This year got off to a rough start due to warmer weather across much of the eastern United States and an earnings warning from Nabors Industries. The warmer weather, due to the developing El Niño, has caused commodities prices to drop as there is less demand for heating fuels, creating turbulence for coal and natural gas. However, oil prices remain well supported, so there are several plays on this sector. Read More

Stocks in the airline, tanker, and oil and gas groups have been moving significantly recently, and though they will be discussed in more depth in next weeks issue, there are some plays that can be made in the meantime. Read More

US Airways announced a takeover bid for bankrupt carrier Delta Airlines. Though it may take some time for federal regulators to sign off on the deal, this consolidation should stand a good chance of approval because the airline industry has long been plagued by poor profitability, excessive capacity and too many competitors. If the airline business is ever to be profitable longer term, there will need to be fewer players. Read More

An update on earnings released from several portfolio holdings. Read More

With oil dropping briefly under $60 per barrel and natural gas under $5, there's been a good deal of volatility in the energy patch. The recent dip under $60 put crude at the low end of its valuation range, but falling gasoline prices in the US may help stimulate more demand for oil. Also, with the teeth of the winter season still to come, natural gas under $5 reflects short-term supply issues, not the long-term supply/demand imbalance. Read More

Three months ago, Richard Kinder, the CEO of Kinder Morgan, offered to take the pipeline firm private at $100.00 a share. However, the offer price was recently raised to $107.50 so the stock is now trading at around $104.50; so, rather than wait for the deal to be completed, take profits now. Read More

Options can be used as an excellent risk management tool which locks in some gains and hedges against a pullback or correction. Read More

BG Group (formerly British Gas) is added to the Wildcatters Portfolio. I like BG Group for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the company has some of the world's most attractive E&P assets; production is about 70 percent weighted in favor of natural gas, although the company's oil assets are also attractive. Read More

CSX released its second quarter earnings report, which bodes well not only for it, but for the railroad industry as a whole. Read More

The recent correction in the energy sector continues unabated, as the Philadelphia Oil Services Index is now trading roughly 18 percent off its May highs. While the fundamentals for the group are undimmed longer term, I’m not convinced we’ve seen the lows of this correction. Every great bull market in history has seen periodic vicious corrections of as much as 30 percent before ultimately rallying to new highs. For more aggressive traders, this is an excellent opportunity to consider using short positions or puts to directly benefit from further downside in selected issues. Read More