Global Energy - Energy and Capital

Huge Oil and Gas Discovery

While the Middle East may have a reputation for instability and occasional violence, there's no denying the vast riches it has to offer patient investors.

Just months after the announcement of $1 trillion worth of minerals in Afghanistan comes word of oil discoveries in Israel...

Why the BP Disaster Could Multiply Your Money 5 Times by Next Year

As millions of gallons of oil pour into the Gulf, there remains only one smart oil play on the market today...

And this FREE report details exactly what that is.

This rare opportunity to turn one company's terrible mistake into a massive profit opportunity is now available for a short time.

508% gains could be yours by this time next year — and all the details are available right here.

Israel may finally be able to tell its Middle Eastern neighbors where they can stick their oil — something the United States has wanted to do for years.

In one of the most sought-after parts of the world, 4.3 billion barrels of oil could be sitting in the Leviathan project beneath the Mediterranean, according to Noble Energy (NBL) and Israeli partner Delek (DGRLY.PK).

And that's in addition to 1.5 billion barrel estimates for Rosh HaAyin, just east of Tel Aviv...

Israel — heavily reliant on imported oil, producing just 4,000 barrels a day with 250,000 barrel per day demand — couldn't be happier.

Well, unless you also tell them that Leviathan could hold another 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas on top of the eight trillion cubic feet of natural gas found in nearby Tamar...

Could Israel become a major exporter with these finds? Possibly...

Is there high probability of it joining OPEC with Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia? Probably not...

But it does mean Israel could be within reach of the American “energy self-sufficiency” dream. As Israel is on its way to energy independence, it's most likely stirring anger among the oil hoarders of the Middle East.

But really, who cares what Middle Eastern countries think anyway?

Why patience will pay off

Israel just found one of the biggest natural gas discoveries in history and oil fields to boot. Meanwhile, we haven't even mentioned the Givot Olam onshore discovery, where 1.5 billion barrels of oil may be waiting.

Heck, if all goes well, the country could become an oil and gas exporter... see a spike in employment... and watch as its currency skyrockets (the New Israeli Shekel is now worth 26.3 cents to the dollar).

That alone would be huge for an ETF like iShares MSCI Israel Cap Invest Market (EIS), and U.S. stocks like Noble Energy (NBL).

But you have to have patience waiting on real gains.

A decision on whether Israel will drill for oil won't be made until October, when drilling for gas at Leviathan begins.

There's also the potential for violent flare-ups with Lebanon...

Debate has risen over whether the Leviathan project extends into Lebanese waters, making tension between the two warring countries even worse.

According to reports, Lebanese Energy Minister Gebran Bassil told Noble “not to work near Lebanon's maritime economic zone, saying his country would allow Israel or a company working on its behalf to take gas from Lebanon's zone.”

But Israel believes the discovery lies in its own waters:

“There is no doubt that Israel will do what it has to do” to protect the resources, say other reports. “Adequate security appears to be in place for oil and gas operations offshore Israel.”

Despite all the usual tension, I recommend buying Noble (NBL) here — and waiting.

This could pay off well with patience.

Cash in on $36,950 from the Nuclear Energy Renaissance in America — in Just 12 Months

I've been handed some highly classified information... and it revolves around the changing energy landscape in the United States.

As Obama hands out billions for nuclear reactor construction, there's one small energy company that's going to absolutely explode...

And I have the photograph to prove it.

I've been in the energy trading game for 10 years now, and in that time, I've made some good money for my readers.

Below are actual gains and losses from the last three years of my stint as investment director of Pure Asset Trader...

I went 40 for 40 at one point... and then went 64 for 67 at another.

If you hate making money, ignore this:

But if you're interested in profiting from a service with a proven track record...

Then be sure to read the latest report from Pure Asset Trader — hot off the presses this week.

Stay Ahead of the Curve,

Ian L. Cooper
Energy and Capital

Natural Gas Attack Helicopter

We're now at the time of year when kids start dreading going back to school, moms dream of free time during the day, and granddads pick a weekend to winterize the boat or shutter the cabin.

Us resource guys, however, think about buying natural gas for the annual winter price boost.

But this year the markets aren’t buying it.

On Wednesday, the Energy Information Agency (EIA) came out with a bearish report.

Last week, the price of natural gas fell as much as $1.36 per million Btu; after the report, prices fell to $3.77 — dipping well below $4 for the first time since May.

The government report stated:

Natural gas in storage totaled 3,052 billion cubic feet (Bcf) as of August 20, about 6 percent above the 5-year (2005-2009) average.

The implied net injection for the week was 40 Bcf, significantly below historical injections for the week.

The market was expecting a 38 bcf gain, even though the historical five-year average is 59 bcf gain for the third week in August.

As you can see by this handy government chart, if you convert the price of oil into dollars per million Btu, you'll see that oil cost a whole lot more than natty gas.

Though, I will grant you that both energy sources have been falling over the past month.

Gas is cheap because of the 100-year overhang that new drilling methods have discovered.

My good friend Keith Kohl has made a ton of money for his readers by getting in early on this trend and staying ahead of the curve. If you'd followed his advice, you would have made gains of 356% and 129%.

Natural gas to oil price ratio

Historically, the price of natural gas to the price of oil has run in the range of six times to twelve times.

Right now oil is at $73.16 and natural gas is at $3.71. That puts oil at 19.71 times the price of natural gas.

A lot of natural gas bulls made a big deal over this fact in the spring, thinking that ratios tend to return to historical averages.

What they didn’t count on was the fact that drillers and explorers would continue to play a game of brinkmanship, hoping that the other guy would shut down production.

They didn’t.

They can’t, in fact, because they leveraged themselves out the wazoo buying up fracking rights in a massive land grab. They have to cover the note or go out of business.

This is why you’ve seen buyouts in this field.

The natural gas situation is yet another example of the old adage that the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.

Who benefits?

The winners in this situation are those that can produce natural gas the cheapest, and get it to market the easiest.

But the real winners are those that use it — companies like Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE) that have built infrastructure to service fleets of vehicles in airports and harbors.

If Obama ever gets behind natural gas for use in vehicles as he did in putting electric recharge stations in various downtown areas, companies that make infrastructure could benefit.

Companies like Exterran (NYSE: EXH) offer natural gas compression in production fields. Dresser-Rand (NYSE: DRC) has a full range of systems to liquefy and move natural gas safely.

Chart Industries (NASDAQ: GTLS) and Chicago Bridge and Iron (NYSE: CBI) also offer the technology and services you need for creating a natural gas infrastructure.

But the coolest thing is natural gas attack helicopters…

Crazy Russians

Forty years ago — at the height of the Cold War — Soviet scientists began building a helicopter using liquefied natural gas.

In the late 1980s, they were successful in replacing JP5 (or aviation kerosene), and had test-flights in helicopters and airplanes that lasted hundreds of hours.

Not only did nat gas work — it was better.

LNG was less corrosive toward the bearing and stuffing materials; it cost less, and it wouldn’t leak over a hot engine and cause fire or explosion.

As you know, the number one cost to run an airline is fuel.

If you could safely and easily fly a plane at a quarter of the fuel cost of traditional airplane fuel... why wouldn’t you?

According to Air Fleet, a Russian trade magazine, the technological improvement in natural gas use for aviation was quashed by those with interests in the oil business. Some things are the same everywhere.

But things are starting to change...

Qatar Airlines put out a press release saying that it is planning to convert its aircraft from kerosene to natural gas.

Qatar Gas, Royal Dutch Shell, and Qatar Airlines are negotiating an action plan for this project which could make the major Middle East air carrier the first to give up traditional fuel using an Airbus A380: “the first commercial aircraft to fly with Shell synthetic jet fuel processed from gas… ”

Qatar, as I’ve written about before has little oil and a surplus of natural gas — so, that’s where its interests are.

Markets have a way of finding the lowest cost supplier. Those that act first get the highest rewards.

Once again, sadly, the U.S. energy industry has failed to lead.

Sincerely,

Christian DeHaemer
Energy & Capital

Comfortable to the Point of Panic

Welcome to Energy and Capital Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in investing and links to our most-read Energy and Capital and sister publications.

Lately, it feels as if the United States has become too comfortable, particularly in regards to the energy picture.

“Why is that?” you ask.

I'll let you decide this one.

Splashed across headlines this week has been overly-optimistic news — enough for people to sit back and relax.

The EIA's weekly report showed that total crude and fuel products rose to 1.13 billion barrels last week — the highest level in two decades. As expected, a barrage of bearish price predictions rushed to center stage.

U.S. domestic production — which peaked at 9.6 million barrels per day in 1970 — saw its first year-over-year increase in 2009. Last year, U.S. field production averaged 5.36 million barrels per day.

Although the weekly inventory report showed an 818,000 barrel decline, we're still comfortably above the five-year average, as you can see below:

At least the government is comfortable enough to impose a moratorium on deep-water drilling operations — never mind the fact that the four major oil companies are creating a rapid-response system, spending a billion dollars in the process, all in the wake of the BP fiasco...

Let's also forget that our demand is rising on top of things.

Meanwhile, other countries are scrambling hand-over-fist to secure their energy future.

For the first time ever, Mexico will allow foreign oil companies (think Exxon, Shell, Chevron, and that ilk) to explore and produce oil from their shallow water and mature oil fields.

We'll call it Mexico's last-ditch effort to stop the country's production from falling further. (I've touched on Mexico's peak oil troubles before.)

Allowing foreign oil companies into Mexico's lesser-attractive fields is just a precursor for things to come. In the future, don't be surprised to see those contracts extend into deepwater targets... And unlike the U.S., the deepwater oil in the Gulf of Mexico is one of Mexico's last chances to put off becoming an oil net-importer.

Making Our Oil Addiction a Thing of the Past

BP's catastrophic spill proved once again that our addiction to oil is downright dangerous.

With our need for new fuels comes a new frontier for investors of these cheaper and more reliable future fuels...

Alternative energy expert Nick Hodge has come across a company that he expects can hand you over 1,925% gains with the transportation technology that will lead the pack in clean, efficient energy.

Find out more about this company now — before the news of this transportation technology makes headlines, sending its share price soaring.

They're looking ahead — and we're falling behind

China's energy buying spree has been taken to new heights.

Believe me, dear reader, if the we're going to complain about where we get our oil, we'll soon find ourselves back in the arms of the Middle East — a thought I don't find comforting.

And if we make too much of a fuss over Canadian oil and gas imports, China is more than willing to take our spot.

In June, China imported a record 5.4 million barrels of oil daily. That's more than half of the country's consumption.

And if we look at 2010 overall, it gets even more staggering: so far this year, China averaged 4.77 million barrels per day in oil imports (over 30% more than 2009). As you can guess, the country's oil demand is also experiencing double-digit growth, up nearly 19% over last year.

And if you think China isn't eying up our Canadian neighbor as a source of oil, think again. Recall that back in April, China dished out $4.65 billion for ConocoPhillips' 0.03% stake in the Syncrude project. The Syncrude project pumps out approximately 350,000 barrels per day — roughly 13% of Canada's total output.

Two months later, China National Petroleum Corp. announced a joint venture with Encana to develop unconventional gas resources in the Horn River and Montney prospects. And that's not the first time the B.C. unconventional gas play has caught our attention... In February, Korea Gas Corp. pledged over $1 billion during the next five years for an interest in two fields.

The energy scramble isn't specifically tied to North America, either. Take a look at how one such oil discovery is making investors a small fortune.

Again I pose the question: Are we getting too comfortable with our energy picture?

Enjoy your weekend,

Keith Kohl
Energy and Capital

P.S. You can catch up on the week's top articles from Energy and Capital and our sister publication, Wealth Daily, below.

