Month: September 2013

By MoneyMorning.com.au

Don’t look now but Australian housing is attracting a whole lot of attention. Prices are on the up. Is the RBA rate cuts stoking the heat, or is property bull Phil Anderson right that there’s an even larger cycle at work?

From a conventional viewpoint, you have to finger the RBA. The Wall Street Journal pointed out on Monday that the central bank has cut the cash rate eight times since November 2011. The cash rate now sits at a record low.

If you read Money Morning regularly, you’ll know Kris Sayce thinks low interest rates will keep driving investors into the stock market, especially dividend paying shares. So far, that’s proved a winning call.

But there’s pretty good evidence it’s juicing the property market too. That might be the first danger…

Keeping an Eye on the Banks

Take this from the Wall Street Journal:

‘Monday’s loan data fueled concern that gains are being driven by speculative investors rather than signaling underlying strength in the housing market, after new loans to investors surged almost 26% in July from a year earlier, the steepest gain since 2007. The value of loans to owner occupiers rose by a much smaller 13%.’

It’s interesting to note that one of the reasons real estate guru Phil Anderson is bullish on property is his central belief that regardless of what legislation is thrown at it, the banking industry will keep finding ways to shovel credit out for people to buy houses.

The folks at the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) seem to have something like that on their mind, too. They came out this week and warned the banks off dropping their standards and increasing their risky lending in the hunt for more mortgage business.

This chart might have something to do with it.

click to enlarge

As you can see in the chart above from The Australian,’despite refinancing and investors driving the market, credit growth is historically low.‘

In other words, slow credit growth is a threat to earnings the banks make from lending. They’re not going to like that.

APRA is worried that the lure of low interest rates will bring in borrowers who can’t cope if rates rise. Add to that the worry banks might only be too happy to take their business now.

APRA’s latest report already notes a weakness in the system. The number of loans being issued with a loan-to-value ratio above 90% has been rising over the last three years. The Australian Financial Review pointed out some countries don’t even allow loans above 80%.

Loans to poor old first home buyers are currently on the slide, down from 15.1% to 14.7% of market share. But who cares about them when there’s Australia’s juicy superannuation funds to target?

Beware This Dodgy Investment Idea

The Australian Financial Review reported on the latest ruse to attract investors to the property market: ‘luxury international holidays are being offered to investors who take out a mortgage and buy a house using a self managed superannuation funds…many financial advisors are being offered incentives to put their clients in SMSF property investments.‘

An overseas holiday sounds great, but there’s a few problems with this idea…

So we asked our family wealth expert Vern Gowdie, who has nearly thirty years in the industry, to give us his take for you:

‘Seriously how dumb are people?

‘With this type of blatant abuse of the system it is little wonder the SMSF sector comes under such intense scrutiny by the ATO. A few bad apples spoil it for those who use SMSFs for the right reasons, i.e. a tax effective savings vehicle invested prudently to eventually provide a retirement income.

‘Before dealing with what really irks me, let’s put to one side the following issues:

1.         Should you even be establishing a SMSF to buy a single asset?
2.         Are investors (who are naïve enough to believe you can have the best of both worlds) even remotely aware of the do’s and don’ts with non-recourse loans in a SMSF?
3.         The annual costs of establishing and running the SMSF

‘And I could go on and on.

‘No, what really makes my blood boil is the fact the promoters actually have the temerity to promote a “too good to be true” offer. Have a “free” international holiday and at the same time get one up on the taxman.

‘There is no such thing as a “free” anything in the financial world. Do you really think the promoters, out of the kindness of their hearts and the depths of their pockets, will pay for you to swan around overseas? If you do please contact me as I have a bridge in Sydney and possibly an Opera House to sell you.

‘What sort of kickback from the property sale is in it for them? Are their SMSF establishment and annual fees competitive? What brokerage is built into the non-recourse mortgage?

‘As always ‘caveat emptor’ should be your guiding principle. Failing that remember,
if it smells like s…, looks like s…, tastes like s… then there is a really good chance it is s….

‘I sincerely hope ASIC and the ATO come down like a ton of bricks on the promoters of these ‘edge of the envelope’ abuses.‘

If you wanted to avoid traps like these, it might pay to check out Vern’s service. All you need to do is click here.

Callum Newman+
Editor, Money Weekend

From the Port Phillip Publishing Library

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By MoneyMorning.com.au

Technology:
The Worst Apple Launch Since 1983

It would be remiss of us to not cover the much-hyped but little-anticipated Apple event this week. It’s more than likely you’ve heard about the not-so-exciting release of the Apple iPhone 5S and 5C.

The most innovative thing Apple has in the ‘all-new’ 5S is a fingerprint scanner. You can read more about why this is a disaster in ‘Why Apple is Doomed’.  But importantly, everyone at Google, Microsoft, Samsung — even Blackberry — must be sniggering on the sidelines. And here at FutureWatch we’re calling this the worst Apple launch since the Lisa in 1983.

In a nutshell, this new update by Apple is an unmitigated disaster. It could be the beginning of the end of Apple

A verbal exchange between your FutureWatch editor and his significant other exemplified how Apple is going…

Sam: ‘Apple just released a new iPhone, it’s the 5C.’

Hayley: ‘And…’

Sam: ‘It’s pretty much a tricked out iPhone 4S or a poor-mans iPhone 5. But it comes in different colours.’

Hayley: ‘If I wanted an iPhone in different colours wouldn’t I just buy a phone cover for my current iPhone instead of a new one?’

Sam: ‘Good point.’

And that’s pretty much sums up where Apple is at. They pumped up a ‘cheap’ iPhone with different colours as its major selling points. But at well over $700 there’s nothing cheap about it.

If Apple was trying to win back market share, they’ve failed. You will see droves of smartphone users migrate to Samsung from this one.

Right now the smartphone market is going through a significant change. With Nokia devices now owned by Microsoft, that’s one big player down. Blackberry has been teetering on the edge of extinction for a while and looks to be going private again.

HTC is battling beyond belief due to the fact that their products just aren’t that good. And now it seems Apple’s phone business could be on its deathbed too.

Wearable tech is gaining momentum. Watches, glasses, bands and trackers are all part of the shifting landscape. And we continue to connect to our surroundings through technology.

Maybe the mobile phone, the smartphone, is en-route to extinction?

We’ll always need to contact each other, so the phone in its most basic sense will always exist. But instead of a thin rectangle that sits in your pocket, soon the functionality of a smartphone will simply exist on our person. It will be completely immersive technology.

