Not so much a question of crude shortage but rather the numerous ways to Pump up the prices of refined petro-products.
First Big Oil covers the market in automated pumps that require you to use your time, your credit card and your liability to fill your gas tank.
Then, to get the capital costs for the expensive automated equipment covered there are wars and conflicts in oil basins like the ME, Venezuela, Columbia and Mexico.
There are Iranian gunboat Squirmishes in the Gulf of Hormuz and Al Gore, Suzooki.
For many very wealthy people it is a golden goose system. = TG
Take this post to be a “reader tips”, of a different sort.
What are your investment tips, picks, tricks, and truisms? What’s your “Golden Goose System”? What’s your advise for those without a lot to spend?
I assume society is just about to crumble… invest in Taser.
“If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher’s stone.”
— Benjamin Franklin
Petrobras (PBR)
Noble Corp (NE)
Superior Energy Services (SPN)
Bolt Technology (BOLT)
Helmerich & Payne (HP)
Tristar Oil and Gas (Bakken Play) TOG.TO $19.55
Pinetree Capital PNP.TO $3.25
Trilogy Energy Trust TET.UN.TO $ $12.80
Supervalue Inc. SVU $32.95
http://www.eagleplains.bc.ca“ rel=>eagleplains V.epl .35
http://www.tanzanianroyaltyexploration.com“ rel=>tanzanianroyalty T.tnx 5.17
Its a BUBBLE. Invest in oil and drilling and etc. -after- the bubble pops.
In the mean time, put a Hayabusa engine in your Smart Car and do some burnouts. ~:D
As taught to Warren Buffet by Benjamin Graham:
2 rules of investing:
Rule # 1. Always protect your capital
Rule # 2. Never forget Rule # 1
Tattoo removal.
Seriously. All those tattoos on those taut, young bodies are NOT going to look the same in a decade or so…
Can anyone imagine being a nurse in a nursing home in 2058 and have to get Bittani into her diaper while staring at some very stretched paw print tattoos?
“What are your investment tips?”
Here’s one: Be wary of investment tips from anonymous posters on internet blogs, or at least consider it worth what you paid for it.
Pumping up oil prices !? You bet. The Warm-Mongers are the enablers, the Hedge Funds are the Pushers. Some, including your Pension Plan, may benefit.
A lot of shirts were lost with $9 oil – only ten years ago. (short memory thing)
Investing ? Some are just good at playing the game.
Buy low – sell high !
Do not. Repeat, do not listen to TV, print experts.
Free advice is worth that much – nothing.
People have short memories – use that to your advantage.
There is a sucker born every minute – don’t be one.
Don’t read Popular mechanics,
There is no such thing as a Perpetual Motion Machine.
If someone keeps telling you the latest best investment is just around the corner – maybe it isn’t. (Super battery, Super carburator, Hydrogen Cell, Bre-X gold)
When everybody is running, you walk. When everyone is walking, you run. Works everytime.
Anything can be a good investment. At least initially. Even Pet Rocks ! 🙁
Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered !
If something is too good to be true – it probably isn’t.
Keep an ear to the ground for any new, truly new technology, methods, fads, processes;
Transitors, Oil wells, cell phones, ICE, radio waves, software, hoola hoop, buy now – pay later, miniturization, high heels, drive in food, 010001110 transmission, …
Everything happens in cycles, people have short memories (The Warren Buffet sure fire method for making good investments.
Be wary of investing in something that is hard to prove, either way, at least initially. Con-Artist territory.
Question: What is more important than ROI (return on investment) ??
Answer: ROI (return of investment)
Woodporter: So, following that logic, the more you pay for advice, the more you’ll make? My my, I wonder how much was paid by banks for asset-backed commercial paper “advice” or for sub-prime mortgage schemes “advice”?
I prefere doing my own research, exchanging ideas to be followed up on, and keeping my money out of the hands of greasy advisors who want to profit from my profit.
Here’s a tip for you … take any daily Quarterly report from a major player, then spend the next several days reading “professional” advice and analysis. Then, try to decide which “pro” is lying, which is just spinning to spend ink, and which is accurate, because the “professional” analysis is often so varied much of it must be BS. Why not start wih Nortel … and see if the “pros” agree on Nortel’s horizon.
Anybody with an average intelligence and willingness to “read” and learn can run their own investments… and often better than paid advice.
Put as much as you can into the new tax free savings account that starts in 2009.
