Crude oil prices have fallen nearly $10 in the past two weeks, but this temporary downdraft will be nothing more than a blip on the radar screen. In prior issues, I’ve examined some of the sectors most leveraged to the long up-cycle in spending on exploration and development, including oil services and equipment stocks. In this week’s issue, I’ll take a look at another sector: engineering and construction (E&C). Read More

Ten thousand delegates from 190 countries will be in Bali this week to talk about climate change, kicking off negotiations for a new international agreement to follow the Kyoto Accord. The US continues to oppose mandatory emissions cuts by wealthy nations and a target to limit the rise in global temperatures. Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper is trying to bridge a gap between what now amounts to the rest of the industrialized world and the US. Read More

The US continues to feed the world morsels of negativity. The latest is a request from one of the world's biggest banks for capital infusion to the sheikdom of Abu Dhabi. Read More

I’m best known for dishing out advice on income stocks like utilities and Canadian trusts. But through my new service with colleague Yiannis Mostrous, I'm also providing insight into vital resources such as base and precious metals, agricultural, water, industrial metals, steel and other raw materials stocks. Also included is a full overview of third quarter results for all CE Portfolio holdings. Read More

The market’s deterioration remains problematic. Western financial institutions continue to report more balance-sheet trouble. Selling pressure is strong right now, even more so in Asian markets because the rally there from the August lows was spectacular. In other words, there are real profits to be booked. Read More

The big, integrated oil companies are the most recognizable faces of the energy industry. Every time gasoline prices rise above $3 in the US, it’s the CEOs of these firms who get dragged before Congress to explain what’s going on. Many seem to assume that it’s the Super Oils that control the global energy markets, but in truth, they control only a tiny part of the world’s reserves of oil and natural gas. What the integrateds do offer is relative safety and stability. Read More

One element of the Tax Fairness Plan--the formal name of the scheme to subject income trusts to double taxation--that provides at least some comfort is the three-year window before flow-through entities have to start coughing up more cash to the government. A lot can happen in 36 months. Read More

The US is often called the Saudi Arabia of coal. And there’s a good reason for that: The nation has more than 27 percent of the world’s known coal reserves and some of the highest-quality deposits in the world. That’s 90 billion metric tons more than Russia, the nation with the second-largest reserves. Read More

Let me start by saying that my working assumption is that markets will end the year higher. This view is based on the forecast that the US will avoid recession--at least in the short term. Read More

The Canadian dollar has fallen of late, thanks in part to OPEC news, carry trades and profit-taking. And Alberta isn't alone in its proposal to increase ownership; its rate hike is only one of many moves worldwide to keep resource benefits local. Also, support for the Conservatives has slipped, not risen as intended, because of tax cuts in a mini-budget. Read More