The last time this happened in this sector was 14 years ago, in 1997. Back then, Warren Buffett had investments in this sector during the phenomenon (and made millions from it). Meanwhile, investors watched the prevailing prices in the sector soar from $4.25 an ounce to above… Read More

While other names in the energy space have run hard and fast, this well-run mid-cap name is just starting to gain momentum. In researching this article, my mind kept wandering back to Hank Hill, the main character of Mike Judge’s… Read More

When I’m looking for reliable income stocks, my favorite starting point is the Dividend Aristocrats Index that Standard & Poor’s updates every year. To make this list, companies must have increased dividends for at least 25 consecutive years. This is a major accomplishment and only a select few… Read More

The market’s biggest winners of the past decade are littered with natural resource stocks. Contango Oil & Gas (NYSE: MCF) has soared 753% in the past decade. Buenaventura Mining (NYSE: BVN), Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX), and Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL) have produced gains… Read More

I’m always looking for stocks that have a chance to make a solid upward move in several quarters or several years. But sometimes, you catch a break and can bag some upside much more quickly than that. At the end of January, I suggested that… Read More

First Egypt erupted, then Libya exploded. Investors might certainly wonder where the next Middle East powder keg will ignite and what effect it will have on crude oil prices. Analysts speculate there is already a $10-a-barrel “risk premium” built into crude, and that premium can go even higher if the… Read More

My colleague Nathan Slaughter knows just about everything there is to know about the energy industry. He’s been warning investors that just because the price of oil is touching $100 a barrel doesn’t mean you should necessarily buy stocks like ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) or Chevron (NYSE: CVX). Read More

They finally did it. Gasoline prices have been creeping ever closer to the $3-a-gallon mark in my hometown. Now they’ve pierced through. And with oil touching $100 a barrel, gas stations may as well be in a race to see who can reach $4… Read More

In case you haven’t heard, inflation is on its way. Unprecedented levels of government debt and deficits will likely weaken the value of the dollar at some point, thus raising the prices of everything it buys. But, the Federal Reserve says… Read More

It’s one of the rarest metals on the planet… 30 times more rare than gold. It takes anywhere from 7 to 12 million tons of raw ore to produce a single ounce of the metal. In 2009, miners extracted 64 million ounces of gold; stockpiles of this metal grew by just 6 million ounces. And I use the word stockpile figuratively, because unlike other metals there are typically little to no above-ground supplies of this rare and valuable metal. That’s because demand often outpaces supply. In 2008, the world consumed 7.3… Read More

It’s one of the rarest metals on the planet… 30 times more rare than gold. It takes anywhere from 7 to 12 million tons of raw ore to produce a single ounce of the metal. In 2009, miners extracted 64 million ounces of gold; stockpiles of this metal grew by just 6 million ounces. And I use the word stockpile figuratively, because unlike other metals there are typically little to no above-ground supplies of this rare and valuable metal. That’s because demand often outpaces supply. In 2008, the world consumed 7.3 million ounces of the stuff, compared to production of just 7.0 million ounces. We need every ounce available and then some. So why is this metal needed at all when it’s expensive, rare, and hard to mine? Above all, platinum owes its popularity to chemistry. You’ve probably heard of catalytic converters. Internal combustion engines would spew tons of noxious pollutants without these miraculous devices, which convert hydrocarbon exhaust into carbon dioxide and water vapor. Well, platinum group metals (PGMs) are the catalyzing agent — and try as they might, automakers have never found a… Read More