Portfolio Strategy
Buy Into Fossil Fuels
Ken Fisher, 09.02.09, 06:00 PM EDT
Forbes Magazine dated September 21, 2009
Energy-hungry consumers around the globe will be demanding fossil fuels. So be overweight in energy stocks--at least 12% of your equity.
Rich Karlgaard's recent column on energy and the Waxman-Markey carbon trading bill should be required reading for every high school and college kid. They should have to read it three times. Adults should have to prove they've read it before being allowed to vote. The column outlined the harsh reality of renewable energy. In this country 89% of electricity comes from three fuel sources: coal, natural gas and nuclear fission. That fraction won't change dramatically in the next decade. If you want your air conditioner to work in 2014, you'd better hope that more fossil fuel plants get built.
I'm riding down the road in a friend's electric Tesla Roadster. Sounds clean, doesn't it? But we are burning 49% coal, 21% natural gas, 20% nuclear and little else. Wind power? Zip! How will we run Teslas without fossil fuel? We won't. How will emerging markets, with a combined gdp already bigger than America's, grow without more fossil fuel? They won't.
Nuclear power might provide for our needs (and, if you believe in the global warming theory, protect our atmosphere). If the French can get 70% of their electric energy from nuclear safely and cleanly, then we can. But will we? Politically, it will be difficult. Many of the same people screaming that fossil fuel creates global warming are also adamantly against adding clean nuclear power. There are a lot of nuclear reactor applications pending in the U.S., but the permits will be few, and slow in coming.
That situation, and the fact that other energy-hungry countries will also be demanding fossil fuels, tells me you should be overweight in energy stocks. That means at least 12% of your equity in energy companies, and most of that in companies with a fossil fuel emphasis.
I'm posting this here just to annoy the vast majority of you. You can deny it, try to refute it, or play games with it, but thirty or forty years down the road, you just might wish you'd invested in it.
by the way, the stocks he touts after the last paragraph i quoted here are his SECOND tier picks. his first-tier picks are in MY portfolio with him.
your call....
enjoy!http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0921/financial-ken-fisher-fuels-portfolio-strategy.ht... more
After Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) came out in support of working on bipartisan clean energy reform with John Kerry (D-MA), he faced some pretty harsh attacks from his party. But his many supporters have rallied, and are pushing back in what could be the beginning of a Republican movement to support climate legislation.
Just watch this video of a Republican state senator and US marine from South Carolina support Graham (via Climate Progress)
The climate bill has become such a fiercely partisan point inside the beltway, that it's easy to forget that there are millions of Republicans who want energy independence, green jobs, and clean energy innovation as well--and many who even are willing to fight to stop climate change.
And here we see the beginnings of what could be a movement to embrace greater bipartisanship--and in the process achieve some chief Republican aims like securing local offshore drilling and nuclear power. Not exactly hippy dippy.
The Republicans for Environmental Protection have been key players in developing this, and I can only say that I'm supremely pleased that a group is stepping out of the shadows on the GOP's side of the aisle to embrace clean energy reform.
Here's part of their message:
"REP applauds Senator Graham for setting a powerful example of conservative leadership," REP Vice President for Government and Political Affairs David Jenkins said. "True conservatives take seriously the risks facing our country, and they take responsibility by supporting prudent measures to reduce those risks." REP believes that constructive Republican engagement will produce a better climate and energy bill than one produced by Democrats alone.
It could be the dawn for a new day of green conservatives--kudos to the leadership from the REP and Senator Graham shown here.
Colorado U.S. Sen. Mark Udall Wednesday took his boldest step yet on the road to a national nuclear renaissance as part of a program designed to combat global warming. He introduced the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative Improvement Act of 2009 in a lengthy speech on the Senate floor in which he acknowledged he was likely stepping on an environmental landmine.
"For some, news that a Udall is speaking favorably about nuclear power will come as a stark - and perhaps unpleasant - surprise. But I also believe public and expert opinion on the risks and benefits of nuclear power has changed," Udall said, referencing the 1979 Three Mile Island power plant meltdown and the industry's struggle to improve its public image in the ensuing three decades.
I found this to be very interesting. This is the only actual comparison of the actual amounts involved that I have ever seen-------and it paints an entirely different picture than the one painted by conservatives who oppose renewable energy because it is subsidized.
My only reservation about the study is that it is not broken down into more speciic groups. I think that some fossil fuels are much worse than others, and not all renewable energy options are good choices either.
