Here at "A Dash" we often comment about the market, and sometimes about individual stocks.  We always pay attention to market sectors.  A sector approach helps one to find what is working, even in a range-bound market. We study sectors continually, looking at the charts and ratings of hundreds of ETF's.  Each week we provide a list of our top-rated sectors for the next thirty days, along with some of our current observations.  ETF investors can check out the list and compare our findings with their own conclusions. In our analysis, we consider Trends, Cycles, and a bit of Anticipation.  Since we apply the model to nearly 300 ETF's, we call it the TCA-ETF system.  (For new readers, there is a more complete description of our methods at the end of the article.  We also have a free report with more detail on ...

Recently, I had the unique opportunity to tour two different oil sands operations near Fort McMurray, in northern Alberta. I saw a massive open-pit oil sands mine, and the associated reclamation effort, operated by Syncrude Canada Ltd. I also visited an in situ oil sands recovery project called Surmont, operated by ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP).

The trip was sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute (API), which paid for the airfare and accommodations. Managers at both Syncrude and ConocoPhillips granted me access to any parts of their operations I wanted to see (within allowances for safety). And everyone answered any and all questions I asked.

Post-trip, I have complete editorial freedom to write about what I saw and learned. And I learned a lot. So this is Part I of a two-part series. Watch for Part II.

The Past and Future of Oil and Oil Sands

The first thing that struck me about visiting

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Yesterday, Mexico's state oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos – also known as Pemex, said it is looking for contractors to drill 200 oil wells in the country's southern district as part of its efforts to offset declining output at existing wells. According to information released, drilling is scheduled to start in early October and last for 3 years.

Pemex has vowed to stick to its $20 billion capital expenditure target for this year, despite the sharp deterioration in the macro backdrop during the last few quarters (anemic demand coupled with growing supply overhang) and the resultant weakness in commodity prices.

The ambitious investment program has provided opportunities for oil services companies at a time when they are reeling from heavy exposure to the North American market.

Pemex confirmed that international oilfield service providers, including Halliburton Company (HAL), Schlumberger Limited (SLB), Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) and Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR)

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I had the unique opportunity to tour two different oil sands operations near Fort McMurray, in northern Alberta. I saw a massive open-pit oil sands mine, and the associated reclamation effort, operated by Syncrude Canada Ltd. I also visited an in situ oil sands recovery project called Surmont, operated by ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP).

When we think about the concept of ’Peak Oil’ today, we need to keep in mind what we’re talking about. The curves show oil output peaking in so many parts of the world. This phenomenon is quite real, as long as you understand that it’s the light, sweet, easy-flowing oil that is getting harder and harder to find, certainly in significant quantity.

But there are a lot of other hydrocarbon molecules out there. Most of those molecules are not light, sweet crude oil. Indeed, most of the hydrocarbon molecules that the world will use in the future will be

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Government budget hits all-time insanity… record monthly, year-to-date deficits… “Cash for clunkers” helps GM, but not economy… July retail sales stage surprise fall… Fed plans exit strategy, ends bond buys… why the FOMC is still not helping you… Byron King’s crude reality: How Canada could be the next Saudi Arabia…

It’s official: Our government ran a record $180.7 billion over budget in July, the Treasury Department said today. That’s just a bit over Wall Street expectations and just under the Congressional Budget Office estimate we reported Monday. Thus the government tab so far this fiscal year is a record $1.27 trillion, not the record $1.3 trillion the CBO guessed earlier this week. Phew… what a relief.

A few more scary details:

The budget deficit is still on track to exceed $1.8 trillion by October, the end of the fiscal year. That would be four times last year’s record budget July spending rose to over ...

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 ...

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 ...

Found an update on the US natural gas rig count a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssEnergyNews/idUSN028762620090702"via Reuters/a.br /br /ulliThe number of rigs drilling for natural gas in the United States unexpectedly rose again, the second gain in seven months, according to a report on Thursday by oil services firm Baker Hughes in Houston./liliThe report showed U.S. gas drilling rigs edged up 1 to 688 this week, still 851 rigs, or 55 percent, below the same week last year, when there were 1,539 gas rigs operating./liliTighter 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./liliBut, with the natural gas drilling rig count below 700, most analysts expect to see year-on-year output declines soon, which should help tighten the overall supply-demand balance./li/ulThis hits on the important short-term factors for gas. Supply is ...

Fed sees the bright side… Bernanke says worst it over, inflation not a worry… Warren Buffett can’t see any green shoots… even after eye surgery… Alan Knuckman on how to survive a sideways stock market… Byron King says now’s a good time to book profits on this sector… Housing still out of whack… one chart foreshadows the market’s next move…

Take two days off and look what happens… the recession has bottomed.

At least that’s what “they” would have you believe. While we locked ourselves in our bimonthly editorial meeting the last two days, we missed some new “the worst is over” calls. Here’s the rundown: “The pace of economic contraction is slowing,” declared the Federal Open Market Committee yesterday after emerging from a two-day meeting of their own. Even though Mr. Bernanke and his brood say, “economic activity is likely to remain weak for a time,”

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Nuclear energy is top of the agenda for Vladimir Putin's visit to Japan; coinciding with the official visit, Japan Oil, Gas & Metals National Corp. and Russia's Irkutsk Oil Co., have come to an agreement on a two-field joint venture in eastern Siberia.  The Moscow Times suggests caution when it comes to the current high oil prices, suggesting crude reached $57 a barrel on optimism alone: 'Anybody in the oil industry will tell you that the price of oil is too high right now.'  U.S. oil services company Baker Hughes Inc. would beg to differ, saying the rise in oil prices is 'good news for the industry and clearly this means more activities are going to occur as the oil price continues to go up'.  As part of its energy drive, South Korea has made a deal ...