Sometimes innovative ideas are washed away and sometimes brilliant ideas are overlooked. Malcolm Bendall may be a genius who has been overlooked.

For over 30 years, Bendall, the CEO of the Kansas-based company Empire Energy Corporation International has been trying to convince the world that there is undiscovered oil and gas buried in Tasmania, Australia where neither has ever been found. In the process, Bendall has raised tens of millions of dollars for seismic and other geological studies that indicate the possibility that he may have been right. Soon, we will know if Bendall is right.

Last week, Bendall announced that Empire has become the first company to drill for oil and gas in Tasmania. Upon starting this process, it has been discovered that the independent firm RPS Energy has estimated the prospective presence of over 2.2 Billion barrels of trapped petroleum on Empire’s Tasmanian licensed area.

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For the week, the Dow gained 1.8% (down 13.9% y-t-d) and the S&P500 increased 0.8% (down 14.8%). The Utilities rose 2.6% (down 14.8%), and the Morgan Stanley Consumer index gained 2.2% (down 5.1%). The Transports jumped 3.8% (up 11%), and the Morgan Stanley Cyclical index advanced 3.3% (down 13.2%). The small cap Russell 2000 added 0.2% (down 5.1%), and the S&P400 Mid-Caps increased 0.4% (down 8.1%). The NASDAQ100 was about unchanged (down 15.2%), while the Morgan Stanley High Tech index slipped 0.4% (down 15.6%). The Semiconductors lost 2.9% (down 21.2%). The Street.com Internet Index declined 0.3% (down 11%), while the NASDAQ Telecommunications index gained 1.7% (down 10.2%). The Biotechs gained 1.0% (up 3%). The financial stocks were mixed. With Lehman collapsing, the Broker/Dealers sank 11.6% (down 35.9%). Meanwhile, the Banks gained 3.2% (down 19.9%). With Bullion sinking $37, the ...

Stocks stared into the abyss, again, and finally jumped in, as the financial crisis that has been percolating for weeks finally overwhelmed Wall Street. The Dow posted its largest one day drop since just after the September 11 attacks.

The day started with an orderly sell-off that picked up steam in the second half of the session. No sector escaped the carnage.

The Dow lost 504 points, or 4.42%, to 10917. The Nasdaq Composite Index fared slightly better, giving up 81.36 points, or 3.60%, to 2179. The S&P 500 Index now finds itself below its July lows, shedding 59 points, or 4.71%, to 1192.

There were historic deals, and non-deals, all weekend long, as two of Wall Street’s most revered investment banks threw in the towel. Lehman Brothers (LEH) declared bankruptcy after it couldn't find a partner who would take on its problems. Merrill Lynch (MER) fared

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As Hurricane Ike took over the Gulf of Mexico, I watched with unusual interest, since I had been scheduled to fly through Houston to give a lecture in Baton Rouge on Friday. We had to cancel that visit to LSU, which left me to contemplate the consequences of Hurricane Ike for oil and gas markets from the comfort of my warm, snug home in San Diego.

Hurricane Ike on Sept. 12. Source: Drudge.

Essentially all of the 1.3 million barrels per day of U.S. crude oil production from the Gulf of Mexico (which accounts for about a quarter of total U.S. production) has been shut in as a result of the storm. When the same thing happened 3 years ago with Hurricane Katrina, the effects turned out to be surprisingly long-lived. Damage to offshore rigs proved costly to repair,

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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. First up, Lehman suiters could be Bank of America and Britain's Barclays, both have emerged as the front runners among potential buyers. They're reportedly hoping the government will provide some assistance, as it did when it helped JPMorgan Chase buy Bear Stearns in March Gas prices are poised to shoot back toward record highs after Hurricane Ike's direct hit to the heart of the nation's oil refineries, analysts said. StockMaster Ads, because Ads are neat var mooter_ad_format="0"; var mooter_terms = ""; var mooter_affiliate = "frankl"; var mooter_sub = "8174382321283796445"; var mooter_uid = "8174382321283796445"; var mooter_IP = ""; var mooter_width = "300"; var mooter_height = "250"; var mooter_num_to_show = "4"; var mooter_background = ...

It’s really make-or-break time for the CRB. That said, the 61% retracement is a good place to bounce, and pullback to this level is quite normal in a commodity bull market.Oil should be bouncing a lot more than it is with a Category 3 hurricane headed toward Energy Alley. This is indicative of the extreme pessimism in the market right now. Let’s see how the week plays out.

Gold also isn’t getting much of a break despite news of a big ramp-up in buying in India. Hmm …

Here is some news you can use.

OIL

Oil Rebounds From Five-Month Low as Ike Nears; Gold, Wheat, Copper Gain Crude oil and copper led gains in commodities as Hurricane Ike threatened rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. government's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bolstered

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I exited a bullish oil position in Red-Hot Commodity ETFs yesterday because of oil’s lackluster response to Hurricane Gustav. It turns out some traders with long ears may have already heard about the bearish product demand that came out after the market closed yesterday. In short, oil product demand dropped 5.6% in June, more than expected. With that news out of the way, oil is up again, but not as much as you might think with a hurricane seeming to take aim at Louisiana.

If you’ve been reading my stuff, you know that I keep saying “Drill-Drill-Drill” isn’t a real answer, because we don’t have enough drill rigs and we don’t have enough crews for those rigs. Now, it turns out the shortage of trained rig workers is even more acute than first thought.

Meanwhile, here’s a story I find interesting …

The winds of change in our energy consumption

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Waiting for GustavHurricane Gustav grew stronger as it moved on a path projected to take it over Haiti on Tuesday and just south of Cuba on Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.Forecasters say they believe Gustav will strengthen into a "major hurricane" and move into the central Gulf of Mexico by Sunday, but there is little certainty about where it might go from there. CRUDE OIL Oil Companies Win $1 Billion Reimbursement Over Drilling Leases Devon Energy Corp. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. were among a dozen oil companies that should be reimbursed more than $1 billion they paid the U.S. for leases to drill off the California coast, an appeals court ruled today.XX Sean’s note – Anadarko was recommended in my Running on Fumes energy report and Devon was recommended in my Energy Panic of 2008 ...

Michael Santoli had a great one liner in his StreetWise column.THE OUTSIZED FOCUS LAST WEEK ON THE DOW'S REACHING "official" bear-market status with a 20% decline from a recent high is a bit like fixating on the moment that storm winds go from 73 to 74 miles per hour to formally become a hurricane.He also mentioned that oil was up 25% since May 1. I hadn't thought of it in those terms but anyone's perception of fundamentals notwithstanding, 25% in two months creates a meaningful headwind for further price rises in the near term.In an environment like this that headwind could be overcome to be sure but with energy now 16% of the S&P 500 an equalweight position takes on a little more risk for downside volatility than some folks may realize.