Daily Profit : silver

Gold Approaches $1,800: A Very Easy Gold Investing Strategy

Ian Wyatt — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:26:00 GMT

With gold ramping over the past few days I've had a lot of reader questions about the best way to play this or even if now is the right time. One of my favorite ways to play gold is through the miners, particularly the junior miners demonstrating an ability to consitently grow production.

At the end of the day, there's one thing I look for in a mining company - production growth.

This is the key ingredient to a successful precious metals investing recipe. Grow production steadily and a lot of the other things - high profit margins, revenue growth and funding for exploration - fall into place.

But don't grow production and, well, I'm not too interested.

Take Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) for example. In 2009 the company produced 2.6 million ounces of silver. With two mine expansions, production grew to 3.3 million ounces in 2010 and will likely hit 4.3 million in 2012. The share price has risen 210% since mid-2010. But those who bought when production just began in 2004 have seen their position grow 10-fold.

Because production growth is so important - and is likely to dictate which way a company's share price goes - you've got to understand where a mining company is along its life cycle before you jump in.

This is pretty easy to do because mining companies tend to follow a fairly distinct growth curve. In the early stages of life these companies are primarily explorers - they're out in the field looking to acquire and explore properties that may have valuable ore deposits. Canadian explorer ATAC Resources (ATC.V) falls into this category.

Explorers have no revenues and rely on the debt and equity markets for necessary capital. Some of these companies are attractive investments, and offer huge upside potential if they can get a property to development stage. They also can carry higher risks since they don't yet have cash flow, permits, and proven reserves.

On the opposite end of the life-cycle spectrum are established producing and silver streaming firms.

Companies in this category include Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL) and Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW).

These are relatively stable companies, but they don't have the same upside potential as the explorers. That's because it takes exponentially greater production and estimated reserve base to justify a big increase in share price.

In between the explorers and the producers are the developers. This is the sweet spot for investors.

These companies are developing productive assets and just starting to generate stable revenues from selling silver, gold, and other metals.

These are the best companies to buy because their risk-reward profile is so attractive. They are currently (or just about to) producing gold and silver so they have immediate leverage to precious metal prices now, not at some ambiguous point two or three years down the road.

They are generating revenues (or are about to) and are becoming profitable - two things the market loves.

These revenues also help emerging producers fund exploration of undeveloped properties. So the exploration upside is huge, but there is less risk than with a non-producing explorer.

The emerging producers have immediate, mid-term and long-term upside. But they also have some downside protection.

For me, this is about as good as it gets.

Fortuna Silver Mines (TSX: FVI) is one of my favorite emerging silver producers and a best pick for 2012. Silver production from the company's second mine - this one in Mexico - should be a major positive catalyst for the stock.

I've also recently recommended an emerging gold producer in Africa. I expect this stock to do as well as both Endeavour and Fortuna over the coming years because of its new production. I can't release the name because that wouldn't be fair to paying subscribers. But if you're interested in a great gold growth story and more about EXK then please click here for the full story.

My advice - keep it simple and focus on gold and silver miners that are growing production. These are the ones that can lead to life-changing gains.

Is the U.S. Already in Recession?

Ian Wyatt — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:27:00 GMT

Economists are responding to weakening economic data by slashing their U.S. GDP growth estimates. JP Morgan's economists now say growth will top out at 1% in the fourth quarter, and slow to 0.5% in the first quarter of 2012.

Goldman Sachs has already reported there is a 1 in 3 chance the U.S. will slip back into recession.

Investors aren’t waiting around to see if it's recession or just slow growth. They are selling stock and buying safe haven assets like precious metals and Treasury Bonds.

Gold has rallied as much as 24% in a little over a month. And silver has rallied right along with gold, up 24% since July 1.

With silver prices currently over $40 an ounce, you'd probably think I was crazy to suggest that you could buy silver for just $3.90 an ounce...

However, I've got the next best thing: a company that has locked in a 20-year supply of silver -- at $3.90 an ounce. The terms of this deal mean this company will get around 12 million ounces of silver every year. And the price is locked in at $3.90 an ounce even as silver prices continue to rise.

It doesn't matter if production costs escalate or how high silver prices go, this company won't pay a penny more for its silver supply. Most analysts, including those at Wyatt Investment Research, expect silver prices will be higher, much higher and in years to come…

I'm Ian Wyatt, and I've put my own money in this stock as part of Ian Wyatt's $100k Portfolio, where I'm using my own money to show individual investors like you how to turn $100,000 into $1 million. And this $3.90 an ounce silver stock is helping us achieve our goal.