Energy:
Die Zukunft liegt in Elektro-Autos

The Frankfurt Motor Show has been on all week. It’s one of the biggest car shows in the world. And being in Germany it’s fair to say ‘Ze Germans’ are always keen to put on a cracking hometown show.

That’s why the likes of Mercedes, Audi, BMW and Volkswagen pull out the big guns when it comes to their major announcements.

And there’s no doubt this year is following a continuing trend of the ‘Decade of Electric Vehicle (EV)’. It’s EV heaven in Frankfurt this year. And it’s the aforementioned companies leading the charge.

You get the feeling they might have been spooked by Tesla’s recent run of success with the Model S. Tesla has aimed straight at the Big Four German carmakers and it’s bang on target.

Tesla’s Model S is a luxury car with all the bells and whistles you’d expect in a six-figure car. It’s also chalking up sales with estimates of 12,050 Model S sold year to date. To give some comparison, the Chevy Volt, which is the highest selling EV, has sold 14,994 cars year to date. Consider that the Volt is half the price of the Model S. Now you get a gauge on the success of Tesla so far.

What’s worth noting is the Big Four Germans are still yet (except for BMW’s i3 just recently) to bring a proper EV to the mass market. But now they’re warming up to the fact that EVs are the future of cars.

In Frankfurt Volkswagen has on display their ‘e-Golf’ and ‘e-Up’. Audi have their ‘A3 e-tron’ up and about. Fiat has the 500E. BMW of course has the i3 and now the i8 (although the i8 is technically a hybrid). And speaking of hybrids, Porsche has the 918 Spyder Hybrid supercar.

The point to all this is every carmaker in the world is on the EV bandwagon. And what this means is the future is rosy not just for the EV makers, but also for the whole supply chain.

You see the real potential is in the supply chain technology companies. There will be an increase in demand for lithium ion batteries, composite materials and rare earth metals. And the good thing is with the right kind of breakthrough companies there are opportunities to cash in on the ‘Decade of EV’. 

Health:
If Only Apple Had Come Up With the Eye-Phone

When you combine medical practice with technology you can get some truly amazing outcomes. We’ve covered many in FutureWatch, and the good news is there will be an endless supply of more.

As microchips get smaller, more powerful and faster we will be able to fuse technology with our lives on a level unheard of. And as great minds come together, collaborate and create we will see more software and hardware designed to help those in need.

And a new piece of hardware designed by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is the next in a long line of humanitarian innovations.

The ‘Eye-phone’ is a smartphone with a lens to scan the retina and record the data. It’s thousands of dollars cheaper than normal ophthalmic equipment and easy to use.

As reported by Discovery News, the inventor, Dr. Andrew Bastawrous said of the need for the device in Kenya, ‘For a country with a population of more than 40 million, there are only 86 qualified eye doctors, 43 of whom are operating in the capital Nairobi.’

The difficulty exists for those that don’t live in Nairobi and who can’t get to see eye doctors. Often they simply live with their conditions, unable to receive the proper treatment or ongoing care. And village doctors simply cannot afford the required equipment.

But this new solution brings hope not just to those in Kenya, but across the world. The World Health Organization estimate 285 million people are visually impaired, with 75% of those affected by refractive errors and cataracts. This means these people often cannot work, farm, or even sustain a normal lifestyle.

Innovations like the ‘eye-phone’ in the hands of regional and rural doctors around the world will help put a big dent in those numbers. And if even just a small percentage of those receive the right treatment, or preventative treatment, it will have a huge impact on communities around the world.

Sam Volkering+
Technology Analyst, Revolutionary Tech Investor

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By MoneyMorning.com.au

[Ed Note: You may think that I think I get everything right when it comes to forecasting the markets. And I will say that I’ve got a pretty good track record. But in today’s Money Morning we’re doing something a little different. We’re reprinting an issue from 17 May this year.

To put it in context, that was just before markets fell more than 10% in a matter of weeks. The point is that it’s impossible to predict things with 100% accuracy — that’s why, even though I recommend owning stocks, you must approach this volatile market with extreme caution.]

George Soros or not, the Aussie dollar has been the talk of the financial markets this week.

This morning the Aussie dollar is trading around USD$0.99.

That’s it. It’s all over. The Aussie dollar and the Aussie miracle economy have finally gotten their come-uppance after four years of bravado.

Not so fast.

We can’t tell for sure. But before the bears get too excited, we offer one note of caution – a strong currency and strong stock market don’t always go hand-in-hand…

The story now is that because the Aussie dollar has hit the skids, we can expect the Aussie stock market to follow suit.

And maybe it will. Yesterday it fell by 26 points. We’ll admit that like anyone else all we can do is take an educated guess on what will happen in the future. But like anyone else’s guess we’ve got just as much chance of being right as being wrong.

So far, we reckon we’ve got the broad trend just about right. The market has gone up…then down…then up…then down…then up.

Yet, despite the hoopla the Aussie market is still near its highest point since mid-2008. That was just before the world economy plunged into a black hole as banks failed and the bailout culture began.

Australia’s Not Selling, But Are We Buying?

Not only that, but it’s also worth remembering that one of the best performing global markets over the past year has been the US market…which also had one of the weakest currencies.

Then there’s the Japanese market, which has soared 66% since November as the Japanese yen has fallen into the toilet.

Yes, we understand those market moves are arguably more about monetary policy than the fundamental health of the respective economies or the stock market.

But given the state of the Australian federal budget, which will be in deficit for at least another four years (notice how the projected return to surplus is forecast for after the 2016 election), and the Reserve Bank of Australia’s willingness to follow international rates lower, can you really rule out another stock surge?

Granted, we’re not about to bet the family silver on a 50% or 66% stock rally.

But stocks are still only just below the recent high point. And they’re still in the sideways trading range we expect to see continue for the rest of the year. That means we’re in no hurry to sell stocks here.

In fact, with the market holding at the top of the range, we’re re-considering our stance of not buying the market at this level.

As we say, we could be wrong and stocks could go into free-fall. But if you’ve balanced your savings across a number of asset classes (as we’ve long advised, and a strategy my old pal Dan Denning has written about), even if stocks fall it shouldn’t leave you with a big hole in your pocket.

But by the same token, pulling out of the market now without any evidence that stocks are set to plummet could see you miss out on further gains.

So how should you play it?