Still, I think this is good information to have handy.I found this to be very interesting. This is the only actual comparison of the... more
If all goes well, this 25-megawatt solar plant in Florida won't be America's largest for long, but it's not like we'd pass up the opportunity to let this $150 million facility bask in its own glory (and the sun, if we're being thorough) while it can.If all goes well, this 25-megawatt solar plant in Florida won't be America's largest... more
A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) study says that all levels of government – federal, state, and local – will have to come up with a total of $16.6 billion in additional revenue to purchase carbon allowances, if cap-and-trade – to allegedly combat global warming -- is enacted into law. Experts say this could prompt increases in taxes.
This is the second government report to estimate that the proposed climate-change legislation, formally known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, will eventually cost consumers more.A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) study says that all levels of government... more
The best solution to our environmental problems is to end prohibition. There is no other viable option short of the immediate end to military conflict that will have the same positive impact on the ecosystem.
Our first step towards a sustainable existence should begin with cannabis. Its assimilation into our civilization is the safest, simplest, most efficient immediate solution that we can implement in time to prevent an ecological catastrophe.
Cannabis is a plant, and its use is as old as civilization itself. It has thousands of immediate and potential applications. Its cultivation rejuvenates the soil, it can replace wood products, it’s medicinal, and it can be used as building material, textiles, paint, plastic, fuel, paper, food and body care. It is one of the most important bounties of nature. It’s a plant that we were meant to use.
So what’s the hold up? The short answer is America’s “War on Drugs”. The United States started a legislative war on this plant genus almost a century ago and they do not want to give up the fight.
The war on drugs is not a war between nations; it’s a corporate war on people, irrelevant of their nationality or ethnicity. It is a war against citizens of the United States and those of other nations. It’s a war without borders. It has gone through multiple mutations and over the last few decades grown into the monstrosity that it is today. It is a one sided war declared by nations on their citizens. A conflict not reciprocated by the citizens. It is a war that is sustained entirely do to ignorance, fear, and greed.
If there is such a thing as a just war, then the war on drugs is on the other end of the spectrum. It is the most unjust war that has ever been. It is a war exclusively waged for money. Every other war throughout history has had at least one other fathomable pretence. The war on drugs doesn’t.
The irony is that this war and the destruction that it unleashes can be brought to an end within an instant, if it was so desired. All that is required is to end prohibition, to repeal one law.
We know that the end to prohibition will have positive effects for our society because precedent for this has already been set. When prohibition of alcohol ended, so did most of the violence associated with gang warfare, as did much of the corruption in government. When prohibition ended, precious resources were made available again and a major source of revenue and employment was established through the sale of alcohol and its associated paraphernalia.
These same results have also been observed in Portugal’s experiment with drug decriminalization. The United Nations has also confirmed these findings in its annual report on the state of global drug policy, and many countries have been paying-heed and following Portugal’s example. Decriminalization is sweeping through major parts of Latin America as well as numerous municipalities and States within the United States of America.
The only reason that America’s Federal “War on Drugs” still continues to this day is because its so-called adversaries, criminal organizations and certain sectors of government, don’t want it to end since its continuation guarantees them flow of funds.
All of the above is common knowledge to anyone who has remotely researched this topic, or for that matter, even thought about it. After all, who in their right mind would ever approve of a war on nature, a war on a plant, a war on a plant that’s not even poisonous, a war on a plant that is actually beneficial for us, our society, and the ecosystem? You would have to be deranged to do such a thing. But this is exactly what we have done. We have been waging a war on a plant for almost a century. We have been waging a war on cannabis that spans the globe, costs trillions of dollars, destroys millions of lives, and consumes precious resources.
On the behest of certain corporations and a small minority that profit from prohibition, we have been CONTINUED>>>The best solution to our environmental problems is to end prohibition. There is no... more
The plant cost $150 million to build and will power 3,000 homes or businesses.
In other words it costs about $50,000 per household.
No wonder these government-funded projects can’t make it on their own.
Sounds like an investment only a democrat (and Lindsey Graham) would love.
The White House said President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the facility Tuesday, when it officially goes online and begins producing power for the electric grid…
My solar backpack with three different solar light systems that I use for riding my bike at night. I've used it for four or five years and it hasn't failed me yet. Total cost of about $60.My solar backpack with three different solar light systems that I use for riding my... more
The largest residential solar system in NYC is located just a few blocks away from NNEC's office in the heart of Manhattan.
