Commodities: Look Before You Leap
Source: morningstar.co.uk  (7/17/08)
As worrisome signs about inflation and the strength of the global economy have been dragging down the broad market, commodities, energy, and basic-materials securities have been a rare bright spot. For the five years ended 16 July, the S&P/GSCI Commodity Index gained 16% per year on average, versus a 9% gain for the FTSE All Share and a 6.7% rise for MSCI World. More >

Wall Street Firms Eye "Green" Banking
Source: Reuters, UK  (7/17/08)
The roiling credit markets didn't affect global investments in clean energy last year -- they grew 41 percent in 2007 to $117 billion, according to New Energy Finance, a research firm. And the firm predicted that 2008 is going to be another "banner" year. More >

Add Some Wind to Your Portfolio with PowerShares Global Wind Energy
Source: Seeking Alpha  (7/16/08)
Early this month, PowerShares introduced its own alternative energy ETF, the PowerShares Global Wind Energy Portfolio (PWND), giving investors an option to invest in another fast-growing alternative energy source. More >

Commodities Companies in Emerging Markets Remain Attractive
Source: Mineweb.com  (7/15/08)
Dr Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management, said in a market commentary commodities will remain an investment theme on the back of continued demand from emerging markets and relatively inelastic supply, although prices may come off their peaks. "Thus, commodity companies should remain profitable and constitute attractive investment opportunities," he said. More >

Is Uranium's Bear Market Over?
Source: Mineweb.com  (7/14/08)
Analysis of portfolio flows over the past month or so shows that investors have increasingly been switching selected funds into listed uranium stocks, suggesting that sentiment towards the beleaguered sector may have turned. Just a month ago, specialist analysts at RBC Capital Markets warned that the-then spot market price level for uranium "will likely have far reaching implications if it remains at such low levels for too long. More >

Clean Energy Looks Buoyant in 2009
Source: Business Intelligence, Middle East  (7/13/08)
...The US Department of Energy guarantees up to US$18.5 billion in loans for nuclear power facilities, and up to US$2.5 billion for advanced front-end nuclear technology including uranium enrichment. A third solicitation is expected this summer for guarantees on US$8 billion for advanced fossil energy projects. More >

Uranium Price Set for Two-Year Recovery
Source: miningmx.com  (7/11/08)
"Right now, demand is ticking up a fair amount on the spot market driven by speculators," said Gene Clarke, CEO of TradeTech. "The utilities are waiting and I think they will pile in when the price gets up, when they see it moving up three to four weeks in a row. "It may be a signal this is as low as it is going to get for now and they may go in and buy", he said. More >

Commodities Are Strong, But Which Ones Are Strongest?
Source: Frank Holmes, U.S. Global Investors, Mineweb.com  (7/10/08)
Do you know which of the commodities have done the best since 1999 and 2007? The answer, by a wide margin, is crude oil. For anyone who drives a car, this should come as little surprise. The price of crude went up nearly 700 percent between the beginning of 1999 and end of 2007. More >

And the Oil Derby's Off...Way Off
Source: Brad Zigler, Seeking Alpha  (7/10/08)
Crude oil inventories dropped a whopping 5.9 million barrels last week, stunning traders who'd expected a drawdown of only 1.4 million barrels. According to the Energy Department, oil inventories still remain well below seasonal averages. More >

Uranium Comes Back into the Investment Spotlight
Source: Stockhouse.com  (7/9/08)
While gold, copper, molybdenum, and other commodities have dominated the headlines, uranium has been sitting quietly in the background. No more, says Mr. Grant Campbell, writing in Investor’s Digest of Canada. It is now time to buy and hold the best uranium stocks, he says. More >

Is There a "Best Way" to Invest in Wind Power?
Source: Seeking Alpha  (7/9/08)
...it’s good to see wind getting more media exposure and 'hype' if you will. In addition, as investors, we've got to be playing it. I've said all along to spread your bets across all alternative energy classes, to cover your bases. Because in the end, there's no real way to know which ones will be prominent 20 to 30 years from now. If you're looking for a direct way to play wind, you could simply go through the new FirstTrust Global Wind Energy ETF (FAN)... More >

Nuclear Power's Second Coming Will Lead to Uranium Boom
Source: Seeking Alpha  (7/9/08)
...The best way to play the future nuclear boom is to look to the most integral suppliers for the production of nuclear power: the uranium producers. The uranium producers' stocks right now have bargain basement prices and they stand to profit immensely in the coming years as nuclear production begins to ramp up... More >

