choice is food. When I am unhappy, I eat. While I'm eating, I feel happy. The problem is, the more I eat, the fatter I become. The fatter I become, the more unhappy I get, so I eat more, become fatter, and become even more unhappy. In my attempt to reach heaven through food, I wind up in hell. Many people seek to solve their unhappiness through religion. Many have so many problems they feel they cannot solve them, and they seek salvation by hoping God will save them from their hell here on earth. br /br /So what is happiness?br /br /I am sure this question will be asked through the ages. And I doubt there is one answer for all people. Like heaven and hell, one person's happiness can be another person's unhappiness, which is why I'm not attempting to tell you what to do to find your happiness. I have enough trouble finding and hanging onto my own true happiness.br /br /One important lesson I learned from Dr. Fuller was the idea of having "unselfish goals." In other words, goals that follow the generalized principle of "the more people I serve, the more effective I become." This idea fit my mother and father's values of being of service to their community. In December of 1984, when Kim and I took our leap of faith, we took the leap with unselfish goals in mind. As I have already said, it was the worst year of our lives.br /br /It was not a happy time.br /br /Today, Kim and I have found happiness by having selfish as well as unselfish goals. Our happiness comes from being of service, feeling that our work makes a difference in people's lives, and that we are contributing to solving some of our world's current problems. We also have selfish goals, goals such as making enough money to create a standard of living that suits us. We would not be happy being poor, working at a job we did not love, working with people we did not like, living below our means in a dangerous neighborhood, not being able to afford health care or the finer things of life.br /br /Work is an important aspect of happiness and unhappiness. Even though our work is often challenging and filled with problems, ultimately our work makes us happy. We realize that, for millions of people, their work makes them unhappy. For millions, work is just about money.br /br /I have a classmate from high school who is very unhappy. Right out of college, she met a rich man, married him, and moved to his large home in Aspen, Colorado. Her husband inherited his wealth and has never really had to work. They have great kids and grandkids. Her days are filled tending to her show horses and doing charity work. Her husband spends his time at his club, putting on events to keep the members happy.br /br /When I asked her why she was unhappy, her answer was simple: "Life seems empty."br /br /When I asked her if her grandkids filled her void she said, "No. I love my kids and grandkids, but I am through with motherhood." When I asked about her charity work, she said frankly, "I do charity work to belong to the right social circles. Charity work is my access to the right charity balls and to be seen with the right people. I know the charities are important, but I am not passionate about the causes."br /br /When I asked her what her soul wanted her to do, she snapped at me and said, "I'm doing enough. I'm good to my kids. I'm a good parent. I'm a good wife. I donate time and money to my charities. What else do you want me to do?"br /br /Our conversation was over. It wasn't the time to get into the differences between selfish and unselfish goals.br /br /One of the most valuable lessons I learned from my mom and dad was the answer to my question, "What is happiness?" The happiest days in their lives were the days they both worked for President Kennedy's Peace Corps. Dad took a break from the education department, and he and Mom spent their days, nights, and weekends working side by side at the Peace Corps training center in Hilo, preparing young people to be of service to the world. As a young man preparing to go to war, I saw the happiness that working together at spiritual work brought my mom and dad. I never forgot that happiness.br /br /When Kim and I took our leap of faith in December of 1984, we were in search of the same happiness. The day we were married, in 1986, we didn't have much money and could not afford a band. Instead we handed out the words to "The Wedding Song" (also known as "There Is Love") by Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul, and Mary. We asked everyone to link arms and sing along with the music. The song conveyed to everyone in the circle the spiritual reason for our marriage, which spread from heart to heart. The following are a few words from this very beautiful song:br /br /Well, a man shall leave his motherbr /and a woman leave her homebr /and they shall travel on to wherebr /The two shall be as one.br /br /As it was in the beginningbr /is now and till the endbr /woman draws her life from manbr /and gives it back again.br /and there is love, and there is love.br /br /Well then what's to be the reasonbr /for becoming man and wife?br /Is it love that brings you herebr /or love that brings you life?br /br /And if loving is the answer,br /then who's the giving for?br /Do you believe in somethingbr /that you've never seen before?br /Oh there is love, there is love.br /br /Kim has been the greatest blessing in my life. We have been together virtually 24/7 since December of 1984. We have been apart only a few days in all those years. Our work nurtures our souls. Our work gives us life. Our work is our life.br /br /Like most couples, we do have our rough spots. It is not always peaches and cream. It's not always wedded bliss or the fairy tale of living happily ever after. Through our work we share our love and our reason for being married. While we receive many blessings from our work, we believe the gift of true happiness is the greatest gift, a blessing that brings magic to life.br /br /There are many people who believe the rich are greedy, and many of them are.Yet, I have met many greedy poor and middle-class people. They are simply greedy people with less money. The rich do not have an exclusive domain over greed.br /br /When we were married, Kim and I co-created selfish and unselfish goals. We set four financial goals, and those goals became the four stepping-stones to guide us through the stream of life:br /The first stepping-stone was to build a business that served as many people as possible. We wanted to serve people regardless of their wealth (or lack of it), race, or religion.br /The second stepping-stone was to invest our money to be of service. The majority of our investment money is in apartment houses. We provide safe, well-managed, affordable housing to thousands of people.br /The third stepping-stone of our finances was to tithe, or give money back. Even when we had very little money, we donated to charitable causes that spoke to our hearts. We do not give money directly to people in need. Instead we give money to responsible organizations that have a proven track record of sound money management.br /The fourth stepping-stone was our personal standard of living. Even though we had nothing when we were married, we still wanted to live financially free, at a rich and wealthy standard of living.br /All four goals required hard work, miles of travel, a lot of study, and often a good bit of disappointment. From the generalized principle of precession, which is the ripple effect, came the gift of true happiness in our lives.br /br /Today, we have more money than we could ever spend. We have more than we need. This is why today we are focusing more and more on giving the money back, just as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are doing. Giving money back can be a full-time job. Just as making and investing money creates unique challenges, giving money back comes with its own set of challenges. There is an art and science to charitable giving. Again, rather than give the money to the needy and the poor, which would deplete the money supply, we are diligent in finding responsible, well-managed organizations that will protect our wealth and will use the money wisely for years, long after we are gone. br /br /Kim and I believe in working to create heaven on earth -- while we are here and after we have left this earth. We find happiness working together in our life's work, just as working together for the Peace Corps brought true happiness for my mom and dad. Finding happiness by doing our spirit's work is the best gift Mom and Dad havebr /given their children.br /br /This is not to say that our work is uniquely significant, special, or that important. Any work that adds value and is of service to life is important and special. For example, the person who drives a school bus has a very important and special task. I am glad there are people who want to do this job, and I would hope they love what they do.br /br /I especially like comedians, because laughter is vital to a world that so often takes itself too seriously. The gift of laughter is a very important gift.br /br /So what is your gift? When I am asked about how to find one's gift, I simply reply, "If you had all the money in the world, what would you do for the rest of your life? What would make your heart sing?" I also say, "One of the reasons a person does not give or use their gift is because they have been trained to go to school and get a job to earn money. So the question is, What would you do if you did not have to worry about money?"br /br /In 1994, Kim and I had the luxury of retiring. She was thirty-seven and I was forty-seven. I thought retirement would be heaven. Instead it turned out to be hell. All I did was play golf, and if you've seen my golf game you would know why, for me, golf is the game from hell. In 1996 Kim and I developed our CASHFLOW® board game, I wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad, and we got back to work. Our objectives remain the same. We believe that too many people are slaves to money, and one way to financial freedom is via financial education. Our wish is to have you become financially free so you can give more of your God-given gifts and do the work you were born to do.br /br /One of the greatest joys of our work is to have people like you read our work, even if you do not agree with everything we write. I know the world is filled with people with great ideas, great stories to tell, and great gifts to give.br /br /The above is an excerpt from the book a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593154933?ie=UTF8tag=antiquestocka-20linkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=1593154933"Rich Brother Rich Sister/aimg src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=antiquestocka-20l=as2o=1a=1593154933" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" / (Published by Vanguard Press; 978-159315-493-6). The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.br /br /Copyright © 2008 Emi Kiyosaki and Robert Kiyosakibr /Reprinted with permission of the publicistbr /br /Author Biobr /Robert Kiyosaki, co-author of a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593154933?ie=UTF8tag=antiquestocka-20linkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=1593154933"Rich Brother Rich Sister/aimg src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=antiquestocka-20l=as2o=1a=1593154933" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" / (Published by Vanguard Press; 978-159315-493-6), is a fourth-generation Japanese American, born and raised in Hawaii. After graduating from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York, Robert joined the Marine Corps and served in Vietnam as an officer and helicopter gunship pilot. Following the war, Robert went to work in sales for the Xerox Corporation and, in 1977, started a company that brought the first nylon and Velcro “surfer” wallets to market. He founded an international education company in 1985 that taught business and investing to tens of thousands of students throughout the world. In 1994 Robert sold his business and, through his investments, was able to retire at the age of 47. During his short-lived retirement, he wrote the international best-selling book a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446677450?ie=UTF8tag=antiquestocka-20linkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=0446677450"Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!/aimg src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=antiquestocka-20l=as2o=1a=0446677450" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /, and in 2006 coauthored with Donald Trump a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/193391405X?ie=UTF8tag=antiquestocka-20linkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=193391405X"Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men - One Message/aimg src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=antiquestocka-20l=as2o=1a=193391405X" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /. An entrepreneur, teacher, and investor, Robert also writes a monthly column, "Why the Rich Are Getting Richer," for Yahoo! Finance, and a monthly column, "Rich Returns," for Entrepreneur magazine.br /br /Barbara Emi Kiyosaki, co-author of a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593154933?ie=UTF8tag=antiquestocka-20linkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=1593154933"Rich Brother Rich Sister/aimg src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=antiquestocka-20l=as2o=1a=1593154933" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" / (Published by Vanguard Press; 978-159315-493-6), grew up in Hawaii with Robert and the Kiyosaki family. While Robert took the path of war during the Vietnam era, Emi took the path of peace, exploring alternative and spiritual journeys. Emi began her studies at the University of Hawaii and then traveled to Colorado, Alaska, and India to deepen her studies and practice of Buddhism. Emi was ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1985 and today is known by her ordination name, Bhikshuni Tenzin Kacho. For six years, Tenzin was the Buddhist chaplain at the United States Air Force Academy. She has a Master of Arts degree in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Language from Naropa University. She is the assistant spiritual director and teacher at Thubten Dhargye Ling Buddhist Center in Long Beach, California, and is a visiting teacher at Thubten Shedrup Ling in Colorado Springs. She occasionally resides at Geden Choling Nunnery in northern India. Tenzin also works as a hospice chaplain in Los Angeles, California.div class="blogger-post-footer"div class='adsense' style='text-align:center; padding: 0px 3px 0.5em 3px;' script type="text/javascript"!-- google_ad_client="ca-pub-2427831169011625"; google_ad_width=300; google_ad_height=250; google_ad_format="300x250_as"; google_ad_type="text"; google_ad_channel ="8681602088"; google_color_border="FFF3DB"; google_color_bg="FFF3DB"; google_color_link="1B0431"; google_color_url="1B0431"; google_color_text="29303B"; //--/script script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" /script /div