Please keep reading to learn more how this silver company could add substantial profits to your portfolio...

Click here.

Why Stocks Collapsed and What You Can Do About It Now

Ian Wyatt — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:28:00 GMT

Goldman Sachs says there is a 1 in 3 chance the U.S. will slip back into recession. Harvard economics professor Martin Feldstein from Harvard University is says it’s 50/50. At least one strategist is saying the U.S. economy is already in recession.

Investors aren’t waiting around to see who’s right. They are selling stock and buying safe haven assets like precious metals and Treasury Bonds.

Gold has rallied as much as 13% in a little over a month. And silver has added as much as 29%.

With silver prices currently around $40 an ounce, you'd probably think I was crazy to suggest that you could buy silver for just $3.90 an ounce...

No matter if production costs escalate or how high silver prices go, this company won't pay a penny more for its silver supply. Most analysts, including those at Wyatt Investment Research, are calling for silver prices will be higher, much higher and in years to come…

Please keep reading to learn more how this silver company could add substantial profits to your portfolio...

Click here.

$36 Silver Dominates at the World's Largest Mining Conference

Ian Wyatt — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:39:00 GMT

Toronto, Ontario

Silver's up 16% this year and 106% since this time a year ago. Small Cap Investor PRO's silver stocks are up double and triple digits and still have massive upside potential.

Click here for the latest proprietary research.

The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) mining conference just concluded here in Canada's largest city.

And with silver in the headlines, breaking through $36 an ounce for the first time in 30 years, silver dominated the most sought after presentations, interviews and companies.

You see, even though silver is breaking nominal price records, it's still not even close to inflation adjusted records -- which, if you believe the government -- are at least four times higher than today's prices.

To take advantage of this huge potential uptrend in the price of silver, Tyler Laundon from Small Cap Investor PRO has been updating his research on his three favorite silver plays -- all of which are in North America, and all of which trade under $10 a share, for now.

So far, Tyler's readers have booked gains of over 171%, 18% and 14% since his report was published. With a potential upside of 3X today's silver price, these small silver companies have solid prospects for ever higher gains.

You can read a brief synopsis of Tyler's research on these three companies by clicking this link now.

Intel's Problem

Ian Wyatt — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:45:00 GMT

*****Intel's Problem
*****Strong Like Bull
*****Silver Eagles

Fellow Investor,

Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers and their Super Bowl victory last night. It was an entertaining game. Though I have to say, the halftime show featuring the Black Eyed Peas wasn't my cup of tea. But I guess the cool kids liked it. And speaking of kids, I was really pleased with the 6:30 p.m. ET kick off time. That will probably help office attendance this morning.

It seems to me that professional sports does itself a disservice with late start times, especially for playoff and championship games. Most kids can't stay up late enough to see the conclusion, and these kids are the next generation of fans and players.

*****Speaking of Black Eyed Peas, one of the singers, Will I Am (I think he was the guy with the plastic thing on his head), has been hired as a creative director for Intel (Nasdaq:INTC). I'm not joking.

Intel has clearly been left behind in the handheld/potable wireless device boom. PC chips are pretty much commoditized at this point. The growth is in chips for phones and tablets. Companies like Qualcomm (Nasdaq:QCOM) and Nvidia (Nasdaq:NVDA) are leading.

I have no doubt that Intel will make an acquisition to get more exposure to the wireless device space, but hiring a pop star to help drive new products is a clear indication that Intel is feeling the heat.

Investors are clearly showing that they recognize the position Intel is in. The trailing P/E is 10 and the forward number is 9. That's cheap, and the explanation is that Intel is missing a big growth opportunity. Though truth be told, Intel has put up very good numbers the last few quarters.

*****Bloomberg reports that S&P 500 companies are beating revenue estimates by the widest margin in four years. Clearly, analysts are being conservative in the wake of the financial crisis. But don't ignore the fact that the consumer has recovered faster than expected, and companies (and stocks) are benefitting.

Strategist Greg Woodard, from $36 billion Manning & Napier in New York told Bloomberg: "Sales tends to be highly correlated to economic activity..."

If that's not stating the obvious, I don't know what is.

*****For some real insight, let's turn to Jason Cimpl of TradeMaster Daily Stock Alerts. The following is from this morning's advisory to subscribers:

The bullishness from the market last week erased any advantage the bears may have had to take the market lower.

