As expected, U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers slashed a benchmark interest rate yesterday (Tuesday). But they cut it by a bigger-than-expected amount, and did so in an unconventional manner.

Instead of establishing a new, specific primary interest rate, the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted for a target range – 0.0% to 0.25% – a record low. Before yesterday’s cut, the Federal Funds target rate stood at 1.0%.

Instead of addressing the reason for its peculiar target range, the Federal Reserve opted for canned doomsday language that could have appeared verbatim in any of its previous rate cut announcements: It hasn’t been good. It doesn’t look good. And we’re trying to fix it.

Most cryptically, the FOMC said it “will employ all available tools” to promote economic growth and price stability. But those objectives could take some time to achieve.

“The committee anticipates that weak economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low

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Master Limited Partnerships are a useful investment for minimizing your tax bill says Jim Nelson. They are trusts mainly comprised of natural resource, financial services, and real estate assets. Jim picks five small-cap MLPs that should provide steady income without the burden of double taxation.

This from Penny Sleuth:

In the corporate tax world, one dreaded phrase reappears when you talk about dividends: “Double Taxation”. All incorporated companies are taxed on the income they make. The shareholders are taxed again on any dividend distribution they receive from the company. So the same income is taxed twice. But, there is a way around it…

Master Limited Partnerships, or MLPs, are nearly identical to royalty income trusts. The only difference between them is double taxation.

Regular trusts must pay taxes on income before it is distributed to shareholders. Those shareholders also have to pay taxes on the already-taxed income when they receive it. MLPs, on the

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The base metals were all flashing red again on Wednesday. Copper hit the skids in the late pre-dawn hours and fell through to mid-morning, after which it caught some buying, but not enough to return it to break-even as it finished at $1.5409/lb., down 4 1/3 cents.

Nickel declined pretty steadily straight through, closing at its intraday low of $4.0574/lb., down 14¾ cents. Zinc had a series of sharp ups and downs, ending with a loss of over three-quarters of a cent, at $0.5102/lb. Aluminum sagged continuously for a second straight day, settling at its intraday low of $0.7064/lb., down 3½ cents, while lead also plunged to its intraday low of $0.4368/lb., down 4½ cents.

Copper slipped to its lowest level since July 2005 on, no surprise, global economic concerns.

For a change, inventories monitored by the LME were off, but not by much. Stockpiles fell 250 metric tons on Wednesday, to

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President-elect Barack Obama yesterday (Monday) formally unveiled his economic team, including the nomination of New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy F. Geithner as the new administration’s U.S. Treasury secretary. The team’s first challenge will be assembling an economic stimulus package that could be even larger than the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) the Bush Administration has deployed.

The nomination of Geithner to succeed current U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. was leaked over the weekend, and was reported by Money Morning yesterday.

Geithner (pronounced: GITE-ner) obtained a Master of Arts degree in International Economics and East Asian Studies from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in 1985. He also has studied Japanese and Chinese and has lived in present-day Zimbabwe, India, Thailand and China.

As

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Now that oil and gas prices have retreated from unsustainable levels, oil and gas exploration and development companies have begun to step back and assess where their prospects for future development and profit lie. Some may sell percentages of leases while others may drill. Having data in hand to make longer term decisions will be a key element for smaller oil and gas companies going forward. Finding those companies, that have planned for the long haul, is the path to profit. Finding them is the trick.

Kodiak Energy Inc., a development stage oil and gas exploration company, works to develop and extract oil and gas primarily in the United States and Canada. The company is currently focusing its efforts on winter drilling opportunities in Canada.

Although the company has solid prospects in both the United States and Canada, it is currently focusing a majority of its effort on its “Lucy” northern British

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This letter was published in the Wall Street Journal today: For those of us who spent years analyzing war games during the Cold War, there is an appropriate response to Dmitry Medvedev's threat to place missiles in Kaliningrad ("Obama's Russia Test," Review & Outlook, Nov. 7), and that is to say: "Go ahead, we will not respond to your escalation." We have no aggressive intentions toward Russia and feel reasonably confident that the Russians are more intelligent than to have any against us. Such action by Russia would be a waste of funds and would further reduce its status in Europe, and also with China which termed the threat "unfortunate." We could also reiterate that if Russia wants to prevent our placing defensive missiles in Europe, it could use its influence to convince the Iranians to terminate their nuclear weapons program. Then we might reasonably conclude that an antimissile system in ...

Clean Energy Fuels is a supplier of natural gas as an alternative fuel across North America and designs, builds, finances, and operates fueling stations and supplies compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas. The company serves approximately 275 fleet customers operating 14,000 natural gas vehicles in public transit, refuse hauling, airports, taxis, seaports, and regional trucking markets. As of December 31, 2007, Clean Energy Fuels Corp. owned and operated 170 natural gas fueling stations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Washington, Georgia, Wyoming, and Canada.

Clean Energy Fuel was founded by billionaire T. Boone Pickens, who has made much of his fortune investing in energy markets. Investors should note the company’s shares suffered on Wednesday after California voters struck down a proposition that offered tax rebates to buyers of more fuel-efficient cars. California-based Clean Energy has maintained that the ballot initiative’s failure will not

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Trading on the NASDAQ Global Market, Comverge Inc. is a provider of clean energy solutions. They are a leading Demand Response and advanced metering company dedicated to providing the best technology and services to the electric utility industry. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, Comverge has offices in Duluth, Georgia; Newark, California; and Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

Comverge Inc.’s solutions improve grid reliability and supply electric capacity cost effectively. They accomplish this by reducing base load and peak load energy consumption. Formed from the Utility Solutions Division of Lucent Technologies and the Control Systems Division of Scientific Atlanta, the company has over 25 years of experience creating innovative demand response solutions and more than 15 patents in the field.

Comverge has more than 500 utility clients in the United States and approximately 4.5 million devices installed. Their “Pay for Performance” gives enterprises capacity that can reduce emissions, eliminate line losses, increase reliability, and

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The state of California has joined the bailout cue. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday warned Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson the state may need an emergency loan of as much as $7 billion from the federal government within weeks.

Encore Acquisition saw revenues soar 96% in the second quarter on the back of record crude prices. But even as crude prices have retreated, the company isn't a one quarter wonder. It has surprised on estimates 4 consecutive quarters by an average of 16.44%. Encore's forward P/E is 10.07.

Company Description

Encore Acquisition Company (EAC) is an exploration and production company which drills onshore in North America.

Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Encore's properties are located in the Rockies, which includes the Dakotas, the Mid-Continent, which includes Oklahoma, and the Permian Basin which includes New Mexico and Texas.

In early May, Encore announced it was putting itself up for sale but in August, according to the Associated Press, the company said it was no longer looking to merge or be bought but instead would work to pay down its existing debt.

Encore Reports Record Revenues for the

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