<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Stock Market News &#38; Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks &#187; michael brisky</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.straightstocks.com/tag/michael-brisky/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.straightstocks.com</link>
	<description>Leading Stock Market News, Opinions and Commentary</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:32:19 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5</generator>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
			<item>
		<title>More of the Same</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/more-of-the-same/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/more-of-the-same/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:39:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-4671540360048839209</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The market continues to show strength, as most of the news out there is positive. br /br /RHIE dropped again today as it still hasn't found a bottom.  It will be interesting to see if Seth Klarman picks up any shares at these levels, as he has in the past.  As usual when this happens with a stock, you get people on message boards and blogs saying they are done for.  They are most likely short the stock and aren't willing to have a conversation about it.  There are always risks and its important never to risk more than you can afford to lose, especially with a stock that is this volatile.  That's about all I have to say about that.  I had reasons for buying it, and I still see value there.  It may take time for that value to be realized.  If it was easy, everyone would do it. br /br /I continue to see more confidence out there, and as much as I feel stocks should pullback, it may  just as easily not happen for awhile.  There are still pockets of value out there.  I don't like many large caps at this point, as most are overvalued when looking at the whole situation. br /br /As always, I'll report any transactions and/or ideas that come up and I welcome your ideas as well. br /br /Thanks for reading.br /br /Disclosure: Long RHIEdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-4671540360048839209?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/more-of-the-same/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Picked up Some RHIE</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/picked-up-some-rhie/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/picked-up-some-rhie/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:38:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-6391350914637080689</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[RHI Entertainment (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=RHIE"RHIE/a) is a small cap name I've spoken about for a good portion of 2009. a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/RHI-Entertainment-Announces-bw-531831091.html?x=0amp;.v=1"They reported a bad quarter /atoday, and the stock is off 60%! I took a small position at 1.16 for a couple of reasons:br /br /-Yes the quarter was bad, but keep in mind this is a company whose earnings are tied to the releases they put out (many more coming in next quarter than previous), and their library. Seasonality is a big factor here. I'm not saying this quarter will be outstanding, but it will likely be better. I may not even own the stock by the next earnings release.br /br /-They do have way too much debt for a company this size and are burning through their cash at this point. My bet isn't on the long-term viability and ability to grow earnings, which still remain to be seen. My bet is more on an overreaction by the market, and the possibility to make some money on the return to "normalcy" so-to-speak. Seth Klarman still owns a large stake here (I believe) and he bought when this same thing happened in the spring. Its an opportunity to buy at less than 50% of book value.br /br /This isn't necessarily my style for buying stock, but in some ways it is. Just looking for value out there. Again, its a small position and I'll be watching it closely.  Might not be the best one to follow unless you're watching it closely.  If it continues to go south, I'll likely dump it quickly.br /br /Disclosure: Long RHIEdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-6391350914637080689?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/picked-up-some-rhie/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Loews Still Attractive</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/loews-still-attractive/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/loews-still-attractive/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:35:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-7779776018190854008</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Loews (L) continues to provide value to its shareholders, while the market continues to undervalue its shares.  I'm not going to break down each of its companies, but rather look at the bigger picture and the comments from their management. br /br /Here are some statements by CEO Jim Tisch (one of the best around, I may add).br /br /-Loews reported a solid quarter reflecting improved results in CNA, continued strong results in Diamond Offshore, and higher investment income in the holding company portfolio. During the third quarter Loews' book value per common share increased by over 14%, primarily as a result of the $1.7 billion increase in the mark-to-market value of CNA's investment portfolio. What a difference a quarter makes.br /br /-At the end of the third quarter, CNA's book value per share stood at $35.38 compared to $20.92 at year end '08. This improvement was primarily the result of narrowing credit spreads in the fixed income market. While we are quite pleased to see the improvement in CNA's balance sheet, the volatility of fixed income security prices over the past year underscores how one could be potentially mislead by mark-to-market accounting, especially with the respect to unrealized losses at property and casualty insurance companies.br /br /-And with that I'll get off my accounting soapbox and get back to our results. Diamond Offshore reported another quarter of excellent results. The big story for the quarter was Diamond's purchase of the Ocean Valor, a newly constructed dynamically positioned drilling rig that is capable of operating in 7,500 feet of water.br /br /-Diamond was able to acquire the rig at auction for approximately $490 million, well below the recent cost to construct a similar new build rig. The rig is being actively marketed for work commencing in early 2010, which by our calculation is a lot better than waiting three years for the completion of a new build rig. This acquisition is consistent with Diamond's successful strategy of buying attractive assets at a time when purchases are possible at favorable pricing.br /To replenish available cash after the rig acquisition, Diamond used its strong balance sheet to go to the debt markets and was able to issue $500 million of long-term debt due in 30 years at the very attractive rate of 5.75%. Diamond's board of directors recently declared special and regular – regular and quarterly dividends which together total $2 per share and market continuation of Diamond's policy of paying out special cash dividends reflecting the earnings and financial position of the company.br /br /About acquisitions:br /br /-We are always looking. The issue right now though I believe is exactly what's going to happen in the economy. My guess is that the economy is going to be very sluggish for a long time, maybe on the order of, if we're lucky, 1% to 2% growth. And I don't see this as a typical recession and I don't see this as a period where we're going to have 4% to 6% growth for the next year or so. I think it'll be very sluggish and I think that additional taxes and mandates will just be additional headwinds for the economy.  I say all that as preamble because if we were to buy anything, I would not want to pay up in price anticipating that the economy and, therefore, business in the business cycle will resume. So like it said on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, jittery companies stash cash. You can count Loews Corporation as one of those companies.br /br /And as what is usually the case, Tisch comments about the stock being undervalued:br /br /-Well, there are two things you can do. You can complain about the prices of stock and the value of the stock, or you can do something about it. And there are multiple ways to do something about it. One is, I guess as you suggest, is to cast some holdings overboard. We're not looking to do that. The other way to deal with that is to buy in shares and in the past four months the company's brought in 4.5 million shares.br /br /-As I like to say about our share repurchase history, we have a long and glorious history of share repurchases, buying in shares when the stock trades at a discount. Just to get on my soapbox again and provide an advertisement, Loews' stock has appreciated. Loews shareholders for the past 50 years have had a 16% rate of return on their shares compared to 9% for the Samp;P 500. So that if you have $1 50 years ago and you invested in the Samp;P 500, it would be worth about $75 now.br /br /-On the other hand, that dollar if you would have invested in Loews at 16% would be worth $1,600 or $1,700. So the appreciation of Loews has been quite extraordinary. And one reason for that has been that we have aggressively bought in the shares. In 1970 we had the equivalent of 1.3 billion shares outstanding. Today it's below 430 million.br /br /-For the life of me, I do not understand why the market values Loews so cheaply, but having said that I'm not complaining about it. Instead we're buying in the share and we're using that as an opportunity to create long-term value for all Loews shareholders. Beyond buying in the shares and doing what we're doing, I don't know what else we can do to close that valuation gap. It is a great frustration to me, but also I see it as a great opportunity.br /br /So to summarize things, Loews remains on the same path.  Conservative about the economy and its balance sheet.  They'll look for acquisitions if they make sense.  Their stock remains undervalued, and they'll continue to buyback shares if it continues.  This is the kind of stock you can just buy and sit on.  I plan to do some of that, but have just been a bit picky about where I buy.  On a side note, that's a common approach for me.  I'm usually pretty good at finding opportunities, and you're welcome to buy when I do, or be a bit more aggressive, which may pay off for you.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-7779776018190854008?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/loews-still-attractive/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tii Network Technologies Reports</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/tii-network-technologies-reports/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/tii-network-technologies-reports/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-170127629180100672</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Tii Network Technologies (TIII) is one of those small caps I've been saying is attractive.  I a href="http://briskycapital.blogspot.com/2009/10/late-friday-buy.html"picked up a small amount of shares /aback in the middle of October.  You can read my initial reason for buying through that link.  a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Tii-Network-Technologies-prnews-593431932.html?x=0amp;.v=1"Here's the release/a:br /br /blockquotestrongNet sales for the three months ended September 30, 2009 were$7,460,000 compared to $8,521,000 in the comparable prior year period, a decrease of $1,061,000 or 12.5%/strong. Net sales for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 were $19,703,000 compared to $27,248,000 in the comparable prior year period, a decrease of $7,545,000 or 27.7%. The decrease in the 2009 periods was primarily due to the economic downturn, which has negatively impacted sales of our connectivity and network interface device products, and the loss of landlines by the service providers which has negatively impacted sales of our network interface device products. Additionally, in the three months ended September 30, 2009, the decrease in sales was partially offset by an increase in sales of our broadband products into the growing broadband market and to new customers.br /br /Kenneth A. Paladino, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "strongThe sequential increase in sales for the quarter was due to the improving economy's positive impact on our markets and sales to new customers from recent market share gains/strong. Though total sales for the quarter were lower than the comparable prior year period, we are very pleased that sales of our more advanced broadband products were higher by almost 25%.br /br /The decrease in gross profit margin for the quarter was to due to freightbr /and expediting costs incurred to satisfy an increase in demand for certain products with contracted delivery requirements where inventory levels for these products had been reduced due to the economic downturn. Increased production levels of these products have enabled us to significantly reduce expediting costs and as a result we expect to return to historical gross profit margin levels in the fourth quarter.br /br /We continue to manage our other operating expenses and balance sheetbr /closely. strongOur operating expenses are down 22% or $1.9 million for thebr /first nine months. Cash is now $12.3 million, up $4.0 million for the same period.br /br //strongThough our sales have not yet recovered to prior year levels, we arebr /confident that we are executing the right strategy and with the improved economic outlook, we expect that our profitability will also continue to improve."br //blockquotebr /br /I highlighted a couple of key points.  The key with these small cap names is value.  This company is now sitting on $12.3 million on cash with a $16.9 million market cap.  In a normal market, companies like these might not be so undervalued.  So this becomes more of a buy and hold until the market realizes some of its value more so than a bet on the company increasing earnings.br /br /Disclosure: Long TIIIdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-170127629180100672?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/tii-network-technologies-reports/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Not So Fast, Bears&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/not-so-fast-bears/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/not-so-fast-bears/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3051518487373046206</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My claim that the market had turned negative last week appears to be a little premature.  The melt-up is back on with the dollar declining and stocks off to the races again.  A span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"few/span stocks of interest to me have reported earnings, and they have all come in strong.  I'm going to do a post about each, span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"TIII/span, CODI, and L. br /br /The reflation trade, or whatever you'd like to call it, remains on.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3051518487373046206?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/not-so-fast-bears/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Well Hello, Mr. Buffett</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/well-hello-mr-buffett/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/well-hello-mr-buffett/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:51:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-7158786269289451742</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you follow financial news, or any news for that matter, you know what happened this morning.  Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Berkshire-buying-Burlington-apf-3016566039.html?x=0amp;.v=18"agreed to buy Burlington Northern/a.  He already had a large stake (I believe around 20%), but this is a massive bet on the US economy.  It really is classic Buffett.  If you've read my blog at all, you know I'm bullish on railroads, and have felt BNI is the best out there.  I don't own any shares, so I missed out on this one.  Buffett isn't stealing it, but it will likely look like a good purchase five years from now. br /br /In other news, a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Berkshire-Hathaway-OKs-50for1-apf-323762915.html?x=0amp;.v=5"Berkshire agreed to split /atheir "B" shares 50 to 1, which is a big departure for them. br /br /Buffett is clearly trying to make a statement here, and likely wanted another "signature purchase" (like Coca Cola, GEICO, or many others) to add to his legacy.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-7158786269289451742?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/well-hello-mr-buffett/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Market Has Turned Negative</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/market-has-turned-negative/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/market-has-turned-negative/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-1459074560564793674</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In my opinion, the market action seems to have a downward bias to it now.  In the past few months, anytime negative news would come out, the market would dip, only to see bulls push through and move the market higher.  Right now, it feels like the opposite.  Earnings haven't been making big headlines and economic data is carrying more weight, as is the apprehension of investors and fear that stocks are overextended. br /br /Small caps are getting hit hard.  They are the most volatile and have moved the a lot to the upside during this rally, so their sell off comes as little surprise.  I have a few names on my radar that I may pick at if prices continue to improve.  I know I've been saying that for sometime, but I'm a very patient investor.br /br /I do think that things are improving and many stocks could become attractive if prices fall further.  I think the economy is slowly recovering, but just not to the level that stocks priced in.  So if we see another over-reaction to the downside, I'd view that as an excellent opportunity to buy some stocks.  In March, when we hit the lows, there were still a fair amount of major risks out there.  Some of those have subsided, and some have been forgotten about.  Either way, conditions are likely better than in March.  So, like I said, if stocks become more attractive price wise, I think I'll be a buyer of some pretty span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"substantial/span amounts.br /br /Lets see what this week brings.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-1459074560564793674?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/market-has-turned-negative/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Union Pacific Not So Bullish</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/union-pacific-not-so-bullish/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/union-pacific-not-so-bullish/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-6300279583506217744</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I always keep track of the railroad earnings as I still think they are a pretty good primer for the rest of the economy.  I know there are others, but this is just one that I follow.  So, Union Pacific reported this morning.  More of the same...Revenues still down double digits, profits helped by cost cutting (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Weak-economy-sends-UPs-3Q-apf-1278070157.html?x=0amp;.v=6"release/a).  I've highlighted a couple key areas. br /br /blockquoteUnion Pacific Corp. said Thursday its third-quarter profit fell 26 percentbr /as shipping demand remained weak and the overall economy stabilized.br /br /The nation's largest railroad couldn't offset lower shipping volumes,br /though it benefited from significantly lower fuel costs, improved productivitybr /and other cost-cutting measures. Union Pacific operates 32,400 miles of track inbr /23 states from the Midwest to the West and Gulf coasts.br /br /The Omaha company said Thursday it earned $517 million, or $1.02 per share,br /down from $703 million, or $1.38 per share, last year. Analysts surveyed bybr /Thomson Reuters, on average, expected a profit of $1 per share.br /br /strongRevenue fell 24 percent, to $3.67 billion.br //strongbr /"Business volumes seem to have stabilized, but at strongvery lowbr /levels/strong for Union Pacific," said Jim Young, the company's chairman andbr /CEO.br /br /Union Pacific's strongfuel costs plummeted 59 percent/strong, to $466br /million, as the average price per gallon of diesel dropped to $1.87 from lastbr /year's $3.70 and the railroad burned 19 percent less fuel.br /br /Union Pacific's compensation costs and strongheadcount fell 11br /percent/strong.br /br /Union Pacific said it still had 4,100 employees furloughed, and it hasbr /50,000 railcars and 1,700 locomotives stored. All those figures are downbr /slightly from July, suggesting that Union Pacific has started preparing forbr /higher shipping volumes, but Young said the economy hasn't shown much sign ofbr /improvement.br /br /"In 2010, we strongdon't expect a quick rebound and have positionedbr /ourselves for a slow recovery/strong," he said.br /br /Union Pacific said its freight revenue again fell across all six of itsbr /main business segments, and the number of carloads it carried fell 15br /percent.br /br /The biggest drop in freight revenue came in the industrial-products sector,br /which fell 39 percent, to $557 million. Automotive revenue fell 30 percent, tobr /$227 million, even as the government's Cash for Clunkers program increasedbr /vehicle sales.br /br /Agricultural-shipping revenue fell 23 percent, intermodal revenue fell 22br /percent, energy revenue fell 21 percent and chemicals revenue fell 16br /percent.br //blockquotebr /Fuel costs obviously helped and play a big role for them.  They do however, see some increase in volume when fuel prices spike as they are sometimes an alternative to shipping via other method.  Still though, this is a "reality indicator" that can't be overlooked.  While the market roars to new highs, look at the numbers of industrial goods and raw materials.  They are showing no sign of recovery. br /br /I'm still quite concerned about employment numbers and what they mean for the economy looking out a few quarters.  We're still riding the oversold bounce and I'm not saying it won't continue.  Fund managers are chasing performance as they will find themselves out of a job if they don't catch this rally after last year's situation.  So while the dips will be bought, the question is when will the realities of the broad economy balance out with the market.  There's your million dollar question.  I wish I knew the answer. br /br /Disclosure: Nonediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-6300279583506217744?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/union-pacific-not-so-bullish/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Diamond Offshore Reports Another Strong Quarter</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/diamond-offshore-reports-another-strong-quarter/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/diamond-offshore-reports-another-strong-quarter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:43:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-2788983098192052058</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Quick, name me a few companies that have grown revenue and net income year over year.  Having trouble? Me too.  Here's one.  Diamond Offshore Drilling.  I've written about them occasionally over the past few quarters.  They operate in a very profitable industry, and to me are about the best in that industry.  Here's a brief snippet from the a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Diamond-Offshore-3Q-profit-up-apf-905257113.html?x=0amp;.v=1"release/a:br /br /blockquoteContract driller Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. on Thursday said third-quarter earnings rose 17 percent as rising crude prices drove up demand from oil companies for more drilling services.  As the economy showed signs of recovery in the third quarter, crude oil prices stabilized, trading as high as $76 per barrel, well above a 2009 low of $46.73 per barrel in February.  Diamond Offshore's quarterly earnings climbed to $364.1 million, or $2.62 per share, from $310.5 million, or $2.23 per share, during the same period last year.  Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated a profit of $2.30 per share, on average.  Revenue rose nearly one percent to $908.4 million, up from $900.4 million in the prior-year period. Analysts forecast revenue of $874.2 million.br //blockquotebr /They operate a pretty shareholder-friendly operation as well as earnings are returned to shareholders via a regular and special dividend.  This is one of those stocks you'd be alright owning a few years, which is more than I can say about a lot of stocks right now.  Loews also owns about 50% of DO, and buying their stock may be a cheaper way into DO if you like the rest of their businesses (which I'll leave for another day). br /br /Anyway, good stuff from DO.  I'd be a buyer of their stock anytime it pulls back (hint: just watch the price of crude).br /br /Disclosure: Nonebr /Besides higher sales, profit was aided by lower contract drilling costs, foreign currency gains and reduced taxes.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-2788983098192052058?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/diamond-offshore-reports-another-strong-quarter/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Pfizer Reports; Should I Sell My Shares?</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/pfizer-reports-should-i-sell-my-shares/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/pfizer-reports-should-i-sell-my-shares/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:33:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3751828478083401374</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Now that I own some Pfizer stock (due to the acquisition of Wyeth), I feel obligated to at least post on Pfizer's earnings. (a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pfizer-reports-26-higher-profit-but-lower-sales-2009-10-20"marketwatch/a) br /br /-The world's largest drug maker posted net income of $2.88 billion, or 43 cents a share, compared with $2.28 billion, or 34 cents a share, for the same quarter in 2008.br /br /-Excluding various items, Pfizer would have reported adjusted earnings of 51 cents a share, versus 62 cents. This year's quarter was also impacted by a higher tax rate, due largely to its merger with Wyeth.br /br /-Revenue in the period fell 3% to $11.62 billion, from $11.97 billion.br /br /-Pfizer was expected to report lower year-over-year sales, with the loss of patent protection for such former blockbusters as Norvasc and Zyrtec weighing heavily on its top line.br /br /-Still, Pfizer's sales results managed to top Wall Street's expectations. According to a recent poll of analysts by FactSet Research, Pfizer was pegged at posting earnings of 48 cents a share on revenue of $11.44 billion.br /br /-On Oct. 15, Pfizer finally closed its $68 billion merger with Wyeth, which was scheduled to release its earnings Thursday. Pfizer halved its once-coveted dividend several months ago to help finance the takeover.br /br /-Pfizer also updated its 2009 financial forecast to reflect the acquisition. The drug maker now sees revenue of $49 billion to $50 billion, up from its previous forecast of $45 billion to $46 billion. Earnings are seen between $1.45 and $1.50 a share, up from $1.30 to $1.45. Adjusted earnings should come in between $2.00 and $2.05 a share, up from $1.90 to $2.00.br /br /I'm still making up my mind about this stock.  As long as it continues to move higher, I'm not going to sell it.  I don't typically like companies that make massive acquisitions as I fell there is a lot of waste and its difficult to manage that many different operations and still grow.  But they have a pretty strong sales pipeline now as Wyeth was a great company (that's why I owned the stock).  But Pfizer did have to cut their dividend to finance this deal, which is one of the reasons to like Pfizer in the first place.  I haven't had time to do a ton of research on this yet, so like I said, I'm still up in the air on Pfizer. br /br /Disclosure: Long PFEdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3751828478083401374?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/pfizer-reports-should-i-sell-my-shares/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Caterpillar Reports; Not Much New</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/caterpillar-reports-not-much-new/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/caterpillar-reports-not-much-new/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-5228238621485875738</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Caterpillar reported quarterly results this morning. I like to keep an eye on companies like Cat due to their cyclical nature and I feel they can give us a tell on if the economy is improving. They beat estimates, which were laughable. Sales and profits are still substantially down, and they are selling the hope, just like many others. Here are some quotes from the a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=aUXMwIFXBil8"Bloomberg article/a.br /br /blockquote“We believe the third quarter marked the low point for Caterpillar sales and revenues in what has been the toughest recession since the 1930s,” Owens said in the statement. “We are seeing encouraging signs that indicate a recovery may be under way.”br /br /The company narrowed its 2009 forecast range to $1.85 to $2.05 a share, from $1.15 to $2.25. The average estimate was $1.48 a share and the highest prediction was $1.75. The revenue forecast is now $32 billion to $33 billion, compared with its previous a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=CAT%3AUS" t_above="true" t_static="true" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_width="110" t_delay="50"forecast/a of $32 billion to $36 billion.br /br /“The world economy is still facing significant challenges,” Owens said in today’s statement. “There is uncertainty about the timing and strength of recovery.”br /br /“We’ve already started planning for an upturn,” Owens said in the statement. “When it comes, it can come quickly, and we, our dealers and our suppliers will be prepared.”br /br /In a preliminary forecast, Caterpillar today predicted 2010 sales would increase 10 percent to 25 percent from the midpoint of the 2009 forecast range, partly driven by the end of dealer inventory reductions.br //blockquotebr /As I've said before many times, and will continue to say, selling the hope is okay. The economy may have bottomed. But Wall Street has been buying the hope big time since late spring. Now stocks are just too expensive and have fully priced in a recovery which has yet to appear. That's why its dangerous to just "buy stocks", which is my term for just jumping back in. I still think there are deals out there, but large cap stocks have just been bid up too high in my opinion.br /br /Onward...div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-5228238621485875738?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/caterpillar-reports-not-much-new/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Einhorn Speaks at Value Investing Congress</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/einhorn-speaks-at-value-investing-congress/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/einhorn-speaks-at-value-investing-congress/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:49:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3723428211309472064</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital is someone I'm always eagerly listening to.  He is very intelligent and manages money for a living.  As I've said many times, the people that are intelligent and have their own money on the line are the only ones I truly listen to.  Believe me, there are very few of them.  But Einhorn is one of them.br /br /a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/rolfe-winkler/files/2009/10/einhorn-vic-2009-speech.pdf"Here's the text of his speech today/a at the Value Investing Congress.  I got this via a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/rolfe-winkler/"Rolfe Winkler's blog at Reuters/a.  There's a lot of great stuff in here.br /br /br /Here's just one good quote, about gold:br /br /blockquoteI have seen many people debate whether gold is a bet on inflation or deflation. As I see it, it is neither. Gold does well when monetary and fiscal policies are poor and does poorly when they appear sensible. Gold did very well during the Great Depression when FDR debased the currency. It did well again in the money printing 1970s, but collapsed in response to Paul Volcker’s austerity. It ultimately made a bottom around 2001 when the excitement about our future budget surpluses peaked./blockquotediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3723428211309472064?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/einhorn-speaks-at-value-investing-congress/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Late Friday Buy</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/a-late-friday-buy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/a-late-friday-buy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:52:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-7897256875363113427</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I made a small purchase at the end of the day Friday. Its a small company called TII Network Technologies (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=TIII"TIII/a). They supply products in the DSL, surge protection, and VOIP arenas, amongst other things. a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=TIII"Click here for a full profile/a.br /br /I'm just looking strictly at value on this one. It trades at less than half of its current book value. They have nearly 11M in cash, and for a company with only 16M market cap, that is a pretty good safety net if the economy doesn't recover as quickly as some predict. Like most companies, revenues are down year over year, but operations are improving.br /br /Now is the time to scoop up values in companies like these. I'm finding more opportunities in small cap names right now. The large cap stocks are followed so closely and bought by so many funds. I just can't find much value in large cap stocks right now. The key with these small cap names is make sure they are sitting in a good cash position and won't be reliant on credit to finance operations for an extended period of time, and you'll be ok.br /br /Its a small position, and I may add to it, but it won't become too large for me. Its lightly traded and I'm not a fan of taking big positions in stocks like this. But I do think its worthy of getting a shot here. a href="http://www.tiinettech.com/images/pdf/tii%20Q2%202009%20Earnings%20Release-FINAL.pdf"Here's a link to their latest quarterly report/a. (pdf)br /br /I got this idea from a href="http://www.arohanvalue.com/premium/"Arohan's Investing Life Premium/a, which is a great service. Check it out, as he has many more great ideas as well.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-7897256875363113427?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/a-late-friday-buy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Earnings Commentary</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/earnings-commentary/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/earnings-commentary/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:42:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-1380393361895916605</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, earnings season has officially kicked off.  Google and IBM reported after the close yesterday.  Last quarter, these two were really the drivers that kicked the summer rally into high gear.  They both reported solid numbers again, but its a little different story today.  Google is trading higher, but it wasn't enough to lift stocks today.  We also got results from lumbering giants Bank of America and GE, both of which weren't taken as great. br /br /It will be interesting to see if investors continue to buy every dip, which has been the case lately.  The next catalyst appears it will be economic data or just more investors gaining faith in this market as we climb the "wall of worry." br /br /I have stocks out there I'd like to buy, but again feel many portions of this market have come too far, too fast.  With earnings coming out daily, I'll be posting more frequently, and hopefully some posts will be talking about some trading activity on my part.br /br /Have a great weekend!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-1380393361895916605?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/earnings-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Pfizer/Wyeth Close Deal&#8230;Should I keep Pfizer Shares?</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/pfizerwyeth-close-deal-should-i-keep-pfizer-shares/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/pfizerwyeth-close-deal-should-i-keep-pfizer-shares/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:02:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3516157155141517543</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Pfizer completed its $68 billion dollar acquisition of Wyeth today.  It amounts to $33/share in cash and 0.985 shares of PFE per share of WYE.  As a holder of WYE for a couple of years, I have some mixed emotions about the deal.  Wyeth is a good company and could continue to provide solid returns for years to come, so in that respect, I'm disappointed.  So now I have to find another stock to provide those returns on the capital I had invested.  Can Pfizer provide that? That is what I need to figure out at this point.  I'm typically not a fan of companies that grow through massive acquisitions.  I'd prefer companies to buy smaller companies that you may not have to pay full value for. br /br /Wyeth shares cease trading at the bell today.  I'll probably follow up on this more in the coming days/weeks.  I won't immediately sell the PFE shares, but will do some more research to determine if there is a better option for this capital.br /br /Disclosure: Long WYEdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3516157155141517543?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/pfizerwyeth-close-deal-should-i-keep-pfizer-shares/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Soros on Board, But Can We Profit From Green Tech?</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/soros-on-board-but-can-we-profit-from-green-tech/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/soros-on-board-but-can-we-profit-from-green-tech/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:19:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-4061538179167077277</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Alternative technology and specifically energy have been a big debate over the past few years.  I've spend a fair amount of time researching and looking for potential investments.  I've looked specifically at wind power, geothermal energy, and natural gas for transportation.  There are many other sources out there and solar is still probably the most popular.  I like solar energy, but just not as an investment right now.  There are too many solar companies out there right now and prices are still too high for consumers to significantly invest in this technology.  As a whole, green energy is still almost entirely dependant upon being subsidized by Washington.  That is gradually changing, but it will take a long time before green opportunities are just what are there for the consumer as a logical choice. br /br /I see today that billionaire investor George Soros a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5992BJ20091010"says he's investing $1billion into green tech/a.  