Fracking Fluids Part I: A Controversy Coming to an Energy Investment Near You

The controversy surrounding fracking fluids is getting louder.  Websites and media savvy organizations are getting more press on this issue, using a very simple and powerful pitch – are the chemicals used in fracking fluids in oil and gas wells contaminating our drinking water?

North American investors have not been directly hit by this issue yet, meaning that a company’s stock hasn’t plummeted because they had to stop drilling over these concerns – yet.

“Fracking” is sending a specially designed fluid down an oil or gas well at ultra-high pressure.  The fluid, usually water – but can contain some chemicals with very long names…

The Dollar, Inflation, and Deflation

The policies of the politicians have been to inflate, inflate, and inflate some more. And they have been quite successful in doing that. Since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913, the dollar has lost something like 97% of is purchasing power. So the boys controlling the printing presses have done quite well in their creation of deflation, except for a period of time in the 1930s when the purchasing power rose considerably.

The question in my mind is not whether the Fed and other policymakers will try to inflate. Indeed I think they will. Bernanke has even talked about…

The European Union Trap

Let’s start with the conclusion to today’s Outside the Box:

"The underlying principle flows from the financial balance approach: the domestic private sector and the government sector cannot both deleverage at the same time unless a trade surplus can be achieved and sustained. Yet the whole world cannot run a trade surplus. More specific to the current predicament, we remain hard pressed to identify which nations or regions of the remainder of the world are prepared to become consistently larger net importers of Europe’s tradable products. Countries currently running large trade surpluses view these as hard won and well deserved…

Don’t Look for Financial Firms to Return the Favour

Don’t look for financial firms to return the favour

Congress is working on plans to rein in the questionable activities of Wall Street, and re-direct the self-serving focus of major banks. I wish them good luck with that.

Financial firms are fighting back with propaganda blitzes aimed at raising public fear.

For instance, independent economists are debating the pros and cons of moves announced in the U.S. and the U.K. to remove some of the stimulus efforts that rescued the financial firms this time, such as the U.S. Fed’s decision to stop its program

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Market Alerts: Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), General Growth Properties (OTC:GGP), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX)

Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) hit new 52-week highs as some analysts speculated that the tech giant is rolling out new gear to help wireless phone companies cope with rising video Web traffic. The San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco had sent out invitations to analysts and the media for a "significant announcement" that it says "will forever change the Internet and its impact on consumers, businesses and governments." The invitation followed Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) February announcement that the Internet giant was working on building a high-speed broadband network that would be 100 times faster than today’s connections. –MarketWatch

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John Embry: As Confidence Returns, Gold Will Rise

Source: Interviewed by Gordon Holmes, The Gold Report

The Gold Report caught up with John Embry, Chief Investment Strategist, Sprott Asset Management, to get his thoughts on gold and some mining stocks he favors. Embry, an industry expert in precious metals, has researched the gold sector for over 30 years. Read about why he thinks gold could gain another 30% this year as a greater proportion of the public realizes the degree of difficulty that sovereign debt is in. He believes as confidence in gold returns people will seek an outlet in gold stocks, especially small-cap…

The Dividends Are Flowing Again

Last year’s dividend numbers were the worst in more than half a century, as corporations large and small struggled with a lack of financing, weak economic conditions, and poor earnings. But now, things are finally looking up …

According to the latest data from Standard & Poor’s, February was a very solid month:

•45 S&P 500 constituents increased their dividends vs. 30 a year earlier

•Two companies initiated new payments (vs. none in the same month last year)

•And only one company decreased its payment vs. 18 cuts

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If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em Right?

By David Grandey
All About Trends
www.allabouttrends.net

If you can’t beat them join them right?

Well before we go and buy stocks BLINDLY based on emotions we need to take a look at the indexes first. Why? Because most stocks trade in tandem with the indexes and success in the market is all about knowing what’s happening and likely to happen in the indexes and executing your plan based on that action.

First glances. Near resistance, RSI in the overbought zone, Volume questionable, full stohcastics overbought. And oh, off the March lows we have an…

What’s More Important: Price Per Ounce or Ounces Owned?

By Jeff Clark, Casey’s Gold & Resource Report

In a recent conversation with a fellow gold analyst, he was emphatic that the price one pays for physical gold should be ignored. “What’s far more important,” he insisted, “is how many ounces I own in relation to the total value of my assets.”

Building a core position in gold bullion is a smart goal, to be sure, and a strategy Casey Research has been advising for years. However, ignoring the price you pay for gold could be seen as foolhardy; sure, it’s insurance, but isn’t price part…

U.S. Jobs Data Propels Crude Oil Above $80 a Barrel

Jobs data indicating that U.S. economic recovery might be picking up steam finally pushed crude oil futures decisively over the stubborn $80 a barrel threshold. Nymex’s benchmark West Texas Intermediate settled Friday at $81.50 a barrel, a seven-week high, after topping $82 in intraday trading.

An unchanged unemployment rate of 9.7% and a smaller-than-expected drop in payrolls propelled both stocks and commodities higher on Friday. Earlier in the week, industry job data also came out better than expected, pushing crude just above the $80 a barrel mark.

Any improvement in the labor market would translate into more commuter driving, more…