Profiting Under their Radar: Investors are Tapping into This Massive New Oil Discovery in the Last Place You'd Expect
After being left in the dark for more than 70 years, this massive oil field is just beginning to be developed. In fact one tiny, virtually unknown company has already struck oil, to the delight and profit of Energy and Capital readers.

America's Inevitable Oil Rush: Looking Beyond the BP Oil Disaster to Onshore Profits
Think everything is fine now that the BP well is sealed? Unfortunately, the nightmare has just begun for offshore companies. Even more important is how it is shaping the future of U.S. oil production, leading us to the next great oil boom.

U.S. Oil's Big Potential: A Different Way to Play the U.S. Oil Comeback
Editor Keith Kohl takes a look down the road, offering readers a strong investment strategy and warning about another.

Nuclear Start-up Companies: Several Billionaires are Investing in Nuclear
Editor Nick Hodge discloses how billionaires get richer: they invest in young nuclear companies.

Energy Efficient Lighting Contracts: Why this $2 Company Could Land a $416 Million Military Contract
Editor Jeff Siegel reveals a $2 micro-cap in line to land some major deals with the U.S. military.

Natural Gas Prices: What No One Else Has Caught... Yet
Editor Ian Cooper revisits his spot-on $4 bottom call for natural gas, and explains what the bears are about to miss out on... again.

Alzheimer's Drugs: The Good, the Bad, and the Prospects
Publisher Brian Hicks brings readers the latest developments in the fight against Alzheimer's... and a game-changing stock that's up 50% for the year.

Will BP's Relief Wells Go Live? Reopening the Well from Hell
Analyst Adam Sharp discusses whether or not BP will turn their relief wells into production wells.

China's Energy Stimulus

Welcome to the Energy and Capital Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in investing and links to our most-read Energy and Capital and sister publication articles.

If you're looking for energy profits, all signs point to China.

Even with a slowdown in the second quarter, its GDP growth came in over 10% - three times higher than current growth in the U.S.

And the International Energy Agency recently reported that China consumed 2,252 million tons of oil equivalent in 2009 - good enough to knock the U.S. out of the top spot for the first time, well, ever.

With a growth machine that hungry, you can bet the Chinese are developing a multi-tiered strategy to fix it.

Why the BP Disaster Could Multiply Your Money 5 Times by Next Year

As millions of gallons of oil pour into the Gulf, there remains only one smart oil play on the market today...

And this FREE report details exactly what that is.

This rare opportunity to turn one company's terrible mistake into a massive profit opportunity is now available for a short time.

508% gains could be yours by this time next year — and all the details are available right here.

The Tortoise and The Hare

It's no secret that China is whooping our butts in the energy race.

It produces 50% of the world's solar panels, has 3 of the top 10 global wind companies, and boasts the largest installed wind market in the world.

Made possible by employing both short- and long-term strategies, China's progress has come with some cost. But the dividends of this tortoise and hare strategy are already being reaped.

Take the current earnings season, for example.

I've watched (and profited) as Chinese solar company after Chinese solar company reported earnings and blew away estimates.

Solarfun (NASDAQ: SOLF) doubled analysts estimates and announced a strategic investment from Hanwha Chemical;
Renesola (NYSE: SOL) beat estimates and raised third quarter guidance;
China Sunergy (NASDAQ: CSUN) easily beat profit and margin estimates;
LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) beat estimates for revenue and earnings, and guided full year sales much higher;
And JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO) beat revenue estimates and raised its full year sales forecast by 350 MW.

And it's not only the Chinese solar market that's shining...

Vestas (COP: VWS) announced this week it's received an order for 74 MW worth of wind turbine from "a major Chinese independent power producer." It's Vestas' second Chinese order in a month.

And earlier this month, Minyang Electric - a top 5 Chinese wind supplier - said it has plans to raise half a billion in a U.S. IPO later this year. That comes less than one year after Asia's largest wind power generator, China Longyuan Power Group (Hong Kong: 0916), raised $2.2 billion in a Hong Kong IPO in which Wilbur Ross took part.

But here's the best part...

All that came before this announcement...

Almost a Billion for "New Energy"

The plan hasn't been officially released, so I don't have all the details yet, but China Securities Journal reported this week that the country will soon release a plan for investing $739 billion in "newly developing energy industries" through 2020.

That's about as much as our entire stimulus.

According to China's National Energy Administration, the money would go to "nuclear, wind, solar and biomass energy, as well as clean coal, smart grid, distributed energy and new energy sources for vehicles."

We'll have to wait and see exactly how that money is spent. But we don't have to wait to profit.

I've found one company that has partnered with a big name Chinese firm to manufacture and sell nuclear powered desalination units. You can read about that company and its other activities in this investment prospectus.

And it's not just clean energy that the Chinese are going after. They're also buying up all the oil they can get their hands on. My colleague, Chris DeHaemer, recently posted a new video on how to profit from that angle.

Indeed, as the U.S. continues to wither on the vine, we'll be increasingly looking to China's constant growth for energy profits.

You can catch up on the rest of this week's investment ideas below.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Electric Car Opportunities: Do Electric Cars Really Have A Chance?
Green Chip editor Jeff Siegel provides an update on electric car development.

China's Energy Grab: How a Mongolian Oil Company Could Make you Filthy Rich
China's thirst for energy is unmatched. And they're buying up all the resources they can get their hands on, including the hundreds of million barrels left behind because of a Cold War blunder.

Nuclear Powered Desalination: Nuclear Desalination: 80% Cheaper
Energy and Capital editor Nick Hodge discusses nuclear powered desalination and its benefits over other systems.

Transocean Stock (RIG:NYSE): The Ironclad Contract That Could Pay You Handsomely
Energy and Capital Editor Ian Cooper takes a look at the BP contract that could indemnify Transocean.

The Nuclear Story the Media Isn't Telling: They Only Reported Half the Facts... Here's the Rest
Fox News published a story about the re-zoning of land in Idaho for nuclear reactors to be built. The piece discussed how many jobs will be created, when construction could begin, and how much land will be required... They even revealed which company is the major player in all of this. But what they didn't tell you could make you more than $32k in the coming months.

Investing in Frontier Market Stocks: Seek Value - Buy Growth in Frontier Markets
Wealth Daily Editor Christian DeHaemer explains why you should bail on Wall Street and offers a few frontier market stocks.

LED Technology Boom: The Little Lighting Outfit Cornering a $100B Market
Still in its infancy, the Financial Times recently reported this breaking technology "promises to shake up the global market." This tiny, $1.20 engineering firm is literally cornering a market the DoE estimates will be worth over $100 billion by 2020.

The VIX Indicator Heads Higher: Fear Gauge Jumps as QE 1.5 Falls Flat
Wealth Daily Editor Steve Christ takes a look at the VIX Indicator and offers two ways to trade on fear and greed.

Clean Energy Race: Have We Even Entered The Clean Energy Race Yet?
The rest of the world is leaving the United States in the dust when it come to a clean energy transition. Will our inability to embrace the future turn us into a second-rate nation?

Shale Gas Explosion

Welcome to the Energy and Capital Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in investing and links to our most-read Energy and Capital and sister publication articles.

To say that shale gas will play a major role in meeting our world's energy demand is an understatement.

Take a minute and think how far shale gas has grown in the last five years...

It wasn't until the success of the Barnett shale that U.S. drillers took notice. Although drilling the Barnett formation picked up considerably in the late 1990s, it wasn't until 2006 that drillers struck it big.

George Soros expects to make 1,925% gains with this little-known energy play

Here's a smart investment for you...

Imagine you stumbled upon a company that is developing an engine which can run on a fuel that costs a mere $.55/ gallon to produce.

It's not science fiction — even billionaire George Soros is investing millions in this clean-burning "champagne of fuel."

Click here to learn more about the fuel that can bring you almost 20 times your money...

Two things changed the course of shale gas development in the U.S.

The first was the advancements made in horizontal drilling. The second is that changes were made to the Clean Water Act in the 2005 Energy Policy Act. This change exempted natural gas drillers from disclosing the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.

For now, let's push that hot-button issue to the side. I'll cover it at a later date, so feel free to vent your “fraccing” anger at that time.

The point is, shale gas development exploded. It's the main reason that our domestic natural gas production shot through the roof in 2008.

The shale boom extended beyond natural gas, too. Oil plays like the Bakken formation in North Dakota became wildly successful for investors.

It's a story my readers at the $20 Trillion Report know that all too well. In fact they just recently earned a quick 33% gain after playing an upcoming Bakken producer.

Piggybacking on the U.S. shale fortune, both China and India are also looking to tap shale resources.

Reliance Industries, India's biggest company, has made three shale gas investments in 2010. Some of you might remember when Reliance picked up a 45% stake in Pioneer Resources' Eagle Ford shale assets for a cool $1.13 billion...

Now, the company is making a move into the prospective Horn River Basin in British Columbia. This time, their sights are set on Quicksilver Resources. As you know, I believe the Horn River Basin to be one of the best-kept secrets in natural gas discoveries.

China is taking a cue from the same investment page.

However, their target is much closer to home. ExxonMobil is supposedly in talks to develop an unconventional gas field the Ordos basin, located in northern China.

Now I'll admit that ExxonMobil hasn't been on my good list; I wouldn't normally trust ExxonMobil to have much success in China.

However, I think their chances are much better after acquiring XTO last December.

For now, I'm sticking with the proven winners in U.S. shale — and so should you.

Enjoy your weekend,

Keith Kohl

Editor, Energy and Capital

P.S. Feel free to kick back and catch up on the top stories that have recently crossed my desk.

Options Investing Made Easy: How the Experts Trade Options
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Oil's Game-Changer: Why the BP Oil Spill is more Profitable than Ever
Three months ago, the U.S. oil industry changed forever. Yet the fallout from the BP disaster isn't over; even now the public is screaming for heads to roll. In typical government fashion, the knee-jerk reactions by vote-hungry politicians is keeping the drillers out of the water. For three of our favorite oil stocks, however, the profits have just begun.

Investing in Offshore Oil Stocks: They Panic, We Buy
Energy and Capital's Keith Kohl reveals six offshore oil stocks that are worth a second look to investors.

Energy and Metals Outlook for 2010: How to Invest for the Rest of the Year
Energy and Capital Editor Ian Cooper assesses the success of energy trades in the first half of 2010, and offers two ways to turn a profit in the second half.

The Decline of the U.S. Dollar: And the Perfect Scenario for Rising Gold Prices
Editor Greg McCoach gives the hard facts about the future of the U.S. dollar and recommends two ways to minimize the wealth.

The End of the Bush Tax Cuts: The Hammer is About to Fall
Editor Steve Christ examines the end of the Bush tax cuts and explains why it won't be painless.

Herpes, The Jersey Shore, and Trading Secrets 11-20: Snooki Rings the NYSE Bell
Wealth Daily Editor Christian DeHaemer connects the Jersey Shore with herpes and, as promised, brings readers #11-20 of his trading rules.

Green Options: Twice the Money in Half the Time
Green Chip Editor Nick Hodge discusses a lucrative yet often misunderstood way to invest in everything green: green options trading.

No Relief Yet for BP

Welcome to the Energy and Capital Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in investing and links to our most-read Energy and Capital and sister publication articles.

The Macondo saga continues...

Even after BP finally managed to stop oil from spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, the company still can't catch a break.

This time, another threat has moved into the area: tropical storm Bonnie.

The good news is that BP received permission to leave the well capped during the storm.

The bad news is that BP's relief well efforts have been delayed again.

Radical technology promises to break Big Pharma profit records

One small American company's "cell-shock" technology will soon be the global Gold Standard for the treatment and prevention of all the major cancers, influenza, malaria, HIV, and more...

It's expected to save millions of lives — and bring over 10,000% returns to investors of this medical miracle.

Click here to earn 1,000 times your money...

When Bonnie formed late Thursday, BP made the decision to move its drilling ships.

