By some counts, Canadian tar sands production feeds more than one-fifth of North America’s oil appetite. And despite some environmental challenges, a bevy of new projects will push that percentage higher. Read More

Never underestimate the small mindedness of politicians: That looks like the lesson of the week for investors. The morning after the biggest bank failure in history—Washington Mutual—Washington is still squabbling about the details of how to sort out the mortgage securities mess and unfreeze the US financial system. Read More

After decades of tough regulation, an industry absolutely essential to the health of the US economy has opened up. The immediate result: A good business becomes a great one. The top executives get rich, as do many further down the chain. Read More

Opening down some 300 Dow points, the stock market tried valiantly to rally for most of Monday before succumbing to an end-of-the-day rout. That the market was headed lower was no great surprise to anyone who followed the tumultuous events of this past weekend. And for anyone who was watching football instead, there was yesterday’s headline in The Wall Street Journal: “Crisis on Wall Street as Lehman Totters, Merrill Is Sold, AIG Seeks to Raise Cash.” Read More

Utility stocks across the board posted very strong second quarter earnings. And with most sticking close to prior full-year guidance, there’s no real indication they won’t in the third quarter. Read More

Change is the watchword of this presidential election season. The fact that the candidate of the party currently out of power—Democrat Barack Obama—would talk about shaking things up is no great surprise in any campaign. This time around, however, even ruling party candidate John McCain is trying to present himself as an agent of change. Read More

How rough was this summer for investors? The answer isn’t nearly as bad as the market mood, at least not for those who focus on quality companies that continue to post strong earnings. Read More

More than a year into this US economic slowdown, Utility Forecaster Portfolio companies reported strong second quarter earnings. That has great implications for our stocks, particularly when this bear market ends. Read More

Even regulated utilities can take a whacking in a bear market. In fact, the major sector averages have tumbled at least 10 percent from highs to lows 16 times since World War II. Read More

In the long run the market is always right. Selling during bear markets, however, is often as indiscriminate as buying during bull markets. And when a stock backed by a good business gets pummeled, the loss is sooner or later reversed with a vengeance. Read More