Dividend Stocks are for Keeps

Well, that’s easy. As far as we’re concerned, your dividend stocks should be ‘keepers’. There’s no need to sell them (although there’s no harm in taking a little bit of profit). So you can put the dividend stocks to one side.

As for what you should buy. If you can find a good dividend stock that hasn’t had a good run, or one where you expect it to increase dividends, then perhaps looking at scaling in. That is, if you normally invest $5,000 in a stock, just buy one-third that amount to start with.

If stocks fall, then you can buy another third, say at a point 5% below your initial entry price. And then invest the final third when the stock appears to have some clear direction.

Of course, if it looks like the stock and the market is heading down the toilet then you shouldn’t buy the extra amounts, and maybe you’d consider selling what you’ve bought.

On the other hand, if the stock rises then at least you’ve picked up some of the gains and you get to buy more stock in a rising market.

You can use that same ‘scaling in’ strategy for blue-chip or small-cap growth stocks too.

When Things Look Bad, Stocks Are Cheap

Look, it’s a tough market to predict. We certainly don’t want to give you the false impression that everything’s fine, because it isn’t. But you should also remember that the situation has been much, much worse in the US, Europe, and Japan, yet they’ve seen some of their best moves in years.

Investors who sold out too soon or refused to buy into the rally are doubtless kicking themselves. Don’t let that happen to you.

If you remain an active investor, understand the risks of investing, and invest responsibly, there’s no reason why you can’t make money on the Aussie market while still protecting your investments if things go sour.

Cheers,
Kris
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How to Make Big Money from Small-Cap Stocks

By MoneyMorning.com.au

I often talk about how the gold trade is really two separate trades. There’s the Fear Trade that buys gold out of fear of war or poor government policies. This crowd sees the precious metal as a safe haven during times of crisis, such as when gold rose over the fear of a war in Syria, but eased when a much more limited military action became likely.

However, there were other factors beyond Syria driving gold. That’s the Love Trade. This group gives gold as gifts for loved ones during important holidays and festivals.

This is the time of the year that we are in the midst of right now.

Historically, September has been gold’s best month of the year. Looking at more than four decades of monthly returns, the precious metal has seen its biggest increase this month, averaging 2.3 percent.

Click to enlarge

Indians will be getting ready for their wedding season, which begins in October followed by the five-day Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, which is India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year.

In December, millions of people will be gathering with loved ones to exchange gifts as they observe Christmas. And finally, millions will celebrate Chinese New Year at the end of January 2014.

In India, there’s also the harvest season to consider, as its crop production relies on rainfall for water.

One positive driver for gold this year is the fact that the country has had a heavy monsoon. The rains that started in June covered most of India at the fastest pace in more than 50 years. About 70 percent of the annual rainfall in India happens from June to September, and a strong monsoon season usually means a bumper crop, which boosts farmers’ incomes.

That could increase gold buying as well, negating the government’s efforts to quell India’s gold-buying habit. Historically, good monsoon seasons have been associated with strong gold demand. ‘In 2010, the last year that rains were heavily above average, demand soared 37 percent in the fourth quarter after harvests,‘ says Reuters.

In the rural areas of India, there is little access to banking networks, so gold is used as a store of wealth, says Reuters. And with half the population in India employed in agriculture, it’s no surprise that 60 percent of all the gold demand in the country comes from these rural areas.

India’s rural community has seen a ‘hefty rise‘ in income this year, reports Mineweb. But instead of buying gold, Mineweb says Indian farmers may purchase land due to gold in local currency reaching ‘dizzying heights‘.

Particularly over the past few weeks, as the currency faced increasing weakness, gold in rupee spiked. Over the past three years, gold is now up 58 percent compared to gold in the US dollar, which rose nearly 12 percent.

Click to enlarge

Despite this possible short-term threat to gold demand, keep in mind the East’s long-term sentiment toward the metal. You can see this encouraging sentiment in the chart below, as people in China and India have a ‘particular positivity around longer-term expectations for the gold price,‘ according to the World Gold Council (WGC).

In May and July, the WGC asked 1,000 Indian and 1,000 Chinese consumers where they think the price of gold will be in five years. The two charts show the respondents’ answers in May, when the average price of gold was about $1,400, and again in July, when the average price of gold was $1,200 an ounce.

Click to enlarge

Overwhelmingly, consumers in India and China believe the price of gold will increase over the long-term.

What’s interesting is when you compare the responses between May to July, there’s an ‘extremely resilient sentiment around the future trajectory of gold,‘ says the WGC. In May, 62 percent assumed gold would increase; in July, the number increased to 66 percent.

The survey also shows that there are not too many gold bears in the East. Only 11 percent of those who responded in July think the price will decrease.

Remember, this area of the world has a different relationship related to both the Love Trade and the Fear Trade. And it’s not easily broken.

Frank Holmes
CEO and Chief Investment Officer, U.S. Global Investors

[U.S. Global Investors, Inc. is an investment management firm specializing in gold, natural resources, emerging markets and global infrastructure opportunities around the world. The company, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, manages 13 no-load mutual funds in the U.S. Global Investors fund family, as well as funds for international clients.]

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By MoneyMorning.com.au

By now you’ll know we’ve been vocal in predicting a big rally for stocks.

Our bet is that low interest rates will cause investors to keep dumping cash and invest in stocks instead.

As investors rush to buy stocks, this will lead to rising share prices. And as always happens in a bull market, rising share prices create a positive feedback loop that results in even higher share prices.

Sounds like a no-lose situation right?

Not quite. Investing is never that easy. So, with the S&P/ASX 200 still 1,766 points away from our 7,000 point target it’s time to check on the progress of our big prediction…

Yesterday the S&P/ASX 200 closed at its highest point since June 2008. And it’s barely a handful of points below the intra-day high reached in May this year.

Click to enlarge
Source: Google Finance

Over the past year the Australian market has gained 21%. That’s a good return by anyone’s standards – providing you were brave enough to stick with it.

As you can see from the chart, it has been a volatile year. After the peak in May the Australian market dropped more than 10%. It had many investors running scared fearing another crash.

But as you know, we didn’t flinch from our course for a minute. We hope you didn’t either. We assured you that if you could stick with it, the market would soon recover. We even suggested you ‘scale in’ to stock positions if you felt a little nervous (that means buying one-third or one-half of your position size and then buying another third or half a week or so later).

The Aussie Market Has Come Around to Our Way of Thinking

So as far as our target of 7,000 points for the S&P/ASX 200 by 2015 goes, despite the volatility things are going to plan.