A Bearish Dollar ETF (UDN) To Profit When Inflation Returns

Contrarian Profits — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:55:23 +0000

pThe battle between inflation and deflation is the most important thing for investors to watch right now, says strongAdam Lass/strong. Fears of falling prices are rife in Washington today. But the inflation cycle will come around again soon, especially with all the new money being pumped into the economy by the Fed. Adam says that#8217;s why investors should buy the strongPowerShares/strongstrong DB US Dollar Index Bearish ETF /strong(NYSE:a href="http://finance.google.com/finance?q=UDN"UDN/a)./p pThis from a href="http://www.taipanpublishing.com" class="alinks_links"Taipan/a Daily:/p blockquotepThe most important thing for you to take away from the tail end of 2008 – indeed most all of 2008 – isn’t the real estate collapse, or the bank collapse, or the Wall Street collapse or the automakers collapse./p pI’ll grant that this is one awfully big bunch of awfully big collapses.#8230;/p/blockquote

Bulletproof REIT Bargains: How to Profit From the Inevitable Real Estate Recovery

Investment U — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:38:38 +0000

Bulletproof REIT Bargains: How to Profit From the Inevitable Real Estate Recovery by Robert Williams, Advisory Panelist, The Oxford Club Thursday, January 8, 2009: Issue #912 Editor’s Note: Our colleagues at The Oxford Club have been sorting through the debris from the mortgage and credit crisis. Robert Williams has found a company that’s been bucking the trend, profiting [...]

Safeway the Safest Way – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:33:17 +0000

Safeway Inc. (SWY) is a food and drug retailer in North America. The company's 1,738 stores are located principally in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, the Chicago metropolitan area and the Mid-Atlantic region, as well as British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba/Saskatchewan.

We maintain our Buy rating and our six-month target price of $28, or about 12x our 2009 EPS estimate. On October 7, Safeway reported in-line results for the third quarter. Management also reiterated its full-year EPS guidance of $2.25-$2.35 and free cash flow of $500-$700 million.

While Safeway shares are up about 34% from their November lows, the shares are still down about 27% in the last year. Safeway shares sold off because of risks associated with the difficult macro environment that has consumers trading down to cheaper alternatives as well as the credit crisis that has impacted the entire stock market.

In our view, SWY shares have declined to a level that is attractive on a valuation basis even if a weak macro environment persists throughout 2009.

Read the full analyst report on SWY

"SWY" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Redefining Deficits, Inflation Plummets, Market and Oil Forecasts, The Dububble and More!

Addison Wiggin — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:40:52 +0000

pFeel like getting angry? Treasury publishes latest debt/deficit details#8230; But Fed now encouraged to intervene more… latest data show historic inflation drop#8230; How to invest accordingly? Burritt on near-term trading, Grantham on the long haul#8230; Byron King explains why $40 oil is “worst of both worlds”#8230; Bill Jenkins explains the dollar’s recent downturn#8230; Plus, the Dububble expands… refrigerated beaches on UAE shores#8230;/p p class="BodyCopy" align="left" strongHowever dire you think U.S. government’s fiscal condition has become… today we learn it’s even worse./strong For starters, would you invest in this business?/p p class="BodyCopy" align="center" div div/div /div /pp class="BodyCopy" align="left"2008 fiscal year net operating cost: $1 trillion. Triple that of 2007. And those aren’t funky alternative accounting methods… today’s charts and numbers come directly from the 2008 Financial Report of the U.S. Government, issued yesterday./p p class="BodyCopy" align="left"What is#8230;/p

Quest for the City of Gold

Sean Brodrick — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:56:17 +0000

El Dorado ... Cibola ... Quivira ... these are all fabled "lost cities of gold" that fired up the imaginations of explorers who pursued their dreams to the four corners of the Earth. These cities only existed in the fevered imaginations of storytellers. But there was a ...

Climate: Global Warming or Global Cooling?