As I mentioned before, the bears let another chance to drag the market lower slide away. While the market could trade lower in the short term, nothing in the charts indicates we should trade with anything but a bullish bias.

We know the indices are overbought, and due for correction, but the bears are weak and the bulls are strong. Until one of those two trends changes, we must favor a bullish outcome for the market, despite our every rational thought leaning otherwise.

The market is finicky about "when" and "what" kind of information it reacts to. Good news or bad news, the market continues to chug higher. Economic data is extremely light this week and most big companies have reported financial results. With the light news, and slightly bullish bias entering the week, it appears impractical for the U.S. indices to top now.

As always, Jason does a great job of reading the stock market's signs and positioning his readers for profits.

What he's basically telling us is that while many of us feel that we're possibly long overdue for some sort of correction, the data is just not supporting it. He's not being a market cheerleader here, just laying out the facts and recommending having a bullish stance until we see otherwise.

TradeMaster Daily Stock Alerts members took 55% and 17% gains last week, and they've closed 11 of their last 14 trades with profits.

And for the record, his three losing trades were -1%, -1% and -5%. That's because Jason uses stop losses to protect his readers' money when they're in a position. Are you using stop losses?

*****Merger Monday lived up to expectations again. AOL is buying out The Huffington Post and Danaher (NYSE:DHR) is taking out Beckman Coulter (NYSE:BEC) for $5.8 billion. Also, offshore oil rig operator Ensco (NYSE:ESV) says it will buy Pride International (NYSE:PDE) for $7.3 billion.

Corporations are loaded with cash and they're putting it to work in acquisition. This is an important source of bullishness for the market.

*****Finally, the Silver Eagles for new subscribers to the Small Cap Investor PRO advisory service who responded to our silver stock promotion should be getting their coins in the mail in the next 2 weeks. These coins are beautiful and I'm sure you'll enjoy getting them in your possession.

We ordered some extras and once we've mailed out the ones we've committed to, we'll give you a chance to get your own, for free. Keep an eye on your inbox.

Until tomorrow

Ian Wyatt
Editor
Daily Profit

P.S. Jason just sent out his weekly trading video to subscribers on Saturday night. This video details the market trends for the upcoming week and the stocks and ETFs he's going to be putting out buy notices on. It's only Monday, so if you want to check out the new video, get in on the action, and test out his service you should sign up today. Click here for more...

How to Play the Irish Bailout

Ian Wyatt — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:37:00 GMT

*****How to Play the Irish Bailout
*****U.S. Dollar vs. euro
*****One Ounce Silver American Eagle

Fellow Investor,

It’s one of those situations in investing that often defies logic – and leads to big opportunities. When the majority of investors become convinced that a trade can only go one way, well, it often doesn’t.

And as I’ll show you, there can be easy gains to be had when you understand this.

For this example, I’m talking about the U.S. dollar.

You’ll probably recall the vicious downtrend the dollar entered in the two months leading up to Ben Bernanke’s second round of quantitative easing.

Investors were convinced that QE2 would pump a ton of cash into the system, thereby diluting (destroying) the dollar’s value. So, stocks and commodities started running higher, pricing in the dollar’s falling value.

Bonds also rallied.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the dollar de-basement. Once QE2 was announced, the dollar started to rally, and the long bond sold off.

The dollar was clearly not following the script. And what had been one-way trades – like gold, silver, bonds – started selling off.

******I’ve heard the situation likened to what happens when too many people move to one side of a boat at sea. The boat lists and may capsize. In investment terms we can understand this is what happens when there are no more buyers left to enter a position.

Gold, which had run to a new high above $1,430 an ounce fell 6%. The long bond, as measured by the iShares Barclay’s 20+ Year Treasury ETF (TLT), fell from $106 to $94.

Now, the dollar’s case is particularly interesting. Because the dollar is not valued in a vacuum, but rather against other currencies like the euro, it often takes some news event to catalyze the market’s predisposition.

And the currency market got that catalyst in the resumption of debt problems in Ireland. The euro started falling as investors started pricing in the possibility that the European Union could collapse.

Now, as an aside, I understand it may seem far-fetched that the EU could simply collapse. But Germany threatened it before the Greek bailout was finalized. And even in the latest case with Ireland, we heard that at least one EU member nation was none too happy about having to bail out a weaker member.

It’s not surprising that traders would trim their euro holdings. After all, you sure don’t want to be the one holding euros if the EU dissolves. That would be as embarrassing (and painful) as holding banks through the financial crisis.

