In this issue:

The object of the investing game is to stay cool when everyone else seems to be panicking, keep fear and greed alike in check and stick with a plan unless new information dictates otherwise.

The ability to maintain an even keel has helped us both as individual investors, and has been an asset for this newsletter as well, when luck’s been with us and more recently when it seemed to turn its back on just about every energy equity.

So we’re not recommending any portfolio changes in this issue because none seem warranted, either by the selling of the recent days or in the wake of Friday’s rally.

Instead, we’ve analyzed the market action with an eye toward profiting from it in the long run, looked at why some stocks have been so much more volatile lately than others and researched three portfolio picks pursuing promising growth strategies despite a monthlong market mauling.

The leaders of these companies know better than to sweat $90 a barrel crude or Appalachian gas at $3 per million British thermal units. They’re building long-term value well by well, and we think that’s the right approach in these knee-jerk times.

We hope you’ll agree and take the long view with them, and with us.   

Commodity Update

Crude oil and natural gas prices again declined from our previous report. Brent is trading at $96.73 per barrel, down $2.48 over the past two weeks. The price of  West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined $1.12 over the past two weeks to $91.63/bbl. Natural gas prices are $3.83 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), down $0.15/MMBtu from our previous report, but still $0.17/MMBtu higher than a year ago. With the beginning of the withdrawal season six to eight weeks away, natural gas inventories remain 13% below the five-year average for this time of year.

In Other News

• A two-year federal study concluded that fracking was not responsible for water contamination, but that the loss of well integrity had in some cases allowed contamination to occur.

• Advanced biofuel producer KIOR has been delisted from the NASDAQ.

• TransCanada’s (NYSE: TRP) CEO announced that the six-year delay in approving the Keystone XL pipeline has caused the cost estimate for the project to double. 

• Over 300,000 people marched through the streets of New York City in what was billed as the “largest climate change demonstration in history.”

• Analyst group Wood Mackenzie warned that US crude prices could fall $30/bbl below international crudes “in the coming decades” if the crude oil export ban isn’t lifted.