He's a very smart investor, but he's always politically motivated as well, so we have to remember that.  I'd rather not get into the whole political debate over climate change, but I will say this.  What do we have to lose?  If we become energy independent and create sustainable alternatives that can be better for the environment at a similar cost, its a no-brainer.  Even if climate change ends up not being significant, we've made a good switch. br /br /In my opinion this whole movement comes down to this: Right now, to buy green items mean you are putting the social and environmental factors at a higher priority than the economic factors, and its just too difficult of an economy for the majority of people to do that.br /br /Its going to be a combination of various sources that will end up working for us.  The leading companies for the next few decades in this movement may not have even been created yet, and that's what makes it difficult for investors.  If you really want to invest in this, I'd stick to diversified ETF's to limit single-company exposure.  I'd also look at larger companies that supply products tied to this movement.  ABB is one example that I've talked about before, and there are others.  I'll try to find some opportunities for us in this space, but overall, I'm still a little hesitant here.br /br /Disclosure: Long ABBdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-4061538179167077277?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/soros-on-board-but-can-we-profit-from-green-tech/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Update/Go Twins-Vikes!</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/updatego-twins-vikes/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/updatego-twins-vikes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:11:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-4650485364170151754</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I apologize for the lack of posts in the past few days.  I was in Minneapolis for the Monday night Vikings-Packers game, and am now back home.  The market will give us plenty to keep an eye on with earnings season starting (it seems like it never ends).  So I expect to be doing a lot more posting, and buying of stocks.  It will depend a little on how earnings come in and especially how they do relative to exceptions, but I still expect the market to pull back a bit.  Thanks for checking in, and I promise, there will be more to come.br /br /Enjoying the big wins by my two favorite teams!br /br /Here's me after the game on Monday.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SsyiwUbR_qI/AAAAAAAABW0/eX4Vux5J_Z4/s1600-h/10+05+09+007.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 343px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SsyiwUbR_qI/AAAAAAAABW0/eX4Vux5J_Z4/s400/10+05+09+007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389861805056196258" border="0" //adiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-4650485364170151754?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/updatego-twins-vikes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Time to Pay Attention</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/time-to-pay-attention/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/time-to-pay-attention/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:33:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-2235732393132288612</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I've been very slow to get bullish during the summer months, and readers of the blog can attest to that.  I've probably put too much energy in looking at economic data, and not enough in spotting actual undervalued stocks, which is my main objective.  I feel that the ISM and employment data that has recently come up should give a reality check on the economy side.  I'm not a believer in stimulus as I feel we'd be better off allowing institutions and individuals to span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"de/span-leverage as opposed to span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"encourage/span them to take on more debt. br /br /Has the market topped in the near-term?  Its possible.  There have been plenty of people ready to buy the dips though, and I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen again either. br /br /But like I said, I'd rather time stocks than time the market.  I may make a couple of smallish buys in the next few days, and you can't expect to see more span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"activity/span post-wise.  As a value guy, its more fun when the market goes down as its time to pay more attention to the action again. br /br /Let's find some value, and make some money!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-2235732393132288612?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/time-to-pay-attention/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Natural Gas Prices Could Fall As Storage Hits Capacity</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/natural-gas-prices-could-fall-as-storage-hits-capacity/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/natural-gas-prices-could-fall-as-storage-hits-capacity/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:36:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-1529748873243969095</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I saw this interesting piece out from Bloomberg today.br /br /br /blockquoteThe steepest rally in natural gas  prices since 2006 is coming to an end as the 400 salt caverns, depleted oil fields and aquifers used to store the fuel in the U.S. reach capacity for the first time.             pa href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=DOENUST1%3AIND" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'DOENUST1:IND' ))"Stockpiles/a may surpass the record of 3.545 trillion cubic feet by as much as 350 billion cubic feet this fall, Energy Department estimates show. a href="http://www.gulfsouthpl.com/" target="_blank" onmouseover="return escape( popwOpenWebSite( this ))"Gulf South Pipeline Co./a says its fields in Louisiana and Mississippi are so full that customers will have to pay penalties for exceeding their limits. With no place to go, producers will be forced to dump excess fuel on the market.     /p        pThe worst economic slump since the 1930s will cut demand from chemical plants to carmakers to households by 2.4 percent this year, according to government estimates. The November futures contract will drop about 19 percent to near $4 per million British thermal units, said a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Stephen+Schorkamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" onmouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))"Stephen Schork/a, president of consultant Schork Group Inc. in Villanova, Pennsylvania.     /p        p“I don’t know where all of this gas is going to go,” said Schork, a former natural gas trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange, who in June forecast inventories would reach near 3.8 trillion cubic feet. “We’re a month away from significant heating demand. Something’s got to give.”     /p        pThe November contract has climbed 31 percent from its low of $3.662 per million Btu on Sept. 3, after economic reports signaled that the recession is ending and fuel demand will rebound in 2010. October futures, which expire today, have risen 48 percent from a seven-year low of $2.508 in the same period.     /p        pGas for November delivery fell 16.8 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $4.78 per million Btu at 1:25 p.m. today in New York. The October contract fell 26.7 cents, or 6.7 percent, to $3.718.     /p/blockquotea href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601072amp;sid=ajDVNnJ1IGUc"Click here to read the rest of the article/a. br /br /There are many dynamics at work here, but even though we are getting closer to the heating season, and the economy has shown signs of bottoming, there is still a lot of natural gas supply out there.  I see pressure on prices for a while longer, and a recovery in 2010 at this point.  I still like it very much as an investment looking out over the next few years.br /br /Disclosure: Nonediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-1529748873243969095?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/natural-gas-prices-could-fall-as-storage-hits-capacity/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Finding &#8220;Value&#8221; Out There</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/finding-value-out-there/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/finding-value-out-there/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:16:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-2111595373938752006</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Although the market does feel a little stretched, particularly in certain areas, there is still a lot of value out there.  I continue to run across people successfully buying stocks at undervalued prices and participating in "Active Value Investing", or "Buy and Sell" vs. "Buy and Hold" investing.  To me, that is the best way to play this market.  Your belief in the long term strength (or lack thereof) of the state of the economy isn't affected as much with this approach.  As opposed to a common approach of this being a good time to "buy stocks" and pour money into index funds or large mutual funds, active value investing is about timing stocks and not the market.  Timing the market is nearly impossible. br /br /I've mentioned a href="http://www.valueplays.net/"Todd Sullivan /aand the excellent research he does on his site, and I wanted to mention one other service I've come across.br /br /a href="http://www.arohanvalue.com/"Arohan's Investing Life /ahas recently launched the "premium" portion of their site complete with detailed analysis of stocks picks, complete portfolio, and real-time trade alerts.  You can also interact with other members within their forums.  I've spent some time recently on the premium portion of the site, and feel it is an excellent service for investors.  One successful stock will more than pay for the membership fee, and you can try it for free for seven days. br /br /If you have any questions about this service, I'd be happy to give you more detail.  If you're interested in this service, click on the link and check it out. br /br /a href="http://www.arohanvalue.com/premium/"CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO THE PREMIUM SITE  /adiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-2111595373938752006?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/finding-value-out-there/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Natural Gas Leaders Stepping up Lobbying Efforts</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/natural-gas-leaders-stepping-up-lobbying-efforts/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/natural-gas-leaders-stepping-up-lobbying-efforts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:22:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3844888020275424712</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While I'm not fan of corporations gaining influence in Washington, I do believe natural gas has a great future in our energy plan.  Anyway, a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110amp;sid=a4dTIEodhQYk"here's an article/a I spotted about the natural gas leaders trying to increase demand and shine the light on Washington and what they give to the coal industry:br /br /a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=CHK%3AUS" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'CHK:US' ))"/ablockquotea href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=CHK%3AUS" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'CHK:US' ))"Chesapeake Energy Corp./a and other natural-gas producers, unhappy with climate-change legislation they say favors competing fuels such as coal, are teaming up to tout the benefits of their product to lawmakers in Washington.             pChesapeake, Noble Energy Inc. and Apache Corp. are among 28 companies that in March formed a href="http://www.anga.us/" target="_blank" onmouseover="return escape( popwOpenWebSite( this ))"America’s Natural Gas Alliance/a, a Washington-based group aimed at increasing “appreciation” for natural gas. Members of the alliance met with reporters today in Washington.     /p        pThe alliance has “one mission: to try and generate more natural gas demand,” a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Aubrey+McClendonamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" onmouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))"Aubrey McClendon/a, chief executive officer of Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake, which operates the largest number of gas rigs in the U.S., said yesterday.     /p        pThat goal may be stymied by climate-change legislation approved by the House in June, which requires capping carbon dioxide emissions and allocates a certain amount of pollution permits to industries for free. Gas utilities would get 9 percent of the allowances under the proposal from Democratic Representatives a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Henry+Waxmanamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" onmouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))"Henry Waxman/a of California and a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Edward+Markeyamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" onmouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))"Edward Markey/a of Massachusetts. The Senate has yet to vote on the legislation.     /p        p“We did not have an active role in climate-change legislation in the House,” a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=David+Triceamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" onmouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))"David Trice/a, chairman of Newfield Exploration Co. and chairman of the alliance, said of its member companies at the press briefing today in Washington. “We will correct that in the Senate.”     /p        pNatural gas produces about 50 percent less carbon dioxide than coal when burned as a power source. Under most energy-use scenarios by the government’s Energy Information Administration, gas use would be flat or decline under the Waxman-Markey plan, a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Jim+Hackettamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" onmouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))"Jim Hackett/a, CEO of a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=APC%3AUS" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'APC:US' ))"Anardarko Petroleum Corp./a, said at today’s event.     /p        p‘Hall Pass’     /p        pThe Waxman-Markey legislation’s distribution of allowances “basically gives the coal industry a hall pass for up to two years, and we think that’s not fair and we’re confident that it’s not going to lower CO2 emissions,” McClendon said in a speech yesterday in Washington at an event sponsored by Johns Hopkins University’s a href="http://www.sais-jhu.edu/" target="_blank" onmouseover="return escape( popwOpenWebSite( this ))"School of Advanced International Studies/a.     /p        p“My job is to make sure that policy makers and politicians are aware of the abundance of natural gas and the options that gives them, particularly senators, to take another look at Waxman-Markey,” he said.     /p        pNatural gas prices have fallen 35 percent since the start of the year. Natural gas for October delivery fell 11 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $3.65 per million British thermal units at 11:49 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange.     /p        pThe U.S. consumes 60 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day. Gas at $3 per million cubic feet is the energy equivalent of oil at $21 a barrel, McClendon said.     /p        pNew Markets     /p        pIf companies can convince owners of coal-fired power plants to switch to gas, and if they can create more natural gas-fueled transportation, there is a potential market for an additional 125 bcf of gas in the U.S., McClendon said.     /p        pAn industry group in June reported that the U.S. has an estimated 1,836 trillion cubic feet of potential natural gas, the highest recorded level. About a third of reserves reflects potential gas in shale-rock formations.     /p        pMore gas production from “abundant” shale will help reduce volatility of prices, in part because the onshore facilities aren’t susceptible to hurricanes as are rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, said Hackett.     /p        pEnvironmentalists and some members of Congress have raised concerns about shale gas and the potential effect the process of breaking up the rock may have on water supplies.     /p        p‘Crack Cocaine’     /p        pNatural gas has been “the crack cocaine” of the electricity industry for the last 15 years, a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Jim+Rogersamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" onmouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))"Jim Rogers/a, CEO of utility a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=DUK%3AUS" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'DUK:US' ))"Duke Energy Corp.,/a said during a speech in Washington yesterday.     /p        p“Every time we need power, we build a natural gas plant, not a coal plant, not a nuclear plant,” said Rogers.     /p        pMcClendon said the industry hasn’t been a good salesman in the past.     /p        p“We’ve always felt like we produced a superior product and that it would sell itself,” said McClendon.     /p        pBefore, the view was that the “fellows that were producing an inferior fuel had to do all the lobbying, had to do all the hard work to make sure their fuel got burned,” said McClendon. “The world’s changed.”     /p        p“We now realize our fuel can meet a lot more demand than it has historically and we have to overcome the view that natural gas is scarce or that its price is volatile.”     /p        pa href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Chuck+Davidsonamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" onmouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))"Chuck Davidson/a, CEO of Houston-based Noble, said that approach marks a big change in the industry.     /p        p“It’s a paradigm shift for a producer to really shift over and think about how to market your product,” he said yesterday at the Johns Hopkins event.     /p/blockquoteI'm still keeping an eye out for good natural gas investments.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3844888020275424712?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/natural-gas-leaders-stepping-up-lobbying-efforts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Plenty of Momentum Left</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/plenty-of-momentum-left/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/plenty-of-momentum-left/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:37:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-7187757740150042955</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After what I'd call "churning" over the past week or so, the market has shown strength and has moved another leg higher.  I still get a divided feeling out there.  Many are still bearish due to macro events and extended valuations.  Others are going with the flow and making money while its there to be made.  And still others believe a full on bull market has taken off and this is just the start of it.  I'm somewhere between group 1 and 2.  I've held stocks and picked at a few positions, and haven't yet been selling into this strength (though I've been considering it).  At the same time, I haven't added significant positions I plan to hold for an extended period of time.  I'm definitely starting to subscribe to the "buy and sell" philosophy or active value investing.  In other words I'm targeting specific stocks that are undervalued relative to the market, and selling them when I see a nice appreciation.  I'm not falling in love with any positions.br /br /I don't want to spend too much time on strategy, because I'd rather be talking about stocks.  It will happen soon, I hope.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-7187757740150042955?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/plenty-of-momentum-left/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Contago Oil and Gas Results</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/contago-oil-and-gas-results/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/contago-oil-and-gas-results/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:16:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-675622730311207386</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Contango Oil and Gas reported quarterly and full-year results.  a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Contango-Reports-YearEnd-bw-430465444.html?x=0amp;.v=1"Press release here/a. br /br /Commentary by CEO Kenneth Peak:br /br /“Despite the prolonged shut-in of our production this past fall and losing our offices due to Hurricane Ike together with the collapse in natural gas prices, we had a profitable and successful year. We repurchased 7% of our common stock and ended the year with 22 Mcfe of proved developed reserves per fully diluted share. We are debt free and have a $50.0 million unused line of credit.”br /br /Mr. Peak continued, “Income taxes are our biggest expense, but it is better to have a tax problem than it is to have an income problem. I have been surprised that on-shore U.S. natural gas production hasn’t fallen off more quickly. The industry is not earning a positive rate of return at anywhere near current natural gas price levels and sooner or later, the industry must earn a profit if it is to continue to attract capital to drill. We will continue to be stingy with our common stock. Our fully diluted share count now stands at 16.5 million shares, as compared to 16.7 million shares at June 30, 2001. In the past two years we have issued a combined total of 67,559 shares and options to management and the board of directors and this fiscal year we plan to issue zero stock and options.”br /br /I've been searching for alternatives to UNG for investing in natural gas.  Gas prices have recently bounced, and I expect 2010 prices to be higher than current levels.  Contango appears to have a transparent group of managers concerned with shareholder value.  Also, they have virtually no debt which is quite rare in this industry.  Thus, if prices stay low for an extended period of time, they are much more likely to survive and even buy assets at good prices. br /br /I may be buying some MCF soon.br /br /Disclosure: Nonediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-675622730311207386?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/contago-oil-and-gas-results/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Bubbles Will Likely Continue</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/why-bubbles-will-likely-continue/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/why-bubbles-will-likely-continue/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:38:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3505665124198021756</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Since this crisis started, I have stressed that we've taken no real long-term steps to repair our financial system, but rather put a band-aid on it.  You can't cure a problem involving excessive leverage by more borrowing.  a href="http://pragcap.com/after-the-boom-there-will-be-a-bust"The Pragmatic Capitalist has a post out that can cover it better than I could, so I'll just refer you there for the rest/a.  Keep in mind, even if what this analysis says is true, it doesn't mean stocks are doomed.  Stocks will always be forward looking and can dislocate from economic reality, for awhile at least.  Eventually, things will balance out.  Oh, and now is not a great time to start slapping tariffs on Chinese goods.  Just throwing that out there.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3505665124198021756?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/why-bubbles-will-likely-continue/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Friday Update</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/friday-update/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/friday-update/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:46:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-5508272620597290684</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The market continues to hold up even though for the past week or so its had a grinding feeling.  Many stocks on my list have pulled back a touch even though the market has held up.  The leadership stocks of the past couple of months (financials, tech, etc) are still strong and the market will hold as long as they do. br /br /On the natural gas front, I have no regrets in getting out of the UNG ETF.  There is too much dislocation from the actual underlying assets.  I was okay with the high premium because as long as prices were this low, people will be buying it on the cheap and thus the premium could remain because of the lack of new issues.  But ultimately, the closing of DXO did me in.  I wasn't interested in finding out one morning that UNG decided to do the same thing.  I'm still bullish on natural gas and am looking for good ways to invest in it while prices are still at these levels.  If anyone reading this has ideas, I'd love to hear them. br /br /It has been difficult to sit on my hands while this market continues to advance, but I still think its the prudent move.  I may start buying here and there, but would like to see some more attractive prices before I move my cash positions to small levels. br /br /On a housekeeping note, I'll try to post more.  Its difficult to post much when I'm not focusing in on buying or selling specific names, but there are still items of interest I can comment on.  I will be posting multiple times per day when I'm more active, and when time allows.br /br /Hope everyone has a great weekend!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-5508272620597290684?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/friday-update/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Senate must raise debt ceiling above $12T</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/senate-must-raise-debt-ceiling-above-12t/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/senate-must-raise-debt-ceiling-above-12t/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:08:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-2011703064668091794</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I'm back at it after the holiday and the unofficial start to fall. Activity always picks up on Wall Street this time of year as hedge fund managers leave the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"Hamptons/span and come back to work. We'll likely see volume pick up among other things. I'm still expecting to see some weakness heading into fall, and have a few stocks I'd love to pick up.br /br /I saw this headline out about the Senate having to raise the debt ceiling. This is dangerous territory. The dangers of excess debt are very troublesome. You can look throughout history and individuals, corporations, and governments that take on extreme levels of debt well, lets just say its doesn't end well. Here's the news story on this (a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/57493-senate-must-raise-debt-ceiling-above-12t"From The Hill/a):br /br /blockquotepThe Senate must move legislation to raise the federal debt limit beyond $12.1 trillion by mid-October, a move viewed as necessary despite protests about the record levels of red ink.The move will highlight the nation’s record debt, which has been central to Republican attacks against Democratic congressional leaders and President Barack Obama. The year’s deficit is expected to hit a record $1.6 trillion.br /br /Democrats in control of Congress, including then-Sen. Obama (Ill.), blasted President George W. Bush for failing to contain spending when he oversaw increased deficits and raised the debt ceiling. “Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren,” Obama said in a 2006 floor speech that preceded a Senate vote to extend the debt limit. “America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership.”Obama later joined his Democratic colleagues in voting en bloc against raising the debt increase.Now Obama is asking Congress to raise the debt ceiling, something lawmakers are almost certain to do despite misgivings about the federal debt.br /br /The ceiling already has been hiked three times in the past two years, and the House took action earlier this year to raise the ceiling to $13 trillion. Congress has little choice. Failing to raise the cap could lead the nation to default in mid-October, when the debt is expected to exceed its limit, Treasury Secretary Timothy span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"Geithner/span has said. In August, span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"Geithner/span asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to increase the debt limit as soon as possible.Changing the debt cap “does provide an opportunity to look at fiscal policy and what its failings are, and ideally it could give both sides an opportunity to think about what we need to do so we don't keep raising the debt limit,” said Robert span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"Bixby/span, the executive director of the Concord Coalition, abr /fiscal watchdog group.“But probably as a practical matter, it will get more attention as a partisan back-and-forth,” span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"Bixby/span said.When the House raised the debt limit to $13 trillion as part of a budget resolution approved in April, Democratic leaders used a maneuver known as the “span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"Gephardt/span rule,” named after former House Democratic Leader Dick span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"Gephardt/span (Mo.), to avoid taking a roll call vote on the debt limit increase. The Senate span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"isn/span’t so lucky. It lacks a similar mechanism, meaning each senator must cast a politically perilous vote on raising the debt ceiling. The Senate Finance Committee will “carefully review Treasury's request on behalf of the American taxpayers,” according to an aide to the committee's chairman, Sen. Max span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"Baucus/span (D-Mont.).“Sen. span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"Baucus/span understands the critical importance of signaling to the world that the U.S. maintains the confidence and security to continue to lead the global economy out of recession,” the span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"Baucus/span aide said. “The request to raise the debt limit is serious and must be addressed thoroughly and in a nonpartisan manner.”The aidebr /noted that span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"Baucus/span is pressing the Treasury Department to be more transparent about its efforts to pull the economy out of recession.“He will continue to demand the necessary communication and cooperation going forward,” the aide said.br /br /Both the White House and the independent Congressional Budget Office last month said that they expect the debt to increase by another $9 trillion over the next decade. Should the Senate follow the House's lead and set the new debt limit at $13 trillion, lawmakers would probably have to raise the limit again next year, when the Obama administration expects to run a $1.5 trillion deficit.The business community has supported span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"Geithner's/span push for a higher debt ceiling. Bruce span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"Josten/span, the top lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said it's essential to the U.S. economy.“If we fail to address this in a timely fashion, then you run the risk of having to curtail government operations,” span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"Josten/span said. “The last thing our economy and the world economy needs is greater uncertainty throughout global credit markets.”span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"Josten/span said that the high level of debt is a reality during the recession, but it's unsustainable and needs to be reduced by reforming Medicare and Social Security.“While we can freely and openly acknowledge completely and lobby to raise the debt ceiling and incur some more debt, the longer trends ultimately need to be reversed,” he said.Congressbr /raised the debt limit just a few months ago when it passed the $787 billionbr /stimulus package.br //p/blockquotebr /br /We've raised the ceiling three times in the past two years. This isn't a Republican or Democrat issue, its a Washington issue. Most members of congress have no real economic sense in my opinion and realize the problems their actions are causing.br /br /How irresponsible is it to continue handing out money via various stimulus programs when our country is already at dangerous debt levels? The simple answer I can come up with is that no one wants to take the political hit for cutting back and thus making us endure some short-term pain for the long-term health of our country. This will never be accomplished by career politicians and span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"Washington/span insiders. They are too worried about keeping their jobs. They are playing a game that has worked for a long time, but the rules are changing, and there is too much at stake now.br /br /Anyways, there is my rant that comes along about once a month. Have a great week everyone!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-2011703064668091794?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/senate-must-raise-debt-ceiling-above-12t/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Update on UNG</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/update-on-ung/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/update-on-ung/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:13:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yahoo]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-6406153743099913771</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Just to update, I did sell the balance of my shares this morning, around 10.14, I believe.  Investors are treating it as if its going the way of DXO, which hasn't yet happened.  No one seems to want to hang around and find out.  According to Yahoo Finance the NAV on UNG is 9.35, but that's as of Aug 28.  I'd imagine its lower now.  If anyone has access to more up to date NAV data, I'd be interested in it.  Its just an unfortunate situation as these ETFs can be great, but are becoming bigger than they were designed for.  I'm not interested in investing when the rules are changing, and that's why I chose to leave UNG behind.  I like natural gas, and will be investing in producers/alt. fuel companies in the (maybe not too distant)future. br /br /Beyond that, I think the market is turning over a bit.  a href="http://www.thestreet.com/story/10593715/1/kass-seven-things-to-do-now.html"Doug Kass had a nice strategy piece /ahe put out echoing the same thing.  I'll be buying if we see better prices, and I anticipate that happening this fall. br /br /Disclosure: Nonediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-6406153743099913771?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/update-on-ung/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>DXO to Close Fund, UNG Next?</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/dxo-to-close-fund-ung-next/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/dxo-to-close-fund-ung-next/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Close Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Contango Oil and Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[depressed gas prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[double long oil fund;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Duetsche Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gas Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Loews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-7067587778101109830</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[More regulatory trouble for commodity funds.  a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/deutsche-bank-to-redeem-leveraged-oil-etn-shares-2009-09-01?siteid=yhoof"Duetsche Bank announced it will redeem shares /afor its double-long oil fund, which I refer to as DXO, which is the symbol.  These funds have been under scrutiny from the CFTC for owning too many contracts.  I'm worried the same fate will happen to UNG, or the natural gas fund, which I own shares.  They already halted new shares in July, and I haven't had a good feeling with it since.  On one hand, a lot of people want to own natural gas because it has gotten so cheap, and the prospects are great (like I've said many times).  But because of the halt of new shares, demand has held UNG at a large premium (around 20%) over NAV, which is around 9.33 as of this morning.  If UNG decides to go the same route, I wouldn't be surprised if they redeemed shares closer to the NAV rather than the current trading price.  If they do not, that premium could stay there awhile as a lot of people want to invest in this. br /br /To make a long story short, I'm going to sell part of my position in UNG or maybe even all of it.  This in no way changes my outlook for natural gas.  I'm just going to find different ways to play it.  I'm going to have to take a decent hit on UNG due to depressed gas prices, but I can make that up later as I feel gas prices will rise in 2010.  I'll post when I make some purchases.  Contango Oil and Gas (MCF) is one I'll likely look at, and surely I'll have some exposure if I decide to buy Loews (L).br /br /Disclosure: Long UNGdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-7067587778101109830?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/dxo-to-close-fund-ung-next/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Some Good Reading</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/some-good-reading/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/some-good-reading/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Goldman Sachs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reading;]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3071289188461040789</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I've been updating what I've been reading as my trading activity has been light.  I should start a series of posts called "things to do while not buying stocks."  That's been pretty much it lately.  I continue to believe this market has been pushed too high given the economic situation out there.  I'm still modestly bullish on a group of stocks that I've been profiling, and will be buying them when the market corrects.  Here is a good piece from Bloomberg this morning echoing these sentiments.br /br /ema href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=auGWGWlnohNo"Goldman Sachs Wrong on Economic Recovery, Macro Hedge Funds Say /a/embr /pPaul Tudor Jones is quoted in that article, and he also believes this rally isn't sustainable.  Its difficult to know who to listen to amongst the so-called "experts" out there.  If someone invests for a living, is successful, and has been successful for a long time, I listen to them.  That's who I listen to.  I don't pay attention to analysts for the most part or those who get paid to make projections rather than actually invest./pembr //emdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3071289188461040789?