It’s true, Wall Street often goes into “sell first, ask questions later” mode.

*****So anyway, the net result of this was a surprising rally for the U.S. dollar. Now, it’s certainly a worthy endeavor to discuss how particular situations seem to find a catalyst. In this case, Ireland’s debt problem weren’t unknown. And it’s probably more than simple irony that brought these issues to the fore right when the dollar was hitting support in extreme oversold territory.

In fact, the old saw that the market’s job is to make as many investors appear foolish as possible was coined to describe exactly this situation.

But we’ll have to save that discussion for later, because I told you there was a profit opportunity here, and I’m sure you’d like me to get to the point.

And the point is that any large macro trend will correct, or reverse, at times. But that doesn’t mean the trend is done. It’s simply washed out some longs and created an opportunity for new buyers.

In my opinion, that’s exactly what’s happening with the weak dollar trades right now. And chief among them is precious metals.

*****Now let’s turn our attention to the U.S. dollar-euro chart. It’s a 2-year look at the dollar. Daily Profit readers are familiar with this chart…

What we see here is that the dollar has rallied close to a support/resistance point. In fact, it’s already moved incrementally lower. And that move has coincided with a rebound for precious metals.

And we can see that the Gold ETF (GLD) is bouncing of its 50-day moving average...

So, if you’re looking for an entry point to catch the next rally for precious metals, this looks a good one.

*****Now, one more thing. Many investors may not know it, but silver prices are outperforming gold prices this by approximately 35%. There are several reasons for this, one of them being that silver has industrial uses (like solar panels) as well as “store of value” uses.

So for my money, silver is the place to be. And I’d like to tell you about a silver stock I’ve recommended in my Small Cap Investor PRO. I first recommended it at $3.45 per share in June. It’s been as high as $7 recently, but backed off to the $6 area when the dollar rallied.

I think it’s gearing up for a run to $9. That’s a 50% gain from current levels for investors getting in now.

Even better, I’m offering a brand new, 1 oz. Silver American Eagle coin to all new Small Cap Investor PRO subscribers who sign up today using the link below. So if you’re ready to profit from silver in two ways, please, CLICK HERE.

Until tomorrow,

Ian Wyatt
Editor
Daily Profit

P.S. The American Eagle one ounce silver coin offer for new subscribers to Small Cap Investor PRO ends today.

Click here now for yours.

I'm Giving Away Silver Coins

Ian Wyatt — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 16:46:00 GMT

"Durango - the Spaniards dream - lies in the heart of the famous Sierra Madre Mountains. Its beautiful climate, ancient forests, graceful plains and above all, its wonderful wealth of gold and silver and copper - together with an abundance of water - have combined to make it a perfect Utopia." - Las Minas de Mexico, J.R. Southworth, 1905

Greed and corruption have a way of following precious metals - and so when silver was found virtually lying on the ground in the Sierra Madre mountains a flood of prospectors headed to the hills of Mexico to seek their fortunes.

At the time when J.R. Southworth wrote 'La Minas de Mexico', a book about mining silver in Mexico's Sierra Madre Occidental, the magic metal was trading for around $40 an ounce.

Decades later, the famous Hunt brothers were exposed for trying to corner the silver market. At that time, silver reached $68 an ounce.

Today, silver is trading for around $25 an ounce and there are still rumors that the silver market is being manipulated. MarketWatch recently reported that suits have been brought against JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and HSBC (NYSE: HBC), alleging that these financial institutions have amassed massive short positions on silver futures, and as a result have influenced the price of silver since early 2008.

I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same...

***One thing that has 'remained the same' is that individual investors have made huge profits investing in junior mining companies over the years. Legendary resource investors like Doug Casey and Jim Rogers have literally made fortunes by buying shares of undiscovered and unknown junior explorers - and sitting on those positions for years as they rise by thousands of percentage points.

It's not easy - but it is possible. And you can do it too.

Today is the day to start. I've just finished days of work putting together a special report on three junior silver mining companies. I've done the research, valued their silver reserves, and spoken with company representatives. I also own these stocks in my personal investment account, and I expect to buy more shares in the future in accordance with our company’s trading compliance policy.

***I firmly believe investors can make huge profits investing in silver with these three companies. So to help motivate my readers, I've put together a special offer that you can't refuse.