Sean Maher — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:00:00 +0000

div align="justify"So the US recession is officially a year old, panicking span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"Chinese/span authorities are letting the Yuan depreciate to help plunging exports, the famed Tudor hedge fund is halting span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"redemptions/span, and economist Paul span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"Krugman/span has noticed the economy is in 'steep decline'. All of these factors fed a sharp reversal of the recent 20% rally, but given that span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"Krugman/span has become the personification of a contrary indicator, I'd be buying. emstrongMy tactical view as explained in previous posts remains intact; we will likely see new bear market lows in 2009 (and a bursting of the historic bond bubble), but not before a substantial rally through the next couple of months. /strong/emOne of the key secular trends that will span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"define/span our long-term economic future is Climate Change, but in which direction? Right now, the Green lobby are quietly cheering global recession; there's nothing like slumping economic activity to cut those nasty carbon emissions that will see us all wading knee deep in seawater in a few decades. Allegedly. When I see an overwhelming consensus that takes on almost religious overtones, the skeptic in me can't help asking questions. Like: strongemwhy are ice glaciers from Alaska to Norway thickening in recent years? Why has their flow rate declined?/em/strong In Alaska, the growth reverses a decline stretching back two span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"centuries/span. Evidence is emerging from New Zealand to Canada of a similar trend, which flies in the face of the Global Warming hysteria. emstrongWhy have average Northern Hemisphere temperatures been falling over the last decade, despite that carbon cloud, and average snowfall rising?/strong/em So far, experts are dismissing these perverse developments as some kind of span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"anomaly/span, but I'm not so sure. If we've learned anything this year, it's how utterly, comprehensively wrong expert opinion can be and how different the world can actually be to our preconceptions. I have no doubt that human carbon emissions have a warming effect on global climate in an equilibrium model, with emall else being equal/em. But just as simplified equilibrium models have wrong footed economists, so they may be misleading span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"scientists/span; the fact is that there are natural cyclical climate factors that dwarf the marginal influence of human activity and that we just don't fully understand yet. In the National Gallery in London you can view emstrong18span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"th/span century paintings representing the 'Little Ice Age', a period of about 50 years when temperatures across Northern Europe suddenly plunged/strong/em, leaving rivers and lakes frozen for months on end and causing huge mortality. emstrongContemporary records note a dramatic decrease in Sunspot activity/strong/em (essentially huge nuclear explosions on the Sun's surface that emit electromagnetic radiation across the solar system) during this period, a decrease which has been apparent in the past few years (data from NOAA a href="http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ftpdir/weekly/RecentIndices.txt"span style="color:#cc0000;"here/span/a). Might we regret not pumping out a lot more carbon to mitigate the effects of a huge cyclical climate change to far colder conditions? emstrongI suggest you watch for incoming evidence that something strange and contrary to consensus is span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"occurring/span in the world's climate/strong/em. Maybe it's time to buy that discounted SUV; after all, GM needs the business, and you can't drive across a glacier in a span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"Prius/span. At least Al Gore is well padded enough to survive a sudden freeze. /divdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?a=lNpPO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?i=lNpPO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?a=36ikO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?i=36ikO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?a=zBdQO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?i=zBdQO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?a=xaLnO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?i=xaLnO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?a=llqAo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?i=llqAo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?a=TJyJo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?i=TJyJo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?a=gfBkO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?i=gfBkO" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets/~4/472418537" height="1" width="1"/

Resource Stock Roundup: Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

Doug Casey — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:44:05 +0000

pThe Canadian Markets started off the trading week in fine form with investors cheering both the bailout of Citibank(NYSE:a href="http://finance.google.com/finance?q=C"C/a) and President Elect Obama’s economic vision in the United States. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added 3.50%, while the TSX Gold Index climbed another 1.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, gained 2.64% with the advancing issuers outpacing the decliners by a 421 to 357 margin on volume of 166 million shares traded./p pa href="http://finance.google.com/finance?q=TSE:HBM"The Hudbay/a takeover saga just got a tad more interesting after Jaguar Financial announced that it would offer Hudbay shareholders the cash value of Hudbay, less a 1% fee estimated at C$5.40 per share, plus the cash from the remaining assets of#8230;/p

Bald Eagle Energy Inc (BEEI.OB) Works to Increase Domestic Energy Resources

QualityStocks — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:52:20 +0000

Bald Eagle Energy Inc. (BEEI.OB), based out of Houston, is an oil and gas exploration company specifically formed to address Americaâ€™s independence on foreign resources. While domestic energy companies produce 5.1 million barrels of oil per day (MMBOPD), US consumers use 20.7 MMBOPD. The current 15.6 million barrel shortfall is the gap that Bald Eagle [...]

Bald Eagle Energy, Inc. (BEEI.OB) Appoints New CEO to Lead Future Growth

QualityStocks — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:07:44 +0000

Bald Eagle Energy announced today that Andrew S. Harper has been named the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Mr. Harper replaced acting CEO Alvaro Vollmers who remains as the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Andrew Harper brings extensive experience to Bald Eagle Energy as he brings nearly three decades of international oil and gas exploration [...]

Bald Eagle Energy, Inc.’s (BEEI.OB) Operations Strategically Located on Alaska’s North Slope

QualityStocks — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:47:11 +0000

Bald Eagle Energy is a relatively new company with one simple goal: To decrease America’s dependency on foreign oil through the development of domestic sources. Based out of Houston Texas, and with its primary operations in oil-rich Alaska, Bald Eagle is poised to become a significant player in the American oil and gas industry. In the [...]

Resource Stock Roundup…Thursday, November 06th, 2008

Doug Casey — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:58:07 +0000

The much anticipated presidential rally failed to materialize as profit taking was the story of the day during Wednesday trading on the Canadian markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange gave back 2.27%, while the TSX Gold Index fell back 1.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, lost 2.44% with the declining issuers outpacing the advancers by a 484 to 322 margin on volume of 130 million shares traded.

Venezuela has finally come out and stated that it is taking over (TSE:CRY) Crystallex’s Las Cristinas gold project. The Venezuelan government aims to have it up and running next year. Crystallex fell C$0.13 to close at C$0.38.

Shares of Pure Nickel (TSE:NIC) added C$0.03 to close…

Bald Eagle Energy Inc. (BEEI.OB) is “One to Watch”

QualityStocks — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:35:39 +0000

Bald Eagle Energy Inc. is an oil and gas exploration company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Their corporate mission is to be a partner in helping America work toward energy independence. The company is focusing their efforts on Alaska’s vast energy resources. The company’s strategy for profitability is to reduce capital expenditures through a minimized team of [...]

A “Patton Speech” for Gold

Contrarian Profits — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:36:32 +0000

Byron King finds himself inspired by a recent Patton-style ‘motivational’ speech for gold. This from Whiskey & Gunpowder:

Do you remember the 1970 Academy Award-winning movie Patton, starring George C. Scott? In the beginning of the movie, Scott — playing the iconic American Gen. George S. Patton — stands in full dress uniform, backed up by a gigantic American flag. Scott then rouses the troops (and the audience) with a stirring speech that follows the lines of the address the real Patton gave the Third Army on June 5, 1944, the eve of the invasion of France in World War II.

Patton’s original speech is considered by many to be one of the great motivational talks in all of military history. And actor Scott’s…

Zinc to Shine from 2-year Doldrums: featuring Donner Metals – John Lee

John Lee — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:16:48 +0000

Centuries before zinc was discovered in the metallic form, its ores were used for making brass and zinc compounds, its ores were used for healing wounds and sore eyes.

Continue reading

Resource Stock Roundup Friday, October 17, 2008

Doug Casey — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:16:07 +0000

The hemorrhaging continued during Thursday trading on the Canadian Markets as falling commodity prices had investors running for the exits yet again. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange lost 0.58%, while the TSX Gold Index plunged 9.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, fell 5.39% with the declining issuers swamping the advancers by a 668 to 247 margin on volume of 153 million shares traded.

Junior explorers that have liquidity faced the brunt of the selloff with Full Metal Minerals dropping C$0.075 to close at C$0.315, Hathor Exploration (HAT) lost C$0.23 to close at C$1.50 and VMS Ventures (VMS) dropped C$0.01 to close at C$0.28. Full Metals is in the midst of the bulk…

Energy Blast – Oct. 17, 2008

Robert Amsterdam — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:34:17 +0000

Rosneft, LUKoil, TNK-BP, Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz are all under pressure from the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service to reduce domestic prices. TNK-BP is being hung out to dry by Gazprom, which has reneged on its agreement to buy 63% of the Kovykta gas field, which is a reflection of the enormous financial pressure on the company as they shift focus to short-term projects. Russia's Central Bank has decided to place a long-term $500m deposit in Gazenergoprombank, a bank affiliated with Gazprom. The company's surprise decision to send a high-ranking 12 person delegation to Alaska to discuss projects with ConocoPhillips is seen as an embarrassment for vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Oct. 17, 2008

Robert Amsterdam — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:04:22 +0000

TODAY: EU decides to delay talks with Russia; Gorbachev supports Yukos prisoner; More military spending; UK continues fight for extradition. With strenuous resistance from Poland, Sweden, and the Baltic States, the European Union leaders have delayed a decision on whether to restart talks over establishing a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Russia. "The PCA will resume once the analysis, the evaluation that is being done by the Council (of EU ministers) and commission is finished," said EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. Amid funeral proceedings for Alexei Cherepanov, the New York Rangers first-round pick who died during a game outside of Moscow Monday, the Duma called for a probe of why medical officials weren't present at the game. Responding to outlandish claims of Russia expertise by Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, her Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, recently quipped, "Well, I guess just like she can see Russia from Alaska, she can see Delaware from Alaska? She's got great eyesight." Meanwhile, in one of her first acts as Britain's new ambassador to Russia, Anne Pringle has reiterated her country's determination to extradite Andrei Lugovoi as part of the investigation into the murder of Alexander Litvinenko. "We have provided already significant evidence...sufficient for his extradition," said Pringle. And ironically, in a prominent murder investigation on Russian soil, Chief Procurator Alexander Bastrykin claims that the killer of Anna Politkovskaya is hiding abroad.

