Editor's Note:
This past Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey released its long-awaited study on the Bakken oil formation.
The Bakken, according to the report, is the largest "continuous" accumulation of oil ever studied by the USGS. Its assessment estimates 3.6 to 5.3 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil in the formation.
But what the USGS study doesn't include are the massive reserves already discovered... and currently being drilled... as well as the rest of the formation that stretches into Saskatchewan.
The Bakken story is far from over.
We believe the Bakken provides an unprecedented investment opportunity, but the chance to get in early is dwindling.
You can read more about the Bakken by visiting www.energyandcapital.com/bakken.
We've also put together a light-hearted video about this behometh oil formation, and urge you to check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou_aFtvGGhM. You can also visit www.youtube.com and search: bakken oil.
Good investing,
Brian Hicks
Publisher, Energy and Capital
------------
Today's Gold World
Welcome to Gold World's new weekend review. Each week we'll take a look at the week that was and what's ahead, along with what you may have missed from our free sister sites, Energy and Capital, Wealth Daily, and our free blogs. Enjoy.
---------
It'll take more than news that the International Monetary Fund plans to sell gold to bring down the price of gold. Sure, the IMF wants to sell 12%, or 403.3 tons from its 3,217.3 ton reserve to raise about $6 billion, and help make up for a $140 million budget shortfall.
But demand for gold is strong. With tight supply and heavy demand, jewelers and investors alike will be lined up to take it off IMF hands. Gold mine production, say reports, are failing to keep up with demand. It's all part of the reason gold prices have quadrupled in seven years.
Still, the sale is far from being a done deal. The DC-based organization needs Congress, which holds 17% of IMF voting rights with veto power, to approve the deal. But even with approval, it's not as if the IMF will suddenly dump 403.3 tons on the market. That'd be a concern, but unlikely.
Consider this if you're hesitant buying gold.
Global gold production fell to 10-year lows of 2,444 metric tons in 2007, according to reports. We're likely to see more declines this year. All the while, petrodollars are buying up gold. Middle East demand for gold is up 30%. Dubai gold sales are up about 24% to $2.6 billion. And in Saudi Arabia, gold demand was up more than 15% to 120.2 metric tons.
Take that into consideration, and buy more gold here. With the Fed expected to cut rates again, we'll have a weaker dollar, which will support higher priced gold. Plus, we're likely to see a steady migration toward the safe havens of gold, give a recession that Greenspan just admitted to.
Greenspan Admits to Recession
Months after claiming 33% chance of recession, and just days after claiming 50% chance, former Fed chief Alan Greenspan admitted that a recession has begun.
Interestingly, the comment comes days after telling the Spanish El Pais:
"The US had not yet entered the recessionary state which would be marked by sharp falls in orders, strong rises in unemployment and intensive weakening of the economy."
Even the International Monetary Fund said the "US economy is likely in a ‘modest recession' and will stagnate through much of 2009 as housing prices slide further and credit conditions remain difficult."
Again, consider buying gold here on the cheap. $1,000... even $1,200 gold isn't out of the question. Even London-based GFMS Ltd is predicting $1,100 by this year or early 2009 on the heels of the credit crunch.
Better still, on the expectation of higher gold prices, here's what the SC Trading Pit team is about to issue a screaming buy on, on any further gold pullbacks.
Take care,
Ian L. Cooper
P.S. After watching post-IPO MasterCard run from $43 to more than $200, we knew the Visa IPO was too good to pass up.
In a market virtually frozen by credit and bank woes, and tumultuous economic uncertainty, here was a company that would soon put an end to pent-up salivating investor demand for any company not suffering from credit issues.
But unless you had friends on the inside, there was no way to buy pre-IPO, which means that most investors missed the opening day run from $55 to $69.
Not to worry, though. With our "Backdoor Profit Play on Visa's Initial Public Offering", we watched as First Trust IPOX-100 Index (FPX) jetted from a $20.50 low to more than $23.22.
Investors that followed the recommendation are up more than 13% in only 22 trading days. And the run has just begun.
But gains like this are nothing new for SC Trading Pit. Despite extreme market volatility, and wild price swings, the team recommended buying and selling shares of "blood in the streets" favorite, MF Global, for 64% gains in 11 days, and 55% gains in a single day.
In six days, he recommended buying and selling American Express put options for 21% gains.
In only nine days of trading, he's up 11% on a favored Taiwan stock... And the Taiwanese stock run, the SC Trading Pit team tells me, is just beginning.
---------
For the week of April 7, 2008, here's what we covered in Gold World and elsewhere.
Skyrocketing Food Prices and the Commodity Crunch: Grain's Gains: Profits or Pains?
In Part 1 and Part 3 of my last series of articles, I discussed the way that commodities have been the hot sector for institutional investors seeking a safe haven against a falling dollar and a loss of faith in the stock markets. Today, I want to take a closer look at the reasons why this sector has been--and still is--the place to be.
Investing In Silicon Suppliers: The Secret Side of Solar, Part One
It is often overlooked that the raw material supply sector of the solar industry can be just as profitable as the companies that make the end product. I'm talking, of course, about polysilicon and the various stages it goes through before becoming a module, or the panels we see on roofs.
IMF Gold Sales: The International Monetary Fund Plans to Sell 400 Tonnes of Gold to Help Offset a $400 Million Deficit in their Budget this Year
Many are speculating that the IMF gold sales will drastically push gold prices lower and by extension help the US dollar recover. But this tactic has been tried before with little success.
Cleantech Investments: Profiting from the Transformation of Beantown to Greentown
While ‘going green' may not currently conjure up the same financial giddiness as the discovery of a giant new oil field, it should.
ETF Investments: 4 Simple Rules to ETF Profits
In fact, as we discussed last week, 2008 may well go down as the year of the exchange-traded fund (ETF). ETF investments have become the tool of choice lately for those looking for an easy way to diversify their portfolios without buying into a mutual fund. In fact, the demand for ETF's has become so great that the number of ETFs in the United States has grown by 48% in the last year. To date, there are now 703 of the funds sold by 30 companies.
The Truth About the Bailout: The Only Cure is the Free Market
It's from the Neil Cavuto show and it is a great follow up to Tuesday's post on the insane mortgage bailouts that are working their way through Congress. Cavuto's guest is Nicole Gelinas from the Manhattan Institute, a free-market think tank in New York. Nicole absolutely nails the complete idiocy of all of these plans, explaining to Neil exactly why they just won't work.
Mark these Words: I agree with Cramer...
Congress, according to Cramer, wants to give a $6 billion tax rebate to some of the United States' biggest homebuilders, a group that's partially responsible for today's housing mess. But that's what happens when homebuilders threaten to withhold political contributions after being left out of the stimulus package.
What Wall Street has been trying to hide
Months after claiming 33% chance of recession, and just days after claiming 50% chance, former Fed chief Alan Greenspan admitted that a recession has begun. Interestingly, the comment comes days after telling the Spanish El Pais: "The US had not yet entered the recessionary state which would be marked by sharp falls in orders, strong rises in unemployment and intensive weakening of the economy."
Subscribe to