Through Sunday night I'm giving away a free one ounce American Silver Eagle $1 coin to the first 200 people to sign up here to receive my Special Report: Sierra Madre Silver Profits. This offer is limited to only the first 200 people, so I urge you to take action immediately

I just finished this report last night, and it's now available for you to read. In this report I feature three exciting silver mining companies that all offer tremendous upside potential for precious metal investors.

Each of these companies has silver properties in Mexico's silver belt, the Sierra Madre Occidental.

For 500 years the Sierra Madre region has been known to hold some of the largest silver deposits ever discovered. With the Mexican mining industry bringing in more silver production every month and the price of silver steadily rising, it’s the perfect time to build a position in companies that are mining silver in this region.

These three uniquely positioned, overlooked junior mining companies remain undiscovered, despite the soaring price of silver. And all three companies have near-term catalysts on the horizon that could move their share prices significantly higher.

In this special report, I will tell you exactly what these companies are doing to develop their silver mines and how silver production is helping their stock prices rise.

***Let me tell you a little bit about why investing in Mexican silver miners is such a great opportunity right now...

Silver is often referred to as the Magical Metal because of its unique properties. It's known for being the best conductor of electricity, the best conductor of heat, and the most reflective of all metals. What's more, it's malleable and has anti-bacterial properties.

But there is more to silver than just its commercial and industrial purposes. Like gold, silver is prized as a safe haven asset and as a store of value. Individuals, institutions, and nations buy silver as a hedge against inflation, and to provide financial security in the event of a global currency crisis.

And while physical silver represents a compelling investment right now, I'm most bullish on silver mining companies because of their ability to substantially increase the value of their reserves and profitability as the price of silver rises.

The three companies I'm recommending today represent an excellent way for investors to profit from higher silver prices because all three of these companies have operations in the resource rich Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico.

We're going to invest in silver mining companies because they have leverage to the upside as silver prices rise. However, each of these companies represents a compelling investment even if silver prices retreat to $18 per ounce. Regardless of whether silver is at $18, $20, $30, or more, these three companies are well positioned to bank profits.

· The first company has an exciting prospect with a vast silver reserve that it plans to bring to production through a joint venture with one of the best silver production companies in the business.

· The second company is already in production, and is increasing profitability as it expands silver production.

· And the third company is an exploration stage company with reserves that not only include silver, but gold, and copper as well. This company has teamed up with one of the best in the business to bring its properties closer to development stage.

All of these companies are compelling investments for different reasons. By investing in all three stocks, investors can capitalize on the Sierra Madre silver opportunity.

***Remember, this report was just published last night so few people have seen it yet. And because these are micro-cap companies, I'm only sending the report out to the first 200 people that sign up for a trial subscription to Small Cap Investor PRO.

To get started making money with these three exciting junior exploration companies, click this link and I'll rush you my Special Report: Sierra Madre Silver Profits.

The first 200 people to sign up will get the report, as well as a free American Silver Eagle coin, valued at approximately $32.

I believe this is a very exciting small cap opportunity, and hope you enjoy reading my report as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The Fed Fires Back

Ian Wyatt — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 18:40:00 GMT

November 19, 2010

*****The Market Feels Heavy
*****Silver Eagle
*****The Fed Fires Back

Fellow Investor,

The good vibes from the GM IPO and the bailout potential for Ireland took the S&P 500 back above support/resistance at 1,192. We'll see how long the good vibes last.

Despite yesterday's strong move, the stock market still feels "heavy" to me. That's not to say I think a big decline is imminent. But the way higher is going to be a slow grind, unless we get some data to sway the mood.

We are on the verge of the holiday season. It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is next week! People tend to get a bit more cheerful during the holidays and that can seep into the stock market. That might sound simplistic, but never forget that while fundamentals may win out in the end, emotions rule the stock market in the short- and medium-term.

As an aside, all of the brick and mortar retailers I recommended on November 8 as holiday shopping trades are higher.

*****My Small Cap Investor PRO subscribers have been enjoying some excellent gains from silver stocks. We've got gains of 64.9% on my top recommendation, and there's more on the way.

Now, to celebrate the bull market for silver stocks, I'm giving away a one-ounce Silver Eagle to the first 200 hundred news subscribers to Small Cap Investor PRO.

So if you're ready for top-performing small cap stock recommendations, and your very own one-ounce Silver Eagle coin, click HERE.

*****Fed Chief Ben Bernanke spoke in Frankfurt, Germany this morning. In addition to blasting China for currency manipulation, Bernanke also dropped these two nuggets:

“On its current economic trajectory the United States runs the risk of seeing millions of workers unemployed or underemployed for many years...As a society, we should find that outcome unacceptable.”