As you know, once the relief well is completed, BP will be able to pump the Macondo well full of mud and cement, permanently plugging it. Now, the threat of Bonnie has moved the completion date back to late August.

Although we don't know for certain what Bonnie's impact will be, remember that storms during June pushed a huge amount of oil onshore. And don't forget that the delay until late August assumes no other interruptions take place.

Do you think BP's luck will prevail?

An industry under siege

Every oil and gas investor has taken a look at the offshore industry at least once since the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

If they say they haven't, they're lying to you.

Make no mistake — the last three months have been brutal for those offshore drillers:

Once the relief wells are completed — and if all goes well — then BP will have turned a major corner in this disaster.

I don't believe it's a matter of if drilling will resume in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico...

Eventually, the market is going to take full advantage of those beaten down offshore stocks.

At what point do you see a huge buying opportunity?

Stay tuned, because I'll have my answer for you next week.

Enjoy your weekend,

Keith Kohl

P.S. In case your work week was nearly as hectic as mine, I've included some of the top stories to cross my desk recently.

Oil's Game-Changer: The Aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster
April 20, 2010, will go down in the record books as the day the oil industry changed forever. The disaster has become a living nightmare to BP and other offshore drillers. But there's no denying the game-changing profits that investors will make as the enormity of the situation comes to light. Continue reading to learn more...

The Russian Oil Blunder: Mongolia's Drilling Horde
When the Soviet government failed to develop the massive oil field they discovered in Mongolia, a veritable wealth of crude was lost to the history books — until now. Now one tiny company is now sitting on $51 billion of Stalin's lost oil fields. Read our latest report to find out how investors are taking advantage of Mongolia's newfound oil wealth.

China's Silent War for Canadian Energy: Is it Time to Buy the Oil Sands?
Editor Keith Kohl explains why China's grab for Canada's oil sands may have been a huge mistake.

Tiny Nuclear Company Leads American Resurgence: The Nuclear Story Fox News Isn't Telling You
Energy and Capital Editor Nick Hodge shares with readers details on a little-known nuclear company that's set to explode on certain hidden news...

The World's Hottest Region for Gold Exploration: Two Small Gold Stocks
Wealth Daily Editor Luke Burgess discusses the investment highlights of investing in junior gold stocks with exposure to major gold trends in Nevada, including the Carlin and Cortez Trends.

Approaching Solar Earnings Season: Big Banks on Solar Stocks
Green Chip's Nick Hodge talks about big banks warming up to the solar sector, and how you can turn a quick profit as earnings season.

China's Energy Future: 1.3 Billion Chinese Can't Be Stopped
Wealth Daily Editor Steve Christ takes a look at China's energy future and explains what it means for the price of oil.

Smart Grid Reaching Critical Mass: Smart Grid Saves Energy, Makes Money
Energy & Capital Editor Nick Hodge discusses the coming-of-age of the smart grid via a Kohl's case study.

How to Front-run the Chinese, Legally: Investing Secrets for an Empire's Life Cycle
Publisher Brian Hicks explains the seven stages of an empire's life cycle and how they pertain to the United States, China, and most of all, your portfolio.

Qatar Economy Is Booming

You may remember the Middle East as that part of the world that overspent on opulent development.

It was easy to do in the mid 2000s, as oil was ticking up to $147 a barrel...

You've heard the stories of the man-made palm-shaped islands full of luxury villas and indoor ski resorts. Or maybe you've seen the Youtube videos of young sheiks destroying Lamborghinis for fun.

Then last year, we heard news that Dubai World had run out of money and needed to restructure its debts, as it could no longer make payments. There was even fear that the loss would take down some well-placed banks in Europe.

And to tell you the truth, I believed that it would take years to sort out that business, so the oil production capital of the world dropped off my radar screen.

World's Industrial Supermetal

A metal with a name you probably can't even pronounce... is absolutely essential to a $987 billion-a-year global industry.

And today — thanks in part to a massive Chinese campaign to monopolize this most crucial of elements — we're at the brink of a global deficit.

Learn how one microcap mining outfit can make you 2682% as it taps into one of the world's last major deposits.

Events have transpired

But now there is a new reason to look at the Middle East, for the times have changed.

Oil prices rebounded sharply in 2009 and have held steady this year around $75.

That means that most of the region will see growth in 2010 and it is likely to expand. And in fact Qatar is leading the world in GDP growth this year at a staggering 18% (Bloomberg doesn't track Mongolia).

Qatar is booming on LNG

Most OPEC members took a hit as they cut oil production in light of the global slump. Non-OPEC oil producers maintained their production and came out on top.

This situation will reverse as soon as oil prices move up and OPEC members start pumping more.

Qatar has done well because they are the third largest producer of natural gas and have been spending on infrastructure to support a long-term liquefied natural gas shipping industry.

GDP Growth by Country*	2009	2010
Oman	4.1	3.8
Qatar	11.8	18.5
Saudi Arabia	-0.9	4.0
Sudan	4.0	5.5
Syria	3.0	4.2
Tunisia	3.0	4.0
UAE	-0.2	2.4
Yemen	4.2	7.3

*Source: International Monetary Fund

And they are buying

Credit Suisse says that “Gulf Arab investors will increasingly look for opportunities outside the region, with deals in emerging markets and real estate helping to diversify holdings.”

And the facts on the ground are proving Credit Suisse correct.

The Qatar Investment Authority — the Persian Gulf country’s sovereign wealth fund — recently put $2.8 billion in the Agricultural Bank of China Ltd’s initial public offering. Kuwait Investment Authority, the wealth fund in neighboring Kuwait, bought $800 million of stock.

According to a London Real Estate Consultant report: “Wealthy UAE investors are among the biggest buyers of luxury properties in London, especially in the posh areas of Belgravia, Hyde Park, Knightsbridge, Mayfair and Richmond-on-Thames.”

The report added that international demand had helped to “drive prices higher by 24% in the 15 months since March 2009, and prices were now only 6% below their March 2008 market peak.”

The Qatar wealth fund bought a plush development on Oxford Street for $270 million pounds. Then, to top it off, they bought London's famous Harrods department store and the largest portion of Canary Wharf.

Granted, a lot of this buying is due to extreme value caused by a low currency in the UK. And it's nothing compared to what Obama is spending, but still...

Maybe we can get the Arabs to check out Vegas?

Buying planes

In another sign of big purses, just this week Middle Eastern Airlines bought $6.5 billion in new planes from Airbus.

The U.S. Aircraft defense companies Pratt & Whitney and Boeing (NYSE: BA) are also getting deals — Pratt & Whitney is selling $145 million in engines to the Royal Moroccan Air Force, and Yemen Airways is buying planes.

Boeing sold thirty 777-300s to the Emirates. GE (NYSE: GE) sold the same guys thirty GE90 engines, valued at $2 billion.

The Middle East has more than 400,000 millionaires and their combined wealth grew 7.1% in 2009 to $1.5 trillion, according to a report by Cap Gemini SA and Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit.

In the last few recessions, it has consistently been the American consumer who was credited with pulling the rest of the world out of recession. Now, of course, that same U.S. consumer is out of money, employment, and credit.

China, India, and other emerging (maturing) markets will be the ones to pull the world out of its current economic malaise. And in doing so, these markets will push up the demand side of raw materials — and therefore, the price of energy.

This, in turn, will create another boom in the oil-producing countries.

One way to play the growth in the Middle East is to buy the WisdomTree Middle East Dividend (NASDAQ: GULF).

This is a fundamentally weighted index that tracks companies in the Middle East that pay regular cash dividends.

Stocks in this ETF have listings on major stock exchanges in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and/or the UAE.

Sincerely,

Christian DeHaemer
Editor, Energy & Capital

Why BP is Praying for Another Hurricane

Alex may not go down as the most destructive hurricanes to pass through the Gulf of Mexico, but it could be one of the filthiest, after pushing even more crude oil onto the beaches...

Cleanup efforts came to a halt during the week as Hurricane Alex swept through the Gulf of Mexico's waters. As a result, hundreds of oil skimming ships were forced to retreat.

By the time Hurricane Alex made landfall in Mexico a few days ago, we were beginning to think that BP dodged a bullet. In fact BP may have been silently praying for Alex to linger around for just a little longer.

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You read that correctly.

Even though the thought of Alex causing more tar balls to wash up on the shore is a nightmare to BP's public relations department, the storm may have had its benefits, too.

According to the NOAA, the high winds and seas will mix and “weather” the oil, which can help accelerate the biodegradation process.

But keep in mind the storms aren't what will have a lasting effect on the oil market...

Clamping down on offshore drilling

Call it a knee-jerk reaction or a well-calculated maneuver, but I still don't think Obama fully weighed the consequences when he ordered a six-month ban on deep-water drilling last May...

We know better than that.

In fact one of my readers hit the nail on the head when he said, “We need that deep-water oil. There's no getting around that fact. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.”

So to drill or to not drill... is that even a question anymore?

Well, we may have an answer to that question a lot sooner than previously thought.

Next week, the White House will finally decide whether or not to lift that six-month drilling moratorium. Remember, the reason for the ban was to allow a presidential commission to study the future safety of offshore drilling.

Leave it to the government to hand out the red tape.

No matter which way the decision goes, I have a feeling the issue will be tied up in court battles for months to come, and maybe even outlast the BP cleanup itself.

So where does that leave us?

In two days, I'm going to tell you how this bureaucratic mess has one tremendous upside for smart investors like us.

Stay tuned.

Enjoy your weekend,

Keith Kohl
Editor, Energy and Capital

P.S. In case your work week was as hectic and unforgiving as mine, feel free to kick back and catch up on the week's top investing stories from Energy and Capital and our sister publications.

The Metals Bull Market: The $550 Billion Secret Buried Beneath Lake Superior
Energy and Capital's resident precious metals expert Luke Burgess unveils the legend of Lake Superior's $550 billion secret.

Natural Gas vs. Wind Stocks: Developing a Wealth of Natural Gas
Editor Keith Kohl explains why natural gas stocks will blow wind stocks out of the energy picture.

The Ultimate BP Investment Safeguard: Profiting from BP's Offshore Debacle
Overnight, the BP oil spill has turned offshore oil into an investment graveyard... Read our latest report to learn about three companies that could hand you 508% by next weekend.

Regenerative Medicine Investing: A Look into the Future
Wealth Daily Editor Steve Christ discusses regenerative medicine investing and explains why today's breakthroughs will usher in a new era in medicine.

U.S. Onshore Drilling Boom: The Warnings BP Seems to Have Ignored
Energy and Capital Editor Ian Cooper takes a look at what BP should have known, and offers a new way to trade the latest onshore drilling company.

Goldman Sachs Go Long Solar Stocks: Goldman Upgrades Solar Sector
Green Chip Editor Nick Hodge reviews a recent note Goldman Sachs sent to clients about solar stocks.

Top 3 Silver Stocks for 2010: How Crisis in the Silver Market Could Deliver Triple-Digit Gains
Editor Luke Burgess gives investors full details on the top three silver stocks beating the markets in 2010.

Where BP Went Wrong: What'd They Do to Deserve This?
Wealth Daily Analyst Adam Sharp examines and responds to CEO Tony Hayward's remarks to BP executives following the Macando well explosion.

New Mortgage Broker Hires Point to End of the Credit Crunch: Four Reasons that Suggest We're in the 3rd Stage of the Housing Bear Market
Energy and Capital Editor Christian DeHaemer gives four reasons for the end of the housing bust and the start of a new cycle.

Clean Energy in the Emerging Markets: Third World to U.S: See Ya Later, Suckers
Green Chip's Nick Hodge discusses the growth of clean energy in the developing world, and why the U.S. is about to lose out.

Natural Gas Outlook

Welcome to the Energy and Capital Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in investing and links to our most-read Energy and Capital and sister publication articles.

