Frank Holmes'  Instablog

Since gold's bull run began a decade ago, many people have asked me whether the metal was in a bubble, despite the fact that there were many drivers in place for gold.

Here's another comparison that answers this classic question.

Research firm Commerzbank's strategists recently compared the price of gold starting in 2002 to the price of Brent crude oil starting in 1998 and the NASDAQ Composite from 1990. Immediately following each index's record highs, oil and tech stocks declined sharply. Within nine months, tech stocks had halved in price, while it took only three months for oil to lose half its price, says Commerzbank. You can see the dramatic rise and fall of each index on the chart below.

In contrast to oil and tech, gold has been level-headed over the past decade. Nearly 20 months after its peak, gold has fallen only about 25 percent, and its path remains in line with Brent and the NASDAQ after their bubbles burst.

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In Commerzbank's opinion, a comparison between the current situation in gold and the former bubbles is superfluous at best.

Download a copy of What's Driving Gold now.

The Nasdaq Composite Index is a capitalization-weighted index of all Nasdaq National Market and SmallCap stocks.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Texas has seen incredible changes in oil production because of advancements in shale technology. From one 200-mile view at night, you can easily spot the urban areas of Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin, but the strip just south of the Alamo City and U.S. Global Investors' headquarters illuminates something else entirely: the bright lights of big oil generated by the Eagle Ford shale formation.

In its new report, the University of Texas at San Antonio provides more than just a satellite view of oil production in the area.

First, take a look at Texas' overall crude oil production during the past few decades. Since hitting about 2.6 million barrels of oil per day in 1981, production began slowly declining, bottoming to just over 1 million barrels per day during the early part of this century, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Over the past few years, though, daily production has gone vertical, with the state pumping out more than 2.2 million barrels each day. Production has grown so rapidly, that if Texas were a country, it would be the 13th largest oil-producing nation in the world, based on international crude oil output from November, says Mark Perry in his Carpe Diem blog.
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The primary driver of this incredible lift has been the Eagle Ford formation, an area 50 miles wide and 400 miles long. According to the UTSA's Center for Community and Business Research, oil out of Eagle Ford has increased from about 5 million barrels to more than 110 million barrels in a matter of only two years.
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This huge boom in oil production has had a tremendous economic impact on Texas as well. UTSA's report calculates that within a 20-county area, the Eagle Ford Shale added more than $61 billion in economic impact in 2012. This number includes 14 counties that have actively producing wells, along with six counties that experience indirect activity from the Eagle Ford area.

According to UTSA, Eagle Ford is expected to continue contributing to the area over the next several years. "The region will support 127,000 jobs and produce an economic impact of $89 billion for Texas in 2022," says the report.

We believe these economic bright lights have created significant opportunities for natural resources investors. See how you can access this trend.

Read more:
Download your copy of UTSA report here.

Read The Significant Impact of U.S. Oil Production.

See how investors can benefit from rising oil production.

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I have always admired former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whose strong leadership and perseverance made her one of the most influential and respected political figures in recent history. She once said of her ability to persevere that she has the "woman's ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it."

She was the first woman to lead a major Western democracy, and now, in 2012, businesses worldwide have more women sitting in board rooms and at executive tables "than at any time since 2010," reports Grant Thornton. What is fascinating for global investors is to see how countries differ in the proportion of women in senior management.

According to its study, Grant Thornton found that China leads the world, with 51 percent of senior management positions held by women. This is a sharp increase from the previous year, where only 25 percent of women were in senior management. China's not the only Asian country ahead of the curve. Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan and Hong Kong also show up on the list below, with 30 percent or more of businesses with senior positions held by women.

Emerging European countries also have "healthy representations of women occupying senior decision-making roles," says Grant Thornton. Poland is a close second to China, with 48 percent, followed by Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

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While the growth in women holding senior positions in the U.S. increased in 2012, the country still lags much of the world, with only 20 percent of its senior management held by women. The nation falls to the bottom in the worldwide ranking, alongside Japan (7 percent), United Arab Emirates (11 percent), and several European countries, including Netherlands (11 percent), Switzerland (14 percent), United Kingdom (19 percent), Ireland (21 percent) and Spain (21 percent).

There are many more insightful statistics in Grant Thornton's 12-page report and you can download a copy at their site here.

From Margaret Thatcher to Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg to South Korea's first female president, Park Geun-hye, I believe governments and corporations thrive when they welcome diverse thought-leadership and ideas.

U.S. Global Investors has been at the forefront of this trend, hiring leaders who share our corporate values, including having initiative, a respect for people and teamwork, a focused work ethic and a curiosity to learn and improve. I'm proud that two of three top leadership positions are held by President and General Counsel Susan McGee and Chief Financial Officer Catherine Rademacher. In addition, U.S. Global has several female executives throughout the company who lead departments, including accounting, human resources, marketing and shareholder services.

By clicking the link above, you will be directed to a third-party website. U.S. Global Investors does not endorse all information supplied by this website and is not responsible for its content.