Plan B Economics'  Instablog

Key findings from recent World Gold Council data:

If you become more efficient at your job, do you get to go home early? No. You’re given more work to do.

Same goes for energy.

Here’s something to consider when we’re being bombarded with Public Service Announcements on energy efficiency. The following shows why better efficiency may not reduce consumption of energy.

With all the recent talk about new bubbles forming, I thought it timely to review what a bubble looks like.

How do you identify a bubble? Here are a few things to look for:

1. Experienced, older investors stay away while novices invest in droves.
Older investors tend to have learned from prior bubbles and busts, while less experienced investors feel and act as if they were invincible.

2. The justification for continued asset appreciation has little to do with profits.
A ‘new paradigm’, unique measures of success or the promise of huge profits years into the future are usually signs that fundamentals are not sound.

The following graph shows that the spike in West Texas Intermediate Oil of $147 per barrel may have signaled that global oil production has already hit its peak.

According to the Brisbane Times (Australia), Chinese officials stated they will end their stockpiling of raw materials.

I am currently exploring cotton as an alternative (better?) way to play a long-oil position. I admit there are many variables at play here so I write this hoping for an interesting debate.