From a psychological view it was important the index stayed above 5,000 points. It has managed to do that (so far).

The next key level is somewhere around the 5,249 level. That was the intra-day high in May. These levels are important because above here there are few key technical points that could put a break on the market’s advance.

Since late 2008 the Aussie market has tried to break through this ceiling seven times. Each time it has failed. The most recent attempt was in May.

Now, this isn’t to say that all the market has to do is go above 5,300 points and it will be plain sailing from there. Anything can happen to put the kybosh on a stock rally – including any number of macro-economic events that tend to crop up from time to time.

But so far things are looking good.

And dare we say it, it seems the market has come around to our way of thinking on the US Federal Reserve’s plan to ‘taper’ its bond-buying program.

For most of the past four months the market has fretted about the Federal Reserve’s plan to ease back on its bond-buying program. The impression most investors seem to have is that if the Fed tapers it will cause interest rates to rise.

We’ve taken a different view. Our position is that whatever the Fed does with its bond portfolio, it won’t lead to a meaningful rise in interest rates.

That’s not to say that rates won’t ever rise, because they will, but not in the short term. And the same goes for Aussie interest rates.

A Big Gain Like This Has Happened Before

So, from here Australian stocks need to gain nearly 1,800 points to reach our 7,000 point target.

That means a 33% gain in less than two years. We’ll agree that in the context of the past few years of market action it’s a tough ask.

But if you put it in the context of a bull market in stocks it’s not such a crazy idea. And it has happened before.

The Australian stock market was right around this level in October 2006. Just one year later the market hit its all-time peak above 7,000 points. Sure, it was a different market back then.

The China commodities boom was in full cry. But in a way, today the market isn’t that different. The stimulus for the market in 2006 was China. Today, the stimulus is low interest rates.

It has caused a boom in overseas stock prices, and if the Fed continues its low interest rate policy that boom will continue.

There’s no doubt in our mind that will happen. If we’re right, then as risky as it may seem, it’s still not too late to buy stocks as the market edges closer to our 7,000 point target.

Cheers,

Kris+

From the Port Phillip Publishing Library

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By MoneyMorning.com.au

‘Invest in what?’ is the eternal question.

Well, oil and precious metal prices have strengthened recently. Is this a revival of previous long-term uptrends? Is something fundamental going on with hard, ‘real’ assets?

Or is the newfound strength for oil, gold and silver merely a reflection of ongoing tensions in the Middle East – Egypt and Syria, foremost?

Let’s have a look…

For now, consider the fundamentals. There’s positive economic news from the long-suffering eurozone. Economies are strengthening from Britain to what the Germans call Mitteleuropa, albeit inconsistently. Economic doctors even report a pulse in southern Europe, in Italy and Spain. Finally! But can it last? We can only watch and wait.

Here in North America, the energy boom continues. Our friends at Baker Hughes report 1,776 rigs drilling in the US as of last week. Hey, that’s the spirit! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist – it’s an old Groucho Marx line.)

Good things are not confined just to the oil patch, either. There’s admirable strength in aerospace (Boeing and its many vendors) and surprising momentum in big-ticket items like autos (the usual US names and many others). That’s a lot of steel, aluminum, copper, electronics and more. Plus, paycheques. Where will this take us?

Let’s revisit the Agora Financial Wealth Symposium in Vancouver this past July. One great speaker – Barry Ritholtz – made a fabulous point during the Whiskey Bar. We were discussing fracking and the energy revolution in North America. Barry said:

‘The good news is that all this new, low-priced energy and feedstock will bring industry and manufacturing back to North America from overseas. The bad news is that with advances in software and automation, much of the work will be done by robots and not translate into new jobs for people.’

Another speaker discussed how, in general, stock markets are ‘priced for perfection’. That is, major indexes, collective share prices, price-earnings ratios, etc. indicate a market psychology that everything is fine and getting better.

Another way to describe the situation is that investors have bid all sorts of things – banks, tech, transportation, etc. – up to a frothy high or near high. Of course the frothy top is far from the case for mining companies, despite a mild August rebound from deep lows in June and July.

So the question follows, why should investors buy into this allegedly ‘perfect’ market just now? Metrics indicate many sectors and companies are priced as if nothing can go wrong. The flip side is that many plays are poised for a tumble, and we just have to await the triggering event.

What triggering event? All sorts of bad things can happen, but let’s start with the Syria mess. Right now my biggest concern is that events in Syria and across the Middle East could quickly drive energy prices through the roof – which will cost you at the pump, but still offer other strong investment opportunities.

Nervous Energy Markets

Global energy markets bid up strongly in the past three weeks, as Western powers – especially the US – talked tough on Syria. Too tough, some might say. I won’t go deep into details of who might bomb what with what weapons or what role Russia will play in this powder keg. You’ve surely seen the wall-to-wall news coverage.

The investment point is that Brent crude prices recently traded above $115 per barrel – very high by recent standards. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices are down from the $110 mark. The numbers are firmly above the 30-day averages.

Current oil price levels support strong drilling programs in North America and across the world, meaning far from the turmoil of the Middle East. So expect continuing support for North American land drillers, oil service companies and offshore plays.

The Oil War Scenario Playing Out

So where will oil prices go in the short term of 2013 and into 2014? We have to wait and see. Still, the European and North American economies are strengthening, which favours higher oil prices. And looking back, oil prices have climbed over 16% since April. Something is going on.

On the one hand, world oil markets are ‘comfortably supplied’, as Saudi oil gurus like to say. But savvy oil buyers worry that despite good fracking news out of North America’s oil patch, there’s no major global supply cushion in the event of shortages related to expanding turmoil in the Middle East.

Egypt is a basket case, to be sure. But right now the crisis spotlight is on Syria, which has been engaged in civil war for over two years. Syria’s version of the Arab Spring in 2011 quickly deteriorated into a government crackdown, with violent blowback from disaffected masses.

That is, the Syrian ruling regime is mostly ‘Alawite’ Muslim sect, which is fairly close to Shiite. For the most part, Syrian rebels are Sunni, who despise getting pushed around by Shiites. Basically, this is the ‘Oil War’ scenario I’ve discussed for several years.

The point to keep in mind, though, is that whatever the media tell you, the Syria mess is NOT some heroic, French Revolution-style battle between oppressed masses and their terrible dictator. No, Syria is, at root, a religious war.