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/some-good-reading/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>UNG Still Ugly</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/ung-still-ugly/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/ung-still-ugly/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[money producing gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-403476203162880761</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I've been writing a lot about natural gas this summer, and I've tried to back off a bit lately.  But its important to keep an eye on what is going on.  Supply is still high and pushing prices lower.  We've got to be getting close to a price where producers can't make money producing gas and will need to shut off production.  You take that, and add weather factors like a cool summer and a (so far) quiet hurricane season, and prices have fallen.  One interesting thing here is that gas hasn't gotten and help from the "recovery."  Now, I've been skeptical of the recovery, but to those who say its real, why hasn't gas traded higher in anticipation of higher commercial usage?  Why hasn't rail traffic of raw goods increased significantly?br /br /The primary trading vehicle for natural gas, UNG, has its own set of issues.  Regulators have been coming after them and they stopped issuing new shares.  Investors want to be able to play natural gas, but with no new shares the fund stops tracking what its meant to track.  UNG now trades at around a 20% premium supposedly.  Thats not to say it can't continue, but if investors get fed up, UNG could fall further.  I'm still holding my shares, but UNG is the problem, rather than gas to me.  I like the idea of getting into gas at these prices, but the uncertainty with UNG bugs me. br /br /Here are some links to info on UNG today.br /br /a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/159042-natural-gas-etf-the-short-term-story?source=yahoo"http://seekingalpha.com/article/159042-natural-gas-etf-the-short-term-story?source=yahoo/abr /br /a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchiveamp;sid=aDSp1GtwaRpE"http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchiveamp;sid=aDSp1GtwaRpE/abr /br /Disclosure: Long UNGdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-403476203162880761?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/ung-still-ugly/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Prince Alwaleed Remains Richest Saudi</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/prince-alwaleed-remains-richest-saudi/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/prince-alwaleed-remains-richest-saudi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 Aug 2009 17:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Abdulaziz Al-Saud]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Airbus A380]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alwaleed bin Talal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alwaleed Remains Richest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apple Inc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[billionaire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[businessman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Citigroup Inc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dubai]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fahd]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forbes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[king]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kingdom Holding Co.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lower oil prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media Assets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Menlo College]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News Corp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Persian Gulf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prince]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Riyadh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[San Francisco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saudi Arabia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Time Warner Inc.;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-110738121857279604</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As an investor I've always been interested in, Prince Alwaleed carries an interesting story. His Citigroup investment has been well documented, first as a wild success, and then, well we all know what happened to Citigroup in 2008. I read his biography and reviewed it awhile back (a href="http://briskycapital.blogspot.com/2007/11/book-review-alwaleed-by-riz-khan.html"Click here to read review and purchase book/a).br /br /Today, I found a a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=aGiKNISJrIkc"piece from Bloomberg /agiving us an update on how he has survived the recession. So far, it looks like he's done well:br /br /br /blockquotepAug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Citigroup Inc.’s largestbr /individual investor, was ranked the richest Saudi national by Arabian Business,br /even after losing 4.6 percent of his personal wealth in the past year.br /br /Alwaleed’s assets are valued at $16.3 billion, compared with $17.1 billionbr /last year, the Dubai-based magazine said today in its 2009 Saudi Rich List,br /citing the accounts of Kingdom Holding Co., the prince’s investment company.br /br /The global credit crisis, lower oil prices and a decline in demand for crude have hurt investment and energy companies operating in Saudi Arabia. Kingdom Holding’s second-quarter profit slumped 83 percent as returns on Alwaleed’s investments in stock markets and hotels fell.br /br /“Today, some of his more ambitious investments are showing the strain ofbr /the global economic slowdown,” Arabian Business said. “The depreciation in valuebr /of his 5 percent stake in Citigroup, for example, has been well-documented.”br /Citigroup lost 73 percent of its value in the past 12 months as investmentbr /losses eroded its capital.br /br /Alwaleed, nephew of the late King Fahd bin Abdulaziz al- Saud, stands outbr /among more than 2,000 Saudi princes because he has made money. After earning abr /bachelor’s degree from Menlo College near San Francisco, he returned to thebr /Persian Gulf and parlayed an inheritance of less than $1 million into a billion-br /dollar fortune in the 1980s, mostly through real-estate investments, accordingbr /to Riz Khan’s biography “Alwaleed: Businessman, Billionaire, Prince”(Williambr /Morrow, 2005).br /br /Apple, Time Warnerbr /The prince, 54, built his fortune by investing in brand- name companies he considered undervalued, including Apple Inc., News Corp. and Time Warner Inc. Forbes magazine estimated he was worth $13.3 billion in March, ranking him 22nd among the world’s billionaires. This year, Alwaleed’s investments haven’t kept pace with the Saudi benchmark. Shares of Riyadh-based Kingdom Holding have declined 4.3 percent. The Tadawul All-Share Index, the largest market in the Middle East by market value, has gained 19 percent.br //ppKingdom Holding’s assets are valued at $7.26 billion, while the Prince owns $3.18 billion of real estate and $1.56 billion of media assets such as LBC and Rotana Holding, Arabian Business said, citing his financial accounts. Alwaleed’s other major assets, including an Airbus A380, are valued at $1.7 billion.br /br /The value of the prince’s cash remains confidential, the magazine said, adding that “we are assured it has not changed significantly since we were allowed to see the verified total figure in December.”br //p/blockquotediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-110738121857279604?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/prince-alwaleed-remains-richest-saudi/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Rail Data Showing Some Improvement</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/rail-data-showing-some-improvement/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/rail-data-showing-some-improvement/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Association of American Railroads;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[petroleum products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weekly rail car loading data]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-1666989056793494806</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I'm always keeping an eye on the weekly rail car loading data from the Association of American Railroads.  This weeks data is showing some improvement.  As we continue to look for signs of strength in the economy, this is one I like to watch.  Although it has been slow to improve, and some might thus view it as more of a lagging indicator, I don't think that's the case.  We're looking at raw materials here.  This is one of the first steps in the line.  I feel that the market is continuing to price in a recovery that hasn't necessarily been shown through data.  That's why I continue to be cautious about this market.  Anyway, here's a href="http://www.aar.org/NewsAndEvents/PressReleases/2009/08_WTR/082709_RailTraffic.aspx"yesterday's release/a:br /br /blockquotepAAR Reports Rail Traffic Continues Slight Improvement /ppCarloadings at Highest Level Since Early Marchbr //ppWASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 27, 2009 — The Association of American Railroads today reported that rail traffic continues to show slight improvement with rail carloadings at their highest level since early March. For the week ended Aug. 22, 2009, U.S. railroads reported originating 279,478 cars, down 16.1 percent compared with the same week in 2008. Regionally, carloadings were down 14.2 percent in the West and 18.9 percent in the East. Intermodal volume of 193,207 trailers or containers on U.S. railroads was down 16.2 percent compared with the same week last year. Container volume fell 10.2 percent and trailer volume dropped 38.2 percent. Total volume on U.S. railroads for the week ending August 22 was estimated at 29.8 billion ton-miles, down 15.6 percent from the same week last year.  Eighteen of the 19 carload freight commodity groups were down from last year, with only the nonmetallic mineral category defying the trend with a 1.3 percent increase. Declines among the other commodities ranged from 5.7 percent for petroleum products to 49.3 percent for metallic ores.  For the first 33 weeks of 2009, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 8,715,641 carloads, down 18.8 percent from 2008; 6,151,511 trailers orbr /containers, down 17.1 percent, and total volume of an estimated 927.7 billion ton-miles, down 17.9 percent.br //ppCanadian railroads reported volume of 64,267 cars for the week, down 15.3 percent from last year, and 41,971 trailers or containers, down 19.2 percent. For the first 33 weeks of 2009, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,973,473 carloads, down 23.6 percent from last year, and 1,328,088 trailers or containers, down 16.4 percent.br //ppMexican railroads reported originated volume of 11,461 cars, down 1.4 percent from the same week last year, and 6,279 trailers or containers, off 3.1 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 33 weeks of 2009 was reported as 374,653 carloads, down 14.8 percent from last year; and 162,822 trailers or containers, down 20.6 percent.  Combined North American rail volume for the first 33 weeks of 2009 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 11,063,767 carloads, down 19.6 percent from last year, and 7,642,421 trailers and containers, down 17.1 percent from last year.br //p/blockquotediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-1666989056793494806?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/rail-data-showing-some-improvement/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Employment Outlook Still Shaky</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/employment-outlook-still-shaky/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/employment-outlook-still-shaky/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congressional Budget Office]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dallas Morning News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Reserve System]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gross Domestic Product]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Office of Management and Budget;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Richard Fisher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Dallas Morning News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[White House]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Xml]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-7528990533140026835</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Employment numbers, while their decline has moderated, still haven't recovered.  This will likely take some time and will weigh heavily on the economy no matter how much other span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"indicators/span improve.  Not many people seem to be covering this today, but the White House did release some interesting data yesterday (a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=aNaqecavD9ek"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"bloomberg/span/a):br /br /blockquoteU.S. a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=USURTOT%3AIND" t_delay="50" t_width="110" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_static="true" t_above="true"unemployment/a will surge to 10 percent this year and the budget a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=FDEBTY%3AIND" t_delay="50" t_width="110" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_static="true" t_above="true"deficit/a will be $1.5 trillion next year, both higher than previous Obama administration forecastsbr /because of a recession that was deeper and longer than expected, White House budget chief a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Peter+Orszagamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" t_delay="50" t_width="110" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_static="true" t_above="true"Peter span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"Orszag/span/a said.br /br /The Office of Management and Budget forecasts a weaker economic recovery than it saw in May as the gross domestic product shrinks 2.8 percent this year before expanding 2 percent next year, according to the administration’s mid-year economic review issued today.br /br /The Congressional Budget Office, in a separate assessment, forecast the economy will grow 2.8 percent next year. Both see the GDP expanding 3.8 percent in 2011.br /br /“While the danger of the economy immediately falling into a deep recession has receded, the American economy is still in the midst of a serious economic downturn,” the White House report said. “The long-term deficit outlook remains daunting.”br //blockquotebr /br /Also, a little span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"tidbit/span from the Fed's Fisher today (a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE57P38Z20090826"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"reuters/span/a):br /br /blockquoteDallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said on Wednesday the U.S. economy is poised for a slow, sluggish recovery as it emerges from a painful recession.br /br /"We're beginning to see indicators that we're coming out of this," he said in an interview with the Dallas Morning News."I think it will be a while before businesses rehire or increase pay," he said.  Consumers are also likely to be cautious before starting to spend again, said Fisher, who is not a voter on the Fed's interest rate setting panel.br /br /"They're all going to be very, very conservative on that front until they feel comfortable that we have a global economy that is proceeding," he said. "I think that will take some time."  Fisher said he believes the worst declines may be over for residential investment, inventories, exports, and possibly consumption.br //blockquotediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-7528990533140026835?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/employment-outlook-still-shaky/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What I&#8217;m Reading</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/what-im-reading/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/what-im-reading/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:22:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alice Shroeder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amazon.com]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jim Rogers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Warren Buffett]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-2636706219110549868</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Like many investor/blogger types, I am constantly reading a few books. My lack of trading recently has given me even more time to plow through some books. I figured I give a quick update of what I'm reading. There's a good shot I'll review some or all of these books.br /br /emAdventure Capitalist /emby Jim Rogers. Story of Jim's journey around the world with his modified Mercedes convertible. He shares stories of the culture in various countries, and in particular conditions for investing. One might say a book written six years ago about where to invest is outdated. But the beauty here is Rogers is always thinking with a longer time horizon than most, and he's often quite early on trends, so its actually a perfect time to be reading this book.br /br /iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=inthknafiblby-20o=1p=8l=as1asins=0812967267fc1=000000IS2=1lt1=_blankm=amazonlc1=0000FFbc1=000000bg1=FFFFFFf=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"/iframebr /br /br /emThe Snowball/em by Alice Shroeder. This is the authorized recent bio about Warren Buffett. Its quite lengthy (as many biographies tend to be), so I've been taking my time with it. It covers it all, from his childhood habits and the beginnings of a great investor, to current events. I'm most interested in the war stories and how he made his successful investments more than family history etc, but this is an interesting book if you're a Buffett fan.br /br /iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=inthknafiblby-20o=1p=8l=as1asins=0553805096fc1=000000IS2=1lt1=_blankm=amazonlc1=0000FFbc1=000000bg1=FFFFFFf=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"/iframebr /br /br /emActive Value Investing: Making Money in Range Bound Markets /emby Vitaliy Katsenelson. Just started this one. I've been aware of it for awhile, but haven't had the chance to pick it up until recently. I'm excited about this one as Vitaliy is a very smart guy, and I tend to subscribe to this style of investing. Not much else to say as I'm barely into it.br /br /iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=inthknafiblby-20o=1p=8l=as1asins=0470053151fc1=000000IS2=1lt1=_blankm=amazonlc1=0000FFbc1=000000bg1=FFFFFFf=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"/iframebr /br /br /If you've read these and have an opinion, feel free to comment. Otherwise, if you're interested in reading them, I've supplied the links to find them on Amazon.com. Thanks!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-2636706219110549868?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/what-im-reading/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>I&#8217;m Still Bullish on Frontier Markets</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/im-still-bullish-on-frontier-markets/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/im-still-bullish-on-frontier-markets/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Emerging Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Frontier Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dubai]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dubai Islamic Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eastern Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Gulf Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Gulf Bank PJSC/a]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Goldman Sachs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Goldman Sachs Group Inc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[http]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Bank of Abu Dhabi;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Bank PJSC/a]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saudi Arabia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turkey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UAE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Arab Emirates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[William A. Mejia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=UNB%3AUH]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Xml]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3154839122610596836</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I want to preface this by saying I'm not as bullish on "frontier markets" as I am on "emerging markets". (I define frontier markets as Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe; I define emerging markets as the BRIC countries, and a few others).  But while the frontier markets were marked down especially hard in 2008, I'm still bullish on their outlook.  Many are resource rich, and with political stability, their economies will grow.  Keep in mind also that I have a very long time horizon until retirement, and can afford to be patient with investments like these.  I do own T Rowe Price's African and Middle East Fund (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=tramx"TRAMX/a).  A recent development for them (within the past year) is that they were allowed to buy shares in Saudi Arabia, which is one of the most attractive countries to invest in in that region.  Although for the time being these countries mostly follow oil prices and the subsequent boom of the economy in areas like Dubai, I feel over time we'll continue to see more diversification, which will attract more investors.br /br /I saw this note out from Goldman Sachs regarding UAE banks today (a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=az46SDUmvS5A"via Bloomberg/a):br /br /blockquotepUnited Arab Emirates’ banks may rise an average of 30 percent in a year as earnings “remain attractive” and valuations catch up with the emerging markets average, a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=GS%3AUS" t_above="true" t_static="true" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_width="110" t_delay="50"Goldman Sachs Group Inc./a said.br /br /Valuations of six out of the top seven U.A.E. banks that Goldman Sachs covers are likely to improve to 1.2 times their estimated 2010 book value from about 1 as they catch up with the peer average in Turkey, Russia and South Africa, Goldman Sachs’ analysts led by a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=William+A.+Mejiaamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" t_above="true" t_static="true" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_width="110" t_delay="50"William A. Mejia/a said in an August 21 report e- mailed today.br /br /Shares of the banks, which include a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=ADCB%3AUH" t_above="true" t_static="true" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_width="110" t_delay="50"Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC/a, a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=FGB%3AUH" t_above="true" t_static="true" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_width="110" t_delay="50"First Gulf Bank PJSC/a, a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=DIB%3AUH" t_above="true" t_static="true" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_width="110" t_delay="50"Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC/a and a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=UNB%3AUH" t_above="true" t_static="true" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_width="110" t_delay="50"Union National Bank PJSC/a, have already risen by 55 percent this year, although they are still about 50 percent lower than they were a year ago, the report said. a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=EMIRATES%3AUH" t_above="true" t_static="true" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_width="110" t_delay="50"Emirates NBD PJSC/a, the nation’s largest bank by assets, and second-ranked a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=NBAD%3AUH" t_above="true" t_static="true" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_width="110" t_delay="50"National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC/a, will face higher non-performing loans this year and a “more challenging” funding environment that will hurt growth, the report said. Although borrowing costs will stay high and slower loan growth will hurt revenue, banks’ “profitability levels in general will remain attractive,” the analysts said.br /br /“There is little to suggest U.A.E. banks should trade at a significant discount to global peers,” the report said.br /br /Goldman Sachs raised its rating on Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank to “neutral” from “sell” and cut National Bank of Abu Dhabi to “sell” from “neutral.” It reduced its rating on First Gulf Bank to “neutral” from a “buy.”br //pp /p/blockquotediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3154839122610596836?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/im-still-bullish-on-frontier-markets/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Market Continues to Rip&#8230;Nat.Gas Does Not</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/market-continues-to-rip-nat-gas-does-not/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/market-continues-to-rip-nat-gas-does-not/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:16:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-2814454844737556568</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This market is continuing to rip higher mostly on the back of financial stocks, but pretty much everything is going along for the ride.  Except natural gas, of course, which just happens to be one of my largest holdings.  Natural gas prices have now moved to seven year lows as supply numbers continue to come in high.  I'm not too worried, however, because we're dealing with a commodity that is necessary.  We're not talking about some junk stock that just reported bad earnings.  Now that the market is convinced a recovery is at hand (I dispute the size of the recovery, as the market is pricing in a fairly strong one), its only a matter of time before gas prices start to rise again.  Industrial and commercial demand is the driver of usage right now, and if we do see a recovery, usage is going to jump.  Although its been a cooler summer, and the hurricane season hasn't been active yet, I still think we'll see benefit heading towards, and especially into 2010.br /br /Of course my strategy of waiting for a correction to buy heavier into stocks isn't looking great right now, but I have plenty of patience.  There are a handful of stocks out there I like, and I've been discussing them over the past few weeks.  I'm just playing the waiting game for a bit, and I think I'll be paid off for my patience.br /br /Disclosure: Long UNGdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-2814454844737556568?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/market-continues-to-rip-nat-gas-does-not/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Contango Oil and Gas Update/Lease Bid</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/contango-oil-and-gas-updatelease-bid/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/contango-oil-and-gas-updatelease-bid/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:18:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-2285791123087562744</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I saw this a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Contango-Apparent-High-Bidder-bw-753346750.html?x=0amp;.v=1"press release/a out from Contango Oil and Gas (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=MCF"MCF/a) regarding their apparent high bid in lease blocks in the Gulf of Mexico. I like the fact that they are using depressed prices to go out and find opportunities to pick up more assets. We also got some commentary from management in this release as well:br /br /blockquoteKenneth R. Peak, Contango’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, “We plan to spud our Ship Shoal 263 prospect (“Nautilus”) around November 2009, and our Matagorda Island 617 prospect (“Dude”) in early 2010. Our Matagorda Island 607/616 prospect (“El Duderino”) may or may not be drilled, depending on the results from our Matagorda Island 617 well. Each of these prospects has an estimated dry hole cost of approximately $15 million. Assuming we were to drill three prospects by June 30, 2010, our fiscal year-end, and all three wells were dry, our projected after-tax capital outlay would be about $30 million, or equal to our current cash on hand. Assuming one of these prospects was to be successful, our estimated all-in after-tax finding and development cost for these three prospects would be about $2.00/Mcfe and we would expect to add reserves approximately equal to our anticipated fiscal year 2010 production.”br /br /br /Mr. Peak continued, “With the natural gas futures market trading at a seven year low, it is no surprise that this year’s Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale attracted half the bidders on half the number of blocks and half the dollar value of bids, as last year. This is really good news. Cheaper leases, rig rates, pipe and services are good if you are drilling and Contango will be drilling. If natural gas prices continue to decline, as many believe, we would expect to be presented with even better opportunities. Our strategy remains unchanged - we intend to continue to explore, protect our balance sheet and use periods of stock weakness to continue our share repurchase program. Since the Company first announced its $100 million share repurchase program in September 2008, we have purchased 1,224,354 shares of our common stock at an average cost per share of $42.30, for a total expenditure of approximately $51.8 million. Our fully diluted share count now stands at 16.5 million shares.”br //blockquotebr /These companies may well be the best way to play natural gas as they can make money even was gas at these prices, and make even more if prices rise. I'm still waiting until earnings from Contango before I make any move here. There are a lot of small to medium sized gas companies out there, but this was the only one I could find with net cash on the balance sheet. As I've discussed before, companies that have not gotten over-leveraged will come out of the recession stronger than their peers due to flexibility. They can buy assets at below market value and won't be at the mercy of creditors if conditions deteriorate and effect operations.br /br /Disclosure: None, but taking a look.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-2285791123087562744?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/contango-oil-and-gas-updatelease-bid/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>China Syndrome</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/china-syndrome/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/china-syndrome/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:44:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-674201210564905664</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For the second time in a week, a sharp drop in Chinese shares have shaken US markets.  Today Wall Street decided that that is old news, and we've seen some buyers step in.  China has had a strong surge off the bottom in its markets, so its only natural that there will be some bumps along the way.  As China gains more importance in the financial realm, we will continue to become more affected by what happens in their markets.br /br /With stocks slowing up a bit, I've started to get closer to buying some shares.  I still expect a decent sized to correction, and plan to use that to do a healthy amount of buying.  Many voices that I respect have been calling for this (or something like it to happen).  Paul Tudor Jones recently said stocks are in a bear-market rally.  David Einhorn recently sold some long positions and added a large position in Samp;P puts (could just be a trade there though).  And there have been a handful of others. br /br /I do agree with what a href="http://valueplays.blogspot.com/2009/08/active-value-investing-presentation.html"Todd Sullivan has been talking about/a with regard to active value investing.  This theory comes from a href="http://contrarianedge.com/"Vitaliy Katsenelson/a, and his book Active Value Investing.  There's a lot of good info in his writings, and I urge you to take a look.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-674201210564905664?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/china-syndrome/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Interesting Reading-Wednesday</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/interesting-reading-wednesday/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/interesting-reading-wednesday/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:35:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-5327879743410144792</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=aBh9SIRZRhF0"emInvestors Pile Into Stocks as Risk Appetite Jumps/em/a.  Contrary indicator?br /br /a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/opinion/19buffett.html?_r=2amp;pagewanted=1amp;ref=opinion"emThe Greenback Effect (Warren Buffett's Op-Ed)/em/a. Weird timing on this one.  I don't think anyone has missed the story about the exploding deficit.  But, when Buffett speaks, people listen, so its good that he brought it up.br /br /a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079amp;sid=aAblX7XkndaE"emFavre's Return to NFL May Boost Vikings on and off the Field/em/a. As a Viking fan, I couldn't help myself.  Sorry.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-5327879743410144792?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/interesting-reading-wednesday/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Interesting Reading-Monday</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/interesting-reading-monday-3/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/interesting-reading-monday-3/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:52:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-4943659338209405590</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109amp;sid=a0sLU2hOmYZ0"emGoldman Sach's Cohen Says Recession is Ending 'Now'/em/a. I'm sorry, but I don't listen to perma-bulls.  Or perma-bears for that matter.br /br /a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=a4CWzyzfpJyg"emHurricane Bill Strengthens in Atlantic as Storm Ana Weakens/em/a.  When holding natural gas, we have to keep an eye on the hurricane activity. br /br /a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE57G26V20090817"emLowe's Gives Dismal Quarterly Outlook/em/a.  My money is on Loews, not Lowe's. br /br /a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/08/17/no-respect-cheap-natural-gas-draws-political-crowd/"emNo Respect? Cheap Natural Gas Draws Political Crowd/em/a.  Washington is so behind the curve on energy issues, but eventually, they'll catch up and realize that natural gas is right there for the taking.  Its clean(er), its domestic, and we have plenty of it.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-4943659338209405590?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-lessons/interesting-reading-monday-3/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Interesting Morning</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-morning/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-morning/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:22:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Einhorn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[golfer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pfizer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PGA Championship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Warren Buffet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wyeth]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-5960198809091781258</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[First off, we have futures lower by almost two percent.  I've been expecting a correction now for awhile, and maybe this is the start.  I'm not overly bearish, but rather feel stocks have gone too far, too fast.  Thus, I'll be looking to buy some stocks if we get the opportunity at better prices.  For that, we'll have to wait and see a little.br /br /At the end of the week, the quarterly filings came in and there were a couple of things that jumped out at me.  A few fund managers I follow are clearly growing more cautious.  Many were trimming stakes in their larger positions.  David Einhorn of Greenlight capital bought some puts for the Samp;P and GE.  He also added a lot of shares to his Pfizer and Wyeth stakes, although that could be tied to some arbitrage on the pending acquisition.  Warren Buffet moved into a more defensive position, adding to his Johnson and Johnson stake.  We can't read too far into these filings as these stocks could already be sold, but its nice to spot any trends out there, and see what their core holdings are.br /br /Should be an interesting week ahead.  A quick wrap up on the PGA Championship.  Congrats to Y.E. Yang, as he deserved it.  The chip in on 14 was a little flukey, but that shot on 18 was money.  Tiger is a better golfer, but you can't take this one away from Yang.  To me, Tiger is so used to the field wilting to him that it was nice to see this.  I was excited when Yang eagled 14 because I thought, "good, lets make Tiger win by pulling out some birdies, not just two-putting in."  Oh well.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-5960198809091781258?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-morning/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What I&#8217;m Watching Today</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/what-im-watching-today/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/what-im-watching-today/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:17:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Association of American Railroads;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canon PowerShot S400 / IXUS 400 Digital Camera;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas inventories.br /br]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PGA Championship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samsung 400PX 40 in. HDTV-Ready LCD TV;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weekly natural gas inventories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-4026307116366251773</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Some retailers are reporting today, and I already reported Walmart's solid quarter.  I've got my eye on a couple of data releases today, the railroad data and natural gas inventories.br /br /-The Association of American Railroads will be posting their weekly rail freight data.  This is one indicator that hasn't moved much so far this summer.  If I see these numbers starting to move meaningfully higher, I will become much more bullish.br /br /-We've also got the weekly natural gas inventories.  I don't get to excited about this as the numbers can vary from week to week without showing much of a pattern.  But, it always moves prices, and particularly the ETF UNG, which I hold.  Lately, these inventory numbers have been good for a 5% move either way depending on where the numbers are relative to expectations. Those come out at 10:30 Eastern time, I believe.br /br /I'll also be watching a few other random earnings numbers.  And, oh yeah, I'll be keeping my eye on the PGA Championship, at Hazeltine.  