At times, an investment opportunity is so obvious, we shake our heads in wonder.

More interesting, however, is how the investing herd are oblivious until the last minute.

For years, I've told my readers over and over again what will be the world's first step away from oil...

Natural gas.

Of course, it's a bit complicated. Since the financial markets crashed, natural gas prices have fallen into the gutter.

The oversupply in the North American markets — thanks mostly to a surge in shale gas fields across the U.S. and Canada — didn't help much.

Here's the United States' working gas storage for the last two years. See for yourself:

Since February of 2009, we've been riding the top of the 5-year range.

And if you haven't guessed by now, the future of natural gas hinges on developing those huge shale gas deposits like the Marcellus, Eagle Ford, and Haynesville shale formations.

Unfortunately, we're not the only ones that recognize this trend...

Foreign investors are rushing to pick up shale assets:

Back in April, India's Reliance Industries shelled out $1.7 Billion to Atlas Energy for a 40% stake in Atlas' acreage in the Marcellus shale.
Reliance Industries recently invested $1.15 billion in Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD) to develop approximately 212,000 acres in the Eagle Ford shale.
Expect to see China get a piece of the action. With significant shale deposits of their own, the only problem is that they lack the experience develop those resources. According to the IEA, China is sitting on roughly 26 trillion cubic meters of shale gas.
By 2020, Chinese officials are hoping for natural gas to account for 10% of the nation's energy.

The "War on American Retirement" EXPOSED

While our nation's eyes are fixed on Iraq and Afghanistan, Congress launches a hidden assault right here in the homeland...

Against your IRAs and 401(k)s.

You can surrender and lose everything - or make this "guerilla wealth" move and retire rich, with your assets intact.

Click here to learn more

Natural gas bull

Although the long-term future of fossil fuels is inevitably limited, natural gas seems the most likely choice to be our bridge away from oil.

It's not the electricity sector, however, where the problem is — it's the transportation sector. Finding a substitute for gasoline is the key.

According to legendary oilman-turned-natural-gas-spokesman T. Boone Pickens, “You've got plenty of gas to do both.”

We couldn't agree more.

And you can bet we'll be on the front lines, finding you the very best natural gas plays in the U.S.

Enjoy your weekend,

Keith Kohl

Editor, Energy and Capital

P.S. In case your work week was as hectic and unforgiving as mine, feel free to kick back and catch up on the week's top investing stories from Energy and Capital and our sister publications.

Oil's Game-Changer: Making 508% in Oil Profits Before BP Collapses
Back in April, the future of the oil industry changed virtually overnight. As the world watches Big Oil exasperate the oil spill, a group of smart investors are doubling their money. Learn how you can grab a piece of those profits in this special report from Energy and Capital.

Soros and Pickens: Banking Billions on this Future Fuel Company
You hear their stories every time you turn on the television... Investors making a fortune through the next generation of technology. Keep reading to learn how these two billionaires are about to do it again. Only this time, they're cashing in on a new transportation technology that will replace oil, once and for all.

Beyond BP: Looking Past the Oil Spill
Editor Keith Kohl looks down the road at how the U.S. is planning to satisfy its future oil demand.

The Future of Transport is Here: Is Natural Gas the Future of Energy?
Energy & Capital Editor Nick Hodge takes a look at the zero-sum oil game in the U.S. and reports that natural gas is about to be ushered in as the new fuel of choice.

Gold Bull Market: Why Prices May be Pushed to $1,500 an Ounce
Wealth Daily Editor Greg McCoach explains why he thinks gold prices could hit $1,500 an ounce within the next few weeks.

Imperial Sugar (NASDAQ: IPSU): One Sweet Sugar Stock
Editor Steve Christ takes a look at the dangers of high fructose corn syrup and identifies one of the winners as real sugar makes a comeback.

The Dawn of Intergalactic Oil: 2010: A Space Oil Odyssey
Energy and Capital's Keith Kohl explores what the future of oil will bring...

Natural Gas Vehicles: America's Mayors are Jumping on the Bandwagon
Green Chip Editor Nick Hodge reports on a surprising new voice for natural gas transportation and its effects on natural gas investments.

U.S. Military Surrounds Iran

There are a number of Arab media reports that have said that Saudi Arabia has permitted Israel Air Force choppers to land in its country.

The reports go on to claim that Saudi leaders have offered the IAF a logistical base in the northwest that would act as a stage for an aerial assault against Iran...

This is further backed by a report in the Times of London from two weeks ago; the story said the Saudi Royal Family has agreed to allow IAF jets in the country's airspace.

Yet both the IDF and Saudi officials have denied these reports.

Here is a must-read on the change in the balance of power in the region due to a Turkey-Iran alliance.

Israel is the enemy

The Saudis do not officially recognize the State of Israel. They officially regard the country as an enemy.

That said, Riyadh isn't happy about the possibility of an Iranian nuclear bomb. The Saudis opened an air corridor and leaked the story to show Iran that there are more options than economic sanctions.

U.S. makes nice with Azerbaijan

The Iranian press has reported a large amount of U.S. ground forces amassing in neighboring Azerbaijan.

The independent Azerbaijani news site Trend confirmed these reports:

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General Mehdi Moini said Tuesday that his forces are mobilized “due to the presence of American and Israeli forces on the western border.” The Guards reportedly have called in tanks and anti-aircraft units to the area in what amounts to a war alert.

Two weeks ago, according to Radio Free Europe, President Obama promised Azerbaijani President Aliyev that it would make its dispute with Armenia a top priority.

Fleet Week in the Persian Gulf

Earlier in the week, the Pentagon confirmed that an unusually large fleet of U.S. warships had indeed passed through Egypt's Suez Canal en route to the Persian Gulf. At least one Israeli warship reportedly joined the American armada. There are also Israeli nuclear armed submarines.

According to PrisonPlanet.com:

Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline.

The first has been sent in response to Israeli fears that ballistic missiles developed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political and military organization in Lebanon, could hit sites in Israel, including air bases and missile launchers.

The submarines of Flotilla 7 — Dolphin, Tekuma and Leviathan — have visited the Gulf before. But the decision has now been taken to ensure a permanent presence of at least one of the vessels.

Ahmadinejad eggs them on

Turkish network Ahlul Bayt News Agency (ABNA.ir) reported that the Iranian president has said Tel Aviv is not capable or military action against Iran.

"The Zionist regime is too weak to launch aggression against Iran. They long to deal a blow to Iran, but wouldn't dare even think about it," said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "They all know that playing with Iran is like playing with a lion."

In 1981, Israel bombed a Baghdad nuclear reactor

An attack by Israel is not unprecedented. In 1981, the Israelis bombed a nuclear plant which they believed was designed to make nuclear weapons that would destroy Israel.

The Israeli government said at the time: "The atomic bombs which that reactor was capable of producing whether from enriched uranium or from plutonium, would be of the Hiroshima size. Thus a mortal danger to the people of Israel progressively arose."

The last oil price shock in the Middle East was in 1990 when the U.S. invaded Iraq for invading Kuwait. The price per barrel of oil went from $21 to $28 on August 6... to $46 by mid-October.

The looming Iran War is not priced in

As you can tell by the crude oil price chart above, there is no fear premium as of yet.

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has overshadowed every other oil story.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Iran has the third-highest oil reserves in the world (137 billion barrels) and is second only to Saudi Arabia in production (at 3.8 million barrels a day).

Iran exported 2.6 million bb/d a year in 2008. Most of this oil goes to Japan, China, India and South Korea.

That said, oil is a fungible commodity. If the countries that are accustomed to getting Iranian oil no longer do so, they must buy it on the open market.

And this will drive up the price.

Will the price of oil more than double, as it did in 1990?

Could it hit $150 a barrel?

No one knows... But it seems worth a hedge.

You could buy some December 25th calls on an oil EFT — like the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Ttl Ret Idx ETN (OIL), now trading at $1.25.

Or you could buy some small oil companies that have nothing to due with the U.S., the Middle East, or North Africa. I'll give you one right here.

Sincerely,

Christian DeHaemer
Editor, Energy & Capital

Billionaires' Game-changing Fossil Fuel Gamble

Ladies and gentlemen, we're witnessing the end of an energy era.

George Soros and T. Boone Pickens know it -- which is why they're investing millions of dollars in the world's next biggest "future fuel."

Click here to find out how their gamble in this new energy giant could bring you upwards of 1,925% gains.

What BP is Refusing to Tell Us

After watching BP CEO Tony Hayward answer questions in front of a House committee, two things became apparent to me...

The first is that the only thing the U.S. government can do well is waste our time.

That's okay — I understand it's nothing more than politicians being politicians.

The idea of banning BP from operating in the U.S. is a joke only an election-minded politician would think of. If the situation wasn't so dire, I would've expected him to crack a mocking smile.

The second thing, however, is that whatever is truly happening 4,993 feet beneath the Gulf of Mexico's waves... it's going to get worse.

With the failure of the "Top Kill" behind us, the two relief wells currently being drilled are two months away.

But let's be honest... The two relief wells are still nothing more than a roll of the dice.

We haven't seen the last of the bad news, either.

This week, another bomb was dropped on BP's reputation as an unsettling story came to light.

A full two months before the fateful explosion happened on the Deepwater Horizon rig, BP was desperately trying to seal cracks in the Macondo well — an operation which took more than a week to complete.

To date, BP has shelled out roughly $2 billion on the spill. In order to pay for the spill and cleanup, the company is planning to cut capital spending by 10% — or approximately $18 billion.

I have a feeling they'll need every last penny... and then some.

Enjoy your weekend,

Keith Kohl

Editor, Energy and Capital

P.S. In case you missed any of the week's top stories from Energy and Capital and our sister publications, you can catch up on them now...

Raiding China's Resource Pantry: 5758% Up for Grabs
The cold, hard truth is that most investors are going to miss this opportunity. Since the secret to China's resource wealth is still closely guarded, the main herd of investors will pass right over information that can earn them up to 57 times their money. This special report lays it all out for you.

Oil's Game-Changer: How the BP Disaster Made Investors 45% in Two Days
With both BP and the U.S. government keeping a tight lid on information about the leaking Macondo well, it's possible that the worst-case scenario is about to be played out. And if you think 60,000 barrels of oil flowing into the gulf is bad enough, just wait until it really hits the fan. Learn about three oil companies that stand to make a fortune for investors — including one that's already exploded 45% in less than 48 hours. Read the latest report from Energy and Capital.

Oil Shale or Shale Oil? This Case of Mistaken Identity You Can't Afford
Editor Keith Kohl warns you not to mistake these two shale plays, or it could cost you a fortune.

The End of Offshore Drilling: The Oil Spill's Silver Lining
Energy & Capital's Nick Hodge explains why the BP oil spill is forcing profitable changes in the domestic fossil fuel industry.

Fortunes to be Made in Mongolian Oil: This $45,000 Oil Report Could Change History
Editor Christian DeHaemer explains why a single oil report could change history as Mongolia is ready to tap into its oil wealth.

Natural Gas as a Transportation Fuel: Introducing the "Champagne of Fuels"
Green Chip Editor Nick Hodge discusses real-world energy solutions and highlights one such option: natural gas as a transportation fuel.

Behavioral Economics and Investing: How Emotions Can Lead to Investment Losses
Editor Steve Christ examines behavioral economics and investing and reveals how emotions can lead to losses.

Molybdenum: The Metal that Could have Saved 9/11
Publisher Brian Hicks brings readers an important investment story heard at a summertime BBQ about the metal that could have changed 9/11 — and will most certainly impact the future.

BP Spill to Spur Clean Energy Transition: Seven Days That Will Change the Energy Industry Forever
Green Chip's Nick Hodge puts forth seven days that will change the energy industry forever, and how you can profit as the transition ensues.