We decided to take a short walk over to Kips Bay Towers, a residential complex with over 1,000 units, where the 55 kW solar system is now producing five percent of the building's electric demand.
Check out this story and learn why New York is a key location for the development of solar power.The largest residential solar system in NYC is located just a few blocks away from... more
A fun, simple, and easy way to turn turn ping-pong balls and Christmas lights into diffused party lights for your next event.A fun, simple, and easy way to turn turn ping-pong balls and Christmas lights into... more
Most people would think West Virgina is the largest producer of domestic coal, but that would be very wrong. There's another, and very unexpected, state that generates nearly four times as much. Check out this article to see which one it is.Most people would think West Virgina is the largest producer of domestic coal, but... more
DD: Today I have quite a good read for you. Interviewing someone who has pushed breakbeat in DC hard, and now has added producing and running a label to his repertoire. Jay is pretty outspoken, and has loads to say. A very good read. Enjoy!
DD: Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions. You've been a staple in the DC breakbeat scene for quite some time. Tell us about your beginnings?
SF: As a young boy growing up, I was introduced to Funk, Soul and more than a couple encounters with Jazz that led to me playing the trumpet through middle school, high school, and the occasional small gig where I was introduced to playing by ear versus strictly reading sheet music. It was then that I realized music was much more than a mere pastime or song on the radio; music to me makes the world go around, the universal language. From the Freestyle music era that lit up the airwaves and radio dials in Florida to the chest rattling bass emitting from the low-riding masses, I relished in it all. I still remember the first time I was introduced to Techmaster P.E.B. I thought my ears were going to implode. As Breakbeats began to take more of a foothold, I was instantly drawn to the funky vibes that accompanied them and a eternal union was instantly formed. My first experiences in a DJ booth occurred during my tour with the Marines in a small dank North Carolina gentlemen's club rightfully coined The Cave. With such a vast spectrum of music demanded throughout the nights, mixing consisted very little of the club blends typically associated with EDM. But of course, with a contract to fulfill and the world to see, I was deployed several times to parts of the globe I never dreamt of seeing and time-off consisted of traveling to the nearest urban environment to dine on the local music scene. In 1995 while stationed in Washington, DC I was introduced to the Capital Ballroom and Buzz; needless to say I was blown away. Upon my Honorable Discharge I chose to return to the Chocolate City in 1998, set up camp and called it home. It was also in 1998 that I was finally able to begin honing my skills behind a set of Technics with a crate of old House and Breakbeat records. In 2000, I met my wife at Nation and to this day she still supports my passion for the craft of mixing and present day production projects. Soon after, Friends Collective formed and we began hosting small one-offs, weekly's, and the occasional opportunity to perform at larger events in and around the metropolitan area such as Thriller hosted by DC Skillz at the DC Tunnel.
The ability to capture and store energy for later use is an elusive goal that utilities and other companies in the power generation business have long pursued.The ability to capture and store energy for later use is an elusive goal that... more
It sounds as if someone just dropped a tricycle into a meat grinder. I’m sitting inside a narrow conference room at a research facility in Bristol, Connecticut, chatting with Joseph Longo, the founder and CEO of Startech Environmental Corporation. As we munch on takeout Subway sandwiches, a plate-glass window is the only thing separating us from the adjacent lab, which contains a glowing caldera of “plasma” three times as hot as the surface of the sun. Every few minutes there’s a horrific clanking noise—grinding followed by a thunderous voomp, like the sound a gas barbecue makes when it first ignites.
“Is it supposed to do that?” I ask Longo nervously. “Yup,” he says. “That’s normal.”
Despite his 74 years, Longo bears an unnerving resemblance to the longtime cover boy of Mad magazine, Alfred E. Neuman, who shrugs off nuclear Armageddon with the glib catchphrase “What, me worry?” Both share red hair, a smattering of freckles and a toothy grin. When such a man tells me I’m perfectly safe from a 30,000˚F arc of man-made lightning heating a vat of plasma that his employees are “controlling” in the next room—well, I’m not completely reassured.
To put me at ease, Longo calls in David Lynch, who manages the demonstration facility. “There’s no flame or fire inside. It’s just electricity,” Lynch assures me of the multimillion-dollar system that took Longo almost two decades to design and build. Then the two usher me into the lab, where the gleaming 15-foot-tall machine they’ve named the Plasma Converter stands in the center of the room. The entire thing takes up about as much space as a two-car garage, surprisingly compact for a machine that can consume nearly any type of waste—from dirty diapers to chemical weapons—by annihilating toxic materials in a process as old as the universe itself.It sounds as if someone just dropped a tricycle into a meat grinder. I’m sitting... more
Thane Heins is nervous and hopeful. It's Jan. 24, a Thursday afternoon, and in four days the Ottawa-area native will travel to Boston where he'll demonstrate an invention that appears – though he doesn't dare say it – to operate as a perpetual motion machine.
