If 2010 follows the pattern of the past 15 years, we are approaching the start of a seasonal climb in the price of crude oil that could present a good investment opportunity in energy-related stocks.

Oil is down from its 2009 peak of $81 per barrel seen in October, but we remain constructive on energy stocks given the improving economy and positive seasonal factors heading into the new year.

Like all major economies, China is preparing for its energy future to accommodate rapid growth and the movement of more and more Chinese to cities. The foundation of the nation’s electricity generation plan is coal, but with loud calls coming from around the world for China to cut its output of greenhouse gases, a significant portion of new power will be nuclear.

A story this week from Bloomberg puts some amazing numbers on new car sales in China and India, providing further proof of the continuing transfer of wealth from the developed world to the world’s largest developing economies, and that the infrastructure theme remains alive and well in those rapidly growing markets.

In November, auto sales were up 98 percent from the same month in 2008 – the biggest monthly jump in more than five years. More than 1 million cars, SUVs and minivans were sold, according to official numbers, plus another 300,000 trucks, buses and other vehicles.

There’s a lot of speculation in the market that gold has gone up too far too fast and is destined for a sharp correction.

We have said publicly on a number of occasions that no one should be surprised if gold goes up or down one standard deviation over 60 trading days. Statistically speaking, movement within that range would be interpreted as normal, with roughly 70% of all data points being within that range.

In TV commercials and across the Internet, managers of exchange-traded funds tout the tax advantages of their products.

But according to a story in the latest issue of Barron's, many investors in precious-metals ETFs have to deal with an unwelcome surprise come April 15.

India’s deal to buy 200 metric tonnes (6.4 million troy ounces) of gold from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a huge deal – not just the fact that the New Delhi government is handing over $6.7 billion for the metal, but what it may mean for gold going forward.

India, the world’s largest gold jewelry market, is making a rational and bullish call on gold. The supply of gold continues to decline – the biggest supply is from governments with socialist policies that are selling their gold to pay for social welfare and bailout programs. The IMF is a classic case of this.

Our friend Andy Rothman from research firm CLSA sent out an interesting chart last week following the release of China’s macroeconomic data for the month of September.

As you can see from the chart, private investment (Non State-Owned Enterprises) growth accelerated to 37 percent on a year-over-year basis, a more rapid rate than that of state-owned enterprises. This is the first time we’ve seen this happen since October of last year and it is the fastest rate of growth since November 2007.

Brian Hicks, co-manager of our Global Resources Fund (PSPFX), is in London this week for the London Metal Exchange’s 2009 Metals Seminar, which kicked off the annual LME Week gathering of leading commodities analysts from around the world. Here are Brian’s notes from the seminar:

Danny Quah, professor at the London School of Economics, gave a compelling presentation that centered on China and the global recovery. His main theme focused on the global economy's shifting center of gravity, which has been steadily moving eastward to China over the past decade. He also mentioned that China isn't dependent upon U.S. consumption to create growth – that notion is an old paradigm from the 1970s. Exports to the U.S. only make up approximately 15 percent of total exports, versus the 40 percent of total exports going to Southeast Asia.

If you believe now is a good time to invest in U.S. stocks, emerging markets may offer even more opportunity.

We believe global growth is the most powerful investment theme now and for the foreseeable future. You can see this playing out as countries like China, India and Brazil grow in economic stature. As we saw in Pittsburgh last week, the G-7 is being supplanted by the more inclusive G-20 when it comes to global economic decision-making.

Gold has cracked the $1,000-an-ounce barrier for a second time. The first time, in March 2008, the price fell back to three digits within a couple of days. What about this time?

No one knows the answer to that question, but there are some plausible reasons why the gold price could stay higher longer this time around.

We’re heading into September tomorrow, so it’s a good time to revisit the historic seasonality of gold and gold stocks.

Over the past four decades, September has been the best time for gold in terms of its month-over-month price appreciation. You can see this on the chart below — in a typical year, the price of gold in September rises 2.5 percent above its August price.

The deadly collapse of a freeway bridge in Minneapolis in 2007 brought to national attention that our vital infrastructure was falling apart.

Perhaps last week’s disaster at a major hydroelectric power station in Siberia that killed 69 people will get Russia moving to update its crumbling infrastructure. But the challenges are many.

This commentary is from the U.S. Global natural resources team

The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) wrapped up its hearings on whether to install position limits on futures trading this week, and like other hot topics being tossed around Capitol Hill, misinformation seems to be running rampant.

China’s stronger-than-expected GDP growth of 7.9 percent in the second quarter has made some market pundits skeptical of the China story. They claim that the ruling party has “massaged” the data in order to project stability.

If I told you that an investment in California was riskier than Russia, would that surprise you?

One of the most important factors to watch for the U.S. economy and commodities is money supply. Put simply, money supply is the total amount of money available in an economy. This includes bills, coins, credit and all other forms of liquid financial instruments.

James Turk, founder of GoldMoney.com, wrote an interesting explanation of the basics of money supply that’s currently available on Kitco.com. In it, Turk explains the underlying supply and demand imbalance between the amount of money that is being printed and the overall demand for it.

This article is from portfolio manager Romeo Dator, who covers China for the U.S. Global Investors investment team.

Since peaking on March 5, the dollar has fallen nearly 12 percent against the trade-weighted U.S. Dollar Index (DXY).

Chinese policymakers have used forceful policy tools to restore confidence and combat crisis. That’s reflected in the 7.9 percent GDP growth China managed to post during the second quarter.

When it comes to stimulus, policymakers have taken a multi-faceted approach.

As we move deeper into the second half of 2009, oil demand and price forecasters appear to be getting more bullish about next year.

Oil industry consultant PIRA is the latest to weigh in with its 2010 World Oil Market Forecast.