Westerners tend not to understand religious wars. Europe fought its last big religious battles – Christian, to be precise – in the 1600s. Since then, Christian interfaith passions have cooled, replaced by nationalism, ethnicity and tribalism to some extent (long story). That, and a postmodern cultural ennui that may yet destroy us all (another long story).

In the oil markets, the major concern with Syria is the prospect of open-ended Western intervention in an intra-Islam blood feud. That is, oil prices are rising because traders discern deep-seated, long-term problems with the US, France and possibly other NATO allies inserting themselves into an admittedly ugly war, but one that’s more or less regionally contained.

If Syrian fighting spreads – outward to, say, Israel, Turkey (a NATO ally) or other locales – then problems could quickly arise with global oil trading patterns. Hence the latest ‘war premiums’ on barrels of Middle East oil, which, of course, benefit oil producers far from the fighting fronts.

Expanding Instability Across the Middle East

Don’t be confused about the idea of Syria’s struggle being ‘contained’. There’s nothing clean or tidy about what’s happening there.

Syrian combatants include Syrian government forces shooting it out with homegrown Sunni and Shiite militia members, as well as fighters from neighbouring Lebanon. Then there are Salafi Pakistanis from Waziristan, and disaffected Chechens, Libyans, Egyptians, Saudis and more, all looking for a brawl. Advisers include all manner of Iranian troublemakers, plus Russian technical specialists and any number of mercenaries.

One lesson is already crystal clear. It’s that traditional US influence is in free fall across the region. That’s bad in many ways, certainly for the credibility of the ‘petrodollar’ standard that has prevailed since the Second World War.

Another key angle is that a new axis between Russia, Iran and the Syrian leadership cadre now controls the course of Middle East events. In Syria, to be specific, Sunni rebels and their foreign allies (including the Saudis) are in retreat, which is why Western powers are discussing intervening.

Whatever happens from here on out – cruise missiles or no – the US has been gravely embarrassed, if not disgraced and humiliated, by gross political ineptness. We’re witness to historic US government miscalculations at the highest geostrategic levels (it’s a bipartisan hash, to be accurate).

Meanwhile, Russia and Iran have proven to be effective and resolute allies to their Alawite/Shiite Syrian clients – certainly more than the Western and/or other Arab powers that have backed the Sunni opposition (who take no prizes for being ‘good guys’ on even the best of days).

Of course, the Kremlin and mullahs in Tehran have a clear, singular objective, which is to keep the Syrian government in power. And in the end, firepower and logistics are what win real victories. That’s exactly what we see.

Expect Continued Danger of a Price Melt-Up

Syria exports virtually no oil. It’s not a player in global oil markets. But oil buyers perceive the threat of an expanding war destabilizing other parts of the Middle East. In that case, the global supply situation could tighten in a hurry. Oil prices could melt up overnight. I mean $120, $130, $140 and more per barrel.

Global oil trade patterns are already in flux. In other missives, I’ve discussed how North American fracking has increased supply for the US, with outward effects on global trade. Entire tanker trade patterns have been redrawn in just the past two or three years as US oil imports collapsed from entire nations – Angola, Algeria, Nigeria and more.

Now, just as global oil markets are adjusting to increased US-Canadian oil supply, we face the prospect of possible interruptions in oil supplies from the substantial wellheads of the Middle East. The way markets cope with this kind of confusion is to elevate prices to make up for higher risks from many directions.

Oil output from Libya has fallen by 85% and more in the face of turmoil there. This could be a harbinger of things to come elsewhere in the Middle East if the Oil Wars scenario continues to play out.

Meanwhile, we watch and wait…and invest in energy that’s located elsewhere.

Byron W. King
Contributing Editor, Money Morning

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By MoneyMorning.com.au

It was early in 1991. I’m not 100% sure what month – I was only seven – but I distinctly recall having seen Edward Scissorhands at the movies.

Anyway, I was at home and my Dad walked in with a box and told me to, ‘Come check this out.‘

Low and behold it was one of those new mobile phones. It was basically the same as the telephone but without the cords. And instead of the rotary dial like our downstairs telephone it had soft plastic buttons. And a cool green screen with black numbers on it.

It sat in what I now call a ‘dock’ so the battery could charge. But when you took it out of the dock you could call anyone from pretty much anywhere. It was black and I thought it was as cool as my uncle’s pager…

Nokia: The Original ‘Must Have’ Mobile Brand

The phone Dad had was the Nokia Cityman 100. Of course 23 years ago I had no idea just how important the name Nokia would be in modern technology. I also had no idea that it might eventually be the blueprint of how another massive company, Apple, might be doomed to the same eventual fate.

As the years rolled by, the brand Nokia started to hold greater significance in my life. And just before the turn of the century I had a Nokia 3210 in my hand.

The 3210 was eventually replaced with a 5210. (Still to this date the best phone I ever owned. It was indestructible.) I had a brief relationship with a Sony Ericsson K800i and when it broke well before its time, ended up with a Nokia N73.

Of course it all culminated in an Apple iPhone, and then a Samsung Galaxy S2. Soon I’ll be courting a Sony Xperia Z1. But enough with mobile phone memory lane.

The 3210 and Nokia is where it all began. Nokia is where it all began for anyone born before 2007.

Admittedly texting was new to me in 1999. I was more inclined to spend my time making a ‘snake’ dart around a screen eating ‘apples’. But nonetheless the svelte shaped 3210 meant I was digitally connected to the world.

And I wasn’t alone. In fact if you didn’t have a Nokia phone in your school bag, you were an outsider. Well not an outsider. It’s just more likely you were a ‘Motorola guy’.

The thing was in the playground it was Nokia vs. Motorola. And you had to make a choice; it said a lot about the individual. The situation bears a striking resemblance to the current Apple vs. Android problem many teenagers now face.

Little did I realise that the Nokia 3210 would go on to sell 160 million units worldwide. In comparison it took Apple over four and a half years to reach the same sales numbers. And for Apple to hit 160 million units they’d need the iPhone, iPhone 3G, 3GS, iPhone 4 and 4S.

But the 3210 wasn’t the best seller Nokia had to offer. They sold 250 million units of the Nokia 1100 when released in 2003. The 1100 was, and still to this day is, the single most popular (in terms of sales) mobile phone of all time.

Nokia was the king of mobile phones. We would wait in anticipation of what models would come out next. To think people these days talk about Apple’s amazing ability to put out a new version of the iPhone every year…here’s a news flash, it’s not that amazing.

Since 1982 Nokia has released 501 models plus a concept phone called the Morph in 2008. That’s an average of 16.16 phones per year for 31 years. And people say Apple is the king of innovation…?