I had the pleasure of playing that course a couple of years ago, so it makes it even more fun to watch.  The weather is great, and it should be an exciting tournament.br /br /Here's me a few years ago at Hazeltine's 18th tee.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SoQZHhtgoJI/AAAAAAAABUk/LQsuUxFmaxU/s1600-h/Hazeltine+18th.jpg"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SoQZHhtgoJI/AAAAAAAABUk/LQsuUxFmaxU/s400/Hazeltine+18th.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369444272831504530" border="0" //abr /br /br /Disclosure: Long UNGdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-4026307116366251773?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/what-im-watching-today/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Walmart Posts Solid Results</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/walmart-posts-solid-results/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/walmart-posts-solid-results/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:02:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arkansas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bentonville;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blockquoteWalmart Stores Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cent;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thomson Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wal Mart]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-1055989702526602539</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Solid earnings from Walmart today.  I'm not surprised, as I've been following the story for awhile now.  Although the market is telling us recovery is here, I still feel many, many consumers are in much different situations from where they were a year or two ago.  Walmart has been picking up new shoppers as price is becoming #1 for more consumers than ever before.  The numbers aren't anything eye-popping, just steady results. (a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wal-mart-posts-unexpected-profit-increase-2009-08-13?siteid=yhoof2"via Marketwatch/a).br /br /blockquoteWalmart Stores Inc. said Thursday fiscal second-quarter profit came in at $3.44 billion, or 88 cents a share, vs. $3.45 billion, or 87 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales in the quarter ended July 31 fell to $100.9 billion from $102.3 billion, the No. 1 U.S. discounter and the world's largest retailer said.br /br /Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters estimated that the Bentonville, Ark., company's profit was 86 cents a share on sales of $103.1 billion. Wal-Mart raised the bottom end of its full-year profit forecast to $3.50 to $3.60 a share from $3.45 to $3.60.br /br /Per-share profit for the third quarter is forecast to be 78 cents to 82 cents a share, including a three-cent negative impact from currency exchange rates. Analysts surveyed by Thomson estimated profit of 80 cents a share in the third quarter and $3.56 for the year.br //blockquotebr /br /How many companies that reported all these "great numbers" beat quarterly profits on a year-over-year basis?  Not many.  Walmart isn't going to be a pick of the traders out there, but will continue to generate solid returns for shareholders.  There is also still room for overseas growth as well.  Walmart has clear advantages in areas like grocery, and didn't get into trouble with holding consumer debt.  The stock is a good "value" here.   br /br /Disclosure: Nonediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-1055989702526602539?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/walmart-posts-solid-results/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>My Current Game Plan</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/my-current-game-plan/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/my-current-game-plan/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:53:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Compass Diversified Holdings;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Loews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil And Gas]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-4950861037816969407</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As I've been outlining for a couple of weeks, there are still some good values out there.  I'm still concerned we will see a meaningful correction sometime before year end.  Its impossible to try to predict when, but I'm hoping to use that opportunity to take some larger positions.  I've been extremely patient as of late (holding current longs, doing research but little buying).  Here are a couple of stocks I'm looking to buy:br /br /Compass Diversified Holdings (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=codi"CODI/a).  They just reported a solid quarter.  They key here is that they've got the cash ready to make their next acquisition which will increase cash flow.  The question now is what and when.  We got some insight into the when, as the CEO said it would be accurate to expect it to happen in 2009.  I see this event as being the largest near term catalyst for this stock.  Its still a cheap stock and I may buy some shares without it pulling back much. br /br /RHI Entertainment (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=rhieamp;.yficrumb=CU22qGpNWD5"RHIE/a).  This is a stock that I feel scares away a lot of investors.  But in listening to the conference call (the best spot for nuggets of info), they have a plan to pay down a large portion of their debt and still cash flow.  Their quarterly numbers were weak, but this is a highly unique business due to their seasonality.  The second half of the year should see plenty of activity for them.  The stock is very cheap, and if I could get some shares under 2.00, I'd jump at the chance. br /br /Wal Mart (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=wmtamp;.yficrumb=CU22qGpNWD5"WMT/a).  I'm still interested in shares as I feel they are best positioned in this type of environment.  They do well if the economy rebounds, and are somewhat insulated (especially on a relative basis) if we see a double-dip in the recession.  They report this week and I won't be doing anything for sure until after that. br /br /Loews (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=lamp;.yficrumb=CU22qGpNWD5"L/a).  Great management.  Good mix of brands.  Good value on the stock here.  The stock is still over 31 on the post-earnings jump.  Prime example of stock I'm waiting for a pullback on, but I'd feel comfortable owning a large stake in this company. br /br /There are a handful of others that I'm seriously pursuing, and you'll likely be hearing about those as well.  Obviously I pay a lot of attention to whats happening with oil and gas too. br /br /Again, a lot of opinions I respect have been speaking a little cautious about where we're currently trading.  But like I said, there are values out there.  That's what I'm working on.br /br /Disclosure: Long UNGdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-4950861037816969407?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/my-current-game-plan/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Interesting Reading-Tuesday</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-reading-tuesday-4/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-reading-tuesday-4/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BrightSource Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BrightSource Energy President]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[California]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Woolard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[President and Chief Executive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reading;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-290362689849398379</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090811/ts_nm/us_usa_congress_jets_2"span style="font-style: italic;"Congress Drops Plan to Spend $550 Million on New Jets/span/a.  This is such BS.  Congress acts like they are listening to what the Dept. of Defense wants.  They tried to sneak extra planes into the deal.  Its time congress starts serving the public's best interest and not their own.br /br /a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE5795JG20090811"span style="font-style: italic;"Renewable Power Industry Says US Moving Too Slowly/span/a. "BrightSource Energy President and Chief Executive John Woolard said that he was "two and a half years into a one-year process" to get permission to build a California solar thermal plant, which would use heat from the sun to power a turbine."br /br /a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/08/10/clean-energy-summit-you-want-clean-energy-shale-gas/"Clean Energy Summit/a. Sen. Reid opened his remarks by saying, “I’ve been converted. I now belong to the Pickens church,"  The important thing here is that Washington is starting to wake up and realize the potential of natural gas as a bridge fuel for the next couple of decades.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-290362689849398379?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-reading-tuesday-4/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Follow Up on Compass Diversified Holdings</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/follow-up-on-compass-diversified-holdings/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/follow-up-on-compass-diversified-holdings/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:21:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joe Massoud;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Todd Sullivan]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-5991110405311440182</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As I mentioned earlier today, I listened to the full conference call and was pleased with what they had to say regarding the environment moving forward, but mostly was happy with the strength of their company.  They are holding their own or improving during this recession, and will likely come out of it much stronger.  There were a couple of key phrases that I was going to re-post here from CEO Joe Massoud, but I noticed Todd Sullivan just did a post covering these, so I'll just refer you there.br /br /ema href="http://valueplays.blogspot.com/2009/08/compass-diversified-q2-results-earning.html"Compass Diversified Q2 Results amp; Earning Call Notes/a/em.br /br /br /Disclosure: Nonediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-5991110405311440182?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/follow-up-on-compass-diversified-holdings/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Bloomberg: Mobius Says Stocks Face 30% Correction</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/bloomberg-mobius-says-stocks-face-30-correction/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/bloomberg-mobius-says-stocks-face-30-correction/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Emerging Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank lending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brazil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[executive chairman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ken Fisher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mark Mobius]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[market specialist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Templeton Asset Management Ltd.;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-1127108462704603327</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I found this a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20603037amp;sid=a2uzw71az3O0"interesting story /aabout emerging market specialist Mark Mobius.  I've copied a couple of quotes here:br /br /blockquotepMark Mobius said global stocks will drop as much as 30 percent following their recovery from last year’s rout as companies take advantage of the rebound to sell more shares.br //pp“When you have these rapid increases, almost without correction, you will definitely have a correction at some point, so we can expect a lot of volatility,” Mobius, the executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management Ltd. said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur today. “Increases of 70 percent will be followed by decreases of 20 to 30 percent.”br /br /The biggest risk for global stocks is the increase in initial share sales and bond issues, Mobius said today. Investors will be “selling to take up new stocks, that will impact the prices,” he said. Mobius, who oversees about $25 billion, on July 29 said he plans to double Templeton Asset Management’s emerging-market assets within two years.br /br /The so-called correction “can happen anytime, probably this year,” Mobius said. “It may not be all at once, you may not see a decrease of 20 percent suddenly, it could be 10 percent here, and a rise of 5 percent then another 10 percent, you’ll see this kind of volatility in the markets.” He added that he was referring to shares “globally.”br /br /“I don’t think it’s a bubble,” because “you don’t have the irrational exuberance so to speak that you would normally find in a bubble activity,” Mobius said. The government’s policies to rein in bank lending are a “good thing,” he said.br //p/blockquotebr /My take on this:  This is the line of thinking that I tend to align with.  If you look back last week, I a href="http://briskycapital.blogspot.com/2009/07/couple-of-afternoon-links.html"posted some commentary /aby Ken Fisher where he said there is "zero incentive" for China to curb lending.  I agree with Mobius. br /br /I think a correction is only natural after a strong bounce back rally.  If we don't see a correction, it would likely lead to a good sized bubble in emerging markets, if that hasn't already begun.br /br /I say this not to imply that emerging markets aren't good investments.  They will be leading growth for many years to come.  Its more just a shorter term trend that I'm looking at.  I still like China and particularly Brazil.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-1127108462704603327?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/bloomberg-mobius-says-stocks-face-30-correction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Compass Diversified Reports Earnings</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/compass-diversified-reports-earnings/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/compass-diversified-reports-earnings/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:37:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aeroglide Corporation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CAD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CODI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Compass Diversified]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Compass Diversified Holdings;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joe Massoud;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Silvue Technologies Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-720880285966785814</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Just wanted to put together something quick on Compass Diversified (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CODI"CODI/a) as they reported earnings this morning.  I caught the end of their conference call, and I'll probably add some more commentary after I hear the replay.  But here is a little bit from the a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Compass-Diversified-Holdings-prnews-2578551240.html?x=0amp;.v=1"release/a:br /br /blockquoteSecond Quarter 2009 Highlightsbr /br /Generated Cash Flow Available for Distribution and Reinvestment ("Cash Flow" or "CAD") of $7.8 million for the second quarter of 2009;br /br /Reported a net loss of $0.2 million for the second quarter of 2009;br /br /Paid second quarter 2009 cash distribution of $0.34 per share, bringing cumulative distributions paid to $3.9552 per share since CODI's IPO in May of 2006; andbr /br /Completed a 5.1 million share offering.br /br /br /CODI reported Cash Flow (see note regarding use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures below) of $7.8 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, as compared to $13.9 million for the prior year period, a period during which CODI owned two additional businesses, both of which were sold in June 2008 for a cumulative gain of more than $73 million.br /br /CODI's Cash Flow decline for the second quarter as compared to the prior year quarter was largely attributable to the sale of the two business segments referenced above, as well as the impact of the economy on the Company's Staffmark subsidiary. CODI's weighted average number of shares for the quarter ending June 30, 2009 was approximately 32.8 million.br /br /CODI's Cash Flow is calculated after taking into account all interest expense, cash taxes paid and maintenance capital expenditures, and includes the operating results of each subsidiary for the periods during which CODI owned them. However, Cash Flow excludes the gains from sales of businesses, which have totaled over $109 million since CODI's initial public offering.br /br /The net loss for the quarter ended June 30, 2009 was $0.2 million, as compared to net income of $73.8 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 which included $72.3 million of gains from the sale of Aeroglide Corporation and Silvue Technologies, Inc.br /br /As of June 30, 2009, CODI had $77 million outstanding on its term debt facility, $58.2 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand and a $340 million revolving credit facility that had $0.5 million of borrowing outstanding on the facility. The Company has no significant debt maturities until 2013.br /br /On July 10, 2009, CODI's Board of Directors declared a distribution of $0.34 per share. The distribution was paid on July 30, 2009 to all holders of record as of July 24, 2009.br /br /Commenting on the quarter, Joe Massoud, CEO of Compass Diversified Holdings, said, "During the second quarter, we generated Cash Flow in excess of our expectations. We continued to reduce costs during the period, while retaining the infrastructure necessary to capitalize on future growth opportunities. In addition, at a number of our subsidiaries, we also built market share and succeeded in increasing customer penetration levels. These factors, as well as a general stabilization in business fundamentals, put us on track to meet our previously stated financial guidance for 2009, as well as achieve growth in Cash Flow for 2010, even before the impact of any new platform businesses we may acquire."br /br /Mr. Massoud concluded, "Complementing our quarterly results, we took important steps to further strengthen our balance sheet by completing a 5.1 million share offering, resulting in net proceeds of $42.1 million and underscoring the ongoing support we have received from the capital markets. This offering, combined with our past generation of Cash Flow in excess of distributions and the substantial gains we have produced through monetization of certain of our subsidiaries, has positioned our Company very well to execute our growth strategy in this market. We have a great deal of financial flexibility, including $58.2 million in cash and considerable availability under our revolving credit facility. We intend to use this capacity to our advantagebr /through the consummation of attractive acquisitions on behalf of our shareholders."br //blockquotebr /The next acquisition is what shareholders have been anticipating, as its likely to be the key to unlocking further upside here.  Although I haven't had time to go through everything here, I really liked the statement that said they are on track for cash flow growth in 2010 even without the next acquisition.br /br /Disclosure: No Positions.  I'll likely be buying some shares soon.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-720880285966785814?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/compass-diversified-reports-earnings/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Fuel Systems Solutions Earnings Strong</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/fuel-systems-solutions-earnings-strong/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/fuel-systems-solutions-earnings-strong/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cent;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[components maker;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[delayed original equipment manufacturer products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fuel Systems Solutions Earnings Strong Fuel Systems Solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fuel Systems Solutions Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-740675139051371882</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fuel Systems Solutions (FSYS) reported strong quarterly earnings and gave a solid outlook for the remainder of the year.  Here's the release (a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINBNG45255720090806?rpc=44"via Reuters/a):br /blockquotebr /* Q2 EPS $0.46 vs. est $0.32br /* Q2 rev $92.3 mln vs. est $87.8 mlnbr /* Raises '09 revenue outlookbr /br /Aug 6 (Reuters) - Fuel Systems Solutions Inc, an alternative fuel components maker, posted better-than-expected quarterly results, helped by a rise in demand for its delayed original equipment manufacturer products, and it raised its revenue outlook for the full year.  Shares of the company rose 8 percent to $29 in trading after the bell. They closed at $26.82 Thursday on Nasdaq.br /br /The company posted second-quarter earnings of $7.4 million, or 46 cents a share, compared with $4.6 million, 29 cents a share, a year earlier.  Revenue fell 6 percent to $92.3 million.br /br /Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 32 cents a share, on revenuebr /of $87.8 million, according to Reuters Estimates.br /br /The company raised its full-year revenue outlook to a range of $370 million to $380 million from its previous forecast of $330 million to $360 million.br //blockquotebr /br /This company is well positioned in the alternative fuel space and gets a lot of business outside the US, which seems to be the driver of growth these days. br /br /I regret not buying the stock when I first posted about it at $18.  I'd still like to own it if I get the opportunity at a better price, but I probably won't be buying when the shares rise 10% like today.br /br /Disclosure: Nonediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-740675139051371882?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/fuel-systems-solutions-earnings-strong/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>American Railcar Earnings/CIT Exposure</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/american-railcar-earningscit-exposure/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/american-railcar-earningscit-exposure/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:56:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chief Financial Officer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cit Group Inc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dale Davies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ppAmerican Railcar Industries Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[railcar manufacturer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[raised concerns]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-1409235684014013749</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[pAh, the things we can learn by listening to earnings conference calls. Interesting tidbit came out during American Railcar's (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ARII"ARII/a) call. They have some a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/08/03/daily43.html"serious exposure to CIT /anot only from the current quarter's earnings, but large part of their order backlog.br //pblockquotep /ppAmerican Railcar Industries Inc.a class="story_clink" href="http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/related_content.html?topic=American%20Railcar%20Industries%20Inc" /areported an 82 percent drop in profit in the second quarter, prompting the company to foreshadow more layoffs./pp/ppThe covered hopper and tank railcar manufacturer (Nasdaq: ARII) also raised concerns about how the troubles of its largest customer, struggling commercial lender CIT Group Inc., may hurt business./pp/ppCIT, which is trying to avoid bankruptcy, accounted for 13 percent of American Railcar’s revenue in the second quarter and accounts for 53 percent of orders included in the backlog of 1,770 railcars as of June 30./pp/ppIn the event of a bankruptcy, CIT, among other things, may have the right tobr /cancel or could renegotiate its orders included in the backlog./pp/ppEven if CIT does not seek bankruptcy relief, any continued financial difficulties of CIT could materially adversely affect American Railcar’s business relationship with CIT and its financial condition, American Railcar said./pp/pp"We are going to lose some orders if they file for bankruptcy," said Dale Davies, chief financial officer. "We build a lot of cars for them."/pp /p/blockquoteThe earnings numbers aren't real significant as I knew they would be very weak. This is a very cyclical business, but if you want to buy the stock for cheap, you need to buy at it the low point of the cycle. This CIT exposure throws a wrench into things though. I'm not entirely plugged into the CIT situation, but I can't say this gives me confidence to buy the shares, especially when there are alternatives.br /br /Disclosure: Nonebr /blockquote/blockquotediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-1409235684014013749?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/american-railcar-earningscit-exposure/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Natural Gas Supplies Come in Higher</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/natural-gas-supplies-come-in-higher/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/natural-gas-supplies-come-in-higher/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:26:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anadarko Petroleum Corp.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aubrey Mcclendon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barclays Capital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BP PLC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[br /br /blockquoteNatural gas futures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cent;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chemicals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chesapeake Energy Corp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chicago]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coal products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Date]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[datestring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Department of Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Devon Energy Corp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Enterprise Products Partners L. P.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Enterprise Products Partners L.P.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food industries;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas consumption;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas demand;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas-intensive industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gulf of mexico]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gulf of Mexico.br /br /Demand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mexico pipeline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michael Zenker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas Producers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas supply report]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil And Gas Production]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Phil Flynn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Xml]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[XTO Energy Inc.]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-8069061816937843044</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the weekly report that always seems to move prices 5% one way or the other, the natural gas supply report showed a higher than expected supply in natural gas.  a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=aJ._taTKDeSE"Here's the story from Bloomberg/a:br /br /blockquoteNatural gas futures fell the most in two months after a government report showed a bigger-than- estimated increase in U.S. stockpiles. Supplies in storage gained 66 billion cubic feet in the week ended July 31 to 3.089 trillion cubic feet, the a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=DOENUSCH%3AIND" t_delay="50" t_width="110" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_static="true" t_above="true"Energy Department/a said. Analysts forecast a gain of 61 billion. The total was a record for late July, based on weekly department data going back to 1994.br /br /“We have a lot of supply and it really weighs on the market,” said a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Phil+Flynnamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" t_delay="50" t_width="110" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_static="true" t_above="true"Phil Flynn/a, vicebr /president of research at PFG Best in Chicago. “The dollar is also a little firmer, so with the bearish storage report, natural gas is having a tough time hanging on.”br /br /Natural gas for September delivery fell 26.6 cents, or 6.6 percent, to $3.776 per million British thermal units at 11:15 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest one-day decline since June 3. The fuel was trading at $3.945 before the report was released at 10:30 a.m. in Washington. Gas has declined 33 percent this year.br /br /A stronger dollar makes commodities less attractive to some investors, prompting them to sell holdings of natural gas, oil and metals.br /br /Stockpiles were 19 percent higher than the five-year average last week. The average supply increase for the week over the past five years is 48 billion cubic feet, according to department data.br /br /The shutting of a Gulf of Mexico pipeline by Enterprise Products Partners LP propelled prices higher yesterday, Flynn said. Gas had advanced 11 percent this week through yesterday. “Even with these outages, it’s just another reminder that we have a lot of supply,” he said. Stockpile Glutbr /br /A glut of gas in storage may persist longer than anticipated as some of the largest U.S. natural gas producers increase output.br /br /a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=XTO%3AUS" t_delay="50" t_width="110" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_static="true" t_above="true"XTO Energy Inc/a. and a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=DVN%3AUS" t_delay="50" t_width="110" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_static="true" t_above="true"Devon Energy Corp./a, two of the five largest producers of U.S. gas, yesterday reported record output and smaller declines in earnings than analysts estimated. a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=APC%3AUS" t_delay="50" t_width="110" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_static="true" t_above="true"Anadarko Petroleum Corp./a, London-based BP Plc and a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=CHK%3AUS" t_delay="50" t_width="110" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_static="true" t_above="true"Chesapeake Energy Corp./a previously reported second-quarter output gains that helped them beat estimates.br /br /The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration today cut the number of Atlantic hurricanes it expects this year to a range of three to six of the storms. In May, NOAA predicted a “near-normal,” 2009 Atlantic season, with four to seven hurricanes, out of a range of nine to 14 named Atlantic storms it expected at the time. The agency now forecasts a range of seven to 11 named storms.br /br /Slow Hurricane Seasonbr /The Atlantic has yet to produce a named storm this season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. This is the longest the Atlantic has gone without a named storm since 1988. A reduced risk of hurricanes lessens the chance that oil and gas production will be disrupted at offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.br /br /Demand for natural gas may lag behind the overall recovery in the U.S. economy next year, a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Biliana+Pehlivanovaamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" t_delay="50" t_width="110" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_static="true" t_above="true"Biliana Pehlivanova/a and a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Michael%0AZenkeramp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" t_delay="50" t_width="110" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_static="true" t_above="true"Michael Zenker/a, analysts at Barclays Capital said in report on Aug. 4. Barclays Capital expects the U.S. economy to expand 2.9 percent next year. Prospects for gas-intensive industries of chemicals, petroleum, coal products, primary metals and food industries, which account for 65 percent of demand, “are more muted,” the report said.br /br /Industrial demand should rise 1.9 percent to 16.9 billion cubic feet a day in 2010, the analysts said.br /br /Overall U.S. gas consumption may contract by 2.3 percent this year as the recession that began in December 2007 cuts demand, the Energy Department said on July 7. Gas demand at factories is forecast to tumble 8.2 percent.br //blockquotebr /br /br /I'm not reading much into this report.  I'm not 100% convinced we need weekly supply reports on these commodities, but it helps to track trends.  Also keep in mind that you can't put too much into one report.  Last week, supplies came in lower than expectations and gas went up.  The trend still points to higher supply which will take time to work out.  I posted a couple of days ago that Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon sees 2010 as a much better year for natural gas, with prices between $6-$8.br /br /Disclosure: Long UNGdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-8069061816937843044?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/natural-gas-supplies-come-in-higher/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>RHI Entertainment Earnings/Conference Call</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/rhi-entertainment-earningsconference-call/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/rhi-entertainment-earningsconference-call/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ABC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Family products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[large networks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nbc]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-7029012242762939570</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I listened to the RHI Entertainment (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=RHIE"RHIE/a) conference call replay last night.  They are a company affected so much by seasonality in their business that earnings numbers need to be looked at differently.  From the surface, a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/RHI-Entertainment-Announces-bw-1250969593.html?x=0amp;.v=1"total revenue and library revenue were down /asignificantly, but you have to look deeper.  They make money not only on new productions, which include mini-series and made for tv movies, but also selling titles from their library.  I made some notes while listening to the call from yesterday.  This is paraphrasing from answers mostly from their CEO:br /br /-Lower demand entirely due to seasonality and not lower demand.  Its taking longer to get contracts signed, but demand is still there.  Lots of new products coming in 2nd half of this year.br /br /-Such a large library that they can meet demand at different price points. Cheaper stuff. Networks can't stop running programming; they have to run something.  So they are well positioned.br /br /-Orders from NBC and ABC which weren't in the market a year ago.  br /br /-Going to pay down debt with free cash flow. About 200MM over next four years.  Number one concern.br /br /-Lots of new clients.  Family products and action/adventure.  br /br /-More to cable and less to big networks.  Expanding of amount of channels on cable and sat, many which run no original programming.br /br /I like the fact that they can service not only cable networks, but some large networks who may not be interested in spending productions dollars on major series in this market. br /br /Although they are sitting on a lot of debt for a company this size, they assured investors that they are going to create free cash flow and have specific goals of paying down approximately 200m in debt over the next four years.  I'm happy to hear they have those specific goals about reducing debt.  The company itself is well positioned, and I feel would be priced much higher if it weren't for that debt.  The debt is allowing us to buy shares at a discount. br /br /I'll be looking to pick up some shares soon.  I'll post here when I do.br /br /Disclosure: Nonediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-7029012242762939570?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/rhi-entertainment-earningsconference-call/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Earnings Preview For Wednesday Afternoon</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/earnings-preview-for-wednesday-afternoon/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/earnings-preview-for-wednesday-afternoon/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cisco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News Corp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ormat-Technologies]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-7605743060194519728</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I've got my eye on a few earnings reports after the bell.  Here's what I'm looking at:br /br /-American Railcar (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ARIIamp;.yficrumb=CU22qGpNWD5"ARII/a).  I held this stock and sold my shares after a nice gain a couple of weeks ago.  I'm looking to see the markets reaction to their results, which aren't likely to be too terribly strong.  Its is an undervalued stock (trading at less than 1x cash on hand), and it they try to sell the hope like many have done, this stock could rally off of poor earnings.br /br /-Cisco (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CSCO"CSCO/a).  Not a stock I own or typically follow, but they give a great look into corporate health and tech spending.br /br /-Ormat Technologies (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=oraamp;.yficrumb=CU22qGpNWD5"ORA/a). Geothermal stock that has been reporting solid growth, and the stock price reflects that.  Its a stock I've wanted to own for 6+ months but haven't been willing to pay up for it.  Last quarter earnings were solid from them and I expect this quarter to be the same.  I'm curious if there's anything new on the regulatory front and how spending on alternative energy projects is coming.  I'm hoping they can shed some light on that. br /br /-News Corp. (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=nwsaamp;.yficrumb=CU22qGpNWD5"NWSA/a).  Another stock I owned briefly in May and sold after a nice gain.  I still believe they are undervalued when you look at the sum of its parts.  The market has been catching on to this as the stock has been pretty strong.  Murdoch's thoughts on the economy and newspaper biz have the ability to really move the market as well as this stock.  I wouldn't be surprised if they beat expectations and guide higher. br /br /Disclosure: Nonediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-7605743060194519728?