Skip to main content

Features of the week

Lots to talk about in this Friday's edition of "Features of the week", especially in the subjects of oil, ethanol, and energy use. Plus, plenty of news besides, so kick back and enjoy.

1. "Another Inconvenient Truth". Puru Saxena feels global production declines in crude oil will result in significantly higher prices and the possibility of shortages and rationing.

2. Meanwhile, George Friedman of Stratfor discusses possible advancements in the field of cellulosic ethanol production and the potential likelihood of a resulting fall off in global oil demand.

3. Robert Rapier discusses, "High Gasoline Prices", in a two-part (one & two) article series.

4. "Energy in a Post-Peak World". A Simmons & Company International slideshow, presented by Matthew Simmons.

5. Bono doubts the sincerity of the G8's pledge for African aid.

6. Secret CIA jails hosted by Poland, Romania, says a Swiss politician's report. This coincides with the CIA secret prisoner trial starting in Italy.

7. Chicago is the "greatest trading city in the world" according to a Trader Monthly survey.

8. PIMCO's Bill Gross, recently turned bearish on bonds, is set to make a fine return in an area that recalls one of the better-known inflation hedges of the 1970's: investing in rare stamps.

9. Railroads are a recently hot investment, but allegations of price-fixing have recently been leveled at the industry by one industrial customer.

10. "A Conversation With an Unusual Man": Charles Davis interviews Ron Paul.

11. Jim Chanos of Kynikos Associates discusses short selling, hedge funds, and private equity with FT's View from the Top. Parts one & two of this interview.

12. Jim Rogers appears in a VPRO documentary, "De Calculerende Cowboy", to discuss his travels, the future of Europe, and his philosophy of investing.

13. Bill Gates gives the commencement speech at Harvard, his alma mater, and takes home an honorary degree. See also, Time Magazine's profile and interviews with Gates.

14. George Harrison talks with Dick Cavett in a 1971 interview. Parts one, two, three, and four.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Popular posts from this blog

Nasdaq credit rating junked.

S&P cut Nasdaq's credit rating to junk status citing debt burdens and its questionable strategy to buy a controlling interest in the London Stock Exchange. Financial Times reported that the exchange's counterparty credit & bank loan rating were lowered fromm BBB- (lowest investment grade rating) to BB+. The change will increase Nasdaq's borrowing costs should it wish to pursue aquisition targets. For an earlier look at the exchange consolidation trend that brought about Nasdaq's push for a stake in the LSE, please see "Exchange fever" .

Jesse Livermore: How to Trade in Stocks (1940 Ed. E-book)

If you've been around markets for any length of time, you've probably heard of 20th century supertrader, Jesse Livermore . Today we're highlighting his rare 1940 work, How to Trade in Stocks (ebook, pdf). But first, a brief overview of Livermore's life and trading career (bio from Jesse Livermore's Wikipedia entry). "During his lifetime, Livermore gained and lost several multi-million dollar fortunes. Most notably, he was worth $3 million and $100 million after the 1907 and 1929 market crashes, respectively. He subsequently lost both fortunes. Apart from his success as a securities speculator, Livermore left traders a working philosophy for trading securities that emphasizes increasing the size of one's position as it goes in the right direction and cutting losses quickly. Ironically, Livermore sometimes did not follow his rules strictly. He claimed that lack of adherence to his own rules was the main reason for his losses after making his 1907 and...

Finance Trends 2019 Mid-Year Markets Review

Email subscribers of the Finance Trends Newsletter receive the first look at new articles and market updates, such as the following piece, sent out to our email list on Sunday (6/14).   Hello and welcome, everyone! If you received our last email notice over the July 4th holiday, you'll know that this weekend's newsletter will serve as a mid-year market update and a follow-up to issue #29, " How to Reinvest in a Rising Market ".   Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, let's start the show...  Finance Trends Newsletter: Our Mid-Year Market Review When we last spoke, back in February, the U.S. stock market was rallying off its December-January lows. As the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reclaimed their 200 day moving averages in February and March, it became increasingly apparent that a lot of retail investors (and perhaps some institutional investors) were left under-invested while watching this recovery move from the sidelines.  The U.S. stock ...