I decided that in fairness to Apple, I’d put together a comparison chart to illustrate how good Nokia was.

Click to enlarge

Look, here’s the lowdown of how the story unfolds for Nokia.

Nokia was the leader in mobile phones. They were unbeatable. They would pump out great, new innovative phones, year on year on year. They dominated the mobile phone market for decades. They were mobile phone pioneers. They were leading innovators, geniuses, they were Apple in the 90′s and 00′s when it came to phones.

Everyone had a Nokia. And I mean, everyone. There’s even a good chance, in the shed or some untouched drawer somewhere in your house is a (still working) Nokia.

And if we’d said back in the 90′s and 00′s Nokia will be a shadow of its former self in 15 years time, and Microsoft will own it, you’d have had us certified insane.

The Decline of a Giant

Well here it is, 15 years later, the behemoth phone giant Nokia is a shadow of its former self. It’s now part of Microsoft’s half-baked attempt to build something just half as good as the current range of Samsung phones.

And Microsoft got it at a bargain price too. A measly 5.44 billion euros. Which is…approximately 1/35th the market cap Nokia had in 2000.

Friedrich Nietzsche said, ‘Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal.‘

I don’t really know what Nokia’s goal was. But I do know they were stubborn in pursuit of the path chosen. Nokia’s stubbornness led them to the development of their own Operating System (OS). And it was the Symbian platform that signaled the end of Nokia.

The phones they made were good, very good. But they shunned the Android OS by Google and decided to go it alone. They wanted it all. End to end integration with their own OS. Rather than look at the bigger picture of open source platforms, Nokia wanted to keep it all in-house.

And then other Symbian users decided Android was the answer. Sony and Samsung jumped ship, leaving only Nokia as the user of the Symbian platform. And general reviews from consumers were the Symbian platform was horrible compared to Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android OS.

But still they didn’t get it.

So disastrous was their stubbornness to develop their own entire ecosystem, that eventually Nokia dropped Symbian. It simply became uneconomical to pour money into a failing business arm.

Then the plan got worse. They decided to partner up with Microsoft and their Windows Phone OS (WP)

The worst thing was Microsoft had half-baked WP too. Desperate to get in on the OS action, WP came out to horrendous reviews. It was a poor competitor to Android and the iOS.

The story of the Microsoft Nokia mash-up went like this…

1. Nokia make great phones. Has rubbish OS.
2. Microsoft make great software but not phones. Has rubbish OS.
3. Nokia partners up with Microsoft. Both pray problems are over.
4. Problems aren’t over.
5. Nokia sells devices business to Microsoft for peanuts.

My point here is Apple is doing a Nokia right now. In fact, you could take the Nokia story and just start replacing the name with Apple.

Apple has been the king of phones since they launched the iPhone in 2007. Dominating the landscape of innovation and consumer reviews. But they’ve come to a grinding halt.

The most innovative thing about the next iteration of the iPhone is it might have a fingerprint scanner. Don’t get me wrong, bionic identification is a staple of the future. But let’s be serious. I had a fingerprint scanner on my Toshiba Satellite laptop 6 years ago.

How about a retina scanner, DNA reader…just something new?

Why Apple is in a Permanent Downtrend

What is happening to Apple is they’ve forgotten how to be pioneers. Much like Nokia did. Apple is now trying to recapture market share rather than create new markets.

It’s heading down the exact same well-worn path that Nokia started down some five years ago. In short, they’re doomed.

Nokia sold more phones, was more innovative and a stronger market player than Apple was today. But Nokia failed. Why? Because they didn’t adapt to the times fast enough. They missed the boat and have been playing catch up for the last 10 years.

And right now Apple is in the midst of their ‘Nokia Moment’.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Take a look at the two graphs above. The first one shows a tremendous run from the beginning of 2005 through to late 2007. It then shows a capitulation of epic proportions. And along the way down to the cellar, there were a few blips of optimism to keep the die-hard believers invested. This of course is the chart of Nokia.

The second graph shows the same tremendous run over a three-year period and then a significant fall over the next year. This is the chart of Apple, and my point is they’re treading a similar pathway. It’s just Apple is lagging five years behind Nokia. Let just hope Apple investors are not as die-hard as the Nokia investors were.

Give Apple another five years. See where they’re at then. If they continue on this current path of stubbornness they’ll be in the same boat Nokia is in now.

Say goodbye to the Nokia name. I grew up with Nokia and will keep a few models in my personal tech museum. They’ll still probably work in another 30 years too. It’s a sad day in tech when you lose one of the greats. But this won’t be the last one to fall.

Blackberry is teetering on the edge of extinction too. They have been for the last few years, but that’s another tale for another day. And the way Apple is going they might just be the next giant to fall.

You might scoff at the thought, and claim, ‘They’re too big, too powerful to fail.’ But we all thought the same of Nokia, and look at them now.

Sam Volkering+
Technology Analyst

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From the Port Phillip Publishing Library

Special Report: Are You Waiting for a Real Estate Crash That Isn’t Going to Come?

By MoneyMorning.com.au

There are undeclared wars going on all over the world today.

No, I’m not talking about simple border disputes in Africa or ongoing operations in Afghanistan. You won’t hear about these wars on the news, though some of the world’s leading countries are involved. In fact, it’s very likely that the US is involved in at least one of these ‘wars’ right now.

That’s because these conflicts are operating in the fifth domain of war: cyberspace — the latest battlefield after land, sea, air and space. I’ve noted in these pages before — war isn’t strictly kinetic anymore. The limit of an army’s reach is no longer the range of its biggest gun — a navy’s striking range is no longer measured in the miles its missiles can fly.

In the fifth domain of war, invisible signals race back and forth through wires and circuitry in an attempt to gain information or disable key systems. Professionals in the cyberwarfare business often refer to these programs as ‘computer network operations’, or CNOs, for short. And there are more ‘cyberwarriors’ each year.

Descriptions of cyberwar read more like science fiction than the annals of military history: Offensives jump off at the stroke of a key. The sentries are firewalls, encryptions and passwords. Viruses drop behind enemy lines like guerillas and sow confusion.

It’s a whole new way to wage war, and one that some predict will dominate international relations in coming decades. In fact, the increasing importance of cyberwarfare could well shake up the existing balance of military power around the globe.