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/earnings-preview-for-wednesday-afternoon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Chesapeake CEO McClendon on Natural Gas Prices</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/chesapeake-ceo-mcclendon-on-natural-gas-prices/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/chesapeake-ceo-mcclendon-on-natural-gas-prices/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:17:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aubrey Mcclendon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chesapeake]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chicago]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas equivalency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gas Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas prices:br /br /blockquoteYes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-8035693869891377519</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I was just reading the a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/153691-chesapeake-energy-corporation-q2-2009-earnings-call-transcript?source=trans_sb_companiesamp;page=1"Chesapeake conference call /aand found this interesting quote from CEO Aubrey McClendon about gas prices:br /br /blockquoteYes, 675. So I would expect let's say, let's call it around 900 than with another 200 working on oil projects and I think you will see gas prices in the $6, $7, $8 range. There is a lot I like about 2010. I think it is all setting up right now and there is going to be a lot of kind of wailing and gnashing of teeth here on the next 60 days as we get full on storage but after that you got an improving economy. You’ve got oil at $12 per Mcf gas equivalency. You’ve got decline curves starting to kick in pretty aggressively. You’ve got every Eamp;P company that I have watched pretty scared about gas prices so, and you got a net expected short position that will have to turnbr /around at some point.br /br /br /So I think it is all shaping up to be a pretty favorable summer of 2010 and you're not likely to get weather as unhelpful as it has been this summer with New York having the second coldest summer since 1888 I think, and Chicago having the fourth coldest summer since 1935 or something like that. So our hope is that that foreshadows a little colder winter and we would suspect next summer would be a little warmer. We like 2010 and, we're looking forward to getting there.br //blockquotebr /Its nice to get some insight from people pretty plugged into the situation.br /br /Disclosure: Long UNGdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-8035693869891377519?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/chesapeake-ceo-mcclendon-on-natural-gas-prices/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ron Paul: &#8220;Cash for Clunkers&#8221; Hurts the Poor</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/ron-paul-cash-for-clunkers-hurts-the-poor/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/ron-paul-cash-for-clunkers-hurts-the-poor/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:28:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cash for Clunkers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ron Paul]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-1778769109469481096</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'pobject height='350' width='425'param value='http://youtube.com/v/ysiTp8J5UZ0' name='movie'/embed height='350' width='425' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://youtube.com/v/ysiTp8J5UZ0'//object/p/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-1778769109469481096?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/ron-paul-cash-for-clunkers-hurts-the-poor/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Interesting Reading-Tuesday</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-reading-tuesday-3/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-reading-tuesday-3/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:50:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ford]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Goldman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[guys getting media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peter Schiff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reading;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-9180601396641702478</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here's what I'm looking at today:br /br /Peter Schiff's a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/article/peter-schiff-phony-us-economy"new video discussing the US vs. Global economy/a. This is one of the few guys getting media play that actually gets it. Video via Zero Hedge.br /br /Even if the US economy is weak, prices are still likely to rise and don't be surprised if stocks follow.br /br /a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2009/08/03/ford-shares-jump-on-sales-figures-clunkers-can-it-last/"emFord Shares Jump on Sales, Clunkers: Can it last?/em/aem /emI think the attitude of the American Consumer is giving Ford a shot due to it remaining outside the grasp of the government. Can you blame them? The sales jump is due to pent up demand as no one was buying during the market "crisis" and they were waiting for the federal program to start.br /br /ema href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5732GJ20090804"Goldman Employees Told No Big Purchases/a/em.  What are they going to do with all those millions?div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-9180601396641702478?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-reading-tuesday-3/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Following Up on Loews Earnings and Call</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/following-up-on-loews-earnings-and-call/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/following-up-on-loews-earnings-and-call/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:22:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[author]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boardwalk Pipeline;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jim Tisch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Loews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Loews Hotels;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas production]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3061902954836047207</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I finally got a chance to read through Loews' a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/153392-loews-corporation-q2-2009-earnings-call-transcript?source=yahooamp;page=1"conference call /afrom this morning.  By the way, Seeking Alpha is an awesome resource not only for stock research, but they post transcripts of conference calls if you don't have a change to listen to it.  I do post things there from time to time as well, so feel a href="http://seekingalpha.com/author/michael-brisky/articles"free to check that out/a.br /br /I thought Loews had a pretty darn good quarter.  I've read great things about the Tisch family and their ability to manage businesses as well as buy assets at the right price.  Here are a couple of quotes from CEO Jim Tisch, about their various businesses:br /br /Diamond Offshore:br /br /blockquoteDiamond Offshore had an excellent quarter, reporting its second highest earnings on record. For the quarter, average day rates and utilization for Diamond’s fleet were strong. Its revenue backlog currently stands at approximately $8.7 billion. Diamond recently completed the acquisition of its newest rig, the Ocean Courage. This new build, sixth generation rig was purchased through a foreclosure auction for $460 million. Last year, prices for similar new build rigs peaked at approximately $750 million. We feel comfortable that this acquisition represents an excellent opportunity that is consistent with Diamond’s proven strategy of acquiring and upgrading rigs at times when the market is well off of its cyclical peak.  Diamond’s board of directorsbr /recently declared a special quarterly dividend in addition to the regular quarterly dividend which together totaled $2.00 per share. This marks a continuation of Diamond’s policy of paying out special cash dividends, reflecting the earnings and the financial position at Diamond.br //blockquotebr /CNA Financial:br /br /blockquoteCNA achieved must improved results, reporting a 22% increase in operating income over the prior year. In its core property and casualty operations, CNA had another quarter of steady performance, reporting a 98.1% combined ratio. It also had favorable rate trends and renewal retention, as well as strength in writing new business. Further reinforcing CNA’s underwriting discipline and conservatism, the company reported favorable reserve development for the 10th consecutive quarter.  We have seen continuing improvement in the financial markets and as of June 30, CNA’s book value per share had included by more than 31% since the beginning of the year, even after taking into account the quarter’s realized losses. The recovery in the market value of CNA’s portfolio was primarily led by corporate and municipal bonds.br /br //blockquoteThey also have significant investments into natural gas production and transportation, which you can read more about in the transcript.  Anyone who reads this blog knows my feelings about natural gas. br /br /You also get Loews Hotels, which is ax excellent business.  Oh, and they have $2.4 billion in cash.br /br /They increased their book value this quarter from $30.73 to $34.60.  The stock is still trading well below book value after today's solid gains.br /br /Jim Tisch briefly touched on the market undervaluing Loews, and laid out many positives. br /br /blockquoteYou know from my perspective it’s really frustrating. The stock, as you said the stock trades recently as much as $1 below the value of the public pieces. That doesn’t take into account the nonpublic pieces. And the nonpublic pieces include our cash net of debt. So $2.4 billion less the $867 million of long term debt. It includes our GP interest in Boardwalk Pipeline. It includes Loews Hotels. It includes our investment in HighMount Exploration. It includes $200 million that we have in debt of Boardwalk Pipeline. And it includes $1.25 billion of CNA preferred stock. So sometimes I feel, when I think about Loews, like the guy who’s hawking something on TV saying, “But there’s more. And there’s more. And there’s more.” And listen, the market is well aware of that but it selects not to pay attention to it.br /The market is also well aware, I’m sure, of although I’ll reiterate it now just to make sure, the market is well aware of number one, our quest to build long term value, our track record in doing that. The last number I saw was a 16% compound annual rate of return over the past 49 or 50 years. And if you go back more recently, I saw a figure from 1981 of a 19% compound annual rate of return. So I’m not complaining, because rather than complain what we have done from time to time when the market doesn’t recognize the value is repurchase shares. And just to repeat one more time, we have a history of repurchasing shares going back to the seventies and every decade, we have purchased at least 25% of our outstanding shares in that decade. So that in 1970 we started off with the equivalent today of 1.300 billion shares and atbr /last count that’s down to about 433 million. So thank you for that question allowing me to stand up on my soapbox and give a little rant.br //blockquotebr /I see a lot of value here.  I can tell you right now I'll be buying shares.  And likely soon.  Companies like this with savvy management that don't get over leveraged and are transparent with what they're doing are what every investor dreams about.br /br /Disclosure: No Positions.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3061902954836047207?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/following-up-on-loews-earnings-and-call/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mid-Morning Thoughts</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/mid-morning-thoughts/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/mid-morning-thoughts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:34:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Contango Oil and Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Diamond-Offshore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas moving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas spikes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Loews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Loews Hotels;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[low cost producer;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas realm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-4395569683908493413</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The market is moving higher again today, and the Samp;P briefly touched 1000. Here's what I'm following this morning:br /br /Loews reported and missed on estimates. Yet were still seeing the stock rally 5+%. Their results have been hurt mostly by CNA financial (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=cna"CNA/a) and their exposure to mortgage-related investments. I kind of view this as a back door way to play Diamond Offshore, which is a great company. Loews is an interesting play as you can buy most of their assets (which the exception of Loews Hotels) directly on the open market. But by buying Loews stock you get a little more diversification, but still ownership in some great businesses, and you get Loews management, which is outstanding. And because of their ownership in things that have seen their value decrease, you can buy the entire company at a discount, which potentially gives you access to shares of a company like Diamond Offshore at a discount.br /br /Natural gas is up again today. UNG specifically is up close to 7% as a write. I'm holding all my shares here, and like the prospects of gas moving ahead.br /br /Also in the natural gas realm, I spotted a company called Contango Oil and Gas (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=mcf"MCF/a). a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/152375-the-green-side-of-natural-gas"Here's where I first spotted it/a. I did some more digging and read an a href="http://www.contango.com/investor/events/20090113/pc011309.pdf"interesting presentation on their website/a. They are in an interesting niche as they attempt to be a super low cost producer. These companies are interesting as they often produce gas for $1 to $2, and are still coming out okay with prices at extreme low levels like $3.50 to $4 right now. You can only imagine how profits would improve if gas spikes again. They are one of the only companies like this with virtually no debt as well, which obviously is appealing.br /br /Lots more earnings-related stuff coming up this week.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-4395569683908493413?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/mid-morning-thoughts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>ABB Wins $540 Million Order in Brazil</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/abb-wins-540-million-order-in-brazil/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/abb-wins-540-million-order-in-brazil/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:38:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Brazil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Emerging Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ABB Group;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ABB;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Abengoa Group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Automation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[automation technologies;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[automation technology group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[D. C.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[D.C.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[East Coast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electricity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Sectors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[head]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HVDC technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HVDC transmission]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HVDC transmission technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Information Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[key]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[key technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Science Foundation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peter Leupp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[power network]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pThe power highway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[renewable energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Solar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[technology-based]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transmission systems;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transmission technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[www.abb.com]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-7526625744318461562</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I'm a shareholder and pretty frequent follower of Swiss industrial/electrical company ABB (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ABB"ABB/a).  They are constantly getting new orders, and I don't report them all, but a href="http://www.abb.com/cawp/seitp202/06c9cd09d993758cc1257601003db274.aspx?leftdb=abbzh250amp;v=553Eamp;e=us"this is a big one/a.br /br /blockquoteABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won orders worth over $540 million from the Abengoa Group to deliver the key technology for the world’s longest power transmission link to be constructed in Brazil. pThe power highway will link two new hydropower plants in the northwest of the country with São Paulo, Brazil's main economic center, over a distance of 2,500 kilometers. Power will be transmitted at very high voltage (600 kilovolts) to minimize transmission losses.br /br /This will be the second transmission project in Brazil using HVDC (high-voltage direct current) at 600 kV. The Itaipu project, with two transmission lines built by ABB in 1984 and 1987, is the world’s highest-voltage DC power transmission system currently in operation. ABB pioneered HVDC transmission technology more than 50 years ago and remains the world leader in this domain.br /br /“HVDC technology is ideally suited for the efficient transmission of renewable energy generated in remote areas, such as hydropower,” said Peter Leupp, head of ABB’s Power Systems division. “With the Itaipu project celebrating 25 years of successful operation this year, ABB is proud to continue partnering Brazil in its ongoing efforts to strengthen the country's power network.”br /br /ABB will provide two 3,150 megawatt HVDC converter stations, and an 800-MW HVDC back to back station to transmit power to São Paulo and the alternating current network in the northwest of the country. The stations are scheduled for completion in 2012 and are a part of the government’s Accelerated Development program.br /br /HVDC has lower losses and a smaller footprint than traditional AC transmission systems, and is able to stabilize intermittent power supplies that might otherwise disrupt the grid. For these reasons, it is the technology of choice for long-distance transmission projects which can deliver electricity from remote generation sources to the centers where it is needed.br /br /Abengoa is a technology-based company that applies innovative solutions for the sustainable development of the infrastructure, environmental and energy sectors. It is present in more than 70 countries, where it operates with its five Business Groups: Solar, Bio-energy, Environmental Services, Information Technology and Industrial Engineering and Construction.br /br /ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people.br /br / /p table class="standard" width="100%"tbodytr class="headerRow" valign="top"th width="100%"Rio Madeira will be the longest HVDC link ever built /th/tr  tr class="altRow" valign="top"td width="100%"img src="http://www04.abb.com/global/seitp/seitp202.nsf/0/2054723516a3f819c125760100494bb0/$file/HVDC_Brazil_09_map.jpg" width="538" border="0" height="462" /br /The 2,500-kilometer long high voltage direct current transmission link will connect two new hydropower plants in northwest Brazil with São Paulo, the country's main economic center on the east coast. Power transmitted at very high voltage (600 kilovolts) will minimize electricity losses.This is the second ABB-built power link in Brazil using 600-kV HVDC transmission./td/tr/tbody/table/blockquotebr /ABB is at the center of the "growing faster than the rest of the world, which is contracting" emerging markets.  Brazil is a great market that is commodity independent, and is experiencing solid growth. br /br /Their stock has been moving as it trades as a proxy to emerging markets at this point (even though they get a lot of orders in Europe).  They haven't been unscathed in this recession, but appear to being positioned for good performance once we return to more normal times.br /br /Not buying the stock here, but would add if we got back to the lower teens again.br /br /Disclosure: Long ABB.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-7526625744318461562?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/abb-wins-540-million-order-in-brazil/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>End of Week Wrap-up/Look Ahead</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/end-of-week-wrap-uplook-ahead/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/end-of-week-wrap-uplook-ahead/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:49:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fuel conversion/natural gas vehicle complex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fuel Systems Solutions;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-2904872846795529991</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The market has paused a bit, but still has plenty of strength as the days normally reserved for pullbacks are finding their way into positive territory.  We have some interesting earnings reports coming up next week as the market shifts from large-cap names to medium and smallish companies.  Smaller companies tend to not move the market as much as they aren't weighted as heavily in the major indices.  But, earnings are especially volatile for the stocks themselves. br /br /I'll be making a decision to buy on a couple of companies after I see what they report...br /br /RHI Entertainment (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=RHIE"RHI/aE) will be reporting Wednesday.  I'm hoping actually for a weak number like reported last quarter.  The market over-reacted and sold that stock off down into the low 1's.  Their businesses is somewhat seasonal and the value is in their backlog.  I've been following this for awhile and again may jump in post-earnings.br /br /Same deal with Fuel Systems Solutions (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=fsys"FSYS/a).  You could look back when I first started discussing the stock, it was around 18/share.  Its poised to close today around 25.  Although I like the fundamentals and where the whole fuel conversion/natural gas vehicle complex is going, I'm going to need to see how they handled the previous quarter, and their outlook for the rest of the year.  I'm willing to pay a little extra to know those details as there is plenty more upside if they're on the right track. br /br /There are a few other names as well, and I'll be writing about them next week.  Market wise, I'm still skeptical of this rally.  There are a lot of people jumping in, and although I have some long exposure, I still have plenty of cash.  Earnings can look good for a quarter or two due to cost cutting, but you can't replace the revenue, and eventually it will hurt earnings.  Its also hurting the economy in a big way because it contributes to unemployment, and thus hurts retailers, etc.  Its a cycle that eventually catches up to us.  There is a lot of cheap money out there, and the government can dole out more of it to prop up some aspects, but reality is what it is.  I see value in a lot of stocks, but its the overvalued stocks and what its done to the rest of the market that worries me. br /br /There are some signs of a bottom.  Rail data was still weaker this week, but a little bit improved over last week.  If this trend continues, I'll be more bullish.  We get jobs data next week and that is sure to be a market mover. br /br /Stay Tuned. br /br /Disclosure: None.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-2904872846795529991?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/end-of-week-wrap-uplook-ahead/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Battery Technology is the Future</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/battery-technology-is-the-future/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/battery-technology-is-the-future/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:04:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ABAT]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Advanced Battery Technologies;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[battery manufacturer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Battery Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BYD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canon PowerShot S400 / IXUS 400 Digital Camera;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Charlie Munger;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samsung 400PX 40 in. HDTV-Ready LCD TV;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-943819998354975818</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I mentioned Chinese battery manufacturer Advanced Battery Technologies (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ABAT"ABAT/a) back in May when I noticed their CEO buy a big block of shares. I don't typically get too heavy into Chinese companies due to the lack of reliable information we get about them, but I do like this one. They are into lithium-ion batteries that are used in computers, smart phones, etc. They also just introduced batteries for ZAP scooters. (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ZAP-Receives-First-Shipment-iw-2911607575.html?x=0amp;.v=1"Press Release/a).br /br /Also saw an interesting a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109amp;sid=amaKePJpsGCk"tidbit from Bloomberg /atoday about Buffett and company making an investment in Chinese hybrid carmaker BYD. Its worth checking out. Also, Charlie Munger had this to say, “Battery technology is one of the most important subjects affecting the technological future of man." Amen to that.br /br /I'd like to buy ABAT under $4.00 if I can.br /br /br /br /pimg id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364641822994041714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 382px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SnMJUJ7Di3I/AAAAAAAABUE/9-1sgVwmv74/s400/ABAT.png" border="0" //ppNo Positions.br //pdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-943819998354975818?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/battery-technology-is-the-future/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Couple of Afternoon Links</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/a-couple-of-afternoon-links/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/a-couple-of-afternoon-links/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank loans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[California]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cheerleader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chief Executive Officer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Director a href=]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fannie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fannie Mae]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Housing Finance Agency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Reserve System]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fisher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fisher Investments Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freddie Mac]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freddie Won't]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[http]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[James Lockhart]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kenneth Fisher;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[major financial problems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgage Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plunge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Woodside]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=FRE%3AUS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Xml]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-6878111188745218900</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Found a couple of things I wanted to pass along.  (Both from Bloomberg)br /br /br /1) a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20603037amp;sid=a.pZggcuVEp8"Chinese Stocks to Recover From Plunge, Fisher Says/a.br /br /blockquoteChinese a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=SHCOMP%3AIND" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'SHCOMP:IND' ))"stocks/a will recover from their steepest drop since November and end the year higher as speculation that the government will limit bank loans is unfounded, billionaire investor a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Kenneth+Fisheramp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" onmouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))"Kenneth Fisher/a said.             pThe nation’s economy is “gangbusters compared to the rest of the world, why would they try to kick that?” said Fisher, who has about $900 million invested in Chinese shares among the $28 billion he manages as chief executive officer of Fisher Investments Inc. in Woodside, California. “They have zero incentive” to curb lending, he said. /p/blockquotepbr //ppZero incentive? How about the incentive to avert a massive bubble that when it deflates causes major financial problems?  Let's see, I know we've seen this somewhere before.  You don't even need to be a financial "expert" (like our Federal Reserve) to see that coming after what has happened in the US and Europe.  I generally like what Ken Fisher has to say, but I believe hes just being a cheerleader and trying to attract assets.  /ppbr //ppbr //pp2) a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110amp;sid=aEwoLtQMHq5Y"Fannie, Freddie Won't Repay All Aid, Lockhart Says/a./pa href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=FRE%3AUS" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'FRE:US' ))"/ablockquotea href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=FRE%3AUS" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'FRE:US' ))"Fannie Mae/a and Freddie Mac, the largest U.S. mortgage-finance companies, won’t be able to repay all of the $84.9 billion in federal aid they have received since being seized by the government last year, their regulator said.             p“Some assets and senior preferreds will have to be left behind as they come out of conservatorship, and that means some of those losses will never be repaid,” Federal Housing Finance Agency Director a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=James+Lockhartamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" onmouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))"James Lockhart/a said at a speech in Washington today. “Their book is so large, it’s hard for me to see that they will be able to repay all of that.” /p/blockquotepbr //ppI think everyone saw this one coming.  Its just unfortunate. That's my only comment here./ppThe market is enjoying another strong day as the bulls still have all the momentum and Samp;P 1000 looks easily attainable.  I'm still interested to see what happens post-earnings, but for now the market is jumping on the recovery bandwagon.  I'm holding all my longs and might trim a few if we see prices run up much higher.  I have some stocks I'd like to buy, but hate chasing them.br //ppbr //pdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-6878111188745218900?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/a-couple-of-afternoon-links/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Oil Drum Looks at Natural Gas Replacing Gasoline</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/the-oil-drum-looks-at-natural-gas-replacing-gasoline/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/the-oil-drum-looks-at-natural-gas-replacing-gasoline/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:19:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[things oil/energy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-4426479167458133088</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[a href="http://www.theoildrum.com/"The Oil Drum /adoes a great job on all things oil/energy related, and is a great resource.  I found a very interesting article today that takes a look at replacing all our gasoline with natural gas.  Can it be done? What is the cost?br /br /Also, there is surprising letter toward the end that shows the span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"licensing/span fees a business would have to pay to do vehicle conversions.  Its astounding. br /br /a href="http://www.theoildrum.com/node/5615"Here's the full post. Its definitely worth your time/a.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-4426479167458133088?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/the-oil-drum-looks-at-natural-gas-replacing-gasoline/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Interesting Reading-Thursday</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-reading-thursday-4/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-reading-thursday-4/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:28:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brunswick]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Expedia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reading;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Waste Management]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3566243973236503947</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here's what I'm taking a look at this morning.br /br /ema href="http://blogs.reuters.com/rolfe-winkler/2009/07/30/1-of-84-us-homes-receives-foreclosure-notice-in-first-half/"Foreclosures Up Again./a/em Interesting read by Rolfe Winkler.  The key here is that there are plenty of REOs (real estate owned by banks) that have yet to hit the market.br /br /ema href="http://www.reuters.com/article/earningsSeason/idUSN2928640920090730"Waste Management Profit Tumbles 22 Percent/a/em. A solid company that I like to track. br /br /ema href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Brunswick-Reports-Second-prnews-3996903866.html?x=0amp;.v=1"Brunswick Reports Second Quarter Results/a/em. A look at the consumer recreational market.br /br /ema href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Expedia-Inc-Reports-Second-prnews-3121241664.html?x=0amp;.v=1"Expedia Reports Second Quarter Results/a/em. Also a look at consumer recreational and business behavior.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3566243973236503947?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-reading-thursday-4/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Marcellus Shale Estimates Project Even Higher</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/marcellus-shale-estimates-project-even-higher/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/marcellus-shale-estimates-project-even-higher/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:36:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[average natural gas consumer uses]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy plan;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fort Worth Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gary Nash]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[geosciences professor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Penn State University;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pennsylvania]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Professor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[State University of New York;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Terry Engelder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-5341971443633568830</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I ran across a href="http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=78661"this report today /athat the Marcellus Shale could end up yielding even more natural gas than expected, which already was a major number:br /br /blockquotepNew calculations show the Appalachian Basin's Marcellus Shale formation could yield enough natural gas to supply all U.S. needs for nearly two decades -- dramatically more than previous estimates. Penn State University geosciences professor Terry Engelder projects nearly 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could be produced from the entire formation, which is found in portions of five states, including most of Pennsylvania. Engelder published his latest estimate in the August issue of Fort Worth Oil and Gas Basin magazine. /pp/pp"If the natural gas from the Marcellus could be extracted on demand, the Marcellus alone would last the U.S.A. more than 19 years, producing 489 trillion cubic feet of gas," Engelder said Monday. It was Engelder and Gary Nash, a professor at State University of New York at Fredonia, who stirred interest in the natural gas industry early in 2008 when they projected that production in the Marcellus Shale formation could bring massive expansion of the industry. Late last year, Engelder made news with an estimate that 392 trillion cubic feet could be produced -- 13 times the amount the nation uses on an annual basis. Western Pennsylvania's average natural gas consumer uses about 98,000 cubic feet annually.br //p/blockquotebr /From the standpoint of a new energy plan that relies more on natural gas, this is great news. We're sitting on decades of reserves, and its just waiting to be used. From the standpoint of prices, news like this is going to continue to put downward pressure on prices until increased demand returns to the market.br /br /I'm still long UNG, and it appears it will take some time for prices to recover. We're still in a traditionally slow time in the season, and it typically picks up as we head closer to fall. I'll continue to monitor this story.br /br /Disclosure: Long UNGdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-5341971443633568830?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/marcellus-shale-estimates-project-even-higher/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>National Oilwell Varco Earnings</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/national-oilwell-varco-earnings/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/national-oilwell-varco-earnings/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:07:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2x oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cent;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Houston]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Oilwell Varco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil sector]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil space]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rig technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Schlumberger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-9025779084776071575</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[National Oilwell Varco (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=nov"NOV/a) released pretty solid earnings this morning.  