David Fessler, resident Energy and Infrastructure Expert at Investment U, reviews why the hard-hit transportation sector is both the obvious backbone to any economic recovery and how three key positions could be the backbone to portfolio recovery as well.

David Fessler (Investment U):

As the old saying goes, “You’re either a contrarian, or a victim.”

It just so happens that one of the savviest contrarians I know is my colleague, Louis Basenese.

And nobody takes that to heart more than Lou does. I’ve scratched my head in bewilderment on many occasions after reading one of Lou’s bold predictions – only to see his intuition prove uncanny time after time.

So today I’m stealing a page from the “Basenese Playbook” and taking a look at the severely battered transportation sector, one that pretty much everybody hates. However, I think, it’s not only about to come off life support, but perhaps

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Given all the news this week of Russia and Italy's South Stream deal with Turkey in exchange for a nuclear power plant, I thought I would repost an article written by Robert Amsterdam last fall in Energy Risk on Turkey's political pipelines.

FROM OCT. 2008, ENERGY RISK:

Turkey's political pipelines

Turkey's strategic position at the crossroads of East and West has put it at the centre of a geopolitical tug of war, with energy supply a key driver. Robert Amsterdam examines the energy policies being brought to bear in the region

Turkey's role in global affairs is defined by its geostrategic importance as the bridge between Europe and the Near East. Following Russia's invasion and occupation of Georgia in August, which caused considerable energy supply jitters, Turkey was once again thrust into the spotlight as the European

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I just couldn't resist the alliteration temptation. What we're looking at here is the broader directions that should result from next week's Obama-Medvedev powwow.

Former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski offers a three-pronged strategy in the Financial Times for President Obama when he travels to Moscow next week. In the July/August issue of Foreign Affairs, Robert Legvold offers a template for improving US-Russia relations in general. Since this is a blog, and not a newspaper or brick-sized bi-monthly periodical, I'm going to reverse engineer the formats of these two articles into what should be an easy reference in the future for those not willing to plow through a 6,000-word appeal to the Obama Administration to redesign relations with Russia NOW. First, Brzezinski:

Goal 1: Advance US-Russian co-operation in areas where mutual interests coincide. ...

China Ramps Up Oil Refining; Lowe’s Tops Forecasts; Toshiba Raising $3 Billion in Stock Sale; AIG Fast-Tracking Asian Subsidiary IPO; Obama Sets First Pollution Limits on Cars; Homebuilder Confidence Highest in 8 Months; State Street Sells $1.5 Billion in Stock to Repay TARP Funds; Oil Spikes on Africa Violence, U.S. Refinery Fire

China will increase its annual oil refining volume by 18% over the next two years to meet expected long-term demand. China’s State Council also said that it would boost stockpiles and encourage petro companies to merge operations, Bloomberg reported. Lowe’s Cos. Inc. (NYSE: LOW) reported an analyst-beating quarterly profit and raised its full-year forecast. The No. 2 home improvement retailer cited improving ...

Man, this has been such a wild week, Friday couldn't come soon enough. Let's look at some charts, starting with one we've been following all week -- the US dollar.The US dollar has definitely broken above that weekly downtrend. A pullback and test of that support wouldn't surprise me. This breakout opens the door for a rally in the dollar to the 80+ level.

And naturally, the rally in the greenback is kicking gold lower ... Gold could make a stand here. But the bullishness in the dollar tends to tell me that gold will go down to test that weekly uptrend I've marked as (2).

Now, let's look at the CRB Index, a broad commodity index (though it is weighted heavily toward energy) ... It is testing support as well. So, maybe this will bring a rally early next week. I

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A Moscow court has banned Robert Dudley, the TNK-BP joint venture’s chief executive, from working in Russia for two years. Dudley plans to continue managing the company from abroad. Some analysts maintain that the war is not about oil. New evidence reportedly “strongly suggests that Russia dropped bombs near oil and gas pipelines bringing fuel to the West.” BP has resumed exports of Azerbaijani natural gas through its South Caucasus pipeline across Georgia. Georgia’s pipelines remain vulnerable.

By Martin Hutchinson Contributing Editor Like it or not, with the invasion of Georgia, we have a new Cold War – as well as the profit opportunities that accompany such a conflict. International investors were able to make a lot of money during the “first” Cold War, so if any more politicians or TV commentators tell me they don’t want a return to those halcyon days, I shall scream. And since the situation in Georgia has effectively created a new Cold War status, it’s worth reviewing where the profit opportunities will be this time, and which countries the sensible, geo-strategically conscious investor will avoid – especially since Vladimir Putin looks a lot more dangerous than the sluggardly Leonid Brezhnev. Danger on the Inside You probably didn’t have much money in Georgia, Ukraine, or Kazakhstan, the three countries most immediately ...