President Obama is Wrong: Why Fossil Fuels Remain the Future; Natural Gas is the Way Out
Wealth Daily Editor Christian DeHaemer tells readers the three reasons to buy natural gas.

Gulf Disaster Reveals U.S. Oil Secret

Welcome to the Energy and Capital Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in investing and links to our most-read Energy and Capital and sister publication articles.

The Gulf of Mexico just can't catch a break these days.

As if the BP disaster wasn't enough to deal with, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook, released on May 27th, put even more pressure on the region.

Here are a few highlights from the report:

the NOAA calls for an 85% chance we will experience an above normal hurricane season
14-23 named storms
8-14 hurricanes
3-7 major hurricanes

While it only takes one storm to make a ruckus on land, disrupting oil and gas production doesn't take much.

Then again, we don't even need to wait for the storms to hit...

The FIRST big play of North America’s Oil Recovery

Breakthrough drilling technology has turned an abandoned Alberta oil field into the hottest energy territory in the western hemisphere...

And one $4-a-share company is positioned for the lion’s share of the spoils. Click here for the on-site proof that 1,239% gains await early investors.

The future of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is cloudy at best. The Minerals Management Service — the department responsible for issuing new oil and gas drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico — is sending mixed signals on whether drilling will be allowed to continue in shallow waters. There already is a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling.

Prior to BP's debacle, the Gulf of Mexico was producing about 1.6 million barrels of oil. That's 30% of our total production.

If the U.S. government follows through with an overall ban on offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, it will have a devastating effect on our energy needs.

Regardless of how environmentally upset you are over BP's folly, the fact is that we need that oil. Without it, that's another 1.6 million barrels of oil we'll be begging the Saudis for... Or are we?

The spill has also created a perfect storm for certain investors. What you probably don't realize is that the oil spill is pushing onshore drilling activity to new heights.

Here's why...

North America oil secret

There's some unconventional wisdom floating around, and the herd is finally starting to catch wind of it.

While the fate of offshore drillers remains uncertain, the number of rigs drilling in North Dakota continues to grow. This week, approximately 125 active rigs are operating in the state.

Their target is the Bakken and Three Forks formation, located in the Williston Basin.

Nearly two years after the USGS released its assessment on the Bakken formation, which reported up to 4.3 billion barrels of oil were technically recoverable, it turns out that the Three Forks formation (located beneath the Bakken) could potentially double the state's oil reserves.

In other words, each company drilling in the Bakken now has a second target on the books. And the best part is that a handful of companies are increasing their efficiency.

Unfortunately, that secret is leaking worse than the oil spill.

The good news, however, is that you can still get a piece of the action before the herd. I've prepared this free bonus report, giving you my favorite Bakken-Three Forks stock operating in North Dakota today.

You don't want to sit this round out.

Enjoy your weekend,

Keith Kohl
Editor, Energy and Capital

P.S. In case you missed any of the week's top stories from Energy and Capital and our sister publications, I've included them below:

Foreclosure Fortunes: The Secret to this Real Estate Mogul's Success
Within the next two years, more than 20 million properties will be foreclosed. Right now, you can fell the calm before the storm. But you don't have to be a victim. In this special report, Ian Cooper teaches you how to turn the upcoming crisis into a new wave of profits.

Natural Gas Stocks: Back in Play?
Energy and Capital Editor Keith Kohl explores three natural gas stocks for investors to play on a recovery.

Why $200 Oil is Closer than You Think: Last Chance to Buy oil Before the Bounce
Editor Christian DeHaemer explains why artificially low oil prices are creating a last-chance profit window for investors.

The Best Silver Stocks: Top 3 Silver Stocks Beating the Market in 2010
Wealth Daily Editor Luke Burgess gives investors details on the top three silver stocks beating the markets in 2010.

Natural Gas Emerging as Oil Alternative: The New Role of Natural Gas
Energy & Capital Editor Nick Hodge calls for natural gas to corner several niches of the energy market, including new baseload generation and fleet vehicles.

BP Oil Spill Boosts Nuclear Power: Gulf Disaster Prompts Search for Alternatives
Wealth Daily's Steve Christ takes a look at the BP oil spill and explains why nuclear power will benefit in the long run.

Platinum Thieves Clean Up Emissions: The Green Precious Metal
Publisher Brian Hicks shares with readers the details of an eye-opening phone call regarding palladium, the "green precious metal."

The Impact of Electric Car Subsidies: Up to $10k in Subsidies for Electric Cars
Green Chip Editor Jeff Siegel discusses new legislation that could bolster support for electric vehicles.

Senate to Lay the Smack Down on Oil Companies: The Future is Murky for Offshore Drillers
Energy and Capital Publisher Brian Hicks comments on new legislation that could hold oil companies liable for blunders in light of the BP spill in the Gulf.

Is BP Collapsing?

Welcome to the Energy and Capital's Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in investing and links to our most-read Energy and Capital and sister publication articles.

This past week, I was surprised to hear a few investors were buying BP shares hand over fist.

I recently asked my colleague, Adam Sharp, for his thoughts on BP's latest troubles, and whether or not their 36% decline (since the April 20th spill) has become a bargain for investors.

His response was a sobering reminder that the BP oil spill could easily bring the major oil company to its knees.

George Soros expects to make 1,925% gains with this little-known energy play

So before you start your own buying frenzy, take a moment and let him weigh in on the matter...

Will BP Go Bust?
By, Adam Sharp

Three weeks ago I wrote an article titled, "Hold Your Nose and Buy BP Stock." That made writing this piece a bit... awkward.

But I'm not one to shy away from mistakes. It was a bad call.

That said, I sold my BP shares for an 8% loss a few days later (and posted a comment to notify readers). That was around the time when it became apparent that BP and reality were out of touch.

Officials from BP were still saying the leak was only gushing 5,000 barrels of oil per day. But good ol' fashioned journalism by Richard Harris and others at NPR said otherwise... They went out and interviewed scientists who are experts in the science of flow-rate analysis to get estimates on how much oil is really leaking out. (Curious that BP or the EPA hadn't thought of this... )

When those estimates indicated 5 to 20 times higher levels than BP was estimating, I got worried and sold. It helped me avoid a bigger loss on my BP shares, but the broader implications are what really disturbed me.

Now that we know the top-kill effort appear to have failed, I am seriously starting to think that BP may not survive this event. And I'm not being hyperbolic here; if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say there's at least a 40% chance BP will not find their way through this mess.

When I had the bright idea to buy BP, it really did look like a bargain. It was a $170b company that lost 20% of its market cap (around $30b) due to a disaster that might result in up to a one-time charge of $6b(?!)... $6b is chump-change to a company with an average daily profit of $43 million (in 2009).

The dividend yield on BP was also tempting (another reminder where the term "dividend trap" comes from). But that was before we knew just how bad the disaster would become... and how poorly efforts to plug the leak would go.

Compared to Valdez

The Valdez grounding dumped 11 million gallons of crude into the ocean. Using the most conservative estimates, the Gulf disaster has already released 18 million gallons, and that number may be much higher — 100 million or more.

The Gulf Coast is also a much more important (environmentally and economically) area than Prince William Sound, where the Valdez went aground.

In inflation-adjusted terms, Exxon's Valdez disaster cost around $7b all told. This is going to be much, much bigger than that.

Nobody knows exactly how much the spill will end up costing BP. Early estimates ranged from $500m to $3b. Those estimates have been steadily rising.

I'd be shocked if the total bill came in at less than $50b; $50b is the low end of my range, which goes up to around $200b.

Could BP raise $200b if they needed to? Maybe, but I doubt it... Such a huge capital raise would be unprecedented, as far as I know.

One of the other majors may step in at some point and buy BP, but that would be taking a huge risk (and may not even pass scrutiny over monopoly concerns).

At least two more months of oil gushing into the Gulf

With the top kill effort having failed, experts say we're looking at at least two more months of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. That's how long it is estimated that the relief well will take to complete.

And we don't know for sure that the relief well will work. It's a mess.

The more I learn about this debacle and BP's disastrous management of it, the less confidence I have in their survival. Their safety and environmental record is simply atrocious, as shown by this shocking report by the Center for Public Integrity.

I honestly don't see how BP can survive in its current form. Maybe they can, but I'm starting to think they're destined for a date with bankruptcy.

Enjoy your weekend,

Keith Kohl
Editor, Energy and Capital

P.S. In case you missed any of this week's top stories from Energy and Capital and our sister publications, feel free to catch up below:

Challenging OPEC's Oil Dominance: The North American Oil Comeback
Thanks to advanced drilling techniques, North America is re-emerging as a powerful oil producer. Keith Kohl has witnessed these technological breakthroughs firsthand, and my readers stand to make a small fortune from these new shale plays. He's prepared this free report that could score you 1239% gains over the next few years.

Steel, Coke, and Iron Ore Prices are Rising: The Commodity Super-Cycle Continues
Editor Christian DeHaemer points the way to the next commodity super-cycle.

Foreclosure Fortunes: One Real Estate Mogul's Wealth-Building Secret
One fact that has remained constant throughout this financial crisis is that Energy and Capital readers are still raking in huge gains. And they're about to do it again... Things could get much worse as a second round of foreclosures sweeps across the United States. Continue reading to learn how you can flip the tables on the upcoming foreclosure crisis.

Avoid Today's Oil Stock Flops: How to Stay Away from this Oil Trap
Editor Keith Kohl warns readers about an oil investment trap that could make you lose a fortune.

The Option ARM Crisis 2010-2012: Here's Two Ways to Profit
Energy and Capital Editor Ian Cooper takes a look at two ways to profit in the throes of the coming Option ARM resets.

China's Switch from Dollar Reserves to Gold: China Loses Taste for the Dollar
As the status of the U.S. dollar comes into question as a reserve currency, contributing Editor Jim Amrhein speculates what China's reaction will be.

Stock Market Investment Advice: 15 Can't-Miss Rules for Winning Stock Picks
Wealth Daily Editor Steve Christ offers up his best investment advice along with 15 rules for winning stock picks.

The Coming LED Boom: Changing Tides Stoke Profits in Efficiency Technology
Green Chip Editor Nick Hodge recalls what he noticed during a recent fishing foray, and how it could make you big bucks in the lighting game.

Investing in Uncertain Markets: Divided, Leaderless, Lost: Where's the Bull Market Now?
Energy and Capital Editor Christian DeHaemer gives readers advice on finding bull markets, even in uncertain times, and a simple system for knowing when to buy, when to sell, and when to go golfing.

Investing in Uncertain Markets

If you've been wondering why the market has been so choppy lately, it's because there is no clear trend.

Granted, that's like saying that if I were 6'6" and had a rocket-laser arm, I'd be a pro-football quarterback...

The obvious aside, the most fundamental part of being an investor is knowing the trend and taking appropriate action.

You can make money in bear markets by trading puts; you can make money in bull markets by simply buying stocks. And yes, you can make money in sideways markets by selling options, as well by using a host of other, more esoteric financial instruments.

But the key is knowing what type of market we are in...

Above is a ten-year chart of the SP500. Each candlestick is a month; the three lines are moving averages.

This is what I call my Tri-Directional Indicator (TDI). It tells you when to buy, when to short, and when to sit on the sidelines.

It works like this: If the lines are equidistant and trending, you are in a bull or a bear market. If the lines are crossing or deviate from a parallel, you are in a transitional market.

There have been four transitions over the last ten years on the SP500. It's not a perfect tool, but it's a good starting point.

You could have invested with confidence midway through 2004 and sold near the top in 2008. It would have gotten you out near the tops in 2000 and 2008. The TDI would have put you on the short side in 2001.

We are nowhere, man

Right now, there is no long-term trend in the market. And since I have no confidence in the direction of the market, I don't want to be in a U.S.-focused diversified mutual fund.

