Oil Price Plummets Nearly 4% on Job Cut Report

Crude oil futures plummeted nearly 4% today (Thursday) - reaching their lowest point in a month - after a disappointing jobs report ignited investor fears that the U.S. economy’s rebound may be further off than most thought.

A strengthening of the U.S. dollar against most other major currencies also weighed heavily on crude-oil prices.

The U.S. Labor Department said today employers slashed their payrolls by a larger-than-expected 467,000 in June - about 44% more than the drop of 325,000 that had been expected, according to a survey of economists conducted by MarketWatch.com. That followed a work-force reduction of 322,000 in May.

August crude…

Chinese Win Contract to Develop Major Iraqi Oil Field

British oil giant BP PLC (NYSE ADR: BP) and China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) today (Tuesday) won the first contract in more than 30 years to develop a major Iraqi oil field - an indication that Chinese companies plan to play an integral role in the development of Iraq’s energy resources.

A total of 32 energy companies from the United States, Europe, and Asia are bidding for the rights to tap Iraq’s massive oil reserves, but so far only one deal has been struck. BP and CNPC have secured the contract for the Rumaila oil field.

Rumaila is the largest of Iraq’s six…

Future Inflation Fears Fuel Price of Gold Shares and Warrants

By: Lorimer Wilson
www.PreciousMetalsWarrants.com and www.InsidersInsights.com

The 2008 stock market meltdown brought panic and forced liquidation to all market sectors and especially junior resource shares (- 58.2% on average) and their associated warrants (-80.1%). Shares of companies that had a solid foundation for development, production and growth were unceremoniously dumped along with those more numerous juniors that had little more than hopes centered on grass roots exploration prospects. As a result of this indiscriminate selling – this throwing out the baby with the bath water – extraordinary opportunities have emerged creating once-in-a-lifetime values for discerning investors.

In spite of major rallies in the GDM,…

Mexico’s Oil Production Continues to Collapse

Seeking Alpha
Gregor Macdonald

In May, oil production from Mexico’s (previously) largest oil field Cantarell slipped below 700 kb/day. While the death of Cantarell has been much discussed since it peaked five years ago at 2.1 Mb/day, what’s less recognized is that the toppling of Cantarell has absolutely shattered Mexico’s effort to halt the decline of oil exports.

The problem is simple. With Mexican domestic consumption of oil rising or flat, and overall production in serious decline, exports have fallen even more dramatically. And given that Mexico will one day not be able to export oil at all, one wonders they should take…

Gold Makes Triple Digit Moves, Global Currencies Decline

As countries around the world with unwanted strong currencies move to cheapen them by printing more money, slashing interest rates, or just "talking" them down, investors are left with a key question: Just what are those strong currencies declining against?

If your answer is "against the currencies of their main trading partners," you are partly correct. But those declines are only temporary. If strong-currency countries are successful in their devaluation efforts, then their counterpart countries - their trading partners who don’t want their own currencies to go too high - will at some point launch a similar devaluation initiative.

It has…