Individual investments on the TSX:
Brookfield Asset Management, BAM.A
Canadian Western Bank, CWB
Russel Metal, RUS
ARC Energy, AET.UN
General Donlee, GDI.UN
Genivar, GNV.UN
Peyto, PEY.UN
Sleep Country, Z.UN
“What are your investment tips, picks, tricks, and truisms? What’s your “Golden Goose System”? What’s your advise for those without a lot to spend?”
Mine would be be patient and be humble(as in don’t be greedy). Pay yourself first, and for someone starting out I would say one of the bank monthly income funds. Decent performance, low mer, relatively speaking low risk and easy to start with a little money each paycheck. P.S. I would make that save rather than “spend”.
I am not as paranoid as some of the earlier posts, investing is about as exciting as watching paint dry its not supposed to be exciting. If you want excitement take 20 and buy a lottery ticket. Once you get going it becomes something automatic like brushing your teeth etc.
Blue Horseshoe loves Anacott Steel…
About ten percent of BIG OIL is Exxon, Shell, and other public companies. The rest is government owned oil companies like Gazprom and Saudi Aramaco and dozens of other state owned companies.
Remind your commie friends of that next time they belly ache about Big Oil and capitalism.
Potash Corp Of Saskatchewan,( POT ), has been on a tremendous tear, but with potash moving from about $175 a ton to nearly $1000 a ton and believable predictions that it will be $1150 a ton for the next ten years, it’s hard not to think it’s going higher. It’s likely to fall back a bit, but long term, it still looks good to me.
Worse comes to worse, you own a solid company with a salable product, it’s not going to disappear like a junior oil or mining company.
The food shortage, the ethanol nonsense, the drought in Australia, the rise in the Chinese and Indian people’s ability to afford meat, colder weather from global cooling; all these predict the need for more fertilizer to grow food and 95% of potash is used for fertilizer.
Wiping out Burma’s rice crop will put more pressure on food prices as well.
A previous poster’s comment on accepting advice from anonymous internet posters is spot on.
To reduce our dependency on oil we will use more electricity. Nuclear, wind, solar.
To move the electricity, and to build armatures for the generators will need lots of copper.
Buy copper miners.
If you don’t have a lot to spend, I’d advise you don’t invest in the traditional sense. Pick a hands-on part time business, making sure it’s not a commodity, that there are healthy margins, and work your ass off.
When you earn profits, invest your profits either directly, or reinvest them in your business.
If, however, you don’t wish to do this, then definitely, definitely don’t use blog comments as your investment go-to resource of choice. 😛
Most of what I know about mutual fund investing (401k and Roth IRA) I learned from Bill Bernstein http://www.efficientfrontier.com/ and Scott Burns http://assetbuilder.com/. This guy has some real good stuff, too:http://www.fundadvice.com/home/.
Christoph,
Your general point about not using blog comments for investment advice is understandable, yet while one has to separate the *opinion* from the actual first person experience, there is real value in investor slanted blogs.
There have been several times when I have been helped and informed through fist person blog insights.
*Professional* investment advice letters are often filled with the worst possible advice.
One thing to keep in mind is the falling value of the US dollar.
Consider Norway who sells most of it*s oil rather than consuming it. Netherland, Germany and Canadian picks.
The US dollar will pull ours south, but not all that much. . . I hope. = TG
Global warming is over .. go long on Long John companies.
Paul and others:
I don’t think expensive advice is better than that found at such places as this. In fact it is probably true that the best advice I have found is freely given on blogs and forums. The trouble is to sort out the gems from the dreck. I can’t begin to say how to do this. I just trust my intuition.
Speaking of gems, IMHO a few above are offered, such as that of Vitruvius, Christoph, and Fred.
Ron-right on-are you published?
In an era where both government, corporate globalism and the collective left NGOs are all trying to screw the middle class, the best investment is in a handgun…. a lot of people are taking that cue and it shows
Strum-Ruger stock is doing well
http://tinyurl.com/45zmg7
RXR TSX Bakken Play (Williston Basin)
REG VSE Principal, Harry Knutson(Nova Bancorp)
BMX.A TSX
.B
As I’ve mentioned here before, I hold a license as a Certified Financial Planner (I wish that this keyboard would allow me to insert the character indicating that that’s a trademark). Here’s one very specific personal financial planning tip for those of you in the US. This one has nothing to do with investments. If you have student loans and your cash flow is really tight, consider tightening your cash flow even more for as long as it takes you to pay off the smallest loan. Yes, your rate of return won’t be great, but getting rid of that payment will free up cash with which to do other things (save, pay off other loans quicker, or spend).