And...

"A fiscal program that combines near-term measures to enhance growth with strong confidence-inducing steps to reduce longer-term structural (budget) deficits would be an important complement to the policies of the Federal Reserve..."

On the topic of unemployment, Bernanke is right on target. Unemployment is not going to improve substantially. Many of the jobs created in the 2004-2006 timeframe were "bubble" jobs. They came as a result of unsustainable demand from the housing bubble.

I have to applaud Bernanke for stating that such high levels of unemployment are unacceptable.

Also, please do not overlook Bernanke's challenge to Congress. He is saying in no uncertain terms that Congress needs to get moving on creating conditions and policy consistent with job growth.

Good for him. Unemployment remains the economy's greatest challenge. Yet Congress has done little to address unemployment.

*****Banks are set to undergo another stress test to determine if they are fit enough to start paying dividends. This is a very important issue for banks, and we've already seen Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) sell assets, presumably to shore up its balance sheet ahead of these stress tests.

Banks may also start to sell some of their "toxic" assets.

Bond fund giant PIMCO is betting they will. It's currently raised $1 billion to but toxic bank assets. And with banks now looking to be dividend-worthy, they may have added incentive to sell.

You may recall the Treasury's TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) program, designed to remove these toxic assets from balance sheets was mostly a failure, because banks didn't want to sell at a loss. Banks believed then, and may still, that these assets would eventually regain much of their value as the economy improved.

And the fact that PIMCO may want to buy them will only encourage the banks to hold.

*****China is once again raising bank reserve requirements to get money out of circulation and combat inflation. Oil prices are always very sensitive to China's policy.

Too bad Chinese officials don't ask Ben Bernanke how they might slow inflation. I bet he'd have some ideas...

*****Cisco (Nasdaq:CISCO) is adding $10 billion to its share buyback program. That's the only source of growth the company has right now. How the mighty have fallen...

The weakness in Cisco's business has investors asking if tech stocks are broken. I can answer that question: No, tech stocks are far from broken. In fact, business is booming for many technology companies. And valuations are still attractive.

*****Please feel free to write me with your questions and comments. I'll probably print them in Daily Profit: ianwyatt@wyattresearch.com

Until Monday,

Ian Wyatt
Editor
Daily Profit

Coal Dominates

Ian Wyatt — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:03:00 GMT

Fellow Investor,

QE2 has unleashed a raging bull market for gold and silver. But the falling dollar is also pushing oil prices higher, too. Oil is zeroing in on its 52-week high. And oil stocks have been performing very well.

Now, as you now, I was recently at the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) conference in Washington, D.C. The main reason I went was to see my friend and Energy World Profits editor Gregor Macdonald speak on the "Rise of Coal."

I will offer Gregor's perspective on coal later. First, I want to tackle some of the bigger issues of Peak Oil, the most important being that global oil production appears to have peaked in 2004.

This chart, from the September 22 issue of Energy World Profits shows the supply situation.

One of the most interesting observations from this chart is the supply response during 2007 when oil prices ran to $147. You might think that oil companies would pump as much oil as possible to take advantage of record high prices. I know I would...

In fact, oil companies probably did pump as much as they could. But it wasn't enough to match peaks from 2004 and 2005.

Again this year, we can see that supply has failed to increase as oil prices have moved above $80 a barrel. In fact, supply has been falling this year.

*****Many economists, investors and even oil traders have a tendency to use U.S. oil demand as the driving force for oil prices. From the April issue of Energy World Profits, Gregor wrote:

"To economists, oil analysts, and political scientists the conditions we face today, just five years later, would have seemed bizarre. And I don't refer so much to the financial crisis. No, I refer to the fact that oil now trades at $82.00 dollars during the worst recession since WW2. And not only is the recession the worst in size and scope, but it's the worst in duration also.

It would have been unthinkable to the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy Magazine, The James A. Baker Energy Institute in Houston, The Department of Energy, and many TV pundits that oil could be at $82.00 dollars in the aftermath of a financial collapse. In fact, it was indeed unthinkable to all those organizations and media outlets just mentioned--and they said as much, week after week.

As Dan Yergin wrote in 2005, only "above ground" factors could push oil higher in the years ahead. My comment: any 2005 roundtable on the future price of oil would have agreed that only an attack on Saudi Arabia could place oil at $82.00 dollars a barrel in the midst of a severe recession in the United States. After all, the United States with its outsized demand has historically set the price of oil. During a deep recession in the US, oil should be at $12.00 dollars, not $82.00. How did the US lose control, of the price of oil?