But as they say in the funny papers, there's always a bull market somewhere...

AutoZone, for example, has been on fire lately. People fix their own cars in recessions and keep them longer. Take a look:

American Oil and Gas has also been doing well. This is a small exploration company in North Dakota with many assets.

I'm sure you've heard about the North Dakota oil and gas rush before... My buddy Keith Kohl has been telling you about the Bakken formation for years now — and he is up more than 400% on one company.

Another big winner has been Bidu, the Chinese search engine. China kicked Google out and Bidu took off...

My point is that if you listen to the mainstream media, you'd think that there weren't any opportunities out there. And you be right — if you want to invest in the standard "buy and hold" diversified funds that Wall Street has been shilling for years.

But the truth is that if you had bought any of these funds over the past 14 years, you'd be about to break even — or you'd be down.

As I write this, the Dow is down 208 points. The long faces on CNBC are pathetic.

But you don't have to play their game...

We live in a stockpickers' world.

The Mongolian Stock Exchange has gone from 4,719 at this point last year to 9,876 — and this is after the worst winter on record decimated the country's livestock. (That's a 109% gain for those playing at home.)

And this run is just getting started.

No one but me is talking about Mongolia... and it's incredibly cheap.

I've found a coal company with a market cap of $18 million and reserves of $70 million tonnes... I've found an oil company with $618 million barrels of oil — plus some new licenses that could double that — and yet it has a market cap of $40 million. That's just crazy.

I've found the largest broker in Mongolia that controls a 60% market share on the stock exchange. It will be one of the largest beneficiaries when investments continue to flood in.

This is a story that has been has been repeated over and over again in emerging markets. It is what South Korea, Indonesia, and Vietnam were 12 years ago, when no one would touch them. A number of those stocks went 100:1 in the past decade.

I remember when the likes of Brazil, Chile, and Mexico were places investors wouldn't go. Petrobras (PBR) went from $2 in 2002, to $80 in 2008. That's the kind of opportunity you have here in Mongolia.

But I digress...

What I'm trying to tell you is that the old Wall Street adage — there's always a bull market somewhere — is true. You just have to find it.

Let the fools and hand-wringers mope and fret.

You don't have to play their game.

If the major U.S. markets are uncertain, don't buy them. Find your opportunities elsewhere.

When we get a solid bottom in the S&P, I'll be sure to write.

Sincerely,

Christian DeHaemer
Editor, Energy and Capital

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China's Switch from Dollar Reserves to Gold

With the Eurozone looking about as stable as a burning deepwater oil drilling platform — and the partisan American media propping up President Obama's jobless domestic "recovery" — the U.S. dollar has seemed to get a temporary stay of execution in the court of global economics...

But let's not allow the buck's spring bloom to erase the memory that for years now, as the dollar declined against the euro and other currencies, many have been gunning for its replacement as the de facto world reserve currency — and the monetary unit in which oil, gold, and other commodities are priced.

In the heat of the dollar's descent in 2007, our own beloved (not) Alan Greenspan said that it was "absolutely conceivable that the euro will replace the dollar as reserve currency, or will be traded as an equally important reserve currency."

His voice presaged or echoed the sentiments of many important nations, among them well-known dollar-bashers China and Russia — but also to varying degrees India, Iran, Brazil, Venezuela, and others...

And let's not forget that the U.N., IMF, OPEC, and G20 have all recently pondered or publicly called for some form of decoupling of the U.S. dollar from commodities — or its replacement as the gold standard (no pun intended) of world reserve currencies.

None of these bode well for the buck.

One doesn't have to be economist, monetary historian, or even an investing ace (I'm none of these, to be sure) to see that nothing about America's current monetary policy could arrest the dollar's ultimate decline against other currencies of the world.

Tiny Mining Outfits Unlock $550 Billion Treasure

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Even after the Eurozone gets its act together, we'll still be printing dollars by the truckload, artificially fending off inflation with a bunch of book-cooking hocus pocus — and pressuring (or begging) other nations to underwrite our overspending by purchasing dollar-based debt.

That's not how a strong, stable global reserve currency is maintained.

And right now, China is making some under-the-radar moves that speak volumes to their waning faith in the U.S. dollar. I'm not talking about a bunch of saber-rattling monetary rhetoric from powerful heads-of-state...

I'm talking about a major, concentrated move against world gold supplies.

China's three moves to monopolize world gold

What with the ascendancy of Barack Obama to the presidency, the health care debacle, the uncertain domestic economy, climate-gate, various European debt crises, oil spills, and government bailouts and takeovers dominating the news... a very significant world monetary development is falling by the wayside...

The fact that China's doing everything it can to aggregate the bulk of planet Earth's gold inside its borders.

You won't hear this anywhere in the mainstream media, but in just the last few years, the People's Republic has made three major policy changes aimed at obtaining and keeping ever more of the world's gold supplies.

They are:

Secretly stockpiling gold — The People's Republic now holds 30 times more gold than it did 20 years ago. Last spring, the head of China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Hu Xiaolian) grudgingly conceded to the Xinhua News Agency that the nation had bolstered its gold supplies by more than 70% since 2003. And they're nowhere near finished. The Vice General Secretary of the China Gold Association (Hou Huimin) advocates more than tripling China's gold reserves to 5000 metric tons. That's over $211 billion worth, in today's prices.

Lifting the moratorium on private precious metals ownership — For years, it was illegal for Chinese citizens to own raw gold or other precious metals. Recently, however, China's government has reversed its position on private metals ownership, and is even strongly encouraging people in the People's Republic to put at least 5% of their savings in gold and silver. They've even taken to the state-run media to promote this plan (it's on YouTube), while staking Chinese banks with gold and silver bullion bars in four denominations.

Strictly banning the export of gold bullion — Despite ranking around seventh in proven gold reserves, China has recently knocked off South Africa as the world's largest gold mining nation, with more than 330 new gold mines extracting 110,000 tons of gold-bearing ore per day. Aside from things like finished jewelry, new government polices prohibit the export of ANY of this raw gold. It's all staying in the country. China's also eyeing up the world's largest gold and copper deposit, in neighboring Mongolia. It just went online in October, according to Angel analyst Christian DeHaemer (here's how he's recommending you play it for up to 57 times your money).

Now, as I said before, not being an economist or any kind of bona-fide expert in money matters, I'm really not certain of all the ways in which China's covert moves to corner as much of the world's gold as they can is a dagger to the heart of the U.S. dollar...

I just know intuitively that an already-strong China growing ever more solvent and monetarily sound while the U.S. increasingly puts its faith into paper, promises, and bookkeeping charlatanism is inherently a very bad thing for the buck.

One doesn't need a physics degree to know that jumping off a cliff will send one crashing to the earth below.

However, even with my limited understanding of things economic and monetary, it seems very obvious to me that China is preparing itself for a day beyond the dollar. And the people who do know something about these things are starting to take notice...

Over the last year, numerous credible sources have predicted that the Chinese yuan (also renminbi) would become a major global reserve currency.

According to Bloomberg's Business Week, Goldman-Sachs' Chief Economist Jim O'Neill claimed in March of 2010: " ...the renminbi, dollar, and euro would all form the linchpin of the world's currency markets."

Renowned economist Nouriel Roubini went even further. According to a Telegraph UK article from last May, the New York University professor warned that the yuan was better positioned than the dollar to be the 21st century reserve currency, and that China's already pushing — via the IMF — to make it so.

That would certainly explain China's merciless buttressing of its financial position with huge quantities of gold over the last few years...

But there's another element to China's gold "checkmate" story — one that can make sharp-minded investors money instead of costing them fortunes, as the dollar resumes its spiral into irrelevancy...

World's largest untapped gold deposit goes live — 50 miles from China

I was talking about these dollar woes with a friend of mine, Angel analyst Chris DeHaemer. And when I got to the topic of China and gold, he lit up like a Roman candle.

That's because one of his biggest investing focuses right now is an overlooked nation he calls "China's pantry" — Mongolia.

He's been virtually obsessed with the place ever since he returned from a fact-finding trip there last November. In fact, several of the Mongolian plays he's recommended to his Crisis & Opportunity readers have already returned as much as 225% since them...

As is turns out, this frigid, sparsely populated country nestled between Russia and the People's Republic is home to huge reserves of oil, coal, uranium, copper, and more — basically, everything China needs; hence the "pantry" nickname.

And according to DeHaemer, Mongolia is also home to the world's single largest untapped reserve of gold and copper — just 50 miles from the Chinese border.

It's called the Oyu Tolgoi deposit, and it's estimated to contain nearly 10 million ounces of gold. The deal to extract these billions of dollars worth of gold and was just signed last October. DeHaemer's sources indicate that soon, as many as 330,000 ounces of gold per year will begin flowing out of this mine...

Now, it doesn't take a huge stretch of the imagination to think that the bulk of this gold — if not all of it — will end up in China, Mongolia's friendly eastern neighbor and soon-to-be #1 resource trading partner.

This is more bad news for the buck.

Again, Chris DeHaemer is the real expert on this Mongolia situation — I'm just reporting what he told me because it dovetails so well into my theory that China is trying to "checkmate" the world's gold supply...

Bottom line: If you like gold as an investment or as a hedge against monetary instability, you might want to get it soon — before China holds damn near all of it.

As for me, I'm going to take a closer look at DeHaemer's Mongolia portfolio.

Yours Truly,

Jim Amrhein
Contributing Editor, Energy & Capital

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Memorial Day Sparks Buying Opportunity

Welcome to the Energy and Capital's Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in investing and links to our most-read Energy and Capital and sister publication articles.

Although rules are made to be broken, there's one that I stick to at all costs...

I never drive on Memorial Day.

This self-imposed rule is the result of one fateful Memorial Day, many years ago. I experienced a traffic jam so mind-numbingly frustrating that I swore off driving on that day forever.

For on that day, a small, 30-mile strip of highway turned into a nightmare. What should have taken me twenty-five minutes to drive ended up being a six hour event.

If you happen to have travel plans over the next two days, I wish you the best of luck.

The overnight comeback of North American oil

This $4-a-share driller is the front-runner in a forgotten oil field that’s all of a sudden the hottest energy territory in the Western Hemisphere.

Their new drilling technology is the key -- here’s the proof that two-year gains of 1,239% or more await those who move fast...

But no matter how stressful it is to think of driving on Memorial Day, I look forward to this weekend each year.

The fact is that Memorial Day marks the beginning of the summer driving season. As you may know, the summer driving season typically begins Memorial Day weekend and finishes on Labor Day weekend.

My only advice this summer: Enjoy the cheap gas while it lasts.

Even though average gasoline prices across the U.S. fell to $2.74 per gallon this past week, we know that Memorial Day is a turning point for oil demand.

As of last week, U.S. oil consumption has increased 1.13 million barrels per day compared to a year ago.

Meanwhile, oil prices rebounded from near 52-week lows of $66.11 per barrel to over $75 per barrel on Friday.

If nothing else, it's time for the bulls to take charge. Demand is rising. Global oil production remains stagnant.

By next week, I fully expect oil prices to gain momentum and start its journey back to $85 per barrel.

And then we have other factors that could lead to another price spike:

BP's "Top Kill" operation appears to have successfully plugged the leaking Macondo well. According to USGS officials, the leak was flowing between 12,000-19,000 barrels per day into the Gulf of Mexico — nearly 4 times more than BP previously announced.
To date, BP has spent $930 million in its cleanup efforts. Unfortunately, the damage has been done. The BP offshore spill has already surpassed the Exxon Valdez accident, and the anti-offshore drilling sentiment couldn't have come at a worse time. The BP spill will undoubtedly affect future offshore drilling activity over the next several years — time that we don't have.
On Friday, the NOAA's Climate Prediction reported that the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially starts on June 1, is expected to be active to extremely active. The NOAA is predicting a 70% chance for 14 to 23 named storms will develop this season.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend,

Keith Kohl

Editor, Energy and Capital

P.S. If you can spot a buying opportunity opening up for investors, you're already one step ahead of the herd... Finding those opportunities isn't as easy as it sounds. Everyone has to start somewhere. Below, I've included some of this week's profit ideas from Energy and Capital and our sister publications, Wealth Daily and Green Chip Stocks.