This is a company that I've owned a couple of different times, and I like their diversity in the oil space.  They are an oil services company that serves offshore platforms (the main reason I liked them in the first place) amongst other areas. Here's their results (a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/national-oilwell-varco-net-drops-28-2009-07-28?siteid=yhoof"via Market Watch/a):br /br /blockquoteNational Oilwell Varco said Tuesday its second-quarter net income fell a less-than-forecast 28% as its rig technology business held steady despite a downturn in the oil service business.br /br /National Oilwell Varco earned $220 million, or 53 cents a share, compared to $421 million, or $1.05 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue was virtually flat at about $1.9 billion.br /br /On an adjusted basis, the Houston maker of drilling-equipment said it earned 90 cents a share compared to $1.04 in the year-earlier period, while analysts polled by FactSet Research were looking for earnings of 88 cents a share, on average.br /br /Its backlog fell to $8.7 billion from $9.6 billion at the end of the first quarter.  Shares of National Oilwell Varco added 1.8% in premarket trading to $59.84br /br /"Our strong book of business and solid balance sheet positions us well to navigate the current challenging marketplace, which witnessed further steep rig count declines and fierce pricing pressure during the second quarter, particularly in North America," the company said.br /br /"We are using this time to streamline our business and invest for future growth, while continuing to execute on our customer's requirements."br //blockquotebr /br /The volume of rig declines could play a negative role for NOV for a couple of quarters.  I've discussed this a lot with regard to natural gas.  Production is being shut off until supply can be balanced with demand.  I may revisit this name if oil offers a more attractive entry point.  My favorite names in the oil sector are National Oilwell Varco, Diamond Offshore, Noble, and Schlumberger.  I also sometimes trade the 2x oil ETF (symbol DXO). br /br /Disclosure: Nonediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-9025779084776071575?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/national-oilwell-varco-earnings/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Early Week (or Weak) Earnings</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/early-week-or-weak-earnings/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/early-week-or-weak-earnings/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aetna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Analyst]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blockquoteAetna Inc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cent;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chairman and Chief Executive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chief Executive Officer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cockpit electronics;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dave Cote;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health insurer;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Honeywell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Honeywell International Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[large industrial manufacturer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morris Township]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Jersey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[preventive services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ron Williams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Verizon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wall street]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-1662099970664020491</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In scanning the news wires this morning, I'm seeing earnings from Aetna, Honeywell and Verizon that stand out.  Let's take a quick peek at the first two.br /br /First, health insurer Aetna, gives us a very timely look into costs in the health care industry. (a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE56Q11I20090727"Reuters/a):br /br /blockquoteAetna Inc sharply cut its full-year earnings forecast on Monday because of higher-than-projected medical costs as the health insurer posted a 28 percent drop in second-quarter net income.br /br /The No. 3 U.S. health insurer, whose shares fell 7.7 percent in thin premarket trading, expects 2009 operating earnings of $2.75 to $2.90 per share. In June, Aetna lowered its full-year outlook to $3.55 to $3.70 per share from an initial forecast of $3.85 to $3.95.br /br /Second-quarter net income fell to $346.6 million, or 77 cents per share, from $480.5 million, or 97 cents per share, a year earlier.  Revenue rose 10 percent to nearly $8.7 billion, compared to the analyst estimate of about $8.6 billion.br /br /Aetna said higher medical costs stemmed from use of more services in the emergency room, laboratory and preventive services, which is a continuation ofbr /issues cited earlier this year.  "We continue to see upward pressure on medical costs beyond what we projected in early June, which we believe is driven in part by changing provider behavior in the face of a deep recession," Chief Executive Officer Ron Williams said in a statement. "We did not fully capture the impact of these forces in our 2009 pricing."br //blockquotebr /Ok, bright side, revenue's were up year over year.  But at what seems to be a funny coincidence in its timing, Aetna says increased medical costs are hitting them hard.  Medical cost now represent I believe 1/6 of our nation's spending, and it is likely to continue without some type of reform.  They cut their full year guidance by quite a bit, and the stock is getting a haircut in the premarket. br /br /br /Also reporting this morning is large industrial manufacturer Honeywell.  (a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE56Q1BB20090727"Reuters/a).br /br /blockquoteDiversified U.S. manufacturer Honeywell International Inc reported a 38 percent drop in earnings that matched Wall Street's forecasts and cut its full-year profit forecast to the bottom of its prior range.br /br /The world's largest maker of cockpit electronics, which is facing a coordinated downturn in its core aviation and construction markets, said on Monday it expects no economic recovery this year.br /br /Honeywell now looks for full-year earnings of $2.85 per share, at the low end of its prior forecast of $2.85 to $3.20. It cut its revenue forecast to $31.5 billion, below its prior range of $32.3 billion to $33.2 billion.br /br /"Economic conditions ... remain challenging and we are not planning for any recovery in 2009," said Chairman and Chief Executive Dave Cote, in a statement.br /br /Revenue at the Morris Township, New Jersey-based company fell 22 percent tobr /$7.57 billion.br //blockquotebr /Pretty weak results here.  Revenue down 22 percent.  Again, I've been looking hard at revenue numbers as those are one of the best indicators as to just how much activity has decreased.  The bottom line is being overlooked as cost-cutting measures are being used to save money and to meet analyst expectations.  Their CEO said they aren't planning on any recovery in 2009.  Not sure if CNBC is going to cover that statement, but we need to listen to what these companies have to say. br /br /The market was quite strong last week, and this week should be a good test.  Can the market hold its gains without as many potential catalysts (earnings results)?  If it can, it will bode well for a more prolonged move up as we move into August.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-1662099970664020491?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/early-week-or-weak-earnings/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>BNI Holding Up in a Tough Market</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/bni-holding-up-in-a-tough-market/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/bni-holding-up-in-a-tough-market/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:23:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Association of American Railroads;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cent;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[charge.br /br /Wall Street]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chief executive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[major U.S. railroads]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matthew Rose]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Texas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Worth;]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-4976492509318938224</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=bni"BNI/a) reported yesterday.  They are my favorite of the railroads, and they delivered a pretty good quarter considering what they were dealing with.  Here's some of the stats (a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINN2340516920090723?rpc=44"via Reuters/a):br /br /blockquoteNo. 2 U.S. railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp on Thursday reported a better-than-expected net profit, with lower fuel expenses and aggressive cost controls offseting a 26 percent decline in revenue as the recession continued tobr /hurt freight volumes.br /br /The railroad said volumes at economically sensitive business units, which it did not specify, have begun to stabilize. BNSF hauls a variety of commodities such as coal, grain, lumber, construction materials, automobiles and consumer goods.br /br /The Ft Worth, Texas-based company reported second-quarter net income of $404 million or $1.18 a share, compared with $350 million or $1.00 a share a year earlier.  The company's earnings for the same quarter a year earlier were also affected by a one-time 31 cent per share charge.br /br /Wall Street analysts had on average expected earnings per share for the latest quarter of $1.00, according to Reuters Estimates.br /br /Revenue in the quarter fell to $3.32 billion from $4.48 billion. Analysts had expected revenue of $3.74 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.br /br /"BNSF had another strong quarter of cost control in an extremely difficult economic environment," Chief Executive Matthew Rose said in a statement. "Because of our continued focus on productivity combined with our long-term market opportunities, we are well positioned to benefit when the economy recovers."br /br /Like other major U.S. railroads, BNSF had reported robust profits in recent quarters as strong pricing helped them offset falling freight volumes. But analysts have warned that a prolonged recession could undermine their pricing power.br //blockquotebr /br /Revenues were light, but the demand for products on a large scale is still down.  I've been very patient with this stock and have yet to buy any shares.  The market continues to price in a recovery that hasn't yet to surface.  Tech stocks have been strong, but industrial stocks have been selling hope more than showing results. br /br /The Association of American Railroads released their weekly traffic volume, and it was again weak.  a href="http://www.aar.org/NewsAndEvents/PressReleases/2009/07_WTR/072309_Traffic.aspx"Click here to read that report/a.br /br /The AAR also put out their monthly a href="http://www.aar.org/NewsAndEvents/~/media/AAR/RailTimeIndicators/Rail%20Time%20Indicators%20July%202009.ashx"Rail Time Indicators/a, which is a really good look at many indicators for rails and the economy.  These are the stats we need to be taking cues from when trying to predict what the economy is going to do.br /br /Disclosure: No Positions.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-4976492509318938224?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/bni-holding-up-in-a-tough-market/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Quick Update on UNG</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/quick-update-on-ung/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/quick-update-on-ung/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:21:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Todd Sullivan]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-4357745431749916038</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I've just been trying to catch up on some stuff from yesterday.  a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ung"UNG/a (natural gas ETF) took a good hit yesterday as inventory data came in higher than expected.  This has little effect on my reasoning for buying this.  Todd Sullivan made a good point that its a little strange that they put out weekly numbers on natural gas as it seems like it might be hard to accurately define that.  Not to mention weekly fluctuations can be do to any number of things, and although they can move the price of the commodity (and the ETF), they don't change much about why we own it.  It actually ends up being kind of nice because it gives you these windows of opportunity to buy it if you're looking to.  You'll never find a stock that does that. br /br /I'm not saying that natural gas is perfect.  There is a ton of supply right now, but over time, and if the economy shows some recovery, that will eventually even out.  With the rate that production has been shut off, we're likely to see demand move higher than supply at some point which will move prices much higher. br /br /Disclosure: Long UNGdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-4357745431749916038?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/quick-update-on-ung/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Thursday Earnings</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/thursday-earnings/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/thursday-earnings/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:08:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[3m]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[American Express]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Emc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EZCORP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mcdonalds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[microsoft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pfizer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Potash]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wyeth]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-1851483768446725270</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Just wanted to supply a quick primer for what I'll be focusing on tomorrow.  We're still heavily into earnings season, and that is dominating the action in the market.  What we're seeing is some fairly good quality earnings, especially in technology companies.  We're also seeing some low quality earnings in industrial-type names, but most are making numbers due to cost cutting and are being welcomed by a favorable climate in the market.  Thursday will have these companies reporting that I'm looking at:br /br /-3M.  Just looking for a general update from them.  How numbers are looking internationally vs. US etc.  Revenue's year over year.br /br /-ABB.  I know they'll report some trouble in their robotics unit due to auto exposure.  I'm more interested in where their orders are coming in from (more from Africa and Middle East?  and of course Asia).  Also looking to see the type of orders (new grid projects, and their take on wind and solar).  Looking for their outlook for the rest of 2009.  May add shares if market reacts negatively.br /br /-Amazon.  This company has been on fire.  I've never owned the stock, but love their product.  A stock that can move the market.br /br /-American Express.  Looking for info on the credit situation and the health of the consumer.  They of course have been weakened by this recession, but are a great company with a great CEO.br /br /-Baidu.  China!br /br /-Burlington Northern.  My favorite of the railroads.  I like this sector for the next few years.  I know their results will be pretty weak, but the market won't punish them much.  Rails seem to be the poster child for the "market looks six months ahead" argument.  The market is pricing in a recovery, thus the strength in rails.br /br /-Diamond Offshore. My favorite of the offshore drillers.  Noble reported solid results tonight, and Diamond probably will too.  The market won't be surprised by anything they say unless its a massive miss.br /br /-EMC. Tech stock I've watched that I really like the fundamentals on.  Haven't seriously looked to buy it yet, but may depending on what they say tomorrow.br /br /-EZCORP. Will the "trading down" play be abandoned?br /br /-McDonald's. Is their growth continuing? Good barometer of global economy. br /br /-Microsoft. Killed it last quarter, and probably will again.  Isn't as boring as it used to be.br /br /-Netfix. One of the beneficiaries of the recession. Where will their numbers come in?  Amazon or Apple should buy them.br /br /-Potash. Mosaic was better than expected, and I suspect they will be too.br /br /-UNP. See Burlington Northern.br /br /-Wyeth.  I own this stock and am only interested in their numbers to help determine if I'll keep my Pfizer shares when I get them.  This result will not move the stock much as Wyeth's stock price is now basically worth 33 dollars plus 98.5% of Pfizer shares value.br /br /br /Busy, busy day.  A lot for the market to digest, and will be interesting.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-1851483768446725270?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/thursday-earnings/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>House Passes Bill For Natural Gas Vehicle Research</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/house-passes-bill-for-natural-gas-vehicle-research/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/house-passes-bill-for-natural-gas-vehicle-research/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:21:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Administrator]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bill For Natural Gas Vehicle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conversion equipment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy plan;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Protection Agency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[foreign oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fsys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[House of Representatives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[http]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Sullivan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[LAN]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas conversion systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas engines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas vehicle industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas vehicle research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas vehicles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NGVAmerica]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[p pNGVAmerica]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Richard  Kolodziej]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Secretary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[www.ngvamerica.org/a/p/blockquotepa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[www.ngvamerica.orgamp]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-6997714094563110440</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Found this a href="http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_viewamp;newsId=20090720006183amp;newsLang=en"press release/a about the House of Representatives passing the bill to fund research for natural gas vehicles.  Keep in mind, this isn't the large NATGAS act, as that bill is still in congress.br /br /p/pblockquotepToday, the House of Representatives, by unanimous consent, passed H.R. 1622 – a  bill that would direct the Secretary of Energy to: (1) conduct a five-year  program of natural gas vehicle research, development, and demonstration; and (2)  coordinate with the natural gas vehicle industry and with the Administrator of  the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding streamlining the  certification of natural gas conversion systems to federal certification  requirements and in-use emission standards. /p pbr //ppThe bill was sponsored by Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK), who has been a champion  in support of natural gas vehicle issues. /p pbr //pp“We commend Mr. Sullivan’s committed leadership on this issue,” said Richard  Kolodziej, president of NGVAmerica. “NGVs can make an even greater impact on  displacing foreign oil while reducing greenhouse gases and urban pollution. But  to do so we need more natural gas engines integrated into more vehicle  platforms. The two parts of this bill would help do that by providing federally  supported Ramp;D funding and streamlining the EPA certification process for  conversion equipment to get more conversion equipment into the market faster and  with less cost.” /p pbr //ppThe bill would authorize $30 million a year from fiscal 2010 to 2014 for  natural gas vehicle research and development. /p pNGVAmerica is a national organization dedicated to the development of a  growing, sustainable and profitable market for vehicles powered by natural gas  or biomethane. NGVAmerica represents more than 100 companies interested in the  promotion and use of natural gas and biomethane as transportation fuels,  including: engine, vehicle and equipment manufacturers; fleet operators and  service providers; natural gas companies; and environmental groups and  government organizations. For more information about NGVAmerica, visit our  website at a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlinkamp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ngvamerica.orgamp;esheet=6011088amp;lan=en_USamp;anchor=www.ngvamerica.orgamp;index=1" target="_blank" shape="rect"www.ngvamerica.org/a/p/blockquotepa href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlinkamp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ngvamerica.orgamp;esheet=6011088amp;lan=en_USamp;anchor=www.ngvamerica.orgamp;index=1" target="_blank" shape="rect"/a /pbr /This is a positive step in the right direction.  I'm a believer in natural gas being a big part of our new energy plan in both power generation and transportation.br /br /Long UNG, and still looking to buy FSYS.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-6997714094563110440?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/house-passes-bill-for-natural-gas-vehicle-research/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Wednesday Earnings Mixed/What I&#8217;m Looking to Buy</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/wednesday-earnings-mixedwhat-im-looking-to-buy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/wednesday-earnings-mixedwhat-im-looking-to-buy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:04:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Compass Diversified Holdings;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iphone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Looking;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pfizer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Todd Sullivan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Us Bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wal Mart]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wells fargo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wyeth]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-8752097330180616886</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Looking back to last night, Apple really was solid. I mean in the face of a very difficult time for consumers, Apple continued to deliver, and with a premium brand at that. Consumers are continuing to buy their more expensive computers, and obviously the iphone is just killing it right now. Good for them. I owned that stock about three ipods ago, but haven't recently.br /br /The bank's were mixed; The market liked what US Bank had to say, and Wells Fargo, not so much.br /br /Pfizer looked pretty solid to me. They slightly raised full year estimates, which is great in this market. They also reported that the Wyeth purchase has been approved by shareholders, of which I am one.br /br /I'll break down some more individual stuff later today, but just wanted to give a quick update as to what I'm watching:br /br /-I rarely buy when the market surges like it has the past few days, so that accounts for the lack of activity. I was encouraged when futures were lower this morning as I was hoping to make a couple of buys, but I think the Apple momentum accounted for that quick erase of the drop.br /br /-I'm looking to buy some shares in Compass Diversified Holdings (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=codi"CODI/a). This basically a private-equity company that owns six diversified companies. They are very transparent and are in a good financial situation. They're looking to make another acquisition soon, which could really jump start the stock. In the meantime, they are yielding 15%. Todd Sullivan picked this one off, and a href="http://valueplays.blogspot.com/2009/07/buying-compass-diversified-holdings.html"I'm just going to refer you to his post for the details/a. I've done plenty of research here, but he's got the best explanation and videos to detail. Thanks Todd.br /br /-I'm also likely to pick up some Wal-Mart shares. I like the price and the insulation this stock provides against weakness in the market (when that happens again). Fitting that Wal-Mart stock is trading at a emdiscount/em to the rest of the market.br /br /-I'm eagerly waiting tomorrow's earnings, specifically from two: ABB and Diamond Offshore.br /br /That's all for now.br /br /Disclosure: Long WYE, ABB,div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-8752097330180616886?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/wednesday-earnings-mixedwhat-im-looking-to-buy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>U.S. Gas Rig Count at 7-Year Low</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/u-s-gas-rig-count-at-7-year-low/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/u-s-gas-rig-count-at-7-year-low/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:04:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baker Hughes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Houston]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lowest natural gas rig count]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas count]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas drilling rig count]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas drilling rigs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[push gas prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-7588321131968178972</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[divBaker Hughes put out its rig count again last week, and I'm just updating with the data. The natural gas count slipped to 7-year lows, as producers continue to shut off supply (a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssOilRelatedServicesEquipment/idUSN1749518220090717"data via Reuters/a).br /br /br /blockquote-The number of rigs drilling for natural gas in the United States fell 7 this week to 665, the lowest level in more than seven years, according to a report on Friday by oil services firm Baker Hughes in Houston.br /br /-U.S. natural gas drilling rigs have been in a mostly steady decline since peaking above 1,600 in September, and now stand at 869 rigs, or 57 percent, below the same week last year.  It is the lowest natural gas rig count since May 3, 2002, when there were 640 rigs operating.br /br /-Tighter access to credit and a 70 percent slide in natural gas prices to about $3.50 per mmBtu after peaking above $13 last July have forced many producers to scale back drilling operations.  But with the natural gas drilling rig count now firmly entrenched below 700, and monthly production down four straight months through June, some analysts expect to see the supply-demand balance tighten soon.br //blockquote/divbr /divThe bulls on natural gas have said eventually all this shutting off of supply will balance out with demand, and push gas prices higher.  Prices have bounced slightly off their lows of the previous week or two, but still remain depressed. /divbr /div /divbr /diva href="http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/BHI/674709900x0x307507/D3ED36CC-390A-43D0-94B3-B8A776826EB3/na_rigs_071709.pdf"Here is a link to the full report from Baker Hughes/a (pdf). /divbr /div /divbr /divDisclosure: Long UNG/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-7588321131968178972?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/u-s-gas-rig-count-at-7-year-low/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Wal-Mart Going Green and Its Effect</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/wal-mart-going-green-and-its-effect/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/wal-mart-going-green-and-its-effect/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:25:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cap-and-trade law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environmental concerns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environmental costs /aof making products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[harvard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[retail behemoth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Starbucks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wal Mart]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-5888373268311473852</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I touched on this yesterday in my piece about potentially picking up some Wal-Mart (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=wmt"WMT/a) shares (a href="http://briskycapital.blogspot.com/2009/07/finding-some-value-in-wal-mart.html"click here to read/a). Wal-Mart's initiative to require all its suppliers to disclose "ecological costs" (to borrow a quote from the blog linked below). When you look at all the suppliers Wal-Mart works with, not to mention the massive scale they operate on, this is a big step forward. Lately, Wal-Mart has been say to heck with waiting for Washington to act, because we all know of long that can take, and they usually don't get it right anyway. I found more information on this a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/harvardbusiness?sid=H2c7e044be78a5e6d144f9b45ab085921"through harvardbusiness.org, via bloomberg/a.br /br /blockquoteWal-Mart has just a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/business/energy-environment/16walmart.html?em"changed the game/a with respect to environmental issues. Now it doesn't matter whether Congress' new cap-and-trade law meets all its promises, nor whether the G-8 leaders dithered rather than acted on environmental issues.br /br /Wal-Mart's unilateral decision to put its purchasing and communication power behind going green also shows that a single company using its unique clout can accelerate public action to reduce greenhouse gases and reverse climate change. By rolling out a href="http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/leadinggreen/2009/07/walmarts-transparency-exposes.html"an environmental labelling program disclosing to consumers the environmental costs /aof making products sold at Wal-Mart, the $401 billion retail behemoth has transformed green standards from nice-to-have to must-have.br /br /In practice, of course, we know that suppliers will change their practices to avoid embarrassing disclosures, and consumers will think twice about the choices they make. Consumer activists have been clamoring for information. At a recent conference discussing the company of the future, many seemingly informed people were astonished to learn a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/inDepthNews/idUSL1850227220080319"how many gallons of water it took to make just one cup of Starbucks/a (or anyone's) take-out coffee - they had forgotten irrigation of coffee plants, fluids consumed by transportation of coffee and manufacturing of paper cups, and so forth.br /br /We also know that the Wal-Mart concept is certain to be emulated by other retailers in their own ways. Who could possibly hold themselves up as Not-Green when over 130 million people visit a Wal-Mart store every week, according to company figures, and are made more conscious of environmental concerns? You can bet that a competition will ensue among retailers to out-do Wal-Mart in having the best green-oriented program. That might make "cheapest" the battle of the past and redefine "value" in the minds of consumers and the public.br /br //blockquoteThe article is a good read, as is this blog post from a href="http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/leadinggreen/2009/07/walmarts-transparency-exposes.html"Harvard Business "Leading Green"/a.br /br /So while people rip Wal-Mart for taking away manufacturing jobs in the U.S. (which we increasingly didn't seem to want by the way), stop and take a look at what they're actually doing. When you're looking for new initiatives to make broad changes, you should look to the leaders in business to get things done before you go waiting for Washington.br /br /I still haven't picked up any shares, but have been actively watching.br /br /Disclosure: Nonediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-5888373268311473852?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/wal-mart-going-green-and-its-effect/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>CAT Sells the Hope</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/cat-sells-the-hope/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/cat-sells-the-hope/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canon PowerShot S400 / IXUS 400 Digital Camera;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caterpillar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cent;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chairman and Chief Executive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illinois]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jim Owens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peoria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samsung 400PX 40 in. HDTV-Ready LCD TV;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-8780859322365307831</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The market is getting excited about Caterpillar's (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CAT"CAT/a) results this morning. CAT has been at the center of the slowdown, and was one of the first companies that showed the coming recession through slowing earnings (two years ago). So, I'd like to think that CAT will provide signs of a coming recovery, and maybe will be one of the first one to see improvement. Here's today's quote from CEO Jim Owens (a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE56K2CP20090721"data via Reuters/a).br /div/divbr /divblockquote"There is still a great deal of economic uncertainty in the world," Jim Owens, the company's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. "But we are seeing signs of stabilization that we hope will set the foundation for an eventual recovery."br //blockquotebr //divdiv/divbr /divTo me, they are selling hope. The numbers weren't pretty, but they did raise their full year outlook, and in a market that wants to go up, thats all it takes. /divbr /div/divbr /divblockquote-Caterpillar raised its outlook for full-year profit, including redundancy costs, in a range of 40 cents to $1.50 with a midpoint of 95 cents a share. When it reported first-quarter results three months ago, Caterpillar put that midpoint estimate at just 50 cents a share.br /br /-The company, the world's largest maker of mining and construction vehicles, reported a second-quarter net profit of $371 million, or 60 cents a share, compared with $1.11 billion, or $1.74 a share, last year.br /br /-Sales and revenue fell 41 percent to $7.98 billion. Analysts, on average, had expected the Peoria, Illinois-based company to report a profit of 22 cents a share on sales of $8.36 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.br //blockquotebr //divdiv/divbr /divI see CAT reacting to what the rest of the market has been saying and going along with it. That's fine I suppose. The market has indeed stabilized, and we're all waiting for more signs of recovery. The only problem with that is stock continue to move higher, as they're already starting to price in that eventual recovery. We still don't know how robust that recovery will be. Can stocks run further? Sure. If the market continues to react to earnings reports like this the way they're reacting this morning, there is plenty of upside left in the market./divdiv/divdiv/divbr /div/divimg id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360904322684493458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 382px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SmXCFAR3HpI/AAAAAAAABT8/bTslF3a1Kaw/s400/CAT.png" border="0" /br /divDisclosure: None /divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-8780859322365307831?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/cat-sells-the-hope/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Finding Some Value in Wal-Mart</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/finding-some-value-in-wal-mart/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/finding-some-value-in-wal-mart/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:29:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canon PowerShot S400 / IXUS 400 Digital Camera;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy efficiency/a]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eyes.br /div/divbr /divI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samsung 400PX 40 in. HDTV-Ready LCD TV;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wal Mart]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[www.twitter.com/briskycapital/a]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-6898591376342817949</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I know this isn't the most exciting stock out there, but I've been taking a look at Wal-Mart (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=WMT"WMT/a) recently. I still be believe we're in the midst of consumers "trading down" from more expensive goods and services to discount and value-based companies (a href="http://briskycapital.blogspot.com/search/label/Trading%20Down"my previous posts about this here/a). Wal-Mart was and still is at the center of this. Wal-Mart has been surprising many as well with a href="http://walmartstores.com/FactsNews/NewsRoom/9277.aspx"initiatives to promote energy efficiency/a and their decision to support the government's health care plan. Wal-Mart's line has always been that they're doing what's best for the company, and in this case, going green is profitable in their eyes.br /div/divbr /divI'm more interested just taking a look at the what the stock is doing in this market. The stock is becoming the antithesis of the "green shoots" trade, which is fine because we have enough stocks getting overvalued. Wal-Mart has seen its stock steadily fall while the market has rallied this summer. So basically, we can buy Wal-Mart shares as a hedge against the broad market falling, which could happen (as unlikely as it may seem to some), but at the same time, we're buying a stock with strong and improving fundamentals./divbr /div/divdivWal-Mart always generates a lot of cash, and distributes it well through dividends (2.2% yield) and share buybacks (3.5 bil). I see some value here in their shares.  