Now some more general advice, applicable world-wide:
1. Your car is not your identity. Spending extra on a car to impress others isn’t a good way to build wealth. Buying a less-expensive (but reliable) car and keeping it for a long time is a good way to build wealth. I drove my 1977 Corolla for nearly twenty-one years. I replaced it with a 1998 Corolla, which I still have, and won’t get rid of any time soon.
2. Your house is a place to live, not an investment. Accordingly, don’t buy a house that you wouldn’t rent (people seldom rent more house than they need).
Woodporter: I think I misunderstoond your point … I was in a chippy mood; which tends to dumb one down 🙂
My tip:
I used to have a business where all my clients were wealthy Americans … very very wealthy. ie: One had the largest construction firm in the USA at the time, and another was the CEO of a major aircraft manufacturer … others were a collection of rich to stupid rich. Here’s what I learned from them, simply via observation.
1. Only one of my many clients had been born rich. God Bless America.
2. Crime pays. (sadly)
3. All were hard workers, even if their seed money came from Cocaine sales.
4. Many were willing to take huge risks, and had in fact failed a number of times before hitting it out of the park.
5. Those who weren’t risk takers, worked incredibly hard, and protected their capital like paranoid marines.
6. More than half served in the United States military when they were young. ( I have no idea what the significance of this is)
7. Their money made them “all” more of what they were. If they were jerks when poor, they were now mega-jerks. If they were benevolant when poor, they were so much so when rich.
… take from that what you will.
My investment tips? Pumpkin futures always look bright in mid-October, but for some reason I always lose my shirt come early November. Sooner or later I’ll figure out the trend…
‘gunboat squirmishes’ ? Is squirmish a verb?
This is hilarious–must be an English teacher. Or one of my undergrads.
Perhaps the author means ‘skirmish’?
In that event — bring ’em on.
For what it is worht,
my “advice”
Don’t listen to pessimistic leftists ( the end of the world as we know it is not tomorrow ),
but don’t be naive and too optimistic either ( the internet bubble…).
So let me get this straight:
You can ignore the fact that crude prices have doubled since last year. But certain wealthy cabals are lining there pockets with the wages formerly given to gas pump jockeys. To insure that these shadowy big oil corporations can afford the capital cost of these automaton gas pumpers they instigate mischief with speed boats in the Persian Gulf and the jungles of Columbia.
This is absolutely the goofiest headline post I’ve ever seen at SDA.
I hope Kate has a great trip and comes home in a good mood or somebody is in for a spanking.
My tips:
1. Save. The more, the better, if financial security is valued.
2. Read. Feed your innate curiosity.
3. Trust your intuition. That sense of what seems right, once cultivated, can be of enormous value.
4. Follow the money. This means you try to understand someone’s words based on what they stand to gain from what they say.
5. Understand the herd. Don’t follow the herd, move based on where you see it going.
6. Better never than late.
7. Better early than not at all.
8. Buy a fishing line, sell a rhino horn. (shape of charts)
9. The fundamentals of a market matter. Learn them first, then move.
10. Have some fun while you’re at it.
Tips continued:
11. Get a technical education. Formal or not, know the technology for an indispensable edge.
12. Find successful friends, ditch the losers.
13. Know when to doubt and rethink your position.
Peak oil,this has interested me,I’ve come up with arguments for the reverse,not mine just articles that suggest the reverse ,could be true…Jeff rense has an extensive number of articles on it…just search on there Peak oil….such as this…http://www.rense.com/general75/zoil.htm
Makes sense to me.maybe the easy oil has been taken,surface or near to.Makes sense that it comes from below(Not dinosaur guts)maybe they drowned in it but they didn’t produce the oil
Makes sense to me.
Question tho,…Why does Canada ,export their raw products afield,when say,putting a refinery or 2 at the oil sands would improve the bottom line…Same with wood
Peter Ballem
Seems like another antisemitic rant dressed up as poorly written abiogenic oil nonsense.
Find quality (great product/service that makes money in all economic environments; great managers; able to make mistakes and keep on) companies, buy them on sale and hold them. Don’t listen to the “experts” who say you can time a market. Avoid businesses that do poorly long-term, but can do well short-term (ie-oil companies). Don’t ever buy business that are heavily regulated, like airlines.
Systematically add to you positions and avoid nonsense of strategic asset allocation (0-100% cash in timing approach).
General Rules: When everyone is fearful, be greedy, and vice versa. The only hot tip is there’s no such thing as a hot tip. Protect your capital by avoiding losses.
Never, never, never rely on media for investment advice, who have the same knowledge of finance and economics as they do politics and sports (ie-less than zero). Don’t be afraid to take profits, but always consider tax impact of any trades. Never, never panic, keep emotions out of your approach, so do your homework, find great buys, then hold them for the long term. If you don’t have long-term, don’t use equities for that portion of your portfolio. Keep a bit of cash on hand for opportunities and emergencies.