The Bakken Profit Secret Revealed: The Unknown Oil Stock About to Double Your Money
Now that BP's offshore disaster in the Gulf is officially the worst oil spill in U.S. history, the U.S. looks to one area for help: North Dakota. Keep reading to learn how this Bakken oil drilling stock could double your money.

BP Pulls the Plug on Gulf Spill: Offshore Oil Cleanup
Energy and Capital Editor Keith Kohl explains why BP's latest "top kill" operation could make matters worse.

Moly Madness: A Tiny Canadian Mining Company Tapping into a $60 Billion Deposit
Energy and Capital readers are on top of the metals boom... And this time, they've pinpointed one metal that has traders scrambling. In fact this tiny, unknown company is has an ace up their sleeve — they're sitting on a $60 billion deposit of this metal. I urge you to learn more about this investment opportunity in this free special report.

JP Morgan and Silver Prices: A Modern-Day Metals Conspiracy
Publisher Brian Hicks brings readers a not-to-be-missed piece by Analyst Adam Sharp as he reports on JP Morgan's alleged manipulation of the silver market, and what this means for investors.

Investing in North American Oil: How to Cash in on "Fire Sale" Oil
Guest contributor Jim Amrhein warns investors not to dismiss oil investments, even as the price per barrel continues to fall...

Offshore Wind Energy in the U.K.: How to Profit from the Next Big Move in Offshore Wind Energy
Editor Nick Hodge takes a look at current consensus, current and future growth rates, fair value, and the contrarian case for cleantech stocks.

The Housing Bubble Bottom: Sorry Charlie, but the Bottom is Not in Yet
Wealth Daily Editor Steve Christ takes another look at the housing bubble bottom and explains why it's as elusive as ever.

DVD Rental Kiosk Stocks: How to Cash in on the DVD Kiosk Craze
Wealth Daily Editor Ian Cooper takes a look at the next big player in DVD rentals, and how it could pay off as well as Coinstar.

Investment Lessons from America's Pastime: Why There's No Crying in Baseball
Publisher Brian Hicks calls on a famous Yankee to provide a lesson that extends from the ball field to the stock market.

The Contrarian Case for Cleantech: It's Time to Buy the Fear
Green Chip's Nick Hodge takes a look at current consensus, current and future growth rates, fair value, and the contrarian case for cleantech stocks.

Oil Spill Clean Up Stocks: These Companies are Working Overtime to Clean Up the Gulf Mess
Energy and Capital Editor Christian DeHaemer reveals to investors the oil spill cleanup stocks to own now...

Investing in North American Oil

I’ve got nothing against gold.

It’s a worthy vehicle for appreciation in certain conditions, and versatile as both a hard currency and a hedge against monetary failures...

However, my thought has always been that if the system collapses to the point where gold becomes widely traded as money once again, other things will be worth just as much. Things like guns, ammunition, batteries, liquor, gasoline, heating oil, cows, chickens, and goats.

Besides this, I think it's naïve to believe that our government would even allow the private ownership of gold during any kind of dire national monetary emergency...

If the poop hits the propeller, the government is very likely to take your gold away like it did in 1933, with Executive Order 6102. I might remind people that this happened in response to a currency and banking crisis not unlike today’s in some respects.

I can’t imagine the G-men would have much success collecting everyone’s bullets, batteries, booze, and bulls.

How You Could Make 508% Gains Off the End of Offshore Drilling

Deep-sea drilling is public enemy # 1 these days... President Obama is freezing any and all new projects from entering the water...

Is this the end of offshore drilling?

Three small American companies are taking advantage of the huge gamechange in the oil industry and drilling in the most oil-rich inland reserve in the country today.

Find out how you can get on board with the profits to be made in domestic drilling, and take huge advantage of this new ocean-less era.

Now, before throngs of you write in to tell me I don’t know my history, I realize that the United States was on a different monetary standard in 1933 — one that arguably allowed FDR to seize gold under an obscure WWI act of Congress...

All I’m saying is that our government is a powerful entity — and able to justify almost anything it wants to do through any number of channels and statutes (see also: passage of health care bill). A presidential Executive Order is only one of them.

Believe me, if Big Brother decides that privately held and traded gold undermines the stability of the monetary system, they could find a way to either seize it or declare it as illegal tender if they wanted to.

But I digress...

This piece isn’t about the yellow metal everyone’s buzzing over at the moment; it's about the kind of gold that can actually make you some BIG money: black gold.

With all eyes on gold, it’s time to buy OIL

The freakish dip in oil prices we’re seeing right now may be one of your last opportunities to buy into all manner of oil-based investments at bargain prices.

As I’m sure you already know, this dip is not being caused by any increase in crude production — or a forecasted decline in demand for oil...

In fact, the IEA predicts that 2010 will sharply reverse two straight years of declining world oil consumption to break 2007’s record of 86.5 million BPD.

Rather, the tumbling oil prices of the last few weeks are due to a U.S. dollar that’s suddenly — and, many experts believe, temporarily — stronger in comparison to the debt-strained euro, the world’s largest currency in circulation.

Just yesterday, Bloomberg’s BusinessWeek confirmed this: Crude oil tumbled to a 12-week low in New York as the strengthening dollar curbed the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment.

Oil is priced in dollars. And all other factors being equal, when the buck spikes, oil dips.

Simple as that.

Right now is one of those rare anomalies (read: window of incredible opportunity) when extreme events briefly disrupt the two-part scenario almost all credible analysts foresee:

1) World oil demand soars, while conventional crude production falls (See: Peak Oil).

2) The dollar declines as the U.S. government prints and spends ever more of them on things that do nothing the restore America’s engine of economic greatness: industry.

These factors translate into only one thing: A sustained boom in oil prices such that the world has never seen.

Morgan Stanley calls for oil to potentially touch $120 in 2011...

B of A/Merrill Lynch sees oil bouncing back to $105 this year...

Barclays more conservatively predicts $100 oil by the end of 2010...

And all of these venerated experts see oil hitting $135-$150 by 2012-2015.

So it’s easy to see how today’s low-$70s crude price is a freakishly favorable window of opportunity to get in on well-chosen oil investments...

And according to one of my colleagues, some of the best among these are right here in North America.

The renaissance of North American oil

Longtime readers of mine know that I’m a commentator, not an investing guru.

Sure, I have some decent instincts about what to do with money to make it grow — and I haven’t taken a bath on many of the investments I’ve made in my life...

But that doesn’t qualify me to tell you what to do with your money.

However, what I can do is show you in comparative terms what both gold and well-chosen North American oil plays have done over the last year...

First, gold’s roughly 34% increase:

By any account, a 34% gain on your money in a year is nothing to sneeze at.

And to be fair, appreciation in some of the more solid small gold mining companies beat this quite handily in the past year or so — I’ve actually seen some 200%+ winners in the portfolios of some of my Angel Publishing colleagues...

However, I’ve never seen anything like the kinds of one-year gains posted by some of the North American oil drillers researched and recommended by Keith Kohl, editor of Angel Publishing’s $20 Trillion Report...

Three of these in particular could’ve handed you 825%, 832%, and 852% profits over twelve months — on just a 77% move in oil prices (get their charts and tickers here).

Like I said, I’m no analyst... but I’ve never seen the market pay out such a hefty premium on a base commodity’s price move to a specific group of dependent companies before...

According to Kohl, it’s evidence of what he calls "North America’s oil comeback."

I don’t have nearly enough space to repeat everything he told me about this under-the-radar renaissance of Ameri-Canadian oil here — but the gist of it is that one "game-changing" new oil/gas extraction technology is now making it possible to economically recover the relatively large quantity of unconventional crude trapped in the strata of certain North American rock formations.

The three drillers I just told you about — the ones that averaged 838% 12-month gains in 2009-2010 — are ALL expert practitioners of this particular technique in one of North America’s best-known unconventional oil reserves: The Bakken formation of North Dakota, Montana, and Saskatchewan...

However, according to analyst Kohl, there’s another North American oil-bearing region that’s even better for drillers proficient in this new technology.

And one company he’s pinpointed has secured not only a huge land base in this rugged region — but also a drilling engineer who’s perhaps the world’s foremost expert on the "game-changing" extraction technology that’s taking the North American oil and gas industry by storm.

Apparently, the oil this driller has been finding in this area since November has proven to be some of the highest-quality crude available on Earth...

He predicts that early investors in this company could lock down more than 12 times their money in just the next two years!

I haven’t heard ANY gold investing analyst predicting anywhere near these kinds of return on a yellow-metal play of any kind...

Have you?

And according to Kohl, this play is just the beginning of many more to come from the comeback of North American oil.

Given the performance of the first few of these boomers I’ve just showed you (straight from Keith’s $20 Trillion Report portfolio, by the way), my money’s on the black gold over the yellow kind from now ‘til the cows become cash...

And if I had to pick what I thought was the optimum moment to buy into any of these plays — it would be right now, while the dollar’s strong and oil irrationally cheap.

Maybe we ought to send a "thank you" care-package to Greece for crashing the euro...

Until next time,

Jim Amrhein
Contributing Editor,
Energy and Capital

P.S. Again, I’m not really qualified to give you anything but the high spots of this story as I understand them — Keith’s the real expert. And you can get his full report here.

Profiting from a Market Rally

Welcome to the Energy and Capital Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in investing and links to our most-read Energy and Capital and sister publication articles.

Is it safe to look?

I'll be the first to admit that I've asked that question many times throughout this recession...

And, just as if you were watching a gruesome scene in a horror film, chances are good that you covered your eyes at some point during the last few weeks.

Some took shelter. Others simply ran for the nearest exit.

The Metals Secret that JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Barclays Don't Want You to Know...

For nearly a decade now... One silver stock has outperformed the Dow Jones by a factor of 122.

It's beaten the NASDAQ by 11,500%. And it's crushed the S&P 500 at a rate of 180 to 1!

In fact this little-known silver mining outfit has handed investors annual gains of 852% over the last nine years.

To learn more about the only silver investment you’ll need to make this year… Click here now.

Let's run through the highs and lows of the week:

Oil prices fell below $69 a barrel over more troubling news coming out of Europe. Still, some hold on to hope that the latest market turmoil is merely the first correction in the latest bull market.
The anti-offshore sentiment didn't take long to settle in after the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Complaints surfaced recently that the Minerals Management Service (MMS) allowed BP and other offshore companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) without acquiring the proper permits.
According to experts, BP's recovery effort may be too little... Researchers from Purdue University said that the amount of oil leaking into the GoM is grossly understated. They project that between 25,000 and 100,000 barrels of oil a day is spilling into the water.
Have we finally seen the bottom for natural gas? Although prices have been hovering near $4/Mcf for weeks, it may be time to take a fresh look at natural gas investments. My colleague, Ian Cooper, gives readers a heads-up regarding the summer's ultimate contrarian bet.

One thing that we can count on is the huge buying opportunity created by this tumultuous market.

Of course, you need to start somewhere...

Below, I've included some of this week's top-read articles from Energy and Capital and our sister publications, Wealth Daily and Green Chip Stocks.

Enjoy your weekend,

Keith Kohl

Editor, Energy and Capital

North America's Oil Comeback: How to Make 1,239% Profits on this Little-Known Oil Stock
With oil prices rising once again, Energy and Capital readers are making their next move in North America's oil comeback — this time, one little-known oil company is paving the way for the next generation of drillers. Learn the details of this profit opportunity in the latest from Energy and Capital.

