Lord William Rees-Mogg, driving force behind the biweekly Fleet Street Invest newlsetter, analyzes the current state of the dollar, the euro and the future of gold – and why it will always be an attractive, tangible asset.

Lord William Rees-Mogg (Fleet Street Invest UK): In the last six months there has been a rebound of 50% in the great majority of world stock markets.

There has also been a comparable rebound in the price of oil, with West Texas oil rising very close to $80 a barrel. In the oil market there has been heavy two-way trading in options. There could be a sharp spike in the oil price if speculators have to cover their positions.

At the same time the US dollar has remained weak, and now stands at $1.4886 to the euro and $1.66628 to the pound. This is close to a 14-month low on a trade-weighted basis. The

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Daimler (DAI) has started offering discounts for its micro-hybrid car, smart fortwo, in the U.S. in order to recoup its depressed sales. In the third quarter, Penske Automotive Group (PAG), which owns distribution entity for the smart fortwo in the U.S. through its 75 smart dealerships, saw a decline in smart USA wholesale to 3,401 units from 6,683 units in the prior-year quarter.   Last month, smart car’s sales fell more than two-thirds to 661 units in the U.S. It was also the lowest clocked for any month since the car’s debut in early last year.   Smart fortwo – the world’s most fuel-efficient and lowest CO2 emitting car – raised eyebrows in the U.S. with a fuel consumption tag of 36 miles per gallon at the time of its launch when petrol price hovered around $4 per gallon. However, it lost importance over time when the ...

Many investors often look to the larger oil and gas developers for a safe investment, and in a certain sense these types of companies are perhaps one of your more safe investments. Energy after all is always a need. There are, however, companies on the verge that may make better investments as they move forward with production and development plans. While some may look left at these more main-stream players, looking right for those companies that may be in the right place at the right time may be a bit more profitable. Care needs to be taken and research done, but if one picks wisely, profit will be there.

American Oil & Gas Inc., an oil and gas exploration company, works to explore and develop crude oil and natural gas deposits primarily in Colorado and Wyoming. The company holds natural gas interests through its American Tower Inc. subsidiary but is generally

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The graph below shows the historical relationship between the annual change in the oil price and the year-on-year change in the US Consumer Price Index. Should the oil price remain around current levels, the CPI is bound to rise markedly. It comes as no surprise that gold bullion and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, or TIPS, have been relatively solid performers over the past few months.

Source: Plexus Asset Management (based on data from I-Net Bridge)

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This post is a guest contribution by Dian Chu*, market analyst, trader and author of the Economic Forecasts and Opinions blog.

Last Friday, US crude oil futures finished above $78, the highest level in a year, surging more than 9% during the past week making it the largest weekly gain since the height of the summer driving season, even though the US continues to sit on ample supply of petroleum.

Given the continued sluggishness of the economy, high unemployment rate and large amounts of excess oil production capacity around the world, analysts said a sudden upward spike was still unlikely, while others are predicting an immanent correction down below $70.

However, if you take a closer look, it is evident that the current crude oil market is almost entirely detached from fundamentals. Furthermore, there are several factors supporting oil rising to new levels, as fundamentals are

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The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said yesterday (Thursday) that it would keep production quotas at 24.845 million bpd and urge members to adhere to targets, as global demand has yet to return in full.

However, a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicated that demand is recovering more quickly than previously thought, and that OPEC may be playing catch-up as the global recovery gathers steam.

The IEA increased its outlook for global oil demand by nearly 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) for 2009 and 2010, to 84.4 million and 85.7 million bpd respectively.

Perhaps the biggest reason for the increase was surging demand in China, where the Red Dragon’s $587 billion (4 trillion yuan) stimulus plan has resuscitated manufacturing and helped China grow into the world’s largest auto market.

China’s imports of oil hit a record high in July, soaring 18% from the month prior to 19.63 million metric

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Earlier this week, TAM S.A. (TAM) formed a partnership with Ipiranga and Wal-Mart Store Inc. (WMT) for its loyalty program network Multiplus Fidelidade. Ipiranga and Wal-Mart have customer loyalty and affiliation programs called Km de Vantagens and Bomclube, respectively.

Other than availing flights and tour packages with TAM Viagens, the tourism provider for TAM Airlines, Multiplus Fidelidade members will now be able to accumulate points by purchasing products and services at Ipiranga gas stations and by shopping at Wal-Mart stores. Members would also be able to redeem prizes at these partners' sales outlets.

Km de Vantagens and Bomclube will raise the customer base of Multiplus Fidelidade from 6 million members to nearly 12 million. Management believes that Multiplus will prove to be an efficient tool for establishing customer loyalty and retaining consumers at favorable costs for all the partners.

TAM is making use of every method to

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Chinese stocks plummet, worldly markets follow… what’s behind today’s sell-off… Dan Denning on taking profits in the twilight of the U.S. stock rebound… India reports better-than-expected GDP growth… why our Mumbai partners are still hesitant… Another compelling argument against U.S. banks… Dan Amoss serves the cold, hard data… Plus, signs of the times: American’s vote to throw the bums out while the free market backlash hits Hollywood…

China has once again set the tone for our Monday market forecast. Roll the videotape:

Chinese traders dumped shares early this morning after a popular magazine rumored that the booming Chinese loan market is cooling off. Caijing magazine guessed that the Chinese loaned about $29 billion in August, a 43% crash from July. While that number isn’t official, traders around the red nation raced for the exits. The Shanghai Composite closed down 6.7%, its worst day in

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The oil price is stubborn, like a two-year-old who refuses to eat his mashed peas. Despite all evidence that the market is well supplied, oil is over $70 a barrel again as I write. Taking the view out to the horizon, though, I think it will go higher and will drag the price of most commodities higher in its wake.

Part of the reason for the rise is weakness in the dollar. People often say that oil is denominated in dollars. But maybe it is the other way around; dollars are denominated in oil. A dollar is worth how much oil it can buy. Part of oil’s rise is simply marking down the value of the dollar. Weak dollar means higher oil prices.

People will blame the higher oil price on speculators, but something interesting is happening in the markets for minor metals like molybdenum. Prices are rising, too. The silvery metal,

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Chen Weidong, a Chinese oil services executive, has published a review of Michael Economides's book about Yukos and the Russian oil industry on Energy Tribune.  The excerpt below is not about Russia, but it was the most shocking part of Weidong's article.  Both Russia and China have avoided reforms to their state-owned energy sectors, posing some similar problems.

The revenue of ExxonMobil is more than the ones for CNPC, Sinopec and CNOOC, combined but the number of employees of those companies, combined, is 30 times more than ExxonMobil's. Oil price has become internationalized; the price of oil products in China is higher than in U.S., indicating low efficiency and perhaps lack of competition. We all hope to improve the efficiency, but we are still not clear how this can be done.

China's reliance on foreign oil is more than 50 percent and is increasing. However, our petroleum

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