Vital resource stocks remain under selling pressure as worries about the US economy grow. As we wrote last week, gains and losses are typically reversed in the blink of an eye in these volatile markets. The key is to build positions at low prices in solid companies that can take advantage of inexorable demand growth and supply pressures, both of which are being exacerbated by lower prices now. Read More

“Two consecutive quarters of declining GDP” is often employed by time-pressured journalists as the “technical definition of a recession.” We’ve covered this territory in this space a couple times, most aggressively here. Read More

Commodity prices and natural resource stocks have certainly been shaken up in recent months. The underlying forces behind the bull market, however, haven’t been stirred. The only real questions are the following: When will the correction end? And when will the next leg up begin? Read More

Diane Francis sends word that Brent Fullard of the Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors has formalized the anonymous-tough-guy-Tory talk quoted in Ottawa’s political daily The Hill Times in April: Fullard has challenged Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to a debate, offering him 90 minutes to defend the Tax Fairness Plan. Fullard will rebut; he’s also pledged to underwrite a CAD50,000 minimum donation to charity to provide a little motivation for Flaherty. Read More

According to the United Nations, sometime in next 15 years, some 64 percent of the Earth’s population will live in areas where water supplies are stressed. In some cases, demand will simply grow to exceed supply. In others, environmental concerns and economic growth will severely stress water quality to the breaking point and beyond. It all adds up to a colossal opportunity to invest in water. Read More

Don’t stop reading; you’ve heard this all before, but now it seems both combatants and, more importantly, their audience, are prepared for battle. Read More

Strong euro, strong gold; weak euro, weak gold: As the graph below illustrates, that’s been a very quantifiable relationship over the past several months. More important, the two markets are likely to keep trading in tandem over the next several months as well. Read More

Expedition officials compared the act to Neil Armstrong’s planting of the American flag on the moon, and the US Geological Survey determined, to a degree that should satisfy United Nations Convention on the Land of the Sea requirements (should the US eventually ratify it), that there’s not much ground for resource disputes in the area. Read More