The controlling factor now in global oil prices are the five billion people in the developing world. They use less oil per capita and derive more utility from each barrel. Which is a good thing, as the global supply of oil is now unable to make a sustained response to higher prices."

*****Ever since the financial crisis of 2008, Americans have been plagued by the feeling that we, as a country, have squandered our surplus wealth and now are a nation in decline.

After all, driving a Hummer was a status symbol just a few years ago. But today, you'd probably get some dirty looks tooling around in a gas-guzzler like that.

On an individual level, Americans may feel as though we took asset prices (like houses) for granted and spent too much money and failed to save.

A similar situation exists for the country as a whole. But Gregor suggests that the root cause is energy prices...

"...the West, both in its private balance sheet and public balance sheet, is carrying very high debt levels that are marked to even higher nominal prices. There is simply not enough cheap energy to fund the type of very, very fast growth required to pay back this debt. And it’s no longer just a question of debt-saturation in the private sector, and impending private defaults."

"Economists who propose creating a lot more government debt, in order to fund stimulus, clearly do not understand that these new tranches of debt -- which, by the way, become someone’s savings when they purchase that debt -- cannot possibly be paid back given that the world has now reached a plateau in oil production."

*****Now we can easily see why the world is transitioning back to coal. The bottom line is that it's cheap. And as oil prices rise, and we continue to resist greater investment in renewable energy sources or even natural gas, the only way to maintain a profit margin and grow an economy is with cheap energy.

In the following chart, you can see the path that coal use is on. Gregor projects that coal use will surpass oil sometime in 2014.

*****If you don't have energy stocks in your portfolio, you should. Oil, coal, renewables, these stocks will only get more valuable as investors become more aware of the true energy situation.

In the Energy World Profits portfolio, we have a Chinese coal stock with a forward P/E of 4.5. We have a top wind power stock and a top solar stock. We have a pipeline MLP paying a 7.3% dividend. We have three of the oil stock in North Dakota's Bakken oil oilfield. And we're currently building a strong position in Canadian oil.

I don't mind telling you where Energy World Profits subscribers are investing. And if you decide you'd like to try a trial subscription to Energy World Profits, even better.

T. Rowe Price Analyst: “Silver usually lags…”

Ian Wyatt — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:32:00 GMT

Gold continued to make news yesterday and today, but most investors still don’t realize that it’s silver that has posted much better gains this year.

In fact, silver has more than doubled gold’s gains, year-to-date:

Rick de los Reyes, a metals and mining analyst at T. Rowe Price recently noted that when investors flock to gold, there’s a tendency for silver to fall behind, “silver usually lags [gold]...”

The fact that silver is outpacing gold to such a large degree is great news for many silver companies. These companies typically return 2-3 times more profit to their investors than silver alone. For the year to date period, silver has surged 56 percent while gold is up a respectable 26 percent. Stock prices for top tier silver miners are up as much as 130% for the year.

Ian Wyatt, the Chief Investment Strategist at Wyatt Research, is recommending one small silver company to his clients. In just the past four days this stock has marched 20% higher, but with silver making equally broad moves, there’s no telling how high it will go.

Click here to see the full details of this small silver company.

Gold, Silver and Fertilizer Stocks Lead Rally

Ian Wyatt — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:39:00 GMT

At $1,390 an ounce, gold prices are at an all time. Silver is at a 30-year high. Agricultural commodities like fertilizer are also moving toward new highs.

Economists are warning that these commodities could continue to move higher in price for several months. And the stocks of companies selling these commodities have been surging in the past few trading sessions.

That’s because commodities rise in price as the value of the U.S. dollar falls. And the Fed’s recently announced $900 billion Treasury buying program is expected to keep the downward pressure on the dollar for six months or more.

That may be bad news for consumers who will pay higher prices, but it’s great news for commodity investors, because commodities stocks will continue to rise.

“The place to be is in commodities, raw materials, natural resources,” said famed commodity investor Jim Rogers.

Individual investors are taking note, as indicated by trading volume surges and share price gains for top commodity stocks and ETFs (exchange traded funds).

Discover the top commodity ETFs attracting investor interest today, CLICK HERE.

Gold and Silver Surge on Fed News: Gold Stocks Paying Dividends

Ian Wyatt — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:06:00 GMT

Gold prices rose $45 an ounce today as investors flocked to the ultimate store of value after Fed Chief Ben Bernanke renewed his attack on the U.S. dollar with another round of quantitative easing.