Election 2008: Taking a Financial Flyer on the Race for the U.S. Presidency

Contrarian Profits — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:53:30 +0000

A Portuguese online bank, Banco Best, is offering deposits tied to the results of the U.S. presidential election: If U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., wins the White House, Banco Best will pay 8% for the period between the deposit and Nov. 4; if Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wins, the bank will pay 2%.

That reflects the general preference for Obama held in Europe; it’s worth noting that the bank’s not offering an equivalent deposit product biased the other way, which by all the rules of hedging it should be (opening branches in Arizona and Wasilla, Alaska, where demand might be expected to be greatest, for example).

You don’t need to go to Portugal to bet on the election. At Iowa Electronic Markets, or IEM, Obama is currently trading at 85 cents asked, so if you bet $85, you stand to be repaid $100 if Obama wins. You can get much better odds on McCain; you only need to bet $16 to win $100 if he wins.

Aside from the amusement value, there’s actually a very real hedging question here. Most of the differences between Obama and McCain come down to questions of policy preference that are difficult to express in a monetary form. Thus, the two candidates’ policies on the Middle East have quite different implications, and though you may have strong views on which candidate you prefer, it is impossible to put a monetary number on those preferences. Even on policies such as healthcare, the details are so complex – and the application to your own circumstances involves such indeterminable unknowns as your future health – that a net monetary number is impossible to calculate.

There is one exception, and that is in the tax field. For those of moderate incomes, there is probably not much to choose from between the two: Obama may bring slightly higher taxes, but the additional government services he promises to institute may provide benefits to offset them.

For high-income people, however, there is a clear difference: Obama promises to repeal the Bush tax cuts (which lowered the top tax rate 4.6%) on incomes over $250,000, and to institute Social Security contributions (at 6.2%, or possibly less) on those top incomes. Therefore, for someone with a steady taxable income of $500,000, an Obama presidency can be expected to cost about 10% of his or her income above $250,000, or $25,000 per annum. Over a four-year presidential term – the time that elapses before we get to choose again – that total cost will reach $100,000.

There are several ways to hedge this:

You can bet in the Iowa Electronic Markets. If you bet $85,000 at 85, you will have $100,000 to pay your taxes if Obama wins, and nothing if he loses. On a net basis, you will be $85,000 poorer after the election, so you may regret not having done this earlier, when Obama contracts were trading at around 50.

You can place a deposit with Banco Best. As I penned this, there were 21 days remaining before the election; at that point, the difference between the two returns works out to 6% x21/360 or 0.35% on your money. Your deposit would thus have to be $28,571,428.57 to make $100,000 of difference between the two outcomes. Given the wobbliness of most banks currently, you may feel that’s a lot to risk (and Banco Best says its limit is 10 million euros, about $14 million).

You can buy Obama-friendly shares like green energy and short McCain-friendly shares like defense. If you assume that an Obama win will increase the return on Obama-friendly shares by 5% annually compared to McCain-friendly shares, then over the four-year term their returns will differ by 20%. That means that an investment of $500,000 should cover you.

Alternatively you can shrug your shoulders and realize that political events, like the weather, are mostly too difficult to hedge against.

Source: Election 2008: Taking a Financial Flyer on the Race for the U.S. Presidency

Editors Note: “Election 2008" is an ongoing Money Morning series that examines the investor implications of the presidential election campaign.

The Gazprom Invasion of Alaska

Robert Amsterdam — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:52:51 +0000

The press and blogosphere are of course having a field day with the news that executives from Gazprom are enjoying a road show in Alaska this week to woo local representatives and meet with ConocoPhillips, possibly discussing participation in natural gas pipeline down to the lower 48 states. Given that Gov. Sarah Palin, the eminent "Kremlinologist," has placed so much emphasis on her foreign policy expertise with Russia, the Gazprom invasion is embarrassing to say the least. Some think that the timing of the Alaska visit carries a message:

"The timing is as interesting as the visit itself," said Chris Weafer, chief strategist at UralSib Financial in Moscow. "Gazprom's entire senior management goes into Sarah Palin's backyard during a contentious election. There's a message there."

However let's not lose the plot completely. Gazprom has had a business presence in the United States for years now, with a sales and marketing office in Houston, delegations send to conferences such as the CERA, and various agreements with American firms. They even once spent a month touring the USA with a Gazprom-sponsored ice hockey team to promote the brand ... I don't recall anybody assailing Mitt Romney of rolling over to the Russian invasion when the Boston Bruins re-enacted the miracle on ice with the Gazprom team.

Energy Blast – Oct 15, 2008

Robert Amsterdam — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:18:30 +0000

The government is to lend its four major energy companies up to $9 billion to help them survive the financial crisis. Gazprom has announced that it has offered to help Alaska develop its natural resources, and has accordingly sent a group of senior executives to anchorage. ‘The timing is as interesting as the visit itself,’ noted one analyst. Stroitransgaz, which is part-owned by Gazprom, plans to extend a gas link from Syria to Turkey with a view to supplying a European project. Syria and Russia signed a €52 million gas deal earlier in the week. New research indicates that the Gulf could deliver an extra 10 million barrels of crude oil per day by 2015. TNK-BP has started commercial oil production at its Verkhnechonsk field.

Joe Biden Stock Index versus Sarah Palin Stock Portfolio

Fred Fuld — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:56:00 +0000

The most-watched vice-presidential debate in history recently took place between candidates Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska, and Joe Biden, the senior Senator for Delaware, at Washington University in St. Louis. There were reportedly 70 million viewers according to Nielsen Media Research. Stockerblog.com has put together a comparison of the Joe Biden Stock Index, which is made up of the companies that are connected to the billionaire contributors to the Joe Biden campaign, and the Sarah Palin Stock Portfolio, which is made up of the stocks in the Alaska State disclosure filing for her and her husband.

The Palin Portfolio was down 22% outperforming the Biden Index which was down 27%, which doesn't mean much since it a comparison of a contributor index to a stock portfolio, or in other words, apples to oranges. However, both grossly underperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average which was down only 14%.

Joe Biden Stock Portfolio showing campaign donors

Comcast (CMCSA) Amos Hostetter
Estee Lauder ( EL ) Leonard Lauder
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) Barry Diller
IAC/InterActiveCorp ( IACI ) Barry Diller
MGM Mirage (MGM) Kirk Kerkorian
Revlon (REV) Ronald Perelman
Scientific Games ( SGMS ) Ronald Perelman
Wynn Resorts Ltd (WYNN) Stephen Wynn

Sarah Palin Stock Portfolio

iShares MSCI Australia Index (EWA) is an ETF that invests in Australian stocks. It has a PE of 13 and pays a yield of 5.33% .

iShares MSCI Belgium Investable Market Index (EWK) is an ETF that invests in Belgium stocks. It has a PE of 9 and pays a yield of 9.98% .

iShares MSCI Spain Index (EWP) is an ETF that invests in Spanish stocks. It has a PE of 10 and pays a yield of 4.56% .

International Game Technology (IGT) makes and sells computerized gaming equipment. It has a PE of 14 and pays a yield of 3.10% .

Intuit Inc. (INTU) offers business and financial management applications for small and medium sized businesses, and financial institutions. It has a PE of 23 .

KBW Capital Markets ETF (KCE) is an ETF structured to track the total return performance of the Capital Markets index. It has a PE of 15 and pays a yield of 1.37% .

National Oilwell Varco, Incorporated (NOV) makes and markets systems and products for the oil and gas industry. It has a PE of 13 .

Roper Industries Inc. (ROP) makes and sells energy systems and controls, and scientific and industrial imaging products. It has a PE of 19 and pays a yield of 0.50% .