Their shares are currently trading at 12.5x forward earnings, which are estimated to climb from 3.56 to 3.89. If the stock continues to fall while the broad market advances, I'll likely start a position.br /br //divdiv /divdiv /divdivimg id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360656057103272898" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 382px; height: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SmTgSC6vy8I/AAAAAAAABT0/T8ZbJXedg44/s400/WMT.png" border="0" //divbr /div/divbr /divAs always, I'll post my trades here and via Twitter. You can follow my Twitter updates at a href="http://www.twitter.com/briskycapital"www.twitter.com/briskycapital/a /divdiv /divdivDisclosure: No Position/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-6898591376342817949?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/finding-some-value-in-wal-mart/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Halliburton CEO: Natural Gas Prices to Remain Weak</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/halliburton-ceo-natural-gas-prices-to-remain-weak/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/halliburton-ceo-natural-gas-prices-to-remain-weak/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chairman and Chief Executive Officer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dave Lesar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy producers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gas Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas storage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Halliburton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural gas demand]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas Prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-8441642150681009836</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[blockquote/blockquoteI'm not going to cover the full details of the Halliburton quarter (earnings lower, but beat estimates...we know the deal), but it was interesting that the CEO went out of his way to speak about natural gas prices. (a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/OILPRD/idUSN2049810620090720"data via Reuters/a).br /br /blockquoteHalliburton Cospan style="cursor: pointer;" id="symbol_HAL.N_0"/span, the world's second-largest oilfield services company, posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday, boosting its shares, but it warned that North American natural gas markets were likely to stay weak through the end of the year.br /br /Natural gas prices in the United States have tumbled to less than half of year-ago levels, and high inventories were expected to curb spending by energy producers on new wells.br /br /"Due to the continued weakness in natural gas demand, reflected in the high injection rates for working gas storage, we believe it is unlikely that there will be a meaningful recovery in natural gas prices and, consequently, drilling activity for the remainder of the year," Dave Lesar, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement./blockquotebr /br /Now obviously he's pretty plugged into the situation for natural gas.  I'm still holding my position for a few reasons.  If you look at the upside vs. downside risk for natural gas (upside risk factors include an economic recovery, strong storm season, massive production shut off) (downside risk of economy weakening decreasing demand further), I still think the upside is stronger.  If natural gas prices had already priced in these upside factors, I would feel differently, but prices are still depressed.br /br /His quote that we won't see an meaningful recovery in prices and consequently drilling activity this year is interesting.  Wouldn't that then mean that depressed drilling activity would then consequently help push prices back higher???br /br /Disclosure: Long UNGdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-8441642150681009836?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/halliburton-ceo-natural-gas-prices-to-remain-weak/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Earnings Reports From Industrial Sector</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/earnings-reports-from-industrial-sector/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/earnings-reports-from-industrial-sector/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cent;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chief executive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eaton Corp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electrical control systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy saving options]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Johnson Controls Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real estate sales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail Sales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reuters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steve;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wall street]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-6767711805704675942</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A couple of names of note reporting this morning, Eaton Corp. and Johnson Controls Inc.br /br /EATON (a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUSTRE56J1ZE20090720"via Reuters/a)br /br /-Diversified manufacturer Eaton Corp, a maker of hydraulics, electrical control systems and truck transmissions, reported higher-than-expected quarterly profits on Monday, but slashed its earnings forecast, citing weakness across its markets.br /br /-Eaton cited weak truck production, steep declines in European electrical markets and shutdowns at U.S. automakers. It said it expected its end-markets to decline at a faster rate than it had forecast in April.br /br /-But the company said span style="font-weight: bold;"cost cuts made it possible to deliver second-quarter earnings/span per share close to its original forecast.br /br /-Net earnings fell to $31 million, or 17 cents a share, from $337 million, or $2.03 per share, a year earlier.  Revenue fell 32 percent to $2.9 billion, compared with Wall Street forecasts of $3 billion.br /br /-Eaton said it now expected its end-markets to decline 21 percent to 22 percent, versus down 15 percent to 16 percent in its April forecast. It expects its U.S. markets to fall more steeply than overseas markets.br /br /-It estimated full-year operating earnings of $2 to $2.20 per share, compared with its April forecast of $2.50 to $3, but still above Wall Street estimates of $1.92 a share.br /br /When you take a step back at look at these numbers, they are pretty poor.  Of course they beat estimates through cost cutting, but earnings at $31 million from $337 million?  And we're not talking about some small company that is too focused on one industry or product (Eaton has 75,000 employees).  But hey, they beat expectations and the stock is up 10%.br /br /br /JOHNSON CONTROLS (a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/earningsSeason/idUSN2050162020090720?pageNumber=1amp;virtualBrandChannel=0"via Reuters/a)br /br /-Johnson Controls Inc posted a 63 percent plunge in quarterly earnings as the weak economy pressured the diversified manufacturer's auto parts and building controls businesses, but its shares rose 7 percent as the results beat Wall Street forecasts.br /br /-The company said economic conditions remained challenging in most of its markets. It benefited from cost cuts made earlier in the fiscal year, and it expects profits to increase in the current fourth quarter and into fiscal 2010.br /br /-"There are still many uncertainties in our industries, but there is better clarity than there was three months ago," Chief Executive Steve span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"Roell/span said in a statement."Automotive production globally remains at low levels, but appears to be stabilizing," he said. "Analysts are beginning to see a bottom in the commercial buildings and residential ... markets in the next six to nine months."br /br /-Net income fell to $163 million, or 26 cents per share, in the third quarter ended June 30 from $439 million, or 73 cents per share, a year earlier.br /br /-Revenue fell to $6.99 billion from $9.87 billion, missing analysts' estimates of $7.39 billion.br /br /br /We all knew auto parts would be weak.  But I wanted to see what span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"JCI/span had to say about industrial level span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"HVAC/span business.  With the economic stimulus now out, businesses are encouraged to trade out for more efficient energy saving options.  At a minimum, I know the federal span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"government/span has been doing it in many of their buildings, so you know some revenue is going to be coming in.  Here's what I could find for info on that:br /br /The building business' order backlog fell 9 percent to $4.4 billion at the end of the quarter. The backlog in North America was comparable with year-earlier levels, while there was a double-digit decline in Europe and the Middle East.  Customers have delayed some projects to see if funding could come from the U.S. stimulus package, Johnson Controls said, but the program should give a meaningful boost to its financial results in the second half of fiscal 2010.pWhat do these earnings reports tell us?  Unfortunately, its the same old tune.  Revenues are weak, they are all cutting cost (which mostly means cutting jobs), and are beating earnings estimates.  This is good for the stock, but when you attach it to the big picture, it can't make for positive results.  We need strong employment levels so the consumer can get healthy.  Until the consumer gets healthy it will be hard for retail sales, real estate sales, and many other aspects of the economy to grow again.  /ppDisclosure: No Positionsbr //pdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-6767711805704675942?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/earnings-reports-from-industrial-sector/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>ABB Still Well Positioned</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/abb-still-well-positioned/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/abb-still-well-positioned/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:46:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Emerging Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ABB;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canon PowerShot S400 / IXUS 400 Digital Camera;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dow 30]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dow Jones Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy production]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[industrial/electrical giant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Science Foundation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[power systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samsung 400PX 40 in. HDTV-Ready LCD TV;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smart-grid technology;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Solar Products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[STOXX 600]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-60009171104323895</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In doing my normal Saturday reading, I came across a a href="http://online.barrons.com/article/SB124786932728760309.html"feature in Barrons/a about Swiss industrial/electrical giant ABB (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ABB"ABB/a).  I've held shares in this company for about a year, and I continue to like this company, even though it has hit a rough patch (who hasn't?)  Here's a couple of meaningful quotes from the Barron's feature:br /br /ulliABB's fortunes in the past year have been dented by exposure to the automobile and construction industries, but the Swiss engineering giant's power-transmission and distribution activities should continue to generate earnings that offset the weakness./liliProduct mix and geographic diversity so far have insulated span id="ataglance_stock_DWC_label" class="chartToolTip" onmouseover="com.dowjones.rolloverQuotes.show(this,'abb');" onmouseout="com.dowjones.rolloverQuotes.hidelater();" a class="verdana rolloverQuote" href="http://online.barrons.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djnamp;symbol=abb"ABB/a/span (ticker: ABB) from the worst of the recession, and it looks well positioned to prosper. Its balance sheet is still one of the best in the industry, with $2 billion in net debt and nearly $5 billion in cash giving the company a solid financial buffer and a war chest for acquisitions./liliThose prospects aren't reflected in ABB's shares. The stock has shed about one-third of its value during the past 12 months; late Friday, ABB's American depositary receipts were trading at $16.15. The Dow Jones Europe Stoxx 600 industrial-goods and services sector has fallen about 25% during the same period. ABB trades at a trailing 12-month average price/earnings ratio of 11.3 times./li/ulbr /Their automation and robotics sectors are getting hit pretty hard.  But their power systems and process automatic sectors are really doing well(up 36 and 10 percent YOY respectively) , as they are picking up orders all over the world.  These guys are specifically hitting it hard in emerging markets.  In fact, their order growth in the Middle East and Africa is up 119% year over year, and now making up 21% of all orders.br /br /They are well diversified with their four largest business segments making up 29, 24, 23, and 22 percent of all orders.br /br /ABB is right at the center of alternative energy production as well.  Think up smart grid technology, which is just starting to expand, as well as wind and solar products, and we all know the potential of those.br /br /If you have time, check out this presentation detailing their latest updates in the industry and how they stand as a company.  a href="http://www02.abb.com/global/abbzh/abbzh259.nsf/bf177942f19f4a98c1257148003b7a0a/e28aa3a5106f5d26c12575b6003a19b8/$FILE/EPG%20Conference%202009%20.pdf"Click to view presentation/a (pdf).br /br /The bottom line here is that although they are still being hurt by the recession, its a company that is holding up well (almost 5billion in net cash), and will certainly be strong when the economy recovers.  Stock wise, it has hovered in the 15-16 range for quite some time.  They report earnings this week, and we should get a clearer picture on where orders are coming in.  If we get any negative reaction from the market, I might very well use the opportunity to add shares.a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SmHzH9eNB5I/AAAAAAAABTs/HUyc9SzgjIQ/s1600-h/smart+grid.GIF"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 253px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SmHzH9eNB5I/AAAAAAAABTs/HUyc9SzgjIQ/s400/smart+grid.GIF" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359832349633480594" border="0" //abr /br /Disclosure: Long ABB.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-60009171104323895?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/abb-still-well-positioned/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Another &#8220;Reality&#8221; Indicator-Rail Traffic Down</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/another-reality-indicator-rail-traffic-down/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/another-reality-indicator-rail-traffic-down/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:13:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Association of American Railroads;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[metal products./p pbr //ppFor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-8571300291252698246</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Association of American Railroads released their a href="http://www.aar.org/NewsAndEvents/PressReleases/2009/07_WTR/071609_Traffic.aspx"weekly rail traffic report/a again yesterday, and it showed additional year over year declines.br /blockquotebr /p align="center"bAAR Reports: Rail Traffic Remains Down Year Over Year/b/p p align="center"iRail carloadings up slightly from previous weeks/i/p pbWASHINGTON, July 16, 2009/b — The Association of American Railroads today reported that rail traffic remains down year over year for the week ended July 11, 2009. U.S railroads reported originating 262,210 cars, down 17.9 percent compared with the same week in 2008. Regionally, carloadings were down 12.8 percent in the West and 25.6 percent in the East. Rail carloadings were at their highest level in 14 weeks./ppbr //p pIntermodal volume of 176,887 trailers or containers was down 23.7 percent from the same week last year. Container volume fell 19.4 percent and trailer volume dropped 40.3 percent. Total volume on U.S. railroads for the week ending July 11 was estimated at 28 billion ton-miles, off 16.9 percent from the same week last year./p pbr //ppAll 19 carload freight commodity groups were down from last year, with declines ranging from 4.2 percent for the catch-all category labeled “all other carloads” to 58.4 percent for metals and metal products./p pbr //ppFor the first 27 weeks of 2009, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 7,069,102 carloads, down 19.2 percent from 2008; 4,993,245 trailers or containers, down 17.1 percent, and total volume of an estimated 751.7 billion ton-miles, down 18.2 percent. /p pbr //ppCanadian railroads reported volume of 58,741 cars for the week, down 24.6 percent from last year, and 39,945 trailers or containers, down 21.4 percent. For the first 27 weeks of 2009, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,608,721 carloads, down 24 percent from last year, and 1,081,085 trailers or containers, down 15.9 percent./p pbr //ppMexican railroads reported originated volume of 11,430 cars, down 12.5 percent from the same week last year, and 4,725 trailers or containers, off 23.7 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 27 weeks of 2009 was reported as 305,127 carloads, down 15.0 percent from last year; and 128,281 trailers or containers, down 22.1 percent./p pbr //ppCombined North American rail volume for the first 27 weeks of 2009 on 14 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 8,982,950 carloads, down 19.9 percent from last year, and 6,202,611 trailers and containers, down 17.0 percent from last year./p/blockquotep/pbr /I'll continue to monitor this as I view rail traffic as a good, broad indicator of the U.S. economy.  Government data and statistics can often be misinterpreted and/or manipulated, but this stuff is pretty straightforward.  Again, I like the railroads as an investment going forward due to efficiency and lack of competition.  Typically, with data like this the stocks would be trading at or near lows, but that isn't quite the case right now.  I'm still looking to buy some shares at lower levels.br /br /Disclosure: No Positionsdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-8571300291252698246?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/another-reality-indicator-rail-traffic-down/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Greenlight Capital Q2 Letter</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/greenlight-capital-q2-letter/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/greenlight-capital-q2-letter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:31:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-1549766935809140035</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I'm always paying attention to David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital hedge fund.  I think he's one of the best out there not only at running the fund, but being open and transparent about his style/strategy.  His 2nd quarter a href="http://dealbreaker.com/images/thumbs/GreenLanternSecondQuarterLetter.pdf"letter is out, and here it is, via Dealbreaker/a. br /br /As I mentioned at the end of last week, he move all their gold holdings from the ETF to bullion.  The fees were higher in the ETF, believe it or not (I do), than paying to hold physical gold.  When you're buying that much, the ETF expenses really add up.  I also noticed that they've lightened up quite a bit on long exposure.  I think its clear that the easy money off the bottom has already been made.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-1549766935809140035?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/greenlight-capital-q2-letter/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Earnings Report/Update</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/earnings-reportupdate/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/earnings-reportupdate/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:32:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank earnings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Goldman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ibm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investment Banking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-2564608080845359443</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Just wanted to give a quick update of where we sit as earnings hit full force. br /br /From the tech side of things, IBM reported some pretty solid results.  They were down on revenues, but it was a manageable number.  They beat on their profits, and raised their full year guidance from 9.20 to 9.70, which was important.  They also improved their profit margins.  I believe they are an example of a company "managing" its way through this recession, and doing it well.  Not only are they performing well now, they are poised to be way ahead of the pack once we return to solid growth.br /br /Google also reported last night.  Again, solid numbers.  But that's not was the street wants from Google; it wants big numbers.  Its true their growth rate is slowing, but I think they deserve a little bit of a pass considering the economic climate.  Interesting that they finally are jumping on the cost cutting bandwagon (cutting jobs), which takes a different stance than we're used to seeing from them. br /br /The big banks are all going to report big numbers, and we knew this going in.  They had massive revenues coming into their investment banking wings due to all the share issuances during Q2, not to mention trading (see Goldman).  To me though, what is going to happen next quarter, and the one after that?  We know that credit losses are continuing, and that banks still are sitting on a ton of this debt.  Can their investment banking and trading operations make up for those losses?  That will determine their fate. br /br /We also had some bad results, and those come from companies tied mostly to the consumer.  Marriott reported a tough quarter, with their results falling by almost all metrics.  Nokia also wasn't too hot, and really got punished by the market yesterday.  Although their market share in smart phones increased to 41%, the street chose to overlook that (which I must say surprised me a bit), and looked at their falling margins and poor forecast. br /br /The question now is what is going to drive this market?  Its going to take earnings surprises.  After Goldman, the only way bank earnings were going to move the market is if they are bad or out of this world good.  After Google and IBM, same thing for tech.br /br /The market has proven the past couple of days that it still would like to go up if it can, but will the momentum dry up?  Personally, I'm interested in earnings from the rest of the railroads (specifically NSC and BNI), and a few others (Diamond Offshore and Fuel Systems Solutions to name a couple).div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-2564608080845359443?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/earnings-reportupdate/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>UNG Wakes Up!</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/ung-wakes-up/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/ung-wakes-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cent;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy information administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy information;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fund my Mutual Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ibm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inventory data out/a:br /br /blockquoteNatural-gas futures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas futures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas inventories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Platts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-8369581645049771734</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Natural gas is finally moving substantially higher today as we a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/natural-gas-extends-gains-after-inventories-data"got the inventory data out/a:br /br /blockquoteNatural-gas futures extended gains Thursday after the Energy Information Administration reported U.S. natural gas inventories rose 90 billion cubic feet last week, smaller than some analysts had expected. Some analysts surveyed by energy information provider Platts had projected a buildup as big as 106 billion cubic feet. After the data, August natural gas futures rose 17.9 cents, or 5.5%, to $3.462 per million British thermal units. It was up less than 3% before the data. At 2,886 billion cubic feet, stocks were 589 billion cubic feet higher than last year at this time and 454 billion cubic feet above the five-year average.br //blockquotebr /Hopefully the trend will continue.  We're finally heading into a time of year in which demand ticks higher.  How much, remains to be seen.br /br /Lot's of big earnings coming up.  Big Tech today with Google and IBM after the bell.  I'm doing a couple of earnings related guest posts over at a href="http://www.fundmymutualfund.com/"Fund My Mutual Fund/a, so keep an eye out for those.br /br /Disclosure: Long UNGdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-8369581645049771734?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/ung-wakes-up/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Fuel Systems Solutions Update</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/fuel-systems-solutions-update/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/fuel-systems-solutions-update/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:54:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canon PowerShot S400 / IXUS 400 Digital Camera;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fuel Systems Solutions Update Fuel Systems Solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samsung 400PX 40 in. HDTV-Ready LCD TV;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3422034227166598274</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fuel Systems Solutions (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=FSYS"FSYS/a) has been pretty strong since I mentioned it last week (a href="http://briskycapital.blogspot.com/2009/07/look-at-fuel-systems-solutions.html"click here to read my analysis of FSYS/a).  I'm starting to wish I had started a position.  The market reversed right around Samp;P 875 and hasn't looked back since.  FSYS has move from mid 18's to this morning at just over 21 as I write.br /br /I'm going to be a little patient here.  They don't report earnings for a few weeks and the stock will likely fall if we see the broad market move lower.  They did have a strong beat last quarter and provided a solid forecast.  Along with the NAT GAS bill (which expands the use of alternative fuels for transportation) moving through Washington, I think FSYS could be in good shape.br /br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/Sl8zzMfajOI/AAAAAAAABSk/bfcZPRk7cPQ/s1600-h/fsys.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/Sl8zzMfajOI/AAAAAAAABSk/bfcZPRk7cPQ/s400/fsys.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359059036213513442" border="0" //abr /Disclosure: Nonediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3422034227166598274?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/fuel-systems-solutions-update/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Sold American Railcar/Earnings Thoughts</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/sold-american-railcarearnings-thoughts/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/sold-american-railcarearnings-thoughts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:35:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canon PowerShot S400 / IXUS 400 Digital Camera;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Intel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samsung 400PX 40 in. HDTV-Ready LCD TV;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3322563402386663131</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I went ahead and sold my American span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"Railcar/span (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=arii"span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"ARII/span/a) shares.  Never got it to a full position, and this thing moved so quickly that it seems a little too good to be true.  I bought it at 7.05 near the bottom of its range last Friday, and sold today at 8.37, for a 18.7% gain. Not bad for about 3 days.  I wish they all were that easy.  I'll likely get back into this stock and it could be before too long.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/Sl4j8M1u4XI/AAAAAAAABSc/WxELPA0vR_o/s1600-h/arii4.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/Sl4j8M1u4XI/AAAAAAAABSc/WxELPA0vR_o/s400/arii4.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358760123763188082" border="0" //abr /br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/Sl4jm3M7zzI/AAAAAAAABSU/aupxXaXAksE/s1600-h/spx.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/Sl4jm3M7zzI/AAAAAAAABSU/aupxXaXAksE/s400/spx.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358759757177671474" border="0" //abr /br /The Intel report was the big news today.  I was impressed by their numbers, but lets face it, it wasn't anything earth shattering.  The market is obviously decided to go into earnings season with low expectations and there appear to be plenty of buyers out there.  I'm a little skeptical here around Samp;P 930.  If you take a look at the chart, that was our previous high right at the end of June.  If we fail to break that, I'd get bearish as we'd be continuing the pattern of lower highs and lower lowers (although it just started).  This would also pretty much confirm that head-and-shoulders pattern.  But....br /br /This is earnings season, and if the market continues to react to reports the way they did Intel's, we could easily blow right through 930 and higher (heck, it could still happen today).  So I urge caution here.  Not a bad idea to take some profits here, but I can't blame you if you want to hold.br /br /The earnings really start heating up tomorrow, and I'll be doing plenty of posts in the days ahead.br /br /Disclosure: Nonediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3322563402386663131?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/sold-american-railcarearnings-thoughts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Natural Gas Not Influencing Washington</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/natural-gas-not-influencing-washington/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/natural-gas-not-influencing-washington/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:39:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Denver]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electricity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy information administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy legislation;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[founder and chairman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fred Julander]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greenhouse Gas Emissions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[massive energy policy coming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas executives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Relations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Senate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[technology time]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the NY Times]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3752372210508557946</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When it comes to power generation, there is a big battle is between coal and natural gas.  Most of the new debate is due to massive energy policy coming soon.  Realizing that natural gas is a cleaner burning fuel than coal, and considering we have plenty of it, you'd think natural gas would be getting a little more support.  But a href="http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/07/13/13greenwire-at-center-ring-in-senate-climate-debate-coal-v-32201.html?pagewanted=1"this piece in the NY Times/a picks up on why that isn't happening.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-Saying they failed to protect their interests as a landmark bill came together and passed the House last month, natural gas executives are forming a strategy to influence rewrites in the Senate./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-"There are a lot of people in the industry who are scrambling their forces right now," said Fred Julander, founder and chairman of the Rocky Mountain Natural Gas Strategy Conference, an annual event that drew 1,800 industry people to Denver last week. "Whether we can learn and get up to speed -- and it's a steep learning curve -- is the question."/spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-Coal lobbyists have been talking to senators and aides for months, with their contacts becoming more frequent since the House bill passed. Coal lobbyists want to slow down the pace of the House measure's plan to cap greenhouse gas emissions and make businesses buy allowances for those emissions./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-Natural gas also will have to compete against the utility industry, which has been lobbying heavily on energy legislation. While they represent natural gas and coal, utilities have big reasons to favor coal./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-Electric utilities used coal for 59 percent of their power generation in 2007, while natural gas was used 13 percent of the time, according to the Energy Information Administration. Coal has been less expensive, making it more profitable for utilities to use as a fuel source./spanbr /br /So the bottom line here is that coal is cheaper for utilities, and the utilities are very organized and a powerful group of lobbyists.  br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-Lobbying by utility interests so far has dwarfed competitors. In the first quarter of this year, utilities spent $35.1 million on lobbying. The natural gas industry spent less than a tenth of that, $3.3 million. Of the top 10 industries with a stake in climate legislation, natural gas put the least money into lobbying in the first quarter, according to a recent Eamp;E analysis."As a whole, we're not very sophisticated in terms of public relations, and we need to be," Julander said. "We need to grow up and get in this game. No one is going to give us anything, even though we're the best for the environment."/spanbr /br /Although both coal and natural gas are abundant in the United States, you'd think this administration would take a major stand as climate change was supposed to be one of their major issues.  Although natural gas still throws off emissions, its certainly cleaner than coal.  It sure seems like it could provide us with an excellent bridge into the next generation of energy policy.  We have a fuel we can use right now to generate electricity and power vehicles while we give technology time to develop alternative sources.br /br /It all comes down to lobbying and power in Washington; it doesn't really matter what party is running things, or at least it seems.  And right now coal is winning.br /br /Disclosure: Long UNGdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3752372210508557946?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/natural-gas-not-influencing-washington/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Bloomberg: Einhorn Switches From Gold ETF to Bullion</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/bloomberg-einhorn-switches-from-gold-etf-to-bullion/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/bloomberg-einhorn-switches-from-gold-etf-to-bullion/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:32:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Einhorn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greenlight Capital Inc.;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Paulson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SPDR Gold Trust]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Xml]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-8730351768453611131</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Just saw this out a href="http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=arz6MqVbTVBs"from Bloomberg/a.  I'm not heavy into gold, but keep an eye on it now that David Einhorn and John Paulson have been buying it.  I owned the silver ETF for a short time, and may buy it again as it has come down a bit in recent weeks.  Although ETF's are great, when you're buying in these volumes, they can defeat their purpose.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-Greenlight Capital Inc., the $5 billion hedge-fund firm run by /spana style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=David+Einhornamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" onmouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))"David Einhorn/aspan style="font-weight: bold;", told investors it switched all of its holdings in a gold exchange-traded fund into bullion during the second quarter.     /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-The New York-based fund said the cost of keeping gold in a storage facility is less than it paid in fees for the /spana style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=GLD%3AUS" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'GLD:US' ))"SPDR Gold Trust/aspan style="font-weight: bold;", according to a letter sent to investors yesterday.     /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-Greenlight, started by Einhorn, 40, in 1996, told clients in January it was buying gold for the first time amid the threat of inflation from higher government spending. The firm held 4.2 million shares of SPDR Gold Trust in the first quarter, making the gold-backed ETF its biggest holding./spanbr /br /This will only add to the ETF debate.  ETF's are wildly popular and are very useful, especially for smaller investors.  But when you look at instances like this, and also with what has been happening with the oil and natural gas ETF's, its clear that these funds aren't perfect.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-8730351768453611131?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/bloomberg-einhorn-switches-from-gold-etf-to-bullion/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mises Institute Gaining Popularity</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/mises-institute-gaining-popularity/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/mises-institute-gaining-popularity/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:42:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Austrian School of Economics/a]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ron Paul]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-7132709187531379312</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With more and more people feeling disillusioned with what has been happening in Washington, its no surprise they're looking for an alternative.  The a href="http://www.mises.org"Ludwig von Mises Institute/a promotes free-market thinking at its purest, and can be categorized as the a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_School"Austrian School of Economics/a, or simply Libertarian Economics.br /br /Anyways, a href="http://www.bearishnews.com/post/1204"I found this interesting piece/a showing that the Mises Institutes's website traffic is up 80% year over year.  