How can politicians and generals resist? With plausible deniability, it’s as close to war without risk as the military can get. Need to shut down a rival country’s secret weapons program but can’t penetrate their airspace undetected? Drop a virus instead of a bomb! That’s the kind of option policymakers and warriors have on the table now. It’s a whole new ballgame.

Indeed, some experts say the wars of the future will be fought only with special forces operators and computer programmers. However, until we figure out a way to profit from the Navy SEALs, I’ll stick to talking about the latter — cyberwarfare and the profit opportunities it gives you, the investor.

Cyberwarfare is a $55 billion industry. It’s also America’s fastest-growing industry, set to double in the next 12 months. One recent study characterised cyberwarfare as ‘the ultimate asymmetric weapon’ — I like ‘the fifth domain of war’ better.

One of the biggest challenges that emerges in taking war to the fifth domain is that cyberwarfare capabilities offer a powerful and immediate force multiplier for rogue states. Countries that previously posed little threat when judged by conventional military standards, such as Iran, now pose much larger ones. This is a huge shift: Remember, Iran doesn’t possess adequate conventional military force to directly challenge its regional enemies Iraq and Israel, let alone global enemies like the United States.

Iran’s conventional military doesn’t rank in the world’s top 10. Despite having more than a million men under arms and several thousand armoured fighting vehicles and combat aircraft, it’s doubtful that it could survive a conventional war. In fact, it barely did against Saddam Hussein’s forces in the 1980s, which were in turn smashed by NATO forces in one of the shortest wars in modern history.

Yet a recent cyberwarfare study by the Atlantic Council, a beltway think tank, classified Iran as a tier-three cybermilitary. That means it’s capable of causing significant harm to civilian networks within the US, if not in the government.

What a jump in capabilities for this fourth-rate military power halfway across the world! On its best day, Iran could hardly hope to sink a single US Navy warship, but with its growing cyberwarfare capability, suddenly it’s a real threat.

But the practical anonymity that makes cyberwarfare the perfect way for rogue states to attack the US and its allies also makes it the perfect weapon for democratic countries too. Now, without a mandate for ‘boots on the ground’ warfare or UN approval, they can launch pre-emptive or retaliatory strikes against these threats. They go from being front-page news to wink, wink, nod, nod.

Most recently, it’s become known that the destruction of Iran’s latest nuclear testing facility was carried out in the fifth domain by a virus call ‘Stuxnet’, reputed to be a joint operation between the United States’ NSA and CIA and Israel’s military. This was the first time a virus did significant physical damage to a military facility.

We should expect to see more of this type of attack in the event that a ‘cold’ cyberwar heats up. In fact, recent developments have increased the likelihood we will. I’m talking about the Pentagon’s black budget. If you haven’t heard about the black budget, that’s because it’s normally been talked about behind closed doors…until now.

Just this month, The Washington Post released information it received from the renegade whistle-blower Edward Snowden about the US intelligence community’s funding for secret projects. It’s been dubbed the ‘black budget’. What they found was startling.

The 178-page report they received details exactly how the intel budget will be portioned out — I’m talking the who, what, when, where, etc. In case this isn’t clear: This information has never — I repeat, never — been made public before! At least it’s never been intentionally made public before.

The last glimpse the public got into this shadow world was in 1994 when a congressional committee accidentally released a detailed budget to the press. Using that as the last known benchmark, the changes made over the last two decades reveal a seismic shift in the 16 US intelligence agencies’ priorities, their pecking order and a lot about the US military-political strategy as a whole. Let’s focus on two points.

The CIA — the spearhead of intel ‘offensives’ overseas — which received just 11% of intel money in 1994, will receive a whopping 28% of the ‘black budget’ in the next fiscal year! That’s even more than what the NSA will get.

Click to enlarge

Looked at this way, it’s a shift from defense to offense. With terrorists harder to find than ever and rogue states to worry about, we’re in cyber ‘seek and destroy’ mode now. That’s my second point: Cyberwar is where funding is shifting to.

In fact, cyberwarfare-related activities will receive more than $4.2 billion, according to the Post’s breakdown. That’s nearly 10% of the whole intelligence community’s budget! My, how times have changed from the early days of the internet.

The bottom line is that our military planners see the next big threat coming in the form of an attack on the computers that run our country, and they’re preparing. These revelations can and should move markets… At least if you’re paying attention.

That’s because when the government wants to expand its cybersecurity programs, develop new capabilities or shore up its networks’ defenses, it relies on private cybersecurity companies to do most of the heavy lifting. They’ve got ‘the right stuff’, to borrow a phrase, and they’re for hire.

Byron King
Contributing Editor, Money Morning

Ed Note: How to Invest During the ‘Forever War’ originally appeared in The Daily Reckoning USA.

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From the Archives…

How to Play a Rising Stock Market With Exchange Traded Options
6-09-2013 – Kris Sayce

Buy-up-to Prices: Why The Secret to Selling Stocks is in the Buying…
5-09-2013 – Kris Sayce

Global Stock Markets, Big Tops and Casinos
4-09-2013 – Greg Canavan

Stop Orders: How to Make The Job of Selling Stocks Easier…
3-09-2013 – Kris Sayce

Bankers Profit at the Expense of the Broader Community
2-09-2013 – Vern Gowdie

By MoneyMorning.com.au

If you read enough of the mainstream financial press you’ve probably started to think that the dividend rally is over.

But we say that’s wrong.

In fact, our view is that many dividend-paying companies have barely started with paying out dividends.

And we’re not just saying that either, we’ve got proof.

We call it ‘Dividend Gaming’. We wrote to you about it a few months ago. Based on what we see in today’s market it’s as strong now as it was then…

Yesterday we explained that the US Federal Reserve had no intention of raising interest rates.

The Fed was just trying to manage market expectations by neither openly fuelling a stock bubble nor causing a crash.

The Fed’s goal is to see a steady rise in asset prices so everyone will feel happy! Just as some schools insist every kid gets a ribbon on Sports Day, the Fed wants everyone to win in stocks.

But while the Fed is being cagey, the Bank of England isn’t. It has let the market know exactly where it stands: rates will stay low for at least three more years…

Proof That Low Interest Rates Boost Stocks

Bloomberg News reports:

‘Carney, who became governor [of the Bank of England] on July 1, introduced forward guidance in August saying the BOE plans to hold its benchmark rate at 0.5 percent until unemployment falls to 7 percent from its current 7.8 percent. The bank doesn’t see that happening for another three years.‘

It’s as clear as day. Central banks want interest rates to stay low and they’ll do all they can to achieve it.