Seniors, don’t buy into the idea that you’re too old for equities. Your time in retirement could be as long as your career in employment, so don’t let inflation and taxes ravage your buying power. Remember that even 2% annual inflation will reduce your spending power by 1/3 over 20 years, at 3% – about half.
WLMackenzie Redux at 10:30 AM,
Interesting that you should mention Sturm Ruger.
was near 20, now below 10 and rated a *strong Buy*. Will visit 20 again.
*Strong Buy* is a far more common rating than most people realize.
Using Finance.aol.com
Choose *stock screener* [bottom of page in blue], and enter only 2 values.
Value 1 = your dollar range of interest, say $3-$7
Value 2 = the rating: *Strong Buy*
That will give you a page of 50 Strong buy rated stock picks you can copy to Word and print out.
Choosing a range of $1.00 to $10.00 gives you 4 or 5 pages of *Strong buy* picks to choose from.
finance.aol.com/quotes/cano-petroleum-inc/cfw/ase
You will see that many *strong Buy* choices are really *poor* for various reasons,
however the real winners are mixed in too.
Enjoy = TG
He who hesitates is lost.
Haste makes waste.
Apply those two maxims & you’ll do well.
Sleepy Old Bear 11:37 AM,
*Squirmish*, yeah, I noticed it all right, after posting.
What the heck, it*s better than skirmish. = TG
I did a lot of research so I could manage my 401k and Roth IRA. The best stuff I found on the internet was based on academic research. I have followed it for some years and have done better than most. I rely on these three people a lot: Bill Bernstein @http://www.efficientfrontier.com/, Scott Burns @http://assetbuilder.com/, and Paul Merriman@http://www.fundadvice.com/home/. I totally ignore all analysts, tv commentators, CEO’s, and fund managers. The secrets to good investing are: keeping costs very low, diversifying with foreign as well as domestic funds, and emphasizing value and small-cap funds. I sell my employer’s stock as soon as it goes in my account.
A bit of wisdom I once read on a forum is that most people spend little time evaluating an investment decision and a long time before acting on it, whereas it should be the opposite.
Pay off your mortage before you make any other investments.
Brad:
You beat me to it. You can never get rich yourself if you are making bankers rich paying 20, 30 or 40 year mortgages (or 18% on credit card interest).
Live below your means.
The single most helpful tip to successful investing is how you answer these questions when opening a trading Account.
Remember! This its not an IQ test, or your academic achievements, or experience in trading
1. Do you consider yourself a sophisticated Investor.
Answer: No ! I am Freddie Flintstone Dumb
2. What is your aversion to risk?
Answer: I hate risk
Those two questions act as a Spam Filter & your name does /or not get feed into the boiler room that hype penny stock & high risk investments.
BTW: If you think you are smarter than a front line broker, you are dumber than Freddie Flintstone.
Woodporter
Whoops ,posted wrong thread…while the Ruskies may be antisemitic,I fail to see the connection to oil(other than the money)Obviously you have an opinion,so where does your oil come from,I will move this thread if asked
become a muzlum, marry 4 wives, and put them all on welfare:-))))
What would be a good website to learn about the markets. A practise site?
The advice here seems good, and probably is, but it is somewhat useless if one, meaning me, doesn’t know the mechanics of it all.
I agree with Brad, pay off the house. I get tired of making the banks rich.
It has been my observation though, if the “experts” say a certain market is hot and one should buy in to it, that market is probably on its last legs and the powers to be are trying to wring every last dollar out of someone before it falls.
Cheers.
Peter Ballem
I believe, as most geologists do, that oil comes from the residue of some biological matter, either algae, vegetable matter, or even dinosaur dung. Sedimented over, buried deep and heat processed over many millennia and, viola, oil and natural gas. Add a reservoir and a trap and you have an oil/ gas field.
I only have one piece of financial advice.
Never bet on the white guy 🙂
GaryinWpg 10:50 PM
** What would be a good website to learn about the markets. A practise site? **
Forget the idea of practice picks. That is a common marketing ploy to get you involved in someone*s game.
Just use your own ability to choose what you like and what you think everyone else will not do without.
Do you think PeakFrean cookies have a future?? . . . buy Kraft shares.
Open an account at Canadian. Western Bank and if you like them way better than TD, CIBC, Royal and BofM and you think Oil Sands will not be hobbled by the *Eviros*. Buy it.
Nobody is worried about your future more than you are. Work for yourself. You are your most loyal employee. = TG