As Argentina Backpedals, Will Oil and Gas Companies Step on the Gas?

The Energy Report: How is the news that Argentina holds the fourth-largest shale oil reserve in the world affecting business plans for companies that operate there?

Bill Newman: The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) report that was released in June 2013 showed that Argentina has a technically recoverable shale oil resource of 27 billion barrels, so it reaffirms the large potential of Argentina. Although the shales plays are in an early stage of appraisal, we don't believe the potential of the shale is the key issue for oil and gas companies investing in Argentina. The political risk is still the chief concern. However, this year the government started to move away from its nationalist policies, so we think the political climate is slowly improving.

TER: When we talked last year, Argentina had recently expropriated the assets of Yacimientos Petrolferos Fiscales (YPF:NYSE) (YPF) from Spain's Repsol (REP:MC) without compensation. And the government temporarily froze the Argentinean assets of Chevron Corp. (CVX:NYSE) in response to a $19 billion ($19B) judgment in Ecuador. Has the danger of nationalization of foreign owned oil and gas assets receded or increased? Continue reading "As Argentina Backpedals, Will Oil and Gas Companies Step on the Gas?"

Finding Bargains Down Under

The Gold Report: You recently said that this is your fourth cycle in a commodity sector in your 40-year career. Where are we in this current cycle, and how do you determine that?

Rick Rule: The bottom is usually marked by a two- or three-week period of capitulation selling followed by a standoff, where both the buyers and the sellers are exhausted. We haven't seen that yet. We've had two or three different periods with a couple of days of capitulation selling but not a two-week period as we saw in 2000.

I wouldn't be surprised if the downturn was four years, which suggests we have a year and a half to two years before we clean out the excesses. The junior sector is substantially overpopulated with companies, managers and agents. There needs to be a major cleansing over the next 18 months.

TGR: Will it be more cleansing or more mergers and acquisitions? Continue reading "Finding Bargains Down Under"

Gold Chart of The Week

Each Week Longleaftrading.com will be providing us a chart of the week as analyzed by a member of their team. We hope that you enjoy and learn from this new feature.

Weekly Gold Report (August 5th through August 9th)

I am probably not alone in thinking that I am happy to finally have last week in the rear view mirror. Despite the fact that most economists had their sights set on the September FOMC Meeting, there was still the possibility of a surprise decision to taper ahead of next month. After hearing the news that the FED will maintain their QE stance, we still had to deal with Central Bank announcements from the BOE and the ECB. Following the same supportive outlook, we looked ahead to the monthly Non Farm Payroll on Friday.

Despite decent figures from the private sector in the US, along with an improvement in the weekly jobless claims, the NFP did miss expectations. Considering the fact that Ben Bernanke and Co. have pegged their participation largely to the labor market, this miss bought the market at least another month of FED support. Continue reading "Gold Chart of The Week"

10 Reasons Why Obamacare Is Going to Ruin Your Medical Care… and Your Life

By Elizabeth Lee Vliet, M.D.

Of course you've heard of "liar loans"—in the heyday of subprime mortgages, unscrupulous lenders handed out mortgages to practically everyone with a pulse. "So you're saying you make $100,000 a year? Great, check this box titled 'McMansion.'"

We all know how this charade ended. Now Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet, M.D., an acclaimed expert on the subject of Obamacare, warns that the delay of the employer mandate by one year will force Americans into a single-payer system, raising insurance premiums and encouraging "liar subsidies" that might prove fiscally devastating. Not to mention that under the new health care system, you may well end up dead…

Dan Steinhart

Editor, Casey Research

Obamacare is a hodgepodge of new regulations, requirements, and penalties. I'd like to start by defining three terms, which, while obscure today, should begin to enter our everyday vocabulary as Obamacare continues to take effect: Continue reading "10 Reasons Why Obamacare Is Going to Ruin Your Medical Care… and Your Life"

Weekly Futures Recap W/Mike Seery

We’ve asked Michael Seery of SEERYFUTURES.COM to give our INO readers a weekly recap of the Futures market. He has been Senior Analyst for close to 15 years and has extensive knowledge of all of the commodity and option markets.

Michael frequently appears on multiple business networks including Bloomberg news, Fox Business, CNBC Worldwide, CNN Business, and Bloomberg TV. He is also a guest on First Business, which is a national and internationally syndicated business show.

Grain Futures--- The grain market continues their bearish trend with soybeans higher by $.15 in early trade only to selloff & make new contract lows at 11.81 finishing right near session lows and as I’ve been instructing traders or investors for quite some time I do believe prices are headed substantially lower in the next 2 weeks due to the fact that the weather is outstanding especially if we can get some warmer weather which should really propel the crop even more. Corn futures continue to move lower once again finishing down $.03 in the December contract at 4.63 a bushel also at new contract lows as I’m hearing from many farmers around the country & they are expecting over 200 bushels an acre which could produce a record crop this fall. Continue reading "Weekly Futures Recap W/Mike Seery"