BP plc (BP) explores, produces, refines and sells petroleum. It has a PE of 7 and pays a yield of 6.20% .

Don't forget to check out the Barack Obama Stock Index versus John McCain Stock Index versus Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Assumptions:
These are price-weighted indices, similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Dividends were included.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

The Only Safe Oil Investment: Tanker Ships

Contrarian Profits — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:42:24 +0000

Crude oil prices have been highly volatile this. From its $146 peak in July, the black goo is down at $87 a barrel.

It's a scary time to be a direct investor in oil. But Byron King says is one way of sidestepping the wild price swings: investing in tanker ships.

"As long as people continue to use oil," says Bryon, "there will be some consistency to the tanker business."

There is a relatively tight market for charters. And many good reasons why there won't be a capacity glut in coming years.

This from Rude Awakening:

About 62% of the world’s oil -- over 2 billion barrels per year -- is transported via tanker ships.

As the accompanying map shows, the tanker routes of the world are pretty much where you would expect. Most of the exported oil moves out of the Middle East and West Africa toward North America, Europe and Asia. The rest of the world’s oil moves by pipeline, mostly through Eurasia and Russia.

Here’s the general process. Large tankers load up with crude oil. Then the ships sail across the sea to their destinations. They discharge the cargo. The tankers take on ballast and begin the voyage back to pick up another load. This is the life of a tanker ship.

Let’s go into a bit more detail.

The cost to hire a tanker is called the charter rate. This rate varies according to the size and the characteristic of each tanker and the general availability of ships. That is, in a tight market, shipowners can command higher charter rates.

There are about 4,000 tankers available for hire in the international market. Of course, there are many different sizes and types of tankers. Panamax vessels are suited for transiting through the relatively narrow locks of the Panama Canal. Suezmax tankers are optimized to transit the Suez Canal.

Still other tankers -- large vessels called “very large crude carriers” (VLCCs) -- are more suitable for long hauls over open water. VLCCs are used mainly to ship oil from the Middle East in large volumes, more than 2 million barrels a ship.

This description barely scratches the surface. But you can see that the tanker industry is complex. Yet as long as people continue to use oil -- a safe bet -- there will be some consistency to the tanker business. Load. Sail. Unload. Turn around. Sail back. Do it again.

Are there any risks involved in investing in the tanker business? Sure.

Remember the Exxon Valdez in 1989? Exxon’s big ship hit a rock south of Valdez, Alaska, and spilled 11 million gallons of oil. What a mess, right? Exxon was litigating the punitive damages in the U.S. Supreme Court as recently as this past spring, 19 years after the fact.

The Only Safe Oil Investment: Tanker Ships

Contrarian Profits — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:42:24 +0000

Crude oil prices have been highly volatile this. From its $146 peak in July, the black goo is down at $87 a barrel.

It's a scary time to be a direct investor in oil. But Byron King says is one way of sidestepping the wild price swings: investing in tanker ships.

"As long as people continue to use oil," says Bryon, "there will be some consistency to the tanker business."

There is a relatively tight market for charters. And many good reasons why there won't be a capacity glut in coming years.

This from Rude Awakening:

About 62% of the world’s oil -- over 2 billion barrels per year -- is transported via tanker ships.

As the accompanying map shows, the tanker routes of the world are pretty much where you would expect. Most of the exported oil moves out of the Middle East and West Africa toward North America, Europe and Asia. The rest of the world’s oil moves by pipeline, mostly through Eurasia and Russia.

Here’s the general process. Large tankers load up with crude oil. Then the ships sail across the sea to their destinations. They discharge the cargo. The tankers take on ballast and begin the voyage back to pick up another load. This is the life of a tanker ship.

Let’s go into a bit more detail.

The cost to hire a tanker is called the charter rate. This rate varies according to the size and the characteristic of each tanker and the general availability of ships. That is, in a tight market, shipowners can command higher charter rates.

There are about 4,000 tankers available for hire in the international market. Of course, there are many different sizes and types of tankers. Panamax vessels are suited for transiting through the relatively narrow locks of the Panama Canal. Suezmax tankers are optimized to transit the Suez Canal.

Still other tankers -- large vessels called “very large crude carriers” (VLCCs) -- are more suitable for long hauls over open water. VLCCs are used mainly to ship oil from the Middle East in large volumes, more than 2 million barrels a ship.

This description barely scratches the surface. But you can see that the tanker industry is complex. Yet as long as people continue to use oil -- a safe bet -- there will be some consistency to the tanker business. Load. Sail. Unload. Turn around. Sail back. Do it again.

Are there any risks involved in investing in the tanker business? Sure.

Remember the Exxon Valdez in 1989? Exxon’s big ship hit a rock south of Valdez, Alaska, and spilled 11 million gallons of oil. What a mess, right? Exxon was litigating the punitive damages in the U.S. Supreme Court as recently as this past spring, 19 years after the fact.

Silverado Gold Mines Ltd. (SLGLF) – Seeing Golden Opportunities

QualityStocks — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:45:52 +0000

Silverado Gold Mines Ltd. is an exploration-stage company focusing on the discovery and exploration of gold properties that have had some past production. Trading on the OTCBB, they are also focusing on the development of new, environmentally friendly, low-rank coal-water fuel technologies. The company has their corporate headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, and gold properties [...]

Computer Task Group Inc. (CTGX): Staffing Solutions for the World’s Information Technology Needs

QualityStocks — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:24:03 +0000

Computer Task Group (CTGX) provides staffing solutions for companies in need of information technology (IT) professionals. The company primarily operates in Europe and North America. The company’s staffing services include recruiting, retaining, and managing IT talent for its clients, including both large organizations with multiple locations and high-volume IT requirements, and companies that need to [...]

Sarah Palin Stock Portfolio

Fred Fuld — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:39:00 +0000

Sarah Palin is the Republican vice-presidential nominee in the upcoming presidential election, Alaska's first female governor, and their youngest governor. Todd, her husband, and Sarah Palin’s stock holdings can be found in her Alaska State disclosure filing for this year. Here are the stocks they own:

iShares MSCI Australia Index (EWA) is an ETF that invests in Australian stocks. It has a PE of 13 and pays a yield of 5.33% .

iShares MSCI Belgium Investable Market Index (EWK) is an ETF that invests in Belgium stocks. It has a PE of 9 and pays a yield of 9.98% .

iShares MSCI Spain Index (EWP) is an ETF that invests in Spanish stocks. It has a PE of 10 and pays a yield of 4.56% .

International Game Technology (IGT) makes and sells computerized gaming equipment. It has a PE of 14 and pays a yield of 3.10% .

Intuit Inc. (INTU) offers business and financial management applications for small and medium sized businesses, and financial institutions. It has a PE of 23 .

KBW Capital Markets ETF (KCE) is an ETF structured to track the total return performance of the Capital Markets index. It has a PE of 15 and pays a yield of 1.37% .

National Oilwell Varco, Incorporated (NOV) makes and markets systems and products for the oil and gas industry. It has a PE of 13 .

Roper Industries Inc. (ROP) makes and sells energy systems and controls, and scientific and industrial imaging products. It has a PE of 19 and pays a yield of 0.50% .

BP plc (BP) explores, produces, refines and sells petroleum. It has a PE of 7 and pays a yield of 6.20% .

Don't forget to check out the Barack Obama Stock Index and the John McCain Stock Index.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

Sarah Palin Stock Portfolio

Fred Fuld — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:39:00 +0000

Conoco with Fewer Obstacles – Zacks Tale of the Tape

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:38:55 +0000

On a day when crude oil futures are down, ConocoPhillips (COP) is on the move at a rapid clip. At noon, the stock had climbed by 3.70% but has now settled around the 2.90% mark to trade at $77. The company is riding high after it became one of the five firms on Wednesday to be permitted to tap the oil and gas tracts in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), reported AP.

The 1.6 million acres was valued at $31 billion the report said. According to a U.S. Geological Survey report, NPR-A sits on 9.3 billion barrels of oil and 59.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

COP was also given a leg up by Fitch on Wednesday when it affirmed the "A" ratings on debt issued by ConocoPhillips and its subsidiaries. Fitch also labeled the oil companyÂ’s outlook as stable.

