Doc 224899

Stimulus Money for Energy Companies Going, Going…

If we had a majority party with any sense, we'd have "green" projects all over the country, throwing together nuclear power plants. What do we have instead? A department of energy doing its level best to bankrupt the only American corporation that does low grade uranium enrichment to make reactor fuel that can't be used in nuclear weapons.

If we had a majority party with a conceptual time horizon longer than 1 presidential term, and with more than a shred of loyalty to our ideals of liberty and responsibility, we'd have universities all over the country doing research on the most efficient ways to use the 2 century's worth of coal in our country. What do we have instead? A politically correct energy secretary backing the president in his efforts to bankrupt America's coal utility companies, and trying to bribe freedom's enemies by selling the controlling interests in America's coal miners to foreign interests.

WSJ: Most Jobs for Chinese Wind Farm in Texas to Go to China

Here's an earthshaking idea...how about JOBS FOR AMERICANS BUILDING AN AMERICAN WINDFARM IN TEXAS?

I thought that's what the stimulus money was going to be for.

Gold Bug Feeding Frenzy

Is "survivalism in the suburbs" the current state of affairs? Suburban housewives are driving SUVs to give themselves a sense of security in daily driving, as though they were in armored vehicles (dare to get in the way of a determined soccer mom behind the wheel, if you don't believe me). Door locks and electronic security systems in motor vehicles, places of business,and in homes are increasingly robust and sophisticated. People are buying and hording precious metals. People are moving from "modern" states like Florida, and buying property in the rural west and in the mountains east of the Mississippi River. The demand for civilian firearms and ammunition is breaking all records. Nationally, the demand for guns and ammo, compared to the supply of such products, resembles the brief regional demand in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. Citizens increasingly want military configuration weapons because they offer advantages in a home defense situation (rapid reloading, high volume magazines, and intimidating appearance so there is a confidence-building effect for the person holding them and a deterrant effect on whomever may find themselves on the wrong end of the weapons) that enable people to imagine themselves prevailing in a seige of their neighborhood.

I'd say people in the suburbs increasingly feel like they have a survivalist mind-set, though most of them would never admit it to any but their closest friends, and never in print.

I think we'll see an expression of this in voting trends this November.

Gold Bug Feeding Frenzy

"Demand for gold will be satisfied by sales from current owners": I'm betting that the GLD ETF is operating with some sort of gold lease or derivative arrangement, so my money is in CEF (the Canadians are so nice, and it's easy to trust them).

3 Commodity ETFs That Could Be Poised to Bounce

Park your dollars in UNG and watch them turn to dust while guys who bought "loser" coal miner stocks cash in big time.

I can't believe you compare this to GLD and SLV.

Your money would be better off in a Canadian energy trust.

America, The Nanny State

Obama achieved a whole new plateau in slick hypocrisy this past week, complaining that he wanted 40 million doses of vaccine (so HE could be seen as the savior of HIS PEOPLE, because HE TAKES CARE OF US), and only got 27 million doses buy the end of October.

He implies that HE is the authority on what we need, and that the pharmaceutical industry (no corporate identity mentioned, but you all know it’s big bad pharma, right?) has let him and us down somehow.

He doesn’t go on to mention that HIS trial attorney lobby, that writes most of his script, has sued vaccine makers so vigorously for so many years (bogus claims that 3 kids out of 35,000,000 receiving vaccine got a non-specific illness that had to be the fault of the vaccine maker) that there are no vaccine makers inside the USA any more.

He doesn’t say we could have vaccines more rapidly if regulations made by lawyer legislators, and product safety development precautions to protect anyone preparing a vaccine for distribution from being sued into bankruptcy weren’t so prohibitively costly and time-consuming.

He also doesn’t say H1N1 is a low lethality influenza strain, with less morbidity and mortality risk than average, run-of-the-mill seasonal flu. Why? Because after it’s all over he’ll show infection rates and morbidity and mortality reports that prove HE was successful in protecting HIS people from the bad, bad infection, and people will be stupid enough to believe it was HIS doing and not because it was a weak virus to start with.

3 Holiday Stocking Stuffers for Big Gains in 2010

Am I the only one who noticed that none of the featured corporations involves Americans providing healthcare services or healthcare products to American consumers of healthcare services/products? I guess the liability exposure problem precludes that possibility.

Marc Faber: ‘Gold a Bargain Compared to S&P500′

If gold goes to $2000, what do you think happens to the dollar, or the yuan, or the ruble? Most scenarios that would bring gold to $2000 are going to raise the costs of gold production proportionately.

So here's the homework assignment: figure out what global market conditions raise the price of gold but raise the costs of gold production proportionately less, that would also permit Americans to profit from investing in international gold miner stocks (forget American gold miners - too many regulations and lawyers and environmentalist plaintiffs).

My guess is that such a scenario would involve OPEC or China/India/Brazil/Russia replacing the dollar as the trading currency for commodities.

Gold Stocks: The Ultimate Options Strategy

If you look at Bruce Pile's disclosure list, it should tell you Bruce likes gold stocks, and some of his positions are "advanced investor" stocks (NG, NXG, RIC, GRS, NGD, EGO).

Bruce, where were you able to get XRA shares?

Is Obama Forcing Citigroup to Downsize?

Speaking of the President's Pay Czar Kenneth Feinberg...what is he getting paid, and what czar regulates the pay of Obama's czars?

Do Lawmakers Understand the Trillion Dollar Risks in Derivatives Bill?

Somebody needs to investigate Barney Frank, and determine how many billions of dollars he has deprived the American People of.

Henry Waxman can be put in the cell next to Barney's.

What Copper's Breakout Means

High copper will make it more difficult for contractors to make profits.

High copper rises the price of products that use alternative energy technology.

What Copper's Breakout Means

Recalling the complaints made by my contractor buddies the last time copper was over $3, I

Not a Drop to Drink: Three ETFs for Future Global Water Shortages

As growing populations collide with the absolute limits of the life support capacity of their environments, the rate at which advanced technology (like water-tech) is utilized will increase first, until the inevitable population overshoot occurs, then the technology will be used less and less as cultures and societies collapse under their own ponderous masses.

Since the world is heterogeneous in terms of culture and technology, there will be several generations during which water-tech investment opportunities will be attractive, though the investment sub-sector will follow a pattern of surges and declines.

Right now, look for the small Muslim Arab oil states to be buying water-tech big time: they have the cash, and they like flashy projects that carry a high prestige factor.

On Oct 23 10:49 AM bricki wrote:
But if it is really linked to population it might not be that robust - after
all world-wide population growth rates are declining.

Gold: How the Mainstream Gets It So Wrong

Kudlow makes one conceptual error, over and over. Growth is not the only basis for a healthy economy, though Kudlow bleats that line several times a week.

In a country with shrinking resources, and an increasing population, the only healthy economy will be a contracting economy. Say the same thing for the entire planet. You can't draw blood from a turnip, even if you're Barach Obama waving a Nobel Peace Prize around in one hand and a Wimbledon Men's Singles Trophy around in the other (he'll probably win one of those, too, so we'll just list it now).

People will grow in their ability to do more with less. Our fat kids will either get less fat or we'll have a lot fewer of them. The population will decrease due to illness, war, or want.

Kudlow's growth dictum only works if we master alchemy.