The audience, esteemed Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Markus Zahn, could either deflate Heins' heretical claims or add momentum to a 20-year obsession that has broken up his marriage and lost him custody of his two young daughters.
Zahn is a leading expert on electromagnetic and electronic systems. In a rare move for any reputable academic, he has agreed to give Heins' creation an open-minded look rather than greet it with outright dismissal.
It's a pivotal moment. The invention, at its very least, could moderately improve the efficiency of induction motors, used in everything from electric cars to ceiling fans. At best it means a way of tapping the mysterious powers of electromagnetic fields to produce more work out of less effort, seemingly creating electricity from nothing.
Such an unbelievable invention would challenge the laws of physics, a no-no in the rigid world of serious science. Imagine a battery system in an all-electric car that can be recharged almost exclusively by braking and accelerating, or what Heins calls "regenerative acceleration."
No charging from the grid. No assistance from gasoline. No cost of fuelling up. No way, say the skeptics.
Contacted by phone a few hours after the test, Zahn is genuinely stumped – and surprised. He said the magnet shouldn't cause acceleration. "It's an unusual phenomena I wouldn't have predicted in advance. But I saw it. It's real. Now I'm just trying to figure it out."
There's no talk of perpetual motion. No whisper of broken scientific laws or free energy. Zahn would never go there – at least not yet. But he does see the potential for making electric motors more efficient, and this itself is no small feat.
"To my mind this is unexpected and new, and it's worth exploring all the possible advantages once you're convinced it's a real effect," he added. "There are an infinite number of induction machines in people's homes and everywhere around the world. If you could make them more efficient, cumulatively, it could make a big difference."Thane Heins is nervous and hopeful. It's Jan. 24, a Thursday afternoon, and in four... more
Mark Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering, has coauthored an article that is the cover story in the November issue of Scientific American. The article presents new research mapping out and evaluating a quantitative plan for powering the entire world on wind, water and solar energy, including an assessment of the materials needed and costs. And it will ultimately be cheaper than sticking with fossil fuel or going nuclear. Credit: Linda Cicero, Stanford University News Service
Most of the technology needed to shift the world from fossil fuel to clean, renewable energy already exists. Implementing that technology requires overcoming obstacles in planning and politics, but doing so could result in a 30 percent decrease in global power demand, say Stanford civil and environmental engineering Professor Mark Z. Jacobson and University of California-Davis researcher Mark Delucchi.
To make clear the extent of those hurdles - and how they could be overcome - they have written an article that is the cover story in the November issue of Scientific American. In it, they present new research mapping out and evaluating a quantitative plan for powering the entire world on wind, water and solar energy, including an assessment of the materials needed and costs. And it will ultimately be cheaper than sticking with fossil fuel or going nuclear, they say.Mark Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering, has coauthored an... more
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The rising cost of oil could damage the world economy just as it begins to rebound, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on Tuesday.
Wide swings in oil prices are difficult for industries to manage and the U.S. government is concerned about another price spike, Chu said.
"Even $80 is making me nervous," he told the Reuters Washington Summit.
Oil prices hit record levels above $147 a barrel last year, before crashing as a global recession cut energy demand. Crude prices are one again climbing.
Chu said a sharp upswing in oil prices could hinder a global economic recovery. He pointed out that last year's oil price spike was a "disaster" for the world economy.
"We've repeatedly said what the world wants and needs is stable prices," Chu said. "They have been inching up recently and it's a little bit concerning."
Oil price volatility can also harm the alternative energy sector, Chu said. He said the fall in energy costs after the oil price shocks of the 70s and early 80s wiped out many clean energy companies.
To help stabilize crude prices, Chu said the administration is working to improve market transparency. In particular, he said the Energy Department is focused on teaching developing countries how to compile energy data.
"The more information one has, the less there are these uncertainties, which would prompt swings (in prices)," Chu said at the summit, held at the Reuters office in Washington.
Crude oil prices hit a one year high above $80 a barrel on Tuesday, before slipping to around $78 in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The rising cost of oil could damage the world economy just as... more
