Jase

Five Energy Companies That Spell Opportunity

Agreed, Petrochina (PTR) is astoundingly cheap right now. Their dividends have generally been over $2 per share, I don't see this changing; PTR will continue to pay to wait. Here are some more stats on PTR (pardon the formatting):

Total Returns %, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, YTD
Stock, 205.8, -1.4, 60.9 ,79.1, 29.2, -43.0
+/- Industry, 171.3, -21.5, 36.0, 58.6, 2.2, -11.0
+/- S&P 500, 179.4, -10.4, 57.9, 65.4, 25.7, -17.8

They are down over 60% from their 52-week and 5-year highs. Global recession, mild correction, major correction, upcoming depression--whatever your viewpoint is, China isn't going to stop growing. It may slow somewhat, but it will not stop. McKinsey's findings:

"By 2025, an additional 5 million buildings — including up to 50,000 skyscrapers, or the equivalent of 10 New York Cities — could be built in China, the McKinsey Global Institute, a U.S. consulting firm, predicted in a March report.

China could end up with as many as 221 cities that each have a population above 1 million, as a result of hundreds of millions of farmers moving to urban areas."

Add to this fact that a few hundred new vehicles (300M+) will be added to Chinese roads by 2015--this growth story may slow, but it WILL NOT stop. We are looking at the world's new super power jockeying for position.

Disclosure: I'm long platinum (ELR.TO, the commodity itself, and a few ETF's; catalytic converters will still be in heavy demand going forward), I'm long Petrochina for the reasons stated above, and I'm long steel and infrastructure (MT is strategically positioned to service China's growing demand).

In my view, this global market meltdown--though seemingly severe right now--will look like a hiccup when viewed in context in five years from now.

The world is not ending. We are just about to commence the biggest bull market in the history of civilization.

Bottoms are violent.