"COP" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

McCain’s Top Russia Adviser Says Palin Will Just Listen

Robert Amsterdam — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:25:17 +0000

Sen. John McCain's nominee for Vice President Sarah Palin has really turned the Russia foreign policy thing into a meaty issue with claims of expertise given her governorship of Alaska - though probably not in the way that will foster constructive or new ideas for any of us policy wonks. We don't think too many informed people are buying the argument that she is a closet Kremlinologist, but then again, the audience they are asking to believe that claim may not be quite so foreign policy savvy. Furthermore, there is something to be said for the value or lack thereof of "experience" with Russia. So as she takes her first foray into diplomacy with meetings with Afghan, Colombian and other world leaders in New York (which is only marginally further away from Moscow than Wasilla), what, exactly, will be her role? In an article in the IHT, it appears that McCain's top Russia guy Steven Biegun accidentally lets it slip that Gov. Palin will more or less just sit and listen and develop relationships while policy is handled behind the scenes. This seems like quite the gaffe:

Sarah Palin’s Russia Inexperience

Robert Amsterdam — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:44:54 +0000

I've kept mostly mum about Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin's ongoing claims of being an expert on Russia affairs because 1) so many others out there are doing a pretty good job tearing this narrative to shreds, and 2) because it is simply a patently ridiculous claim that any given Alaska politician automatically gets to put on the Kremlinologist hat whenever necessary (furthermore I wouldn't say that many governors of Texas are exactly high regarded for their knowledge of Mexican foreign policy issues). I think it's quite an innocent line for the campaign to push - what candidate for office doesn't trump up every experience that they can point to? But what's interesting here is that they are still clinging to the Palin-as-Russia-expert line despite all the open derision, and continuing to push the argument despite clear evidence that nobody is buying it. This one comes from the CBS From the Road blog:

On a clear day, it is, in fact, possible to see the unpopulated Russian island of Big Diomede from the Alaskan island of Little Diomede, which is inhabited by a small native population. Still, Palin's hometown of Wasilla isn't much closer to the Russian capital of Moscow (4,318 miles) than New York City is (4,663 miles). But rather than downplaying Palin's suggestion that she possesses special knowledge of Russia, the McCain/Palin campaign has continued to tout Alaska's proximity to the world's largest nation as a feather in her cap, without offering any evidence of actual experience Palin has in Russian affairs.

Weekend Fun: Lehman and $4 Gas

Steve Reeves — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:46:45 +0000

Lehman (LEH) meetings will continue today and thanks to hurricane Ike we return to $4 gas. Two fun events that should make for another flip-floppy week on Wall Street.

Western Standard Energy Corp. (WSEG.OB): Leading the way on the Bakken Formation

QualityStocks — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:22:25 +0000

Western Standard Energy (WSEG) is an exploration-stage oil firm focused on extracting crude oil and natural gas from the Bakken Formation that runs through Montana, North Dakota and Canada. The area is believed to hold some of the largest reserves of crude oil in the North America, after Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay and the oilfields of [...]

Ecosphere Technologies Inc. (ESPH.OB) Gains Traction with Yet Another Natural Gas Water Recycling Services Project

QualityStocks — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:37:06 +0000

The recent rise and fall of the commodities market has been giving many oil and gas exploration and development companies issues to deal with. Just when they felt everything was going their way, the bottom dropped out. Most energy companies were left scrambling, but some companies are lucky enough to be able to play both [...]

Bald Eagle Energy Inc. (BEEI.OB): Exploring for Gold, Golden Opportunity for Investors?

QualityStocks — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:16:16 +0000

Bald Eagle Energy (BEEI) is an exploration stage mining company focused on the acquisition and exploration of mineral resource properties in Canada. The company primarily acquires and explores copper, gold and silver properties. Bald Eagle Energy is also, and possibly more noteworthy to potential investors, engaged in oil exploration. The company is set to develop [...]

Palin, on the Ongoing Financial Crisis

Menzie Chinn — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:41:18 +0000

In response to the largest de facto nationalization in US history, we have this example of Governor Palin's comprehension of this issue (ABC News):

Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colo., Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said, "The fact is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers. The McCain-Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help."

I can't even start to dissect what's wrong with this statement, so I will let the reader assess Palin's understanding of the role of the GSEs in the financial system. From my perspective, I would have hoped to have more comprehension from a candidate at a time when the estimate of a resulting $300 billion taxpayer liability is viewed as plausible.

For some informed discussion, see Calculated Risk, as well as Nouriel Roubini.

(I was going to write about competitive depreciation in a Taylor rule framework, but this item called for immediate discussion.)

Bald Eagle Energy Inc. (BEEI.OB) is “One to Watch”

QualityStocks — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:51:46 +0000

Bald Eagle Energy Inc. is an oil and gas exploration company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Their corporate mission is to be a partner in helping America work toward energy independence. Trading on the OTCBB, they have a market capitalization of $84.98 million. The company is focusing their efforts on Alaska’s vast energy resources. The company’s strategy [...]

Mexico: The next Failed State?

Sean Maher — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:26:00 +0000

As equities commence the dramatic Autumn slump I've been anticipating in recent weeks, it is uninspiring to witness the standard of political debate in the US Presidential election. It seems neither candidate is aware, or at least willing to articulate, the tectonic shifts taking place in global financial power which threaten to severely limit the room for manoeuvre of any future administration, not only economically, but diplomatically and militarily as well. We hear references to Iran and Russia as geopolitical challenges, but nobody is talking yet about a bigger threat right on America's doorstep, the potential implosion of the Mexican state. There are two pressing issues that are putting intolerable stresses on the Mexican economy and society; the first is the huge escalation in drug related violence and corruption, as US support for the Colombian war on drugs has displaced Cartel activity into Mexico, now the primary base for cocaine shipments in the region. The revenues involved are estimated by the DEA to have reached over $40bn a year (or about 25% of all official exports), financing very effective private armies, and rampant high level corruption. In recent months, ever more daring assassinations have included high ranking policemen and District Attorneys, including the head of the Federal police in May (equivalent to killing the head of the FBI). Criminal kidnappings have reached epidemic proportions and now threaten much of the urban middle class, and law enforcement bodies are so thoroughly corrupted that they are often complicit in these crimes. The second crisis relates to collapsing oil production and hence state revenue; the biggest Mexican oil field, Canterell, where production is now down 37% in a year and down 50% from its 2004 peak, equivalent to 1.2m barrels a day. For US energy security this is a full blown emergency; this field was a 'Supergiant', as big as the four largest discovered in US Gulf waters combined and Mexico is currently the third largest oil exporter to the US, after Saudi and Canada. Amazingly, Mexican production fell 10% and oil exports dropped over 16% in the first 7 mths of 2008. The faster decline in exports reflects soaring domestic demand. Canterell may be down to just 600k b/d with a couple of years, with devastating implications for Mexican tax revenues; 40% of all revenues are generated by oil, and Pemex, the state oil monopoly, pays an effective 61% tax rate. The company has been plundered by politicians for decades, and the resulting underinvestment is now proving disastrous, exacerbated by the fact that foreign companies with superior technology and experience have been barred by statute from involvement. Some economists estimate that Mexico will run out of oil within just 7 years, implying a near halving of the tax base just as hugely wealthy criminal warlords step up their challenge to Federal authority. Oil exports will certainly have dried up on that timeframe. The balance of resources between the government and criminal groups will deteriorate rapidly in coming years, and the US may face a de facto criminalised narco-state as a neighbour with violence spilling across its Southern borders. Other implications would include a massive surge in illegal immigration from the current estimated 450,000 a year as impoverished Mexicans flee both declining living standards and rampant lawlessness, and the US losing energy security by becoming even more dependent on oil shipped huge distances from the Persian Gulf and West Africa. Ironically the success of US policies to support the Colombian government now threaten to undermine the strategically far more important Mexican one, a classic case of the law of unintended consequences in action. It will take more that that fancy new border fence or oil drilling in Alaska to address the looming crisis that will almost inevitably explode by the end of the new President's first term.

Four Ways to Fight the “Oil-Flation Epidemic”

Money Morning — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:47:08 +0000

By Don Miller Contributing Editor Want to know what the price of a barrel of oil will be in eight years? Exactly $119.50 a barrel. There’s no shortage of pundits predicting where oil... Money Morning is here to help investors profit handso...

