tedstr

Natural Gas: Worst Investment Ever?

Certainly much has to do with supply...we have more than ever. But the big controlling factor is usage and that is driven by industrial demand, principally electricity. Electricity demand has been dropping for months due to our indistrial over capacity. utilities are slowing generation or switching to coal and hydro plants to preserve margins.

This all makes a perfect storm for Nat Gas prices and a perfect buying opportunity once in a decade. A slight bump in electricity demand will send the utilities back to Nat Gas ASAP and a nice bump back up in price.

Recession Is Over; Depression Has Just Begun

Recession is when your neighbor is out of work. Depression is when you are out of work.

Nice article.

Employment in Crisis

This is not so complicated folks. The social change that is happening is that the dual income home is fading. More women are finding that they do not need or want to work as much. Some men are finding they do not need or want to work as much. Some of this takes the form of early retirement. Some is just moms staying home. Some is discouragement, some is just making choices.

To be sure unemploymnent is high, but not all of the non-employment seeking workers are still discouraged workers. This is a very significant social change that will have profound effects on consumption and savings for the next generation.

The past 25 years of runaway consumption in the US was fueled by the two income home and disproportionate wealth in the upper middle class (ie "mass affluence"). This will be replaced by increasing hourly wages for a reduced labor force, reduced consumption and increased savings rate.

Local Media's Hidden Asset: Their Salesforce

CBS and Classifieds 2000 tried this 10 years ago and failed miserably. Others in the Yellow Pages space also tried it and failed.
Times are different now, but the key is the incentive and the TRUE motivation of the sales force.

Most traditional media assets are now so impaired that their salesforce and their owners are willing to try anything though I would argue that 90% of traditional media sales people don't undertstand, don't like, don't use, and resent, digital media.

With 30 years in traditional and digital media sales, I never met anyone from the Yellow Pages or directory business until I got into the web. The web is very much the directory business culture. It's like a cultural wall between the two worlds.

Ten Reasons for an Imminent Stock Market Crash

Would someone please explain the difference between flash trades and pump and dump. Sorry but this whole rally is beginning to smell like manipulation.

There is nothing wrong with 1050-1200 on the S&P. But the fear of something less and the flash trading could easily set off a big sell off down to 800-900 with a recovery just as fast.

Marc Faber: Equities Safer than Dollars

Faber may be a smart guy but we need to stop all this alarmist talk and get on with fixing the problems.

I am a very typical consumer and I spend about 80% of my monthly purchases on things that stay in the US. My mortgage, education for my children, telcom, entertainment and food. I heat and cook my food with natural gas which is in vast oversupply and mostly American.

I fly mostly on American built planes, I buy mostly American built software and I hire Americans to run my town and educate and protect my family.

Yes my cars are foreign but my Toyota was built here by Americans.

5 Excellent, Non-Pipeline Income Stocks

Sorry I meant MLPs

5 Excellent, Non-Pipeline Income Stocks

Seems to me these commodity related MLPs are the way to go right now. I am long LINE and looking at several others. With certainly better than 50/50 shot that we are going to have rising energy and commodity prices over the next year and potentially rising interest rates, these two forces may cancel each other out with these ETFs effectively hedging the 10-11% payout and the share price.

Anyone disagree?

Don't Ignore Low Interest Rates

Right but that PE includes one time charge offs. One of the problems in this recession (and many others) is that earnings enter a "get out of jail free" period. CEOs can write off all their mistakes with impunity which exacerbates the problem. I believe this is where we were in March. This recession is particulalry bad because of the huge bubble in financials.

Market Outlook: Expect a Major Shift in Bond and Equity Correlations

Dian, brilliant piece. I am moving into oil and gas MLPs as they seem a perfect "middle course" to take.....increasing commodity prices should play well for them though the high leverage ones could be in for some trouble. thoughts?

Natural Gas ETF Premium Reaches 20%: Time to Unload?

Looks fairly simple to me.

Look at the LNG shipments. They're not stopping. Foreign producers just keep em coming and we have the new terminals to take it.
Meanwhile industrial demand for gas and electricity is down significantly.
Add in a developing shortage of storage capacity.
Throw in a dash of the evil squid manipulating the markets and compounding the short

Mix thoroughly and voila you get < $2.00 for NG.

CFTC will now turn on the oven and set for position limits. Insert the UNG ETF and bake for about 1 hour.

Remove from oven and sprinkle lightly with winter seasoning

Short squeeze. Nicely rising back to something that gets closer to the oil price tracking history and a well baked squid that will be delicious for all who dine with them

Global X Launches the First Nordic ETF

,,,mn

A Jobs-less Apple Would Not Need Google

Everyone forgets that Google is a (new kind of) media company not a tech company and it will become more so in the years ahead. It makes money by selling advertsing and has come up short on virtually every other venture it has tried. It clearly has an incredible foundation in its search algorithyms and web index but even enterprise search, a tiertiary market for them at best, is a weak sister.

I can think of only one other example where media hardware and media publishing have combined and been successful, NBC/RCA.

CBS tried owning TV manufacturing and marketing in the early years and failed badly. RCA did nicely with radio sets in the early years of raqdio but never actually did real well in marketing TVs and was only in the hardware business because they invented it, but mostly made money by licensing their color TV process to others. They actually had a better long term business in selling professional gear to the industry.

MSFT continues to try and fail at being both a tech company and a software company.

Googel is a one trick pony, albeit a very large and successful one, but they would do well to stay out of the software and hardware business. Apple should learn from MSFT and stay out of the web publishing/advertising business.

Being a news and information portal supported by advertising is a way different business than making ipods or PCs

Greenlight's Einhorn: Buying S&P 500 and General Electric Puts

You guys saying leverage was not the problem is like saying the teenager who had a few beers driving a wreck at 75 MPH on a country road, speed was not the problem when he kills himself.

Irresponsibility, equipment quality, bad judgement, and speed (leverage) ALL were the problem except that your odds of surviving the wreck at 20MPH are way better

3 Energy MLPs for the Price of One

LINE reccomended by Cramer last night...for what it's worth. Any opinions on that.