Clearly more people are looking into this line of thinking.br /br /a href="http://www.mises.org"Its a great site/a by the way and they provide their viewpoint as well as alternatives about many current issues.  Ron Paul is one of their more popular supporters.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-7132709187531379312?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/mises-institute-gaining-popularity/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>CSX -What Does This Tell Us?</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/csx-what-does-this-tell-us/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/csx-what-does-this-tell-us/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:35:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cent;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ceo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Csx]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jacksonville]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michael Ward]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mississippi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mississippi River]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wall street]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3368852224888943276</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The first of the major railroads, a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=csx"CSX/a, a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/CSX-2Q-profit-falls-20-apf-3069938868.html?x=0amp;.v=8"reported last night/a.  I like to look to railroads for a accurate representation of the broad economy, and CSX  beat expectations. br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-Railroad operator CSX said Monday that second-quarter earnings fell 20 percent as it collected fewer fuel surcharges and shipments continued to drop./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-The results still topped Wall Street's expectations, as the company slashed expenses by 27 percent./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company, which runs its signature blue and yellow locomotives from Canada to Florida and west to the Mississippi River, said Monday it earned $308 million, or 78 cents per share, compared with $385 million, or 93 cents a share, last year./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-Revenue fell 25 percent to $2.19 billion./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-CSX's shipping volume fell 21 percent in the period, compared with 22 percent industrywide. Railroad shipping volumes are viewed as a key economic indicator because so many consumer and manufactured goods are moved on the tracks./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"-"While the economy continues to significantly impact our business, there are some signs that we may be seeing the bottom in many markets," CEO Michael Ward said. "Even in this difficult business environment, we are still strengthening our operations, optimizing our resources and making the right investments to prepare our network for the future."/spanbr /br /My take:br /br /Although their are a lot of headwinds, they also had significantly lower fuel prices, which had to help.  Obviously lower auto-related shipments hurt (specifically Eastern carriers like CSX and NSC).  Metals were down, as well as coal, which is just broad weakness in the economy.  The CEO's comment was what I expect to hear from about 90% of industrial companies this quarter.  They'll say there are some signs of a bottom, and although their numbers don't necessarily reflect it, they think things are improving. br /br /For whatever its worth, CSX shares are up 5.5% this morning.  It was a fairly significant beat on the bottom line, but revenue's were pretty weak.  Clearly expectations are still low and this could bode well for stocks as we get further into earnings' season.  I'll continue to track these companies as a sort of barometer of the real economy.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3368852224888943276?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/csx-what-does-this-tell-us/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Goldman&#8217;s Big Quarter</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/goldmans-big-quarter/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/goldmans-big-quarter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:28:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Goldman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-2014518656708486082</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Goldman Sachs of course reported a huge quarter, which was no big surprise.  Zero Hedge covers it best, so I'll just a href="http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/07/as-if-anyone-expected-less-than-one-of.html"defer to the experts on this one/a.br /br /Interesting to see massively high trading revenues.  You can't really blame Goldman, because its part of what they do and do it well.  But it just feels like the taxpayer was played (not like they had a choice), and I expect this to continue.br /br /Oh yeah, and compensation was up!  All this when they reduced their workforce by 1%.  $772,925 per employee. br /br /Moving on...div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-2014518656708486082?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/goldmans-big-quarter/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Good Luck Goldman Owners/Monday Observations</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/good-luck-goldman-ownersmonday-observations/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/good-luck-goldman-ownersmonday-observations/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:13:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[API]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carl Icahn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Goldman Sachs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Meredith Whitney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil And Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samsung 46IN LCD 1200:1 460DX BLACK 8MS 3YR ONSITE WARR LCD TV]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3142774132499243904</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The market rallied strongly on the back of Meredith Whitney's upgrade of Goldman Sachs.  Boy that's really going on out a limb there.  Yes, they are going to report a great quarter (massive secondary issuances, not to mention Goldman's span style="font-style: italic;"other/span trading activities).  But they better blow the doors off if you expect the stock to go up again tomorrow.  A lot of this "great quarter" is priced into the stock, but who knows in this market.  Not much surprises me anymore.br /br /American Railcar (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ARII"ARII/a) was up another 8% today.  I bought it Friday at 7.05, and the entry was almost pure luck as it almost instantly rallied and is now up about 14% in less than two trading sessions.  When this happens, I often take the profits, but I've still got the shares.  Its been trading in a fairly predictable range with 7.00 at the low end, and until it breaks that, I'll look to trade the range.  I would like to hold some shares a bit longer though, as I feel the company is undervalued and I think Carl Icahn can pull some extra value out for shareholders in spite of the difficult environment for a company like this. br /br /As for Natural Gas, I found this little story:br /br /span class="newsarttitle"/spanh1 class="newsartsubtitle"a href="http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200907131107dowjonesdjonline000431amp;title=us-oil-and-gas-drilling-activity-fell-46in-2q-api"span style="font-size:100%;"US Oil And Gas Drilling Activity Fell 46% In 2Q/span/a/h1The more they continue to shut off drilling activity, the better it looks for oil and gas prices to go up. br /br /Disclosure: Long ARII, UNGdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3142774132499243904?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/good-luck-goldman-ownersmonday-observations/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Heebner Having Another Tough Year</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/heebner-having-another-tough-year/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/heebner-having-another-tough-year/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:12:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boston]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Capital Growth Management LP;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CGM Focus Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chicago]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Co Founder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[good fund manager]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hartford Financial Group Inc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ken  
Heebner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kenneth Heebner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[manager]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Morningstar Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spx]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wal Mart Stores Inc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Xml]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-8129229150970013124</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[a href="http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213amp;sid=ag111_Nsp2jU"Interesting piece/a out at Bloomberg about CGM's Ken Heebner trailing the market again for a 2nd year in a row after a huge 80% return in 2007:br /br /ullia href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Kenneth+Heebneramp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" onmouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))"Kenneth Heebner/a’s CGM Focus Fund is at the bottom of the heap for the second consecutive year after investments in insurers such as a href="http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=HIG%3AUS" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'HIG:US' ))"Hartford Financial Group Inc/a. and retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. went awry./lilia href="http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=CGMFX%3AUS" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'CGMFX:US' ))"CGM Focus/a, with $3.6 billion in assets, trailed 96 percent of similarly managed funds in 2008 and 99 percent this year through July 9, according to data compiled by a href="http://www.morningstar.com/" target="_blank" onmouseover="return escape( popwOpenWebSite( this ))"Morningstar Inc/a. Heebner, co-founder of Boston-based Capital Growth Management LP, had the only fund in the group with $100 million or more that ranked in the bottom 5 percent in both years, the Chicago- based research firm said./liliCGM Focus was the top U.S. equity fund in 2007 as commodity-stock gains fueled an 80 percent return. Since then, the manager known as “Bigfoot” for his rapid movements in and out of stocks has lost 55 percent, including 13 percent this year. The a href="http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=SPX%3AIND" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'SPX:IND' ))"Standard amp; Poor’s 500/a dropped 0.87 percent, including reinvested dividends, this year through July 9.     /li/ulIf anyone remembers, assets poured into Heebner's funds after 2007, only to get decimated in 2008 and so far in 2009.  Consistency is incredibly tough in this game.  My point here isn't to specifically say much about Heebner, as he is a good fund manager, but rather about how quickly things can change, and that no one is immune (forever).br /br /Commodities moving lower again this morning.  Diamond Offshore (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=do"DO/a) is back on my radar, and this is a stock I'd love to be back into, but only at the right price, of course!br /br /Lots of economic data upcoming, but earnings should dominate the next couple of weeks.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-8129229150970013124?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/heebner-having-another-tough-year/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Fed Under Fire</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/the-fed-under-fire/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/the-fed-under-fire/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Reserve System]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ron Paul]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-5061917071308279956</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'pobject height='350' width='425'param value='http://youtube.com/v/zpbW64vRrMc' name='movie'/embed height='350' width='425' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://youtube.com/v/zpbW64vRrMc'//object/ppThis needs to happen. Thank you Ron Paul. /p/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-5061917071308279956?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/the-fed-under-fire/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Interesting Take on Nuclear Energy</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-take-on-nuclear-energy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-take-on-nuclear-energy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy plan;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[main stream media;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3697324198725846296</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Found this over at Mises.org, which is a great resource for those who follow Austrian Economics.  Discusses the truths about nuclear power that you never hear in the main stream media.  I'm all in favor of a new energy plan and new technologies, but I do believe that nuclear has a lot to offer.br /br /a href="http://mises.org/story/3536"Here's the story/a.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3697324198725846296?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/interesting-take-on-nuclear-energy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>End of Week Wrap-Up</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/end-of-week-wrap-up/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/end-of-week-wrap-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:02:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Doug Kass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[little positive energy going]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-4353214985036040989</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Interesting week as the bottle for Samp;P 875 continues.  As Doug Kass said, it could be a a href="http://www.thestreet.com/newsanalysis/investing/10538860.html"summer snoozefest/a.  Although the market may not move much, there will be plenty to keep us interested.  Earnings are on tap and will get heavy late last week and especially the week after.  This should give us a clearer picture of the "real world economy."  Last quarter earnings came in better than expected due to major cost cutting (thus jobs numbers are weak), and lowered expectations.  This time around, it could be a little different.  Up until a week or so ago the "green shoots" trade was on and expectations were being raised.  The market took a step (dang jobs report) backward this week and reality could be a little more dim than previously anticipated.  I'm guessing that some earnings will be okay, and some will still be bad.  This plays into Kass' snoozefest thesis as this battle could keep stocks from moving much.br /br /My purchase of American Railcar gives me a little positive energy going into the weekend.  Although it wasn't a full position, it bounced nicely off its lows at 7.03 (I paid 7.05) to a close of 7.41.  Not bad for a couple of hours.  The bulls have protected 7.00 a few times and did again.br /br /I posted that one as well as all my trades real time on Twitter.  a href="http://twitter.com/Briskycapital"Go ahead an follow me/a to get the latest. br /br /Disclosure: Long ARII.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-4353214985036040989?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/end-of-week-wrap-up/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Look at Fuel Systems Solutions</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/a-look-at-fuel-systems-solutions/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/a-look-at-fuel-systems-solutions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:17:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[California]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canon PowerShot S400 / IXUS 400 Digital Camera;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cent;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Craig-Hallum Capital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy/fuels gain traction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[equipment manufacturers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flow control]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fuel Systems Solutions Fuel Systems Solutions Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fuel Systems Solutions Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FuelMaker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[high energy prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hydrogen fueling systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Original Equipment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sales with distributors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samsung 400PX 40 in. HDTV-Ready LCD TV;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Santa Ana;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Senate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sub-systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ulliFuel Systems Solutions Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yahoo]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-2848674359509555126</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fuel Systems Solutions Inc. (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=FSYS"FSYS/a) is in the whole alternative fuel/vehicle arena.  This is an interesting space to me right now as prices remain depressed, while the two main drivers for their business (1. Potential for conventional fuel prices to spike again, and 2. Alternative energy/fuels gain traction in Washington. (a href="http://briskycapital.blogspot.com/2009/07/nat-gas-act-introduced-in-senate.html"NAT GAS act has reached the senate/a)).  To me, these two are both there, and could very well both happen in a big way.  First, lets take a quick step back for a description of the company(this is all directly from Yahoo Finance):br /br /ulliFuel Systems Solutions, Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, and supply of alternative fuel components and systems for use in the transportation, industrial, and power generation industries. Its components and systems control the pressure and flow of gaseous alternative fuels, such as propane and natural gas used in internal combustion engines./liliThe company offers a range of gaseous fuel components, including fuel delivery—pressure regulators, fuel injectors, flow control valves, and other components to control the pressure, flow, and/or metering of gaseous fuels; electronic controls, such as solid-state components and proprietary software that monitor and optimize fuel pressure and flow for engine requirements; and gaseous fueled internal combustion engines. It also provides systems integration support to integrate the gaseous fuel storage, fuel delivery, and/or electronic control components and sub-systems; various ancillary components for systems operation on alternative fuels; and engineering and systems integration services./liliThe company supplies its products and systems primarily to automobile manufacturers, taxi companies, transit and shuttle bus companies, and delivery fleets through a network of distributors and dealers, as well as through a sales force that develops sales with distributors, original equipment manufacturers, and end-users./li/ulEarnings wise, they're estimated to make 1.37 in 2009 and 1.73 in 2010, while trading at 12x current year earnings, and 1.8x book value.  To me, they're being valued as a value play while earning like a growth company.  Last quarter, expectations had dropped and they really a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fuel-Systems-shares-jump-apf-15185161.html?x=1amp;.v=1"surprised to the upside/a:br /br /ulliShares of Fuel Systems Solutions Inc. jumped Friday, a day after it said first quarter earnings rose 15 percent and reaffirmed its 2009 sales expectations./liliFuel Systems reported a profit of $7.1 million, or 44 cents per share, in the first three months of the year, compared with $6.2 million, or 40 cents per share, for the same period in 2008./liliFirst-quarter revenue was $80.1 million, down from $94.6 million in the first quarter of 2008. The Santa Ana, Calif.-based company said the drop in revenue was due to lower demand in the market for industrial forklifts and a negative foreign exchange impact of about $9.8 million./liliAnalyst Robert Brown with Craig-Hallum Capital praised the company's recent decision to acquire FuelMaker, a manufacturer of natural gas and hydrogen fueling systems, for $7 million. Brown said Fuel Systems should meet or beat earnings of $2 a share in 2010./li/ulbr /This stock was on fire in 2008 as we saw that same perfect storm of high energy prices and political pressure for alternative energies (Pickens plan launched almost exactly one year ago).  I could see the same sort of thing happening again for Fuel Systems Solutions.  Stock wise, they had a pretty sizable share issuance (who didn't in the past two months?), which has hurt shares.  We have some time here before they report quarterly earnings, and I'm likely going to pick up some shares at these levels, and definitely if they sell off further.  Here are two charts (weekly and daily).br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/Sld-FaU26xI/AAAAAAAABGA/WN_kx58fgvU/s1600-h/FSYS1.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/Sld-FaU26xI/AAAAAAAABGA/WN_kx58fgvU/s400/FSYS1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356888913211747090" border="0" //aa onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/Sld-JZGz-cI/AAAAAAAABGI/dPg6MhuuZG0/s1600-h/FSYS2.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/Sld-JZGz-cI/AAAAAAAABGI/dPg6MhuuZG0/s400/FSYS2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356888981603875266" border="0" //abr /br /Disclosure: None.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-2848674359509555126?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/a-look-at-fuel-systems-solutions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Railroad Traffic Still Down</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/railroad-traffic-still-down/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/railroad-traffic-still-down/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:53:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ABC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[American Railcar;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bianna Golodryga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Burlington Northern]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canon PowerShot S400 / IXUS 400 Digital Camera;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Good Morning America;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grain-mill products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lone group]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reporter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samsung 400PX 40 in. HDTV-Ready LCD TV;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-3499425200144461999</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An important indicator to watch, if you want a true picture of the economy, is railroad traffic.  a href="http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109amp;sid=aPAQLQ0ebMQI"Warren Buffett also pays close attention to this/a.br /br /blockquoteBuffett follows this gauge more closely than any other index, Bianna Golodryga, a reporter for ABC’s “Good Morning America” program, said yesterday after she interviewed the billionaire investor. Its drop worries him, she reported./blockquotebr /br /Let's take a look at a href="http://www.aar.org/NewsAndEvents/PressReleases/2009/07_WTR/070909_Traffic.aspx"last weeks data/a:br /br /ulliThe Association American Railroads today reported that freight traffic on U.S. railroads continues to parallel the nation’s overall economic condition, as traffic remained down year over year for the week ended July 4, 2009. U.S railroads reported originating 241,240 cars, down 15.6 percent compared with the same week in 2008. Total volume on U.S. railroads for the week ending July 4 was estimated at 25.7 billion ton-miles, off 14.3 percent from the same week last year./liliRegionally, carloadings were down 11.1 percent in the West and 23.0 percent in the East. Intermodal volume of 169,290 trailers or containers was down 12.8 percent from the same week last year. Container volume fell 6.4 percent and trailer volume dropped 34.9 percent./liliEighteen of 19 carload freight commodity groups were down from last year, with declines ranging from 3.3 percent for coal to 72.4 percent for metallic ores. The lone group showing an increase was grain-mill products, which was up 4.3 percent./liliFor the first 26 weeks of 2009, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 6,806,892 carloads, down 19.2 percent from 2008; 4,816,358 trailers or containers, down 16.8 percent, and total volume of an estimated 723.7 billion ton-miles, down 18.3 percent./li/ulSpecifically, here are a few things from this report that jump out at me:br /br /-The declines is the West (11.1%) are less than half than that of the East (23%), which plays into the thesis I was looking for in investing in Western Railroads (Specifically BNI).br /br /-Coal only declined 3.3 percent, and grain-mill products actually gained 4.3 percent, while metallic ores dropped 72.4% (gulp!)br /br /Anyways, I'm looking out a little ways here, but its time to look hard at rail stocks.  If you wait for an economic recovery, these stocks will already have appreciated closer to full value.br /br /I'm specifically looking to buy Burlington Northern (BNI), and would like to start my position in the lower 60's if I can.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/Sld1O5ggRkI/AAAAAAAABFw/I3KecAOzUP4/s1600-h/bni.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/Sld1O5ggRkI/AAAAAAAABFw/I3KecAOzUP4/s400/bni.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356879180596266562" border="0" //abr /br /I also picked up some shares of American Railcar (ARII) today as well.  This is a little different story, and more of a deep value play (click on the American Railcar tag to see my analysis on this).  The bulls have seem to protected 7.00, so I bought some at 7.05.  I will add if it drops below 7.00.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/Sld1grb9IpI/AAAAAAAABF4/m18JUkrMz6U/s1600-h/ARII.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/Sld1grb9IpI/AAAAAAAABF4/m18JUkrMz6U/s400/ARII.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356879486056735378" border="0" //abr /br /There you have it.  I really think the market wanted to turn higher today, but the data has been weighing it down.  I wouldn't be surprised to see a move higher into the weekend.  875 continues to be a number to watch on the Samp;P, and as long as that holds, you should be okay on the long side.br /br /Disclosure: Long ARII.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3499425200144461999?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/railroad-traffic-still-down/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Update/What I&#8217;ve Been Looking to Buy</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/updatewhat-ive-been-looking-to-buy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/updatewhat-ive-been-looking-to-buy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:08:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Been Looking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canon PowerShot S400 / IXUS 400 Digital Camera;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General Growth Properties;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[saks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samsung 400PX 40 in. HDTV-Ready LCD TV;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Todd Sullivan]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-5863068596727393827</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Interesting market today as a few items on my watch list were moving lower.  I was tempted to pull the trigger on a few, and put some orders out there, but nothing filled.br /br /-Natural Gas inventories came in lighter than expected, and this helped move UNG higher.  Not adding to this unless it gets below 12.00br /br /-I saw Todd Sullivan and Doug F/wsmco.com bought some Saks (SKS), and considered some myself.  This stock seems to be quite volatile as it has the uncommon pairing of low share price and average daily volume.  Their same store sales came in better than expected, and Todd has done a nice job explaining their advantages over their peers.  a href="http://valueplays.blogspot.com/"Check out his blog for more info on Saks/a.br /br /-I had an order out at the end of the day to pick up more General Growth Properties (GGWPQ) but it didn't fill.  Just picking away at small positions.  This looks like it will take until next year to resolve, but will likely emerge from bankruptcy with some value for shareholders.img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Michael/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" /img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Michael/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.png" alt="" /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SlZQ0tb3m_I/AAAAAAAAA5s/Z0Wwhs8jehI/s1600-h/ggwpq.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SlZQ0tb3m_I/AAAAAAAAA5s/Z0Wwhs8jehI/s400/ggwpq.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356557673283689458" border="0" //abr /-American Railcar (ARII) is moving back toward 7.00, which is where I'd like to buy it.  This is less than half of book value, and they're siting on 14.00/share in cash.a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SlZRNpKaU0I/AAAAAAAAA58/VXwDMf0rjo8/s1600-h/ARII.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SlZRNpKaU0I/AAAAAAAAA58/VXwDMf0rjo8/s400/ARII.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356558101633454914" border="0" //abr /br /-RHI Entertainment (RHIE) is also moving lower, now below 2.50.  Very cheap stock. I'd love to get it below 2.00 if I can, but may pull the trigger on a starting position tomorrow depending on what action we see.br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SlZRA6sja4I/AAAAAAAAA50/Wcm_aBs0f_I/s1600-h/RHIE.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SlZRA6sja4I/AAAAAAAAA50/Wcm_aBs0f_I/s400/RHIE.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356557883001760642" border="0" //abr /br /The rest of my watch list consists of BNI, NWSA, NGAS, WMI, DO, DXO,br /br /Disclosure: Long UNG, GGWPQ,div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-5863068596727393827?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/updatewhat-ive-been-looking-to-buy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>NAT GAS Act Introduced in Senate</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/nat-gas-act-introduced-in-senate/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/nat-gas-act-introduced-in-senate/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:34:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boone Pickens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canon PowerShot S400 / IXUS 400 Digital Camera;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clean Energy Fuels Corp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy plan;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy-independence advocate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[federal agencies;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fuel Systems Solutions Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harry;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heavy-duty natural gas engine development/li/divbr /br]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[http]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Majority Leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Natural Gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas fueling infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas vehicle manufacturing facility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas vehicle projects/li liAllows]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas vehicles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas vehicles:br /blockquote liFor light-duty vehicle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas-fueled vehicles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural-gas vehicle;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Orrin Hatch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Menendez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Samsung 400PX 40 in. HDTV-Ready LCD TV;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Senate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[T Boone Pickens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-7706485927996058189</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Some interesting news as Boone Pickens continues to put pressure on Washington to come up with an energy plan.  a href="http://www.pickensplan.com/news/2009/07/08/nat-gas-bill-introduced-in-the-us-senate/"Legislation is now being discussed/a about a bill to promote use of vehicles that run on cleaner burning natural gas.br /br /ulliU.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) were joined today by energy-independence advocate T. Boone Pickens to tout new legislation that would boost vehicles that run on clean natural gas. The NAT GAS Act, introduced today by Menendez and co-sponsored by Reid and Hatch, would extend and increase tax credits for natural gas vehicles and refueling./li/ulpspan style="text-decoration: underline;"strongBackground on legislation/strong/span /p div class="entry"liExpands and modify the alternative fueled vehicle and refueling property tax credits as follows:/li blockquote liMakes all dedicated natural gas-fueled vehicles eligible for a credit equal to 80% of the vehicle’s incremental cost. Only some dedicated natural gas vehicles currently can qualify for an 80% federal tax credit /li liMakes all bi-fuel natural gas-fueled vehicles eligible for a credit equal to 50% of the vehicle’s incremental cost. This is the first time bi-fuel vehicles would be eligible for a federal tax credit /li liIncrease the allowable incremental cost limits to more accurately reflect the cost of producing or converting natural gas vehicles:br /blockquote liFor light-duty vehicle, the purchase tax credit cap would be increased by to $12,500 (currently $5,000) /li liFor all other vehicle weight classes, the purchase tax credit cap would be doubled/li /blockquote /li liIncreases the refueling property tax credit from $50,000 to $100,000 per station/li /blockquote liAllows the natural gas vehicle and natural gas fueling infrastructure credits to be transferred by the taxpayer back to the seller or to the lessor/li liAllows state and local governmental entities to issue tax exempt bonds in order to finance natural gas vehicle projects/li liAllows 100% of the cost of a natural gas vehicle manufacturing facility that is placed in service before January 1, 2015 to be expensed and to be treated as a deduction in the taxable year in which the facility was placed in service. This decreases to 50% after December 31, 2014 and is phased out by January 1, 2020/li liRequires that when complying with mandatory federal fleet alternative fuel vehicle purchase requirements, federal agencies shall purchase dedicated alternative fuel vehicles unless the agency can show that alternative fuel is unavailable or that purchasing such vehicles would be impractical/li liProvides for grants for light- and heavy-duty natural gas engine development/li/divbr /br /The largest hurdle to natural gas vehicles is the infrastructure.  If people are going to drive natural gas vehicles, they need to be able to re-fuel them.  But fleet vehicles and trucks, which represent a large amount of vehicles on the road, can be the first to change.  They drive similar routes in a predictable fashion, which is much easier to know where and when to re-fuel.br /br /There are a couple of companies working on this as well.  Pickens' own Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=clne"CLNE/a) is one, and Fuel Systems Solutions Inc. (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=fsysamp;="FSYS/a) is another.  Clean energy has been steadily getting contracts for fleet vehicles from various municipalities and companies.  Fuel Systems is heavily into components for alternative fuel vehicles, and was on fire last summer when gas prices spiked.br /br /These stocks are still largely tied to fuel prices, but the NAT GAS act will likely get the ball rolling for these companies to be less dependent on gas.br /br /Disclosure: Nonebr /br /Here are the charts:br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SlYCM7Es4EI/AAAAAAAAA5c/NOKAEtL7rxI/s1600-h/clne.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SlYCM7Es4EI/AAAAAAAAA5c/NOKAEtL7rxI/s400/clne.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356471227842879554" border="0" //aa onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SlYCYeURZSI/AAAAAAAAA5k/WvJMLgIhdgc/s1600-h/fsys.png"img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 382px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VQGtBvsQTCg/SlYCYeURZSI/AAAAAAAAA5k/WvJMLgIhdgc/s400/fsys.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356471426281989410" border="0" //adiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-7706485927996058189?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/nat-gas-act-introduced-in-senate/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>More Explanation on UNG</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/more-explanation-on-ung/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/more-explanation-on-ung/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:24:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael E. Brisky</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fatigue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FULL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael brisky]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas fatigue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Macro Trader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[www.twitter.com/briskycapital/a.br]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819581243324579563.post-2245607421571857143</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=aMsGGBsAxu2s"Here's a piece from Bloomberg/a detailing UNG's situation and the immense role it plays in the commodities market.  It's in informative price and worth checking out.br /br /For those suffering from natural gas fatigue, and I'm starting to feel like one of them, I'm looking harder a a few new purchases.  So expect more new content, and as always, I'll post my trades via Twitter as they're happening.  You can follow me on Twitter ata href="http://twitter.com/Briskycapital" www.twitter.com/briskycapital/a.br /br /Disclosure: Long UNGdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-2245607421571857143?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com'//div]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.straightstocks.com/investing-in-energy-markets/more-explanation-on-ung/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
