This Small Oil Producer is Ripe for a Takeover… Here’s How to Profit

by Sheena Martin, Contributing Editor Friday, November 20, 2009

Takeovers are big news in the market at the moment.

In fact, did you know that takeovers have the biggest one-day gain in stocks for any asset?

As my colleague – and takeover expert – Louis Basenese says, they’re “some of the safest companies you can own. According to FactSet Merger Stat LLC, the average one-day return for shareholders of the target company is 48%.”

Furthermore, Louis says, “Industries naturally go through cycles of consolidation – waves of mergers, acquisition and takeovers.”

One industry riding this wave as it comes out of recession is oil. And I have a takeover target making strides in oil exploration that could put money in your pocket in a few months

...

Doug Casey is an American free-market market economist, financial author and entrepreneur. He has been writing a monthly investment newsletter, the International Speculator since 1979 and I always find his ideas quite refreshing.

I the paragraphs below, he is interviewed by Louis James, editor of the International Speculator.

L: So, Doug, it’s well known that in addition to investing in resource stocks, especially gold juniors, you also have a passion for playing the real estate market. What can you tell us about real estate in today’s world?

Doug: Real estate has been very, very good to me. The reason that’s true is that I buy only things that I like myself. I don’t try to second-guess what other people may want. If you do that, you’re guaranteed to wind up with mediocre stuff that nobody really wants. I have an inclination

...

As U.S. Refiners Recover, This Company Aims to Jump to the Next Level

by Sheena Martin, Contributing Editor

Even as U.S gas prices climb, petroleum traders still have no interest in buying right now.

And why would they? The summer driving season is at an end. Consumers are still trying to save cash, especially with the holidays approaching. And inventories are still bearish.

Last week, the Department of Energy (DOE) said gasoline demand is at 8.844 million barrels per day – the lowest number since late January 2009. And with practically no demand, refiners are still running at only 80% capacity, on average.

So with refinery woes persisting, it might seem odd to devote attention to investments in the industry. However, that’s precisely why you should. A contrarian strategy often pays dividends – and the recent challenges have shaken out

...

Overvalued Stocks: Don’t Touch These Bloated Investments With a 10-Foot Pole

by Marc Lichtenfeld, Healthcare Expert Wednesday, November 18, 2009: Issue #1140

To celebrate my parents’ anniversary, I took the family to see Grease last weekend. As musical theater buffs, I figured that they’d love the seeing the show, especially with my kids who had never seen a Broadway quality production.

Unfortunately, they still haven’t. The show stunk. The “actor” who played Danny Zuko couldn’t act. And American Idol winner Taylor Hicks was so bad as Teen Angel, it was laughable. It was one of the worst productions I’ve ever seen – and I should know, as I’ve been in some pretty awful shows (if you saw Last Exit to Brooklyn in San Francisco in 1995, I apologize).

But the purpose of this column is not a theater review, but

...

When Justice first asked me to fill in as a guest editor this week, I thought, “Those are some tough shoes to fill.” But I realized that if I wrote about what I’m passionate about and what I’ve spent...div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=kv2RwKb5sk8:JdVEuuh32qw:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=kv2RwKb5sk8:JdVEuuh32qw:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=kv2RwKb5sk8:JdVEuuh32qw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=kv2RwKb5sk8:JdVEuuh32qw:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?i=kv2RwKb5sk8:JdVEuuh32qw:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=kv2RwKb5sk8:JdVEuuh32qw:wd9GD17jvC4"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=wd9GD17jvC4" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.taipanpublishinggroup.com/~ff/taipan?a=kv2RwKb5sk8:JdVEuuh32qw:l6gmwiTKsz0"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/taipan?d=l6gmwiTKsz0" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/taipan/~4/kv2RwKb5sk8" height="1" width="1"/

By Bob Blandeburgo Associate Editor Money Morning

Stimulus measures in Japan helped the world’s second-largest economy grow at its fastest pace in more than two years, but it’s unlikely policymakers will reduce spending despite the nation’s rapidly growing debt.

Gross domestic product (GDP) in Japan grew at 4.8% annual rate in the third quarter, surpassing all the forecasts of 20 economists polled by Bloomberg News. That follows a revised gain of 2.7% in the three months ended June 30, according to Japan’s Cabinet Office. Japan’s economy grew 1.2% on a quarterly basis.

“The turnaround in public investment has definitely contributed to the rebound in GDP, so if they do start to cut it’ll weigh on growth,” Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief Japan economist at Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE ADR: CS), told Bloomberg.

Stimulus measures around the world helped Japan’s exports grow 6.4%, but as global economies withdraw stimulus measures,

...

By Don Miller Associate Editor Money Morning

U.S. retail sales rose unexpectedly in October as vehicle sales rebounded from a deep slump. However, non-auto sales rose less than forecast, suggesting consumers remain cautious as unemployment surges amid a “jobless recovery.”

Sales at the nation’s retail outlets increased 1.4%, the Commerce Department said today (Monday), much better than the 0.9% increase projected by the median estimate of 66 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. But September sales were revised downwards to a 2.3% decrease from the previous estimate of a 1.5% decline.

Aside from automobiles, other sales rose just 0.2%. That increase marked the third month in a row that sales rose, but failed to meet the 0.4% climb economists had predicted.

Sign up below…and we’ll send you a new investment report for free:

...

Asia has proven comparatively resilient against the current downturn, but hurdles still lie ahead. In order to maintain robust growth rates in the face of weak US demand, the region’s dynamic economies must stoke domestic consumption and embrace environmentally sustainable development policies. So says Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and author of The Next Asia: Opportunities and Challenges for a New Globalization.  Clay Chandler, Asia editor with McKinsey’s publishing group, spoke to Roach in Hong Kong.

Source: Clay Chandler, McKinsey Quarterly, November 13, 2009.

Did you enjoy this post? If so, click here to subscribe to updates to Investment Postcards from Cape Town by e-mail.

November 13, 2009
The following article is provided courtesy of Elliott Wave International (EWI). For more insights that challenge conventional financial wisdom, download EWI’s free 118-page Independent Investor eBook.

————-

Large banks and more recently pension funds have suddenly become infatuated with gold.  They chant the mantras that gold bugs have known for years: gold is a store of value; owning gold is financial insurance; an ounce of gold will always buy a good suit.  The idea is that if the economy continues to weaken and share prices decline, a strategic allocation of the precious metal will hedge and offset some of the losses in the financial sector.

On the surface it seems to make sense and it’s hard to argue with the logic.  Even so, logic can sometimes get twisted, whereas facts cannot.  The …

TODAY: Medvedev's state of the nation address warns opposition against using democracy to rock the boat; talks up modernization. Media unconvinced President can match word with deed. Topol-M problem for START replacement talks;  Litvinenko suspect Lugovoi willing to speak to London prosecutors?; is Russia really cracking down on nationalists; Putin world's third most powerful according to ForbesIn President Medvedev's second state-of-the-nation address, highlights of which can be found here, he warned opposition politicians not to use democracy as a way to 'destabilize the state and split society'. The fact that the speech emphasized long-term goals, related to cutting time zones, technology and industrial modernization, heralds a call for re-election argues one analyst, quoted in the Moscow ...