Making Money in Oil
Posted on January 10, 2008 - Filed Under Investing, Stocks | Leave a Comment
The price of oil has risen for six straight years. The average price of a barrel of oil in 2007 was $72 a barrel. A new record.
What investors want to know is whether oil prices have peaked or whether there are still opportunities in the market to make money?
Paul Horsnell, a former Oxford economics lecturer who has spent 11 years as assistant director of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies doesn’t see any reason for oil prices to fall. He thinks we will probably be stuck with today’s high price levels next year and that oil prices will spend some time trading above the yet-to-be-pierced $100 per barrel. He is confident that 2008 will be the seventh straight year of price increases.
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Wall Street Forecasts for 2008
Posted on January 8, 2008 - Filed Under Commentary, Investing | Leave a Comment
Tis the season for the professionals on Wall Street to turn on their crystal balls and predict where they think the market is going in 2008. Here are some of their observations and favorite stocks (source: Business Week)
RALPH J. ACAMPORA, DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL STUDIES, NEW YORK INSTITUTE OF FINANCE
According to Acampora the five-year-old bull market is tired. The Dow Jones industrial average (DJIA) has forged ahead, albeit fitfully. But relatively few stocks are hitting new highs, says the recently retired Acampora, who continues to teach technical analysis. Worse, the Dow Jones transportation average is struggling.
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How To Build An Aggressive Investment Portfolio
Posted on January 2, 2008 - Filed Under Investing, Mutual Funds | Leave a Comment
This is part of our continuing series of how to develop an investment portfolio. Previously we have covered Building a mutual fund portfolio and How To Build A Conservative Investment Portfolio. Today we tackle how to build an aggressive mutual fund portfolio.
Typical Investor: This portfolio is designed for growth-oriented mutual fund investors who have long-term investment horizon (more than five years) and who are willing to tolerate market fluctuations while seeking the opportunity for capital growth.
Volatility: High
Return Potential: High
Asset Allocation:
- 75% Stocks
- 15% Fixed Income
- 10% Cash
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Stock Focus: Petrobras (PBR)
Posted on January 2, 2008 - Filed Under Investing, Stocks | Leave a Comment
Oil prices continue to rise and show no sign of dramatically falling any time soon. While many investors are focused on the big oil companies like Mobil and Royal Dutch, I believe that the smaller oil companies offer the best potential for growth. 
The Hottest Fund Manager in America - a.k.a. CGM’s Ken Heebner - laid out an argument that $100 oil is not only coming but will be here to stay. “There is still strong growth in Latin America, China, India, and a host of smaller countries like Poland and Thailand,” he says. That means a need for some 1.5 million more barrels of oil a day.
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Stock Focus: Genentech (DNA)
Posted on January 1, 2008 - Filed Under Investing, Stocks | 1 Comment
Biotech stocks like Genentech have interested me since reading Michael Crichton’s book NEXT.
Once the darlings of biotech investors, Genentech shares have been in a prolonged slump since topping out at $96 in 2005. But the company itself remains a standout, and recent news provides the opportunity to buy the shares at a discount. On Dec. 5, the stock was pounded, plunging 10% in a few hours. The reason: An FDA advisory panel voted against expanding the use of Avastin - a blockbuster Genentech drug already approved to treat colon and lung cancer - for breast cancer.
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