If you’ve read more than one or two issues of LEW, by now you know that despite its moniker, the publication’s scope extends far beyond energy shares. Our focus is, in fact, on resources in general. With recession and deflation the principal market themes in recent months, we’ve deliberately… Read More

 Gazprom (OGZPY), arguably the world’s most powerful company and Russia largest, accounting for 3 percent of its GDP, has been a part of the lead story in the European press in recent days. The company has been in a row with Ukraine, demanding that country fulfill its debt obligation and… Read More

 Crude oil is on track to post its first annual decline in seven years. For the first time in more than four years, you can buy a barrel of oil for under $40. Good news for the economy? Or is this the type of an overshoot that commodities tend… Read More

Stocks covered this issue:  Transocean (RIG)Companhia Vale (RIO) Mosaic (MOS) One of the hallmarks of peak oil production is that crude oil prices should move to permanent contango. Contango is term used in the futures market that refers to a situation in which the price of a… Read More

Gold is finally “getting a bid.” By that we mean buyers are starting to move into gold in greater numbers. The increase in demand hasn’t resulted in a big move in the Midas Metal just yet, but it’s moving in the right direction. From a short-term technical perspective, the… Read More

Commodities are a unique asset class fundamentally different from stocks. Prices for commodities (even long-dated contracts) reflect current supply/demand trends. In other words they reflect the here and now. Stock prices, on the other hand, reflect expected corporate income streams into the future. As a result, the price action… Read More

 Not all of the news in the energy patch is bad these days. One might think that contract drillers and oilfield service companies would suffer from this downturn. But that hasn’t uniformly been the case. Transocean (RIG), for instance, announced recently that it raised the dayrate (daily rental rate)… Read More

With the global cycle downturn not expected to disrupt the long-term economic development of emerging market economies, we added the Vale Jan 2010 15 call option (YGJ+AC) to our short-term holdings last week.  As the credit crisis spread to emerging markets, including Brazil and China, steel production has fallen… Read More

Mosaic’s stock had been decimated in the second half of 2008, dropping to just over $22 in late November at one point. That’s an astounding fall of nearly 90 percent from the stock’s June high. Weaker markets for phosphate and potash (Mosaic’s main products) due to poor economic outlook… Read More

Hopefully you had a chance to watch 60 Minutes last Sunday night. If by chance you missed the airing, you can view it on the CBS website. The television news magazine did a rather long piece on Saudi Arabia’s efforts to add to its oil production capacity. While… Read More