Energy & Commodities

I love a good fight.

When it comes to U.S. energy production, I can’t think of a more controversial topic since Edwin Drake drilled his well on Pennsylvania soil over 150 years ago…

It all revolves around hydraulic fracturing.

Here’s the part that most people don’t seem to realize: Without fracking, the entire North American oil and gas industry would come to a screaming, painful halt. This is the reality we all need to face, regardless of protesters who abhor the fracturing process.

Hydraulic Fracturing 101

Let’s start from the beginning…

Hydraulic fracturing is a simple process, really. It’s used to create fractures in a rock formation by injecting the rock with a mixture of water, proppant (think: sand), and chemicals.

Once opened, the fissures allow the oil and gas resources to flow more freely into the well, which can then be extracted through the well bore.

Here’s a video of this procedure in action.

….read more HERE

 

Swiss gold fund manager Egon von Greyerz tells King World News today that Swiss banks are obstructing their clients trying to remove gold to private vaults. Von Greyerz adds that gold’s downtrend is over and its uptrend will accelerate soon. The World Is Now On The Edge Of A Massive Collapse Egon von Greyerz warned King World News that the world is now on the edge of a massive collapse. Geryerz also cautioned investors that banks are now making it harder for their clients to get physical gold out of the banking system.

Australia’s ANZ bank is the latest to open a gold vault in the Singapore Freeport area next to the city state’s Changi airport. Other recent vault builders there include Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan, while Switzerland’s Metalor has one under construction and due to open in a couple of month’s time. Together with new gold vault openings in Hong Kong this is yet another outward sign of the continued flight of gold from West to East, although the vaults are also servicing western precious metals investors seeking safe, and relatively low cost vaulting facilities outside of the traditional depositories in the U.S. and Europe. Now either the Western bullion banks have misjudged the power that gold still retains in the global psyche and as a key financial instrument, or the Asian investors and governments, which are continuing to accumulate gold at a high rate, have got it wrong.

 

http://www.gata.org

As you may know, the emerging market (EM) currencies have been crushed over the past year, some over the past two years.  Some appear to be interesting setups now.  Below are two: 1) Euro-Turkish lira (EUR/TRY), and 2) US$-Brazilian real (USD/BRL)…you may want to place these on your radar screen for potential opportunities. 

Please click here to view the issue with charts

Regards,

Jack Crooks

Black Swan Capital

Stocks, Bonds, or Short? – The Million Dollar Question

Posted by Chris Ciovacco - Safehaven

on Thursday, 15 August 2013 13:54

In the 1990s, tech stocks were the place to be. After the dot-com bust, those who placed their money in bonds or shorted stocks did very well until October 2002. The winning asset class between late 2002 and October 2007 was stocks. History tells us picking the right asset class buckets is extremely important in the quest for satisfying investment returns.

30788 a

Limited Capital To Allocate To Buckets

With central banks around the globe skewing the prices of stocks and bonds via artificially low interest rates, it is harder than ever to make allocation decisions.

30788 b

….much more HERE

The Rally Isn’t In Trouble Yet

Posted by Kevin Flynn - Seeking Alpha

on Thursday, 15 August 2013 13:36

I would guess that the most popular question I see circulating in the investor community of late is, “are the wheels about to come off of this market?” There are varying motivations behind the concern, from those anxious to protect a good year, to those who would like to catch up to that good year, and finally those doubting Thomases who have not yet been able to bring themselves to believe. Somewhere to the right of that group is Peter Schiff.

The answer largely depends on two things, the first being the time frame you mean by “about,” as in “about to come off.” The second depends not so much on your faith in capitalism, but on government institutions. That must sound like deep heresy indeed, yet I encourage you to read on, for you may find grist for your mill.

….read more HERE

Screen Shot 2013-08-15 at 6.37.55 AM