Timing & trends

 Multitudes of material that an inquisitive investor can locate, subscribe to or just find in their junk e-mail box collecting cyber dust. Much of these opinions and the packages they arrive in are self-promoting and/or  besieged with advertising and sponsorships. There are however, as I have talked about in the past…some very informative and unbiased opinions and information circling around us. After seeing enough “opinions and recommendations” it becomes a little easier with each passing year to eliminate sort and process said materials. One of the newsletters that I like and find strong investment ideas from is Keth Schaefer’s “Oil and Gas Investment Bulletin.”

 

Keith has been focusing lately on the BC LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) build out. So what we are talking about is: 12 proposals to ship LNG now, 1st one will be small, but start in Q2 2015. Next one likely not until 2017 and Lots of background work to do—pipelines, power ect. There is potential for a multi-year run for service companies. With huge spending to develop reserves there will be 7.5 billion in construction per bcf export….astonishing. By 2020 there will likely be 3-5 bcf exported in LNG, that equates to a lot of dollars into drilling, fracking, new pipeline, terminal facilities. Keith refers to this as the Pig in the Python, and I like the analogy. The BC election has set the clear path for large scale LNG.

 

Nearing An Inflection Point: Watch The USD

USDwatchIf the USD continues to rally, it would be negative for commodity prices. We saw that last week as the USD strengthened across the board against virtually all currencies and commodity prices and deep cyclical stocks struggled. Last week, I highlighted the turnaround in industrial commodity prices as a positive sign for the deep cyclical sectors. The bottom panel also shows the low and negative correlation of industrial commodity prices to the USD.

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France: On the Edge of the Periphery

FranceFrance: On the Edge of the Periphery
“No: France Is Not Bankrupt” – Really?
So What Is the Catalyst for a French Crisis?
France Cannot Be France Without Greatness
San Antonio, Chicago, Bismarck, Denver, and Toronto

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The Microsoft challenge Steve Ballmer leaves behind

MicrosoftI’ll never forget the sheer physical presence of Steve Ballmer the first time we met. It was a little intimidating to shake the hand of the man who had only recently become Microsoft’s second-ever CEO, and he had a very firm grip. He seemed like the kind of guy who could easily bust a door or break some Windows. Instead, he may be remembered as the guy who broke Windows.

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Statistics Canada says Canada’s annual inflation rate was 1.3 per cent in July, up from 1.2 per cent the previous month.