Investing Daily

Master limited partnerships (MLP) and oil-tanker stocks offer far higher yields than US government bonds and other traditional income-oriented sectors--not to mention leverage to growing demand for energy commodities.

The price of natural gas liquids has declined recently, but investors shouldn't worry about this seasonal weakness. However, the Obama administration's moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is a bigger concern.

Expect China’s big three energy companies to continue to invest in North American and Australian shale-gas operations.

Tim Guinness, the London-based manager of Guinness Atkinson Global Energy (GAGEX), shares his take on the oil spill's impact and the future of the US energy sector.

A leadership change in Australia suggests that the draconian resources super profits tax will be watered down--an incremental positive for the mining industry. But the main reason to invest in coal miners down under remains intact: growing demand from China and India.

Macondo is an environmental disaster, but investors must separate pre-election political rhetoric and sensationalist media coverage from reality and history. Odds are that Macondo will turn out to be far less of a disaster than BP’s most vocal critics suggest.

Rising oil prices coupled with the lack of readily available substitutes raises the value of any steps a company or individual can take to reduce crude oil consumption.

The new royalty regime itself is an acknowledgement that front-end investment--particularly where innovative extraction techniques are absolutely critical to success, as in the long-lived Pembina field--in conventional production often demands new technology.

The Linn Energy story is based on stable cash flow supported by the long-life nature of its reserves and its aggressive three-year hedging program. Production rates are predictable, and much of it is already contracted for sale.

Although the worldwide economic downturn continues to weigh on growth, power consumption continues to rise unabated; according to the International Energy Agency, global energy use will double by 2030 as developing nations such as China and India demand more energy.

Like politics, everyone these days seems to have an opinion on energy: Where the price of oil is headed, what the government should or shouldn’t be doing about it, why dependence on Middle East Oil is good or bad, why global warming does/doesn’t matter, why renewable energy is good, you name it. As investors in Canadian oil and gas producer trusts and dividend-paying corporations, it’s critical that we don’t buy into all the bull.

Growing use of electricity has been a fact of life for more than a century and will be for decades more. These companies are tapped into the greatest growth.

With passage of the USD787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Washington, DC has supplanted New York City as the nation’s key financial center. The latest news on the economic stimulus package and the Treasury Dept’s financial stabilization plan has been the most important driver for the stock market so far this year. With regard to energy-focused investments, there are two areas of potential impact: the economy as a whole and companies that will benefit from the direct flow of money into energy-related research and development.

There are signs the broader market and major energy indexes are approaching a key low, setting up for a major rally that will kickoff no later than mid-2009. We’re already seeing a marked improvement in performance in the past few weeks, particularly for our three key themes for the New Year: high income potential; natural gas over oil; and integrated Super Oils.

Well, there’s a new world of hydro, and it’s already being used in places. There’s wave energy, tidal energy, current energy and a number of other variants that are being used to tap into the extant power of the earth’s most abundant resource. Smart tech investors should start to learn about these new systems.

The temporary pullback in prices has hit most stocks in the energy space hard, driving down valuations to the lowest levels since 1998, when oil was trading below USD20 a barrel and natural gas sold for less than USD2 per million British thermal units (MMBtu). This marks an outstanding opportunity for investors to buy stocks at depressed prices ahead of the next up-cycle.

Last week I sent out two flash alerts discussing the continued selling pressure we're seeing in the oil and natural gas markets. First, the bad news: The selloff in crude oil, natural gas and energy-related stocks continues, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see further selling over the next few weeks to take oil back to around $110 per barrel.

The energy sector is a lot bigger than just companies that explore for and produce oil and natural gas. One of the most overlooked energy sectors of all also happens to be one of the oldest sectors in the US market, the railroads.

Coal and natural gas prices are steadily rising as demand growth outpaces production. China continues to rely on coal for most of its energy production, and global demand for natural gas is expected to more than double on global growth and environmental concerns.