We don’t understand why so many people can’t see this. Look, we’re not saying it’s the right policy. And we’re not saying the central banks will achieve all their goals…because they won’t.

But it will do one thing: it will force investors to take bigger risks in order to boost their income.

The Bloomberg News article notes:

‘There is evidence that Britons are being driven to the stock market for returns. Investor sentiment on U.K. stocks is at its highest in six months, and equities are now the second-most-popular asset class after property…The U.K. benchmark FTSE 100 Index (UKX) has climbed more than 10 percent this year.‘

The evidence is there for all investors to see – stock prices have gone up. It’s that simple. And if interest rates stay low, odds are stock prices will keep going up.

That’s why the main US and UK indices are trading near record highs…while Australian stocks still need to climb 40% to take out the old high. But stay patient, because in our view it won’t be long before Aussie investors can celebrate a new record high too…

It May be Crazy, but it Works

Earlier we mentioned something we call ‘Dividend Gaming’. This is where companies use dividends as a way to attract investors.

They’ll use a number of tactics, all of them legal. The idea is to increase the dividend payout ratio as much as possible. One of the stocks we recommended three months ago in Australian Small-Cap Investigator has done just that.

It has increased its payout ratio from below 70% of profits to above 75% of profits.

It’s not the only company to do this. Other companies are taking ‘Dividend Gaming’ to another level. They’re paying out higher dividends to attract investors, and then getting some of the money back by issuing new shares.

Investors will go for that if they believe the company can use the money to grow the business and pay out higher dividends in the future.

Now, we know what you’re thinking. It doesn’t make sense if companies are paying out dividends and then raising capital. Investors are no better off. We get that. We understand it.

But tell that to the market. Because right now, crazy or not, the market loves companies that can pay higher dividends…and so do we.

Follow the Money into Dividend Stocks

Remember, we’re not saying we support low interest rate policies.

All we’re saying is that this is how things are right now. And if you want any chance of getting ahead and growing your wealth you’ve got no choice but to follow the money flow.

And right now money is flowing into dividend stocks…especially stocks that have shown a willingness to pay out higher dividends.

So, folks can carry on claiming that the dividend rally is over and recommend selling stocks. They can even say the market is too risky.

But we’ll put opinion to one side and stick with the evidence. The evidence tells us the dividend rally isn’t over. Foreign central banks have committed to keeping rates low and odds are the Reserve Bank of Australia will keep rates low too…and maybe cut them further.

If they do, everything is moving into place for investors to continue the surge into dividend stocks…and that means higher stock prices.

Nothing has happened to make us change our view that the Aussie market is heading towards 7,000 points in 2015. If you can handle the risk and you’re after a better-than-the-bank income stream, it’s still a great time to buy Aussie dividend stocks.

Cheers,
Kris+

From the Port Phillip Publishing Library

Special Report: GET OUT AND STAY OUT

By MoneyMorning.com.au

In Texas these days, there’s a feeling of absolute and unwavering confidence in the concept of an US energy revolution. From the depths of reserves to the richness of the energy, an incredible transformation is taking place.

We’ve been talking about the significant impact of the US’s oil production for a while now, but the buzz about shale oil and gas is only getting louder. At Morgan Stanley’s energy forum in Houston in August, Director of Research John Derrick and Portfolio Manager Evan Smith said shale was the prevailing topic.

One area that’s driving this game-changing trend is located only hours from our headquarters. It’s the Permian Basin located in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, covering an enormous area.

Three component parts make up the Permian: the western Delaware, Central Basin and eastern Midland. If you overlay the Eagle Ford and Bakken basin areas over the Permian, you can see that both the Bakken and the Eagle Ford shale formations easily fit inside.

Click to enlarge

The area isn’t new to the oil industry, as companies have been drilling in the Permian area for almost a century. Back in the 1970s, oil production reached 2 million barrels per day, but fell to 800,000 barrels per day in 2007.

It wasn’t because the oil wells had dried up, but more so because companies couldn’t get at the resource. But now since the introduction of shale technology, oil production began increasing once more to 1.2 million barrels per day by 2012.

And as more data is released, the more convinced we are that this incredible growth will continue. According to Tudor Pickering Holt & Co., by 2025, oil production is projected to more than double to more than 3 million barrels per day. That’s about as much oil that is produced these days by Kuwait, the third largest oil producer in OPEC.

Click to enlarge

Natural gas in the Permian Basin is also estimated to substantially increase, growing from about 4.3 million cubic feet per day to more than 7 million cubic feet per day.

When it comes to investment plays, ‘the Permian is red hot right now,‘ says Global Hunter Securities. The research firm finds that, on a year-to-date basis, if you invested in the ‘pure-play’ companies, including Concho Resources (CXO), Diamondback Energy (FANG) and Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), that have a resource base in the Permian area, your portfolio would be up an incredible 39 percent.

By comparison, over the same timeframe, the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) increased only 15 percent. The S&P 500 Index, which has had a great run so far, rose 16 percent.

Pioneer has been a long-term holding in the Global Resources Fund (PSPFX), and has benefited the fund with its handsome return of about 60 percent so far this year. We continue to be bullish on the company due to its substantial presence in the Permian.
Pioneer has a net resource base of about 7 billion barrels of oil equivalent across more than 40,000 drilling locations in the Permian, according to Global Hunter. This enormous resource base translates to decades of drilling ahead.

Here in San Antonio, we’ve personally witnessed several economic benefits that have positive repercussions for the entire US. Locally, there’s been a rapid monetisation of energy assets.

Businesses have been building incredible expertise and creating a growing number of high-paying jobs. For the rest of the country, the effects of cheaper gas and readily available energy create enormous potential for a more competitive United States of America.

We’re seeing savvy investors already taking advantage of the nation’s incredible energy shift. You might not want to miss out.

Frank Holmes
Contributing Editor, Money Morning

Ed Note: An American Energy Revolution originally appeared in The Daily Reckoning USA

From the Archives…

How to Play a Rising Stock Market With Exchange Traded Options
6-09-2013 – Kris Sayce

Buy-up-to Prices: Why The Secret to Selling Stocks is in the Buying…
5-09-2013 – Kris Sayce

Global Stock Markets, Big Tops and Casinos
4-09-2013 – Greg Canavan

Stop Orders: How to Make The Job of Selling Stocks Easier…
3-09-2013 – Kris Sayce

Bankers Profit at the Expense of the Broader Community
2-09-2013 – Vern Gowdie