Election 2008: A McCain Victory Won’t Mean Same Old Republican Story

Martin Hutchinson — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:44:32 +0000

[“Election 2008" is an ongoing Money Morning series that examines the investor implications of the presidential election campaign] By Martin Hutchinson Contributing Editor One thing... Money Morning is here to help investors profit h...

Contradictory Economic Reports Whipsaw Investor Expectations

William Patalon lll — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:01:46 +0000

By William Patalon III Executive Editor Money Morning/The Money Map Report No wonder this economy is so hard to figure out: The economic reports are as volatile as the economy... Money Morning is here to help investors profit handsomely...

McCain’s Veep

Susan B — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:59:42 +0000

No, it’s not Pawlenty. It’s not Romney or Lieberman either. It’s Sarah Palin, first-term gov of Alaska. Palin is a social conservative, opposed to abortion, opposed to same-sex marriage, and pro-gun. Alaska loves her. She ran for gov on a clean-up-government campaign, and doesn’t suffer fools or oil companies gladly.

New Mexico Stocks

Fred Fuld — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:15:00 +0000

Roswell is one of the most famous cities in the State where a UFO supposedly crashed in 1947. But what really seems out of this world is the beauty of the state itself. Some interesting facts about New Mexico follow:

1. It ranks number 3 in U.S. natural gas production.
2. It ranks number 5 in U.S. oil production.
3. The state is a leader in production of uranium and potassium.
4. Los Alamos research center is a leader in nuclear, solar and geothermal energies research and development.
5. New Mexico’s population is of about 2 million.
6. In 2003 the state cut personal taxes by 40%.
7. The state’s maximum personal income tax is 4.9% for 2008.
8. New Mexico’s corporate franchise tax fee is only $50 a year.
9. The state has film production tax rebate of up to 15% on production expenditures.
10. The state also offers incentives for the aerospace industry.

The following are companies headquartered in New Mexico:

PNM Resources Inc. (PNM) is an energy company that operates mainly through its subsidiaries such as: Public Service Company of New Mexico. The stock has a PEG of 1.8 and it pays a yield of 7.30%.

Emcore Corp. (EMKR) provides semiconductor components for the solar power markets. The stock has a forward PE of 31.

First State Bancorp (FSNM) is a bank that provides services to businesses. The stock pays a yield of 6.60%.

Thornburg (TMA) is a mortgage lender. It renders capital to the housing market. The stock has a forward PE of 1.26. This is a very low cap stock and should therefore be considered very speculative.

Santa Fe Gold Corp (SFEG) is a mining corporation that buys and explores mineral properties. They recently generated negative earnings of one cent per share. This is a very low cap stock and should therefore be considered very speculative.

Alamogordo Financial Corp (ALMG) is a holding company for the Alamogordo Federal Savings bank.

Titan Technologies (TITT) is in the business of licensing technologies, mainly those that involve the construction of tire recycling facilities. They recently generated negative earnings of one cent per share. This is a very low cap stock and should therefore be considered very speculative.

Advanced Optic Elec (ADOT) is a technology company rendering image display and recognition technologies. This is a very low cap stock and should therefore be considered very speculative.

New Mexico Software Inc (NMXC) produces and sells inter based software for the video and audio industries. They recently generated negative earnings. This is a very low cap stock and should therefore be considered very speculative.

Cell Robotics Intl (CRII) makes and sells laser based medical equipment and other scientific instruments. This is a very low cap stock and should therefore be considered very speculative.

Check out stocks from some other states: Hawaii stocks, Alaska stocks, and Oregon stocks.

Author owns TMA.

By Stockerblog.com

Nevada Stocks

Fred Fuld — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:33:00 +0000

Nevada is more than Las Vegas. Its banking and finance industries are very strong, as is also the construction industry, but there is yet a lot more. Check out the following interesting facts:

1. Nevada is a state without usury limits, which has attracted many credit card companies to establish in the state.
2. Nevada, after California, produces the most geothermal energy in the nation.
3. Nevada produces about 10% of the world’s gold supply.
4. Nevada has no corporate income tax.
5. No franchise tax
6. The state has no personal income tax.
7. There is no state tax.
8. Nevada permits one-individual corporations.
9. There are more than 300,000 companies incorporated in the state of Nevada.
10. The state does not require that the directors of a company be stockholders.

The following companies have market caps of over $1 billion and are headquartered in Nevada.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) builds resorts worldwide, it is also the owner of the Venetian resort in Las Vegas. The stock has a PEG of 3.43.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) builds and operates casinos and resorts, such as the Wynn which it owns and operates. The stock has a PE of 29.7, and a PEG of 1.59.

MGM Mirage (MGM) posses and administers resorts throughout the country. The stock has a PE of 8.14, and a PEG of 2.05.

International Game Technology (IGT) produces and sells gaming equipment in the domestic and international markets. The stock has a PE of 18.45, a PEG of 1.6, and it pays a yield of 2.40%.

Sierra Pacific Resources (SRP) generates and delivers energy in the south of the state. The stock has a PE of 12.07, a PEG of 0.9. It pays a yield of 2.80%.

Ormat Technologies (ORA) its main business is the generation of geothermal energy, both nationally and internationally. The stock has a PE of 43.18, a PEG of 1.99, and it pays a yield of 0.40%.

Bally Technologies (BYI) produces and delivers gaming systems and other equipment related to the gaming industry around the globe. The stock has a PE of 21.33, a PEG of 0.65.

Southwest Gas Corp. (SWX) purchases, and sells natural gas in Arizona, California and Nevada. The stock has a PE of 15.22, a PEG of 2.38, and it pays a yield of 3.20%.

Boyd Gaming Corp (BYD) is a gaming company that operates in the United States. Its stock has a PE of 24.18, a PEG of 0.98. It pays a yield of 4.30%.

Employers Holdings, Inc. (EIG) is an insurance company specialized in commercial properties and casualty insurance. The stock has a PE of 7.15, a PEG of 0.98, and it pays a yield of 1.40%.

Check out stocks from some other states: Hawaii stocks, Alaska stocks, and Oregon stocks.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

URS Corp. Upgraded to a Buy

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:20:52 +0000

Of URS Corp.Â’s (URS) current $17.9 billion backlog, 7.8% is Power, 14% is Infrastructure, 58.1% is Federal and 20.1% is Industrial/Commercial. At this point, the Power sector probably has the best outlook, as the switch appears to be on from coal-fired and oil-fired plants to gas-fired and nuclear-powered plants.

Infrastructure is increasingly being financed through bond issues, which should be a positive. While Federal will remain an unknown until after the election, Industrial/Commercial could be problematic, given the current economic environment. URS continues to make bolt-on acquisitions, and Zacks has upgraded URS from a Hold to a Buy.

URS continues to see favorable trends in the Federal Government sector. There is strong funding for O&M programs -- which is expected to reach $300 billion in fiscal 2009, a 7% increase over fiscal 2008 levels -- increased opportunities to support long-term Department of Defense (DoD) initiatives and stable funding for the Department of EnvironmentÂ’s (DoE)Â environmental and nuclear programs. Consequently, URS continues to expect that revenues in its federal sector will be between $3.3 billion and $3.5 billion in 2008.

On August 25, URS announced that it has acquired most of the assets of Tryck Nyman Hayes, Inc., an engineering firm headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska. The company has a staff of approximately 60 engineers, landscape architects and surveyors and serves federal, state and local government agencies as well as private sector clients. This acquisition provides URS with the in-state engineering expertise necessary to participate in the growth of Alaska's infrastructure, oil and gas and federal facilities markets.

Read the full analyst report on URS

"URS" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Idaho Stocks

Fred Fuld — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 07:18:00 +0000

It looks like everything can be negotiated in Idaho. In 2005 the town of Santa, Idaho changed its name to SecretSanta.com for one year, in return for $20,000. More recently new fiscal legislation passed with the aim of stimulating the economy statewide. Some interesting facts about Idaho are next:

1. $19.17 million reduction on corporate income tax legislation just passed.
2. Idaho is 5th nationally for entrepreneurial action
3. Idaho’s top agricultural products are dairy products, cattle and calves and potatoes.
4. Idaho’s mining sector includes silver, phosphate rock and gold.
5. Service industries are the largest sector of Idaho’s economy.
6. Idaho’s financial sector grew 7% between 2005 and 2007.
7. The mining industry generates 4,100 jobs in the state.
8. Idaho’s Sun Valley is one of the country’s favorite tourist destinations.
9. Idaho’s gross product in 2004 was $43.6 billion.
10. 1 out of3 potatoes comes from Idaho.