Has Oil Finally Choked Itself?
Source: Mineweb.com  (7/8/08)
Benchmark crude oil futures punched decisively through USD 140 a barrel on Tuesday, amid a sea of news signalling that the world's leading energy raw material was inflicting serious damage on economies, profits and consumers. The leaders of the Group of Eight largest economies said in a statement that soaring oil and food prices pose a "serious challenge" to world economic growth... More >

Coal's Perfect Storm Morphs into a Robust Price Trend
Source: Mineweb.com  (7/8/08)
Although coking and thermal coal prices soared by 200% to 300% this year in response to a perfect storm of short-term events including Queensland, Australia, floods, coal export bans in China, and the South African energy crisis, Citigroup forecast Monday that coal prices will remain robust. More >

High Commodity Prices Boon for Pensions
Source: UPI.com  (7/7/08)
Record prices for commodities -- among them, oil, precious metals, corn and uranium -- are luring pension investments and helping to drive up prices, analysts told the Washington Post.

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Commodities Outperform Equities by 40% in 2008 First Half
Source: Mineweb.com  (7/4/08)
Among the commodities and baskets of commodities to which ETF Securities provides exposure, ETFS Natural Gas was the best performer in the first half... More >

Pluses and Minuses for Uranium Prices
Source: Mineweb.com  (7/4/08)
In a sign that the spot uranium market may at last be beginning to turn, the latest report from Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets analysts points out that the spot uranium price has recovered by $2 in the past week to $59 a pound, although the term price for uranium, which is the price most of the utilities pay, has fallen by $10 to $80 a pound - the first such fall reported for an awfully long time. More >

Scorched Earth Economy
Source: David Galland, Casey Research  (7/3/08)
Whatever you do, donʼt be complacent at this point. If we are right, then the economic crisis will soon head into its next and most dangerous stage. Certainly, we should feel the heat, and maybe worse, by the end of the year. Therefore, at the very least, youʼll want to take measures now to protect yourself.

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Credit Crunch Taking Toll on Canadian Junior Explorer IPOs
Source: Mineweb.com  (7/3/08)
Even though interest in exploration-stage junior company IPOs is shrinking, Tom Whelan, Ernst & Young Canadian mining industry leader, does forecast continued IPO demand for mining companies at or near the production stage. "The credit crunch has really hit the grassroots exploration phase of the IPO market hard, and so many are ripe for takeovers," Whelan noted. "We're anticipating many more mining mergers and acquisitions in the second half of this year." More >

Why Isn't Natural Gas at $19.50 per Mcf?
Source: redorbit.com  (7/3/08)
It is easy to deliver oil to almost any market. This is not true of gas - the infrastructure for transporting gas is less developed and has a higher starting hurdle. This is also true of the infrastructure for the end user, who has to be tied to the gas pipe. More >

Oil and the Futures Market
Source: Seeking Alpha  (7/3/08)
...there should be little contention that the commodity index funds raise futures prices, since buying, holding, and rolling over futures is what they are mandated to do... More >

Sharp Correction in Coal Prices Hits Listed Stocks
Source: Mineweb.com  (7/3/08)
A sharp correction in spot coal prices yesterday spread like a contagion across the world, triggering heavy profit taking in listed coal stocks, and then spreading into other resources sub-sectors. Nothing in coal's fundamentals has changed in the past few days, but spot prices had moved into frothy areas and were vulnerable to a blow off. More >

Oil Demand May Be Victim of Its Own Success
Source: MarketWatch  (7/2/08)
"Looking at the first six months of 2008, we have seen the most volatile period in the history of oil markets," said Charles Perry, president of Perry Management, an energy-consulting firm. More >

Coal ETF: Dirty, Sexy Money
Source: TheStreet.com  (7/1/08)
"It has been one of my favorite areas of the market for three years now," says Frank Husic, chief investment officer of Husic Capital Management. "It's the short-term answer to our energy problem because it is something that we have a lot of. The U.S. is the Saudi Arabia of coal." More >

Wind Is Blowing Strong Right Now
Source: Hard Assets Investor, Seeking Alpha  (7/1/08)
Wind power is widely seen as the alternative energy source that's closest to prime time. Wind can compete head-to-head on a cost basis, without subsidies, with most other kinds of electrical generating power. More >