The Energy Ministry is investigating ways of reducing taxes on undeveloped gas fields, having seen that even with high oil prices most projects would not be financially solvent.  Ukraine's energy company Naftogaz has said that to avoid the possibility of a gas suspension, European firms should consider buying Russian gas and storing it in Ukraine.  Russian gas exports to Europe via Ukraine fell 45.5% in January-May 2009, year-on-year.   The European Commission has cautioned Gazprom and Naftogaz to secure a long-term contract to maintain steady supplies of gas to Europe.  Sergei Lavrov has met with EU ambassadors and 'positively assessed Russian-EU cooperation' over this issue.  The FT reports that a lack of investment in modernizing the energy infrastructure of central and eastern Europe is an obstacle to guaranteeing upplies.  If oil rises to $90 a barrel next year ...

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will realize faster growth in the Islamic bonds (sukuk) market and “tap into the massive potential that the segment hold” by adopting regulations and measures such as credit ratings, say analysts.  “Sukuk is important when it comes to overall financial market.  The region, with its huge capital needs, but [only] a small debt market needs to look into opportunities,” said Kamal Mian, Head of Islamic Finance, Saudi Hollandi Bank.  While the GCC holds a significant share of global sukuk market (estimated at $130 billion, Dh477bn) when it comes to volume, regulations and policy guidelines are relatively sparse, especially when compared to Malaysia, according to Moinuddin Malim, Head of Corporate and Investment Banking, Badr-Al-Islami, Mashreq.  Malaysia, with its proper regulatory measures and incentives, has managed to create a success story of its sukuk market and “investors from various countries such as Korea and Japan

...

A recent report issued by Fitch Ratings concludes that the more challenging operating environment has negatively affected prospects for retail banking in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC, consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE), although the degree of severity will vary.  Fitch views the potential risks from retail lending as high in the UAE (particularly Dubai) and Oman, moderate in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, and low in Saudi Arabia.

The report notes further that the most negative impact could be realized in the UAE, particularly in Dubai, because the UAE retail sector is the largest in size and UAE retail loans grew the quickest in the GCC.  Dubai’s economy has been hit especially hard by the global recession, as the UAE has an exceptionally high proportion of expatriates, at more than 80% of the population (90% in Dubai).  Expatriate residence visas are nearly always linked

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Some markets have begun to show upward price trends in terms of moving averages. We took a look at all of the country ETFs to see which, if any, showed an upward slope to the 50-day moving average.

The fund price charts show the 20-day, 50-day and 200-day moving average price, plus the volume of trade with its 20-day average, and the ratio of the price performance to the S&P 500 index.

Fundamentals are important and should not be ignored, but it is also helpful to enter positions when prices have stopped falling and have begun rising in some measurable way.  One possible way to judge whether a stock is rising is to look at the slope of its moving averages.

You should own securities for fundamental reasons (WHY you want to own them), but you should enter or own those securities during up-trending periods (WHEN you want to own them).

Buying a security

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Private equity giant Carlyle Group completed raising its first Middle East and North Africa (MENA) fund, Carlyle MENA Partners, with equity commitments of $500 million.  Per the firm’s site, the fund will invest primarily in “healthy, growing companies in various sectors, including energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology and transportation in the MENA region.”  Carlyle’s MENA team was established in March 2007.  From offices in Cairo, Dubai and Istanbul, Carlyle’s team of 12 professionals targets investments in Turkey, North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia), the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), the Levant (Lebanon and Jordan) and Pakistan. To date, Carlyle MENA has made one investment in July 2008, acquiring a 50% stake in TVK Gemi Yapim Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., a Turkish shipbuilder specializing in the construction of chemical ...

A new study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) concludes that most of the fundamental drivers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region continue to be strong, due largely to oil revenue based reserves ($300bn in cash inflows in 2008), sovereign wealth funds (SWF) and central banks (which combined manage $1.2 trillion of assets across the region) that continue to provide a comfortable cushion for its economies, as well as an overall lack of leverage and limited sub-prime exposure by its banks. Moreover, noted Kamel Maamria, a BCG partner, “the fact that GCC economies are government-driven is a critical stabilising factor in downturns and turbulent times.” BCG is optimistic about the region’s role in the global economy going forward, although realizing any amount of sustainable global economic influence will depend largely on the measures taken by GCC leaders. “Governments of the ...

More Facts on the New World Oil…

By Matt Weinschenk, Senior Analyst, White Cap Report

You may have read the brief post/article from last week detailing the madness in oil markets and the glaring profit opportunity available to those with means. (If not, read the whole Contango article here.)

Well those with means have heard the call.

Alaric Nightingale at Bloomberg is reporting that Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)has hired the supertanker Argenta to store 2 million barrels of oil out at sea for $68,000. A quick “back-of-the-envelope” calculation shows a profit of $10 million in the thirty-one days between today and the March futures expiration.

They’ve got to find new ways to profit, since that whole “investment-banking” didn’t work out.

Meanwhile, Frontline (NYSE: FRO), one of the stocks mentioned in last week’s update, estimates that there are 80 million barrels in floating storage. And as

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ETF provider Van Eck Global filed with the SEC to launch two funds tracking Kuwait and Egypt.  The firm already has an ETF in its Market Vectors family that covers the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (including Kuwait, but not Egypt).  Though three other ETFs launched in 2008 cover the Middle East, the Van Eck filings will be the first ETFs to cover those two markets exclusively. You can find the prospectus for the two funds here.