Called QE2, the Fed will spend as much as $900 billion to buy U.S. Treasury bonds as a way to keep the dollar weak and boost corporate profits.

Of course, savvy investors understand the threat to the U.S. dollar. And they also understand that the Fed is inviting inflation, which will further impair the value of the dollar.

In order to protect and grow the value of their wealth, investors are piling back into gold.

Investor demand for high quality, authenticated gold has sent this stock's price up 103% this year. But with a trailing P/E of 7, another double is likely in the near term. What's more, this stock pays a 7.8% annual dividend.

For more on how you can earn 7.8% and potentially double your money as gold prices continue to run, please CLICK HERE.

Jim Rogers on two commodity opportunities

Ian Wyatt — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 20:00:00 GMT

On a recent CNBC appearance the legendary commodity investor and hedge fund manager Jim Rogers discussed the consequences of a global trade war.

Rogers said: "If the trade war gets worse, that's the end of the game. The world economy is going to be in trouble for a long time to come".

This trade war is precipitated by every major country’s desire to have a relatively cheap currency. A cheap currency at home bolsters demand for domestically produced goods around the world.

The problem is that every major currency is in a race to the bottom. No one wants an expensive currency, so major nations are in a suicide pact to devalue their currencies.

Rogers is currently bearish on most currencies, but he’s still bullish on commodities.

He said, "I'd rather buy commodities that are still depressed. Rice is depressed, even silver is 50% below its all time-high.”

If you’re interested in trading in your fast-declining dollars for commodities that can only go up in price, Chief Investment Strategist at Wyatt Investment Research, Ian Wyatt recently put together a full report on commodity investments in the precious metal and agriculture sector.

The report is filled with the details on three commodity investments to buy today as the dollar continues to slide.

Click here to read the full story.

More Investors Buying ETFs without Transaction costs

Ian Wyatt — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 21:01:00 GMT

The Wall Street Journal recently reported some good news for ETF investors.

One of the largest brokerage services, TD Ameritrade, recently announced that it is cutting transaction costs to zero for over 100 different exchange traded funds (ETFs).

The news follows other announcements from brokerage services Charles Schwab, E-Trade, Fidelity, and Vanguard that they've also cut commissions on dozens of ETFs.

The difference between even small commission rates and no commission can be huge for individual investors who may see any substantial gains whittled away by even 1-2% fees.

According to the story from The Wall Street Journal, "Commissions make it costly to rebalance investments in ETFs or to use them for tax-loss harvesting, and they can hurt dollar cost averaging for younger investors."

If you're looking for some of the best ways to start investing in ETFs, Wyatt Investment Research Chief Investment Strategist Ian Wyatt and Resource Prospector Editor Kevin McElroy recently finished a report with proprietary research on the three best commodity ETFs to own today: three ETFs designed to actually make money for individual investors.

Included in this report are a gold ETF that's crushed gains made in gold's price this year, the silver ETF that's better than NYSE: SLV, and the "green" ETF that's creamed the broad market for 18 months running.

Click here to take a look at this new research on how to buy these ETFs with any brokerage account.

What New Highs for Gold Means for Silver

Ian Wyatt — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:53:00 GMT

On Friday, gold prices hit another high, the second in two days. August delivery gold futures hit $1,261.40 during the trading day.

Investors, concerned about the inflationary monetary policy from the U.S. and debt-laden euro-zone nations and the United Kingdom and slowing momentum of global growth, have been relentlessly buying gold as a hedge against inflation and as protection against further economic weakness.

But they may be missing an even bigger opportunity in precious metals. Silver prices lag gold prices by as much as 22%. That's because the historical relationship between gold and silver prices has expanded as gold prices have run higher.

For the past century, it's taken an average of 55 ounces of silver to by one ounce of gold. Today, that "gold-silver ration" stands at 64 with silver prices. Analysts expect silver to close that gap by rallying at least 22%.

The Small Cap Investor PRO advisory service is currently recommending a $3.60 silver stock that's poised to move at least 28% higher in the near future. Analysts are expecting the company to turn a $0.06 loss into $0.28 a share profit next year. The company is currently undervalued according to next year’s profit. And if silver prices continue higher, the gains for this stock will be bigger.

Click HERE To get the latest research report on this $3.60 silver stock and the free special report, How to Buy Gold at $120 an Ounce, from Small Cap Investor PRO