The following poem was cut from the top of my MoneyandMarkets.com column (A style=FONT-WEIGHT: bold href=http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/3-stock-ing-stuffers-2-289703 Stock-ing Stuffers/A,) today ...brbrEMTwas the eve before Christmas,brand all through the nightbrSean’s mind was whirring,brWith stocks that could ignite/EMbrbrPoetry is subjective, and everyone's a critic.brbrBefore we get to the serious stuff, A href=http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/brokerjoe_2008.pdfSTRONGhere's some/STRONG/A Christmas cheer (and humor) from the A href=http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/brokerjoe_2008.pdfSTRONGWall Street Journal./STRONG/A Click through for a laugh.brbrNow then ...brbrA href=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087sid=aFgHlh.Dn4Lcamp;refer=homeSTRONGWill the Japanese Launch a 'Marshall Plan' to Save the US?/STRONG/AbrThe dollar may lose as much as 40 percent of its value to 50 yen or 60 yen from the current spot rate of 90.40 today in Tokyo unless Japan takes “drastic measures” to help bail out the U.S. economy.brThe Japanese government could use a new Marshall Plan as a chance to shrink its $976.9 billion in foreign-exchange A href=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=JNFRTOTL%3AIND t_delay=50 t_width=110 t_bgcolor=#ddedd9 t_fontface=Verdana,sans-serif t_fontcolor=#000000 t_static=true t_above=trueSTRONGreserves/STRONG/A, the world’s second-largest after China’s, and ...

Don’t expect oil prices to remain at these low levels for long, says Byron King. Demand weakness for crude is temporary. And oil-producing nations cannot sustain their own economies unless oil prices are close to $100 a barrel. Byron says it could be time for investors to slowly build up a position in oil service stocks.

This from Whiskey & Gunpowder:

Along with the market decline, the price of oil has fallen. It’s down 50% within three months. Back when oil hit $147 per barrel in July, I said that the price “ought” to be in the range of $100-110, with the possibility of a drop into the $90s. That’s what the fundamentals told me back then.

Most of the decline in oil price from $147 down to about $100 was directly related to the strengthening of the dollar. So the oil price slide in July, August and

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When people ask me if I think crude oil is going to $50 or $150, I nod sagely and say: “Yes, probably.” I’m not being flip. I’m simply giving both the short-term and the long-term timeframes. Short-term, crude oil is probably heading lower, even though it’s nearly 60% off its highs. The last chance to hold the line on oil prices was at OPEC’s emergency meeting. And the oil cartel choked like a cat on a hairball. They cut 1.5 million barrels per day of production when they needed to cut about 3 million barrels per day. The OPEC meeting was the last obstacle in the way of deflationary forces that are driving oil prices lower in the short-term. Long-term, there are forces that should drive oil much higher. And one of ...

Hedge Funds & Investment BanksHedge Funds | The New Investment BanksAre hedge funds the new investment banks? I think so. They will not take over all investment banking activities or all traditional banking activities but they are taking away market share from the investment banks within many arenas including private lending. I've seen a large increase of inquiries coming to me through my site from commercial real estate, patent portfolio, land development and private corporations seeking capital from hedge funds because they can no longer access it through their regular bank sources. Here is an article excerpt on this topic:An unprecedented cash crunch is choking the ability of banks to lend and creating an opportunity for hedge funds to launch, or ramp up corporate lending facilities, Reuters reports.Companies that have relied on bank ...

Western Standard Energy Corp., (OTCBB: WSEG) has hired Tim Turner as vice-president of its Land division. Starting at Exxon in 1980, Turner’s career spans 28 years through upstream oil and gas and business consulting services in Texas, throughout the United States, and internationally. He worked for Exxon Company, in New Orleans, La., and for Phillips Petroleum in Houston, Texas.

For the last 13 years, Turner, a certified Landman, has led the oil industry-consulting firm, Tim Turner & Associates, LLC. Clients there include Gazprom, Pemex, PDVSA and Saudi Aramco, as well as other major, independent and international oil and gas producers.

“We plan to expand the business through joint venture partnerships, developing our vast portfolio of exploration assets in Montana and North Dakota, and through the acquisition of producing assets,” said Dan Bauer, Western Standard president and CEO. “Tim’s knowledge and experience on the business side will prove to be invaluable in that

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As equities commence the dramatic Autumn slump I've been anticipating in recent weeks, it is uninspiring to witness the standard of political debate in the US Presidential election. It seems neither candidate is aware, or at least willing to articulate, the tectonic shifts taking place in global financial power which threaten to severely limit the room for manoeuvre of any future administration, not only economically, but diplomatically and militarily as well. We hear references to Iran and Russia as geopolitical challenges, but nobody is talking yet about a bigger threat right on America's doorstep, the potential implosion of the Mexican state. There are two pressing issues that are putting intolerable stresses on the Mexican economy and society; the first is the huge escalation in drug related violence and corruption, as US support for the Colombian war on drugs has displaced Cartel activity into Mexico, now the primary base for ...

I have to admit it: When it comes to investing in such emerging markets as Latin America, I’m generally a cynic. It’s partly because of my experiences as a young banker there in 1979-82. But I’m just as troubled by the mad optimism that goes around Wall Street every time some even remotely plausible government comes to power and takes over somewhere in that region. One such example: Argentina in 1991-95. I find myself saying: “Guys, you know the place has defaulted every 10 years since the 1930s, so what makes you think it will be different this time around? Make them prove it!” In Argentina’s case, just as I expected, the new regime didn’t “prove it,” and defaulted again in 2001. There’s a message there: Don’t get seduced by the “recovery” of the last few years. Much of Latin America always does well in commodities ...

$45 trillion needed to combat warming- The world needs to invest $45 trillion in energy in coming decades, build some 1,400 nuclear power plants and vastly expand wind power in order to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to an energy study released Friday.More on this story HERE.Mexico sees lower oil exports for 2008 Pemex Chief Executive Jesus Reyes Heroles said the state-run company's oil exports were headed for an average of 1.40 million to 1.45 million barrels per day over 2008, around 15 percent below a goal set in Mexico's 2008 budget of 1.683 million bpd. The estimation is also well below an average export level of 1.686 million bpd in 2007.Crude Oil Rises a Second Day on Supply Concerns, Dollar Outlook ``People are really responding to longer-term supply issues,'' said John Vautrain, vice president at consultants Purvin & Gertz Inc. in Singapore, in an interview with Bloomberg Television. ``Every time we hear good news ...