The following companies are headquartered in Idaho. They all have a market cap of over $200 million.

Micron Technology (MU) makes and sells semiconductor devices throughout the world. The company recently generated negative earnings of 1.86 per share.

Idacorp Inc Holding Co. (IDA) generates, distributes and markets electric energy. The stock has a PE of 17.46, a PEG of 2.38, and it pays a yield of 4%.

Coeur D'alene (CDE) mines properties in the United States, South America, Australia and Africa. The stock has a PE of 20.11, and a PEG of 0.69.

Hecla Mining Co. (HL) operates mines and markets silver, gold, lead and zinc. The stock has a PEG of 9.41.

Coldwater Creek Inc (CWTR) is a retailer of women’s clothes, and accessories, and it operates mainly in the United States. The stock has a PEG of 32.06.

American Ecology Corp. (ECOL) is a waste management company specializing in radioactive and hazardous waste in the United States. The company has a PE of 26.68, a PEG of 1.26, and it pays a yield of 2.30%.

MWI Veterinary Supplies, Inc (MWIV) supplies veterinary health products in the United States. Also pet foods and nutritional supplements. The stock has a PE of 25.91, and a PEG of 1.38.

Boise, Inc. (BZ) produces and markets packaging and paper items of a wide range. They have a forward PE of 7.

NightHawk Radiology Holdings, Inc. (NHWK) renders radiology services to hospitals throughout the United States. The stock has a PE of 27.36, a PEG of 0.83.

International Isotopes Inc. (INIS) makes nuclear medicine calibration and reference standards. They recently generated negative earnings of one cent per share.

Check out stocks from some other states: Hawaii stocks, Alaska stocks, and Oregon stocks.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

Colorado Stocks

Fred Fuld — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:33:00 +0000

Colorado is a state of thriving companies. The state’s industries are many and varied; from aerospace & satellite, to agriculture, bioscience, mining and natural resources, financial services, manufacturing and telecommunication. Some great key facts to know about Colorado are:
1. Over 100 companies are in the aerospace industry in Colorado.
2. The aerospace and satellite industry provide the state with around 130,000 jobs.
3. The agricultural industry generates over 105,000 jobs in the state.
4. Colorado’s top ranch and commodity products are cattle and diary products.
5. There are 380 bioscience companies in the state, employing over 16,000 people.
6. Colorado’s nanotechnology industry is number 6 in the country with 75 companies in 20 cities around the state.
7. Colorado ranks number 11 in the country for oil production.
8. Legislation passed requires that Colorado produce 10% of its energy from renewable sources by the year 2015.
9. The state is number 11 in the production of wind power.
10. 35.5% of the population has a bachelor’s degree, making it the second most educated state.

The following are 10 companies headquartered in the State of Colorado with market caps over $1 billion.

Western Union Co. (WU) facilitates money transfers worldwide and other services. The stock has a PE of 22.68 and a PEG of 1.47. It pays a yield of 0.10%.

Newmont Mining Co. (NEM) is engaged in the production of gold. The company owns many properties around the world. The stock has a PE of 25.26 and a PEG of 1.27. It pays a yield of 0.90%.

Dish Network Corporation (DISH) delivers satellite television to customers throughout the United States. The stock has a PE of 14.12, a PEG of 1.43.

Liberty Entertainment Corp. (LMDIA) has as Its main subsidiary DiecTV. The company is engaged in the delivery of satellite television. The stock has a PE of 2.41 and a PEG of 0.38.

Prologis (PLD) is a real estate investment trust. The company operates in North America, Europe and Asia. The stock has a PE of 16.29, a PEG of 2.17, and it pays a yield of 4.20%.

Liberty Global Inc. (LBTYA) the company engages in high speed internet, voice and video services. The stock has a PE of 250.27 and a PEG of 10.44.

Molson Coors Co. (TAP) makes and sells beers, and other beverages. The stock has a PE of 21.4 and a PEG of 1.37. It pays a yield of 1.60%.

Liberty Media Interactive (LINTA) makes and markets different consumer products. The stock has a PE of 16, and a PEG of 1.31.

Quest Communication International Inc. (Q) operating three different segments provides voice, data and Internet services in America. The stock has a PE of 2.62, a PEG of 2.94, and it pays a yield of 8.40%.

Discovery Holding (DISCA) supplies network services to industries around the world. The stock has a PEG of 3.06.

Check out stocks from some other states: Hawaii stocks, Alaska stocks, and Oregon stocks.

Author owns Q.

By Stockerblog.com

Arizona Stocks

Fred Fuld — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:50:00 +0000

Did you know that Arizona has helium? As a matter of fact Arizona is home to some of the richest helium containing gas in the world. A recent increase in the value of helium caused great interest in the quest for this gas.

But there is much more in Arizona than Helium; currently Arizona produces 200 barrels of oil and 1 million cubic feet of gas everyday from wells around the state. Additionally Arizona produces the most non-fuel mineral in the country.

Other interesting facts about Arizona are:

1. Arizona produced more than 60% of copper mined in the U.S in 2007.
2. Arizona’s copper industry generated a combined revenue for the state of $4.719 Billion in 2006.
3. The mining industry employs 22,000 people.
4. Arizona’s 2007 total gross state product was $247,028 million.
5. Arizona has passed legislation requiring that 15% of its energy come from renewable sources by the year 2025.
6. Sun shines in the state 85% of the time, which makes it very appealing to solar energy.
7. One of Arizona’s major crops is lettuce, it produces over 1 million metric tons per year.
8. Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time
9. The Grand Canyon is one of Arizona’s major touristic attractions.
10. Arizona’s estimated population is 6 million.

The next 10 stock companies are headquartered in Arizona with market caps of over $1 billion.

Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX) explores, and mines properties in North America, South America, Indonesia, and Africa. The stock has a PE of 10.69, PEG of 0.83, and pays a yield of 2%.

Southern Copper Corp, (PCU) is engaged in the production, and sell of copper, molybdenum, zinc, silver, lead and gold. The stock has a PE of 9.86, PEG of 8.41, and it pays a yield of 9.60%.

First Solar Inc. (FSLR) designs, makes and markets solar electric equipment. The stock has a PE of 90.87, and a PEG of 1.24.

Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) and its subsidiaries are in the business of providing educational programs at levels from high school to university. The stock has a PE OF 31.08, and a PEG of 1.57.

Microchip Technology Inc (MCHP) makes and sells semiconductor products for multiple applications. The stock has a PE of 23.3 and a PEG of 1.53. It pays a yield of 4.10%.

Allied Waste Ind. (AW) is a waste management company , providing the following services from collection to recycling and disposal of nonhazardous waste. The stock has a PE of 17.99, and a PEG of 1.21.

Avnet Inc (AVT) is in the business of distribution of computer software and different electronic components. The stock has a PE of 9.45, and a PEG of 0.61.

ON semiconductor Corp. (ONNN) makes and sells power and data management around the world. The stock has a PE of 17.95 and a PEG of 0.96.

Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (PNW) is in the business of producing, transporting and delivering electricity in the United States. The stock has a PE of 10.34, a PEG of 3.39 and pays a yield of 6.10%.

Petsmart Inc. (PETM) sells foods and goods for animals. It also provides different services. The stock has a PE of 16.77 and a PEG of 1.04. It pays a yield of 0.50%.

Check out stocks from some other states: Hawaii stocks, Alaska stocks, and Oregon stocks.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com

Wescorp Energy Inc. (WSCE.OB) Executive Profile: Chairman Steve Cowper

QualityStocks — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:04:50 +0000

Wescorp Energy Incorporated is an oil and gas operation solutions company founded in 2003. Wescorp Energy helps oil and gas companies in Canada operate and perform more efficiently. The company is led by a strong team with enormous amounts of experience in business, energy, finance and even politics. One of the most impressive [...]