In past natural resources posts, oil and gas exploration companies have been featured. They are generally smaller companies working to make their mark and achieve “going concern” status. These companies, however, are at the beginning of the food chain. They come in all shapes and sizes but operate to get the oil and gas to combust when and where it should. Understanding that these companies are just as solid for profit opportunity as the oil and gas exploration companies is not all that difficult. Finding them can be. An investor that can find a solid company capitalizing on oil and gas exploration is one that may also find profit.

Crosstex Energy L.P., a midstream natural gas company, works to transport, treat and market natural gas. The company currently services 4bcf of natural gas per/day with approximately 5,700 miles of pipeline, 12 processing plants, 4 fractionators and approximately 195 amine treating

...

Geo-political tensions are mounting in the global energy game. And that could make investing in oil right now the trade of the year, says Manraaj Singh. Buying shares of oil majors is a good move now. But Manraaj says quality mid-sized oil companies are best placed to return big profits in the next oil bull run.

This from Fleet Street Invest:

Israeli tanks have just rolled into Gaza…Almost three thousand miles away, Nigerian separatist blew-up an oil pipeline over the weekend…Meanwhile, Russia is locked in a dispute over the price of gas with Ukraine. Today they stopped deliveries of natural gas to Ukraine, Turkey and Europe to force the Ukrainians to pay up…

While fears about political instability drive the price of oil back up again, the OPEC oil barons are tightening the screws on global oil supplies…Oil was trading at just $35 per barrel on Christmas Eve. It’s over $50 this

...

CARBO Ceramics, Inc. (...

While most weightings in the index will slip from last year's rebalancing, some key commodities will get a bump. 

 

The Dow Jones - AIG Commodity Index, which serves as the underlying benchmark for several popular index mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, is going through its annual rebalancing.

While gasoline and natural gas will slip some from last year's weightings, crude oil's ranks will gain. So will wheat, copper and nickel, to name a few. 

Target weights for constituents to be implemented this month, spread over a five-day period ending at the close of business on Jan. 15, will be (compared to 2008 weightings):

Natural Gas: 11.89% (12.24%) Crude Oil: 13.75% (13.16%) Gasoline: 3.71% (3.78%) Heating Oil: 3.65% (3.82%) Live Cattle: 4.29% (4.89%) Lean Hogs: 2.39% (2.55%) Wheat: 4.79% (4.70%) Corn: 5.72% (5.66%) Soybeans: 7.59% (7.62%) Soybean Oil: 2.88% (2.81%) Aluminum: 6.99% (7.11%) Copper: 7.30% (7.04%) Zinc: 3.14% (3.03%) Nickel: 2.88% (2.79%) Gold: 7.86% (7.40%) Silver: 2.89% (2.72%) Sugar: 2.99% (3.19%) Cotton: 2.26% (2.48%) Coffee: 2.97% (3.00%)

 

Dollar touches fresh 3-week high versus the euro…  ETF Securities reports 2 pct rise in gold ETF holdings… Platinum, palladium rise to multi-week highs…

Gold fell more than 2 percent on Tuesday as a stronger dollar dented the precious metal’s appeal as a currency hedge, but the platinum group metals rallied as investors hunted for bargains.

Spot gold was quoted at $846.50/848.10 an ounce at 1444 GMT, down from $858.90 late in New York on Monday. However, it lifted off an earlier low of $838.55 as the dollar trimmed gains against the euro after a raft of U.S. data at 1500 GMT.

U.S. gold futures for February delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange were down $10.10 at $847.70.

VM Group analyst Matthew Turner said investors were looking to the currency markets for direction. “A lot of news on physical

...

In the energy market on Friday, oil initially dropped but then busted back to the upside, with crude for February delivery closing at $46.34/barrel, up $1.74 from the short Wednesday session and $7.31 from Tuesday. February reformulated gasoline gained 8 cents from Tuesday, to $1.1105/gallon.

Analysts cited a convergence of factors, including a Russian move to cut off natural gas to Ukraine, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and OPEC’s projected production cuts.

“A new mood has greeted the early days of 2009 and one that is not so gloomy,” said Phil Flynn, of Alaron Trading.

The Energy Department provided a boost, too, saying yesterday that it will take advantage of low oil prices to buy oil for the 727 million-barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and fill it in 2009. The energy agency said it has issued a solicitation to buy about 12 million barrels of crude oil for the

...

The mad rush to US Treasuries has driven yields down to measly levels. But Andrew Gordon says investors can find much better returns with Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). Better still, large-cap pipeline MLPs get their revenues from fees, and so are less exposed to wild swings in oil and gas prices.

This from Investor’s Daily Edge:

The chart below is only one month old. But in their recent flight toward safety, investors have driven the yield of the 10-year Treasuries down to 2.13 percent – below the three percent shown in the chart.

That rate doesn’t even keep up with the rate of inflation.

On the other hand, parts of the stock market are throwing up some hefty yields. Take a look at these…

...

Piedmont Natural Gas Co. (PNY) affirmed its forecast for fiscal 2009 today. The natural gas company also said that its fiscal 2008 earnings saw a 5.4% rise in profit, but were below the consensus estimate.

Piedmont earned FY08 EPS of $1.49. Revenue for the quarter came at $2.089 billion.

The company now sees earnings between $1.55 and $1.65 for the next year, while analysts are looking for a profit of $1.65.

Piedmont is a Zacks #3 Rank ("Hold") company.

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

Highlighted stocks include Textainer Group Holdings Limited (...

Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (FSYS) delivered a solid third quarter and saw analysts boost estimates. Earnings forecasts of $2.11 per share for the 2009 year are above the two months-ago projections of $1.74.

< ?DART(15);?> Company Description

Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. designs and manufactures supplies for alternative fuel components for both transportation and industrial uses. The company's products and systems allow regular cars to operate using either propane or natural gas. Fuel Systems was founded in 1958, carries a market cap. of $588.64 million and is headquartered in Santa Ana, California.

Recent Events

The company recently announced that its Italian operating subsidiary, MTM S.r.L., signed an agreement to acquire Distribuidora Shopping S.A. (DS), a privately held manufacturer of components and systems for the compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle market. Fuel Systems noted that the transaction is expected to close in January 2009.

Solid Results in the Third Quarter

In early November, the company

...