Oil's Last Buying Opportunity: Putting Your Fears to Rest
Energy and Capital Editor Keith Kohl explains why the fears over an upcoming market collapse could make you a small fortune.

Nuclear Profits: How to Make $277,000 from a Single Nuclear Stock
After this nuclear secret breaks out, the game will be changed forever... Investors will have the chance to take advantage of one tiny stock that's ready to explode. You can still read about this outfit before it makes front-page news in our latest report.

DoD: We've Seen the Future of Light: It Starts at the Pentagon
Publisher Brian Hicks reveals to readers inside information from the Department of Defense and the profit opportunity brewing around the future of the light bulb.

Legislation Set to Boost CNG Vehicles: Senate May Boost Outlook for Compressed Natural Gas Cars
Publisher Jeff Siegel explains the U.S. government’s renewed interest in the natural gas industry and its investment implications.

Israeli Stocks Upgraded from 'Emerging' to 'Developed': Why a MSCI Rerating is a Buying Opportunity
Wealth Daily Editor Christian DeHaemer tells you why a re-rating of Israel to a "developed market" on May 26 equals a buying opportunity.

EU Joins the Currency Race to the Bottom: Faith in the Euro Falters as Gold Shines
Wealth Daily Analyst Adam Sharp reports on gold's run as faith in currency falters - and why coin sellers are running out of metal coins even as you read this...

Why the Renewable Energy Sector Will Prevail: Simple Math Proves Cleantech Superiority
Green Chip Editor Nick Hodge takes a step back, and points out two simple reasons why the renewable energy sector will prevail in the energy race.

Henry Groppe Says Time to Go Long Natural Gas: The Ultimate Contrarian Bet
Energy and Capital Editor Ian Cooper discusses why it may pay to place the ultimate contrarian natural gas bet shortly...

Socialism Hits the Oil Industry

Welcome to the Energy and Capital Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in investing and links to our most-read stories from Energy and Capital and sister publications.

Socialism just hit the oil industry.

And I'm not referring to Venezuelan President Chavez wresting oil fields away from foreign companies...

No. This time, it's hitting much closer to home.

Obama recently took his plan to Congress. In order to pay for the clean-up efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, he's proposing a penny tax on oil companies.

Although a penny tax seems trivial, it's a foot in the door for Obama.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to trivialize the situation in any way. But if I'm not mistaken, BP has already stated they would pay for all legitimate claims. (I'd like to point out that the wording alone makes me cringe.)

If nothing else, we should be promoting more onshore activity — not penalizing them for the offshore spill.

Your IRA and 401(k) are in Washington's sights...

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Let the Blame Game Begin

And while Obama attempts to pass the bill to all U.S. oil companies, the blame game in Washington has already started to make headlines.

At the front of the public stage are three companies directly involved with the offshore accident: BP, Transocean, and Haliburton.

Let the finger pointing begin... as if we didn't already expect an endless circle of blame.

BP head honcho Lamar McKay was quick to point out that Transocean was hired to drill the well and therefore had responsibility.

Yet Transocean wasn't going down without a fight... When in doubt, just fire the blame right back.

Transocean claims that BP was making the calls on the rig; their point is that the operator (BP) is the one ultimately in charge of the project.

Still, Haliburton might hold the trump card. Since BP is blaming Transocean and Transocean is blaming BP, this makes things easy for Haliburton: blame both BP and Transocean.

According to Haliburton, they were under Transocean orders.

What are the other consequences of the BP oil spill, you ask?

For a moment, put aside the amount of money ultimately spent on the cleanup. That figure changes nearly every day and everyone seems to be predicting a different amount. So far, I've heard some analysts call for a $20 billion price tag, while others lowball the amount at $7 billion.
The Governator's green agenda will inevitably gain from the offshore debacle. In fact senators from California, Oregon, and Washington are already calling for a total ban on new offshore drilling projects along the Pacific coast. But did you honestly think they wouldn't take advantage of the public anti-offshore sentiment to pass their agenda?
Meanwhile, the onshore oil plays that we can actually remain bullish on are few and far between. Had it not been for the Bakken's success, I daresay the public would truly realize where we stand in regards to peak oil.

Enjoy your weekend,

Keith Kohl

Editor, Energy and Capital

P.S. Just in case your work week was more chaotic than usual, take a moment and catch up on this week's most-read stories from Energy and Capital and our sister publications, Wealth Daily and Green Chip Stocks:

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JP Morgan's Alleged Manipulation of the Silver Market: A Modern Day Metals Conspiracy Theory
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The Best Nuclear Energy Stock: One Nuclear Stock to Rule them All
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Cardium Oil Formation Stocks: Profit from the Cardium Oil Formation
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Are You Buying the Wrong Gold?: Greece's Gift
Wealth Daily guest editor Jim Amrhein plays devil's advocate in the case for gold and poses an interesting question for investors buying the yellow metal.

The GDP-21 Profit Algorithm: How this "Almost Secret" profit formula could Hand You 57 Times your Money
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The Iraqi Oil Bull Market: 2 Ways to Play This Surge
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The Top Solar Companies to Watch: 4 Solar Companies that could Steal the Spotlight
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Gold Price Surges On Market Crossroads

There is an old Wall Street adage: Sell in May and go away.

It suggests that markets perform better over the winter season, and that investors are smart to sell off over the summer.

There have been numerous studies over the years concerning this phenomenon.

Here is a detailed chart that goes across borders and time and shows that the theory is true:

No one knows for certain why it has held true over time. Some suggest vacations, or lack or conferences; perhaps it has something to do with year-end bonus cycles or Federal budgets.

Of course, this theory would have been a moot point for 2009.

If you sold in May of last year, you would have missed out on one of the strongest rallies in history. The Four Qs (NASDAQ: QQQQ), which tracks the NASDAQ 100, is up 43% since May of 2009.

But this isn't last year. Everything has changed in 2010.

Last year, we were bouncing back from one of the biggest sell-offs since the 1930s. The fear was so thick, you could eat it. No one wanted to own stocks; in March of 2009, there was no one left to sell.

It was a clear market bottom capitulation.

This year, we've had a monster run for two and a half months.

The stochastic is riding the ceiling... The MACD seems topped out... And we are running into several points of major resistance that go back to 1998.

Markets don't go straight up; earnings season is almost over, and though it was positive on the whole, the good news has been priced in.

The stock market is a leading indicator. It rallied over the last year with the understanding that the recession was ending. Year-over-year numbers have been good because in Q1 2009, they were horrible. The positive earnings numbers have a lot to do with a low hurdle.

But today, if you look out six to nine months, what do you see?

More Wall Street blame and regulation, higher taxes, more government debt, Cap and Trade burdens, Euro debt contagion, increased protectionism, unresolved housing forecloses, climbing interest rates, and a contentious mid-term election in November.

It is true that Wall Street climbs a wall of worry. And the bullish case involves the Federal Reserves keeping interest rates near zero, which in turn creates enough liquidity to inflate another bubble.

But anyone over the age of 30 has seen this movie before — twice.

QQQQ Puts

Above is a ten-year chart of the NASDAQ 100 tracking stock. Each candlestick represents a quarter, or three months.

You'll notice a couple of things: One is that most up-trends last five candlesticks, and we are now at six on the current market rally. Furthermore, there is significant resistance at 50.65 going back to 2007, 2000, and 1999. And check out that falling volume!

It is certainly possible that the QQQQs will blow through the resistance and never look back. But the truth is stocks don't go up in a straight line, and trees don't grow to the sky.

Computer-based program-trading now represents more than 60% of all trading.

Many of these programs that base their trades on support and resistance lines. They become de facto trading rules. The line at 50.65 — the high for 2010 — will be difficult to cross.

Even in 2004, after five positive quarters in a row, we had a significant summer correction. That's what I'm betting on again this year.

It's time to take some money out of equities and put it into hard assets.

There is one investment that has gone up, bubble after bubble: gold.

And in fact as I write this, gold has shot up another $25 as S&P downgraded Spain's debt to double -A, as Greece announced that it needed far more money than previously thought, and as the SEC has taken criminal actions against Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS).

Gold is now at $1,177 per ounce... and climbing.

You may like gold (and who doesn't?), but you can make even more money on gold mining companies. Allied Nevada Gold Corp. (AMEX: ANV), which I recommended in December 2008, has been on fire this year — up 758% in 14 months!

From a technical standpoint, the price of gold has been consolidating for a year but has maintained its up-trend. Over the past week, it has broken through resistance at $1,165 per ounce to hit new highs.

The recent string of bad news will give the smart money the impetuous to sell some U.S. and European equities and buy hard assets.

But not all gold companies are the same...

I've found one small exploration stage company in the mineral game in Mongolia, the United States, and China. The company looks for copper, gold, molybdenum, and coal.

Its principal property is a 100% interest in the Lookout Hill property, comprising 179,590 hectares located in South Gobi region of Mongolia.

This property surrounds what is billed as the largest gold mine in the world: Oyu Tolgoi.

Furthermore, this $2.81 company has $0.41/share in cash and almost zero debt. They also have built a perfect strategy. Due to downstream deals, they have no upfront costs and make 20% of any value extracted.

According to the company filings:

One deposit hosts a 43-101 compliant Indicated Resource of 117 million tonnes grading 1.8% copper and 0.61 g/t gold, estimated to contain 4.6 billion pounds of copper and 2.3 million ounces of gold and an Inferred Resource of 95.5 million tonnes grading 1.15% copper and 0.31 g/t gold, estimated to contain 2.4 billion pounds copper and 950,000 ounces of gold.

A second deposit contains an Inferred Resource of 760 million tonnes grading 0.48% copper, 0.55 g/t gold and 142 ppm molybdenum, estimated to contain 8 billion pounds of copper and 13.4 million ounces of gold.

If you take just those 2.3 million ounces of gold based on the first deposit, and you multiply it by the current market price per ounce... you get $2,691,000,000 worth of gold.

You multiply this by the 20% the company gets from any extracted value and you get $538,200,000.

This company has a market cap of only $274,000,000.

Note: Copper is priced at $3.34 a pound these days (4.6 billion x 3.34 = $15.36 billion x 20% value =$3.07 billion).

If you completely discount all other values, and just take this one deposit... This company, which has down-streamed all costs in return for 20% of whatever comes out of the ground, and you consider only that mine — without thinking that gold or copper or moly will go up — you should arrive at this conclusion: this company is easily undervalued by half.

If you consider it is a well-funded and connected global exploration company that is sitting on mineral rights all over the world, including in the United States, China, Canada, and a huge plot right next to what is considered the largest unexploited gold mine in the world...

All of this gives you little risk and tremendous upside.

The key catalyst for hitting the double digits is the mining plan now being worked out with its partners and the Mongolia Government.

I was in Mongolia a few months ago and spoke with the decision makers in government and business, including the top people who worked out the OT deal.

Everyone I spoke with wants these mines up and running as soon as possible. They expect official clarification this summer.

But even without the official go-ahead; if gold trends up toward $1500, I expect this small-cap gold explorer to fly.

If both happen, you are easily looking at a $10 stock.

And as a bonus, it trades on the American Stock Exchange — so, no muss, no fuss.

Read more about the profit-multiplying formula could hand you 57 times your money — but only if you follow these instructions by today, April 30th.

You don't want to wait on this one.

All the best,

Christian DeHaemer
Energy and Capital

P.S. My associate Greg McCoach recently found one for the books... 510 miles north of Akron, in a region home to one of North America's most abundant gold deposits, the most shocking land-grab of the past 50 years is quietly yet rapidly unfolding.

In short, thanks to one uranium giant's neglected assets, a tiny exploration company recently secured several billion dollars worth of gold — for just $250k. Read more about how one company's multi-billion dollar goof just created the easiest gains you'll make this summer.

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