How Fed Policy Has Devastated Three Generations of Retirees

By Dennis Miller

One aspect of the American Dream has always been the prospect of enjoying one's golden years in retired bliss. And while everyone knows that the rules of the game have been subject to change over the years, the recent, unprecedented changes in fiscal policy have proved to be a virtual wrecking ball to Americans' retirement dreams.

Over the past few years, the Federal Reserve has moved from simple interest rate manipulation to wholesale market interference with the goal of maintaining bank solvency and equity prices. This steamroller style interference in the markets has had massive consequences. And not just for the Baby Boomers who are now hitting retirement age, but also for their children and children's children—three American generations whose retirement hopes have been left to swing in the wind on a string of broken promises.

Baby Boomers Get Their Risk On

 

The Baby Boomer generation (born 1946 – 1964) is quite used to adjusting to ever-changing conditions when it comes to retirement.

For decades, receiving a pension was what one looked forward to for their old age. But as you can see in the chart below, at least in the private sector that idea has become as extinct as a T-rex.



Its replacement became the 401(k) and the IRA—tax-deferred vehicles that let savers take control of their own retirement, for better or worse.

Granted, Americans have built up a sizable nest egg in these defined-contribution retirement accounts—more than $5.4 trillion in IRAs alone—but the cumulative savings fail to tell the larger story. The dire truth is that Baby Boomers are caught in a trap, simultaneously trying to preserve capital and generate yield through wild market swings like 2000's massive crash, 2008's 30% correction, and 2010's flash crash.

The market's frequent large "corrections" have had a sobering effect on Boomers' investment behavior. In an attempt to avoid the swings while still making money to live off, Boomers have flooded the bond market with money and significantly reduced their stock market exposure.

As you can see in the right-most bars on the graph above, Boomers who are in their sixties today have significantly reduced the weighting of equities in their portfolios over the last decade—much more so than their peers of just 10 years earlier.

It's true that since the bursting of the housing bubble in 2007, major indexes have recovered to a point where anyone who stayed put after the crash should have been made whole again. Yet the actual market participation by the Boomers has been considerably lower—thrice bitten, twice shy—meaning many missed out on the equity market's recovery.

Instead, hundreds of billions of dollars flowed into the bond markets over the past five years, as evidenced by the $50 billion upswing in bond ETF assets in 2012, and the $125 billion in bond-based mutual fund net inflows over the same period.



Following a protective instinct, conservative investors shifted their money from stocks to bonds… at exactly the time interest rates were rapidly falling for most classes of income investments.

Boomers have suffered more losses and settled for lower income than ever before. The double whammy took a serious toll on the retirement dreams of many. But that was OK, because there was always Social Security as a backstop.

It's become increasingly obvious, though, that Social Security is not keeping up with the times.

By tying its payouts to the Consumer Price Index (CPI)—a measure as flawed at predicting actual consumer prices as a groundhog at predicting the weather (a consumer price that doesn't include fuel or food?)—as a net effect, the real value of Social Security payouts has shrunk dramatically.

Here's a chart of official consumer inflation vs. the real numbers calculated by economist John Williams of ShadowStats (he uses the US government's unadulterated accounting methods of the 1980s). While the official number is 2%, real inflation is in the 9% range.



Washington has been cutting Social Security payments for years, just in a way that wasn't obvious to most newscasters and taxpayers—at least not until it was time to collect, as increasing numbers of Boomers now are.

Between the downfall of the pension, Boomers' eschewing of the stock market, and the government's zero interest rate policy, for many Americans retiring in their sixties has become little more than wishful thinking—and a financially comfortable retirement now requires taking significantly more risk than most are willing or able to handle.

Generation X Strikes Out

 

Traditionally, the 45-55 age group has been the most fervent retirement savers, but that has changed drastically in the last 25 years. As you can see in this chart, the most rapid declines in participation rate for the black line (age 45-54) coincide with major dips in the market, such as in 2001 and 2007.



To make matters worse, Gen-Xers (born 1965 – 1980) are also the most debt-ridden generation of the past century.

According to the Pew Research Center, Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers alike have much lower asset-to-debt ratios than older groups. Whereas War and Depression babies got rid of debt over the past 20 years, Boomers and Gen-Xers were adding to their load:

• War babies: 27x more assets than debt
• Late Boomers: 4x more assets than debt
• Gen-Xers: 2x more assets than debt

That situation deteriorated further in the last six years; while all groups lost money in the Great Recession, the Gen-Xers were the hardest-hit.

As Early and Late Boomers struggled with asset depreciation of 28% and 25%, respectively, Gen-Xers lost almost half (45%) of their already smaller wealth. They also lost 27% of home equity during the crisis, the largest percentage loss of the groups studied by Pew.

 

Millennials: Down a Well and Refusing the Rope

 

The effects of a prolonged period of low interest rates on current and near-term retirees are obvious. But the long-term effects on those now in their early years of working and saving may be much greater.

We've all been taught about the power of compound interest. Put away $10,000 today, compounding at 7%, and in 20 years you have about $40,000 and in 30 years nearly $80,000.

As powerful a tool as long-term compounding is, though, nothing can cut the legs out from under it more than saving less early on or earning less in the first few years. Any small change to the input has a drastic effect on what comes out the far end.

The Millennials—those born between 1981 and 2000—are suffering from both right now. It's no secret that interest rates are low, and there is little that their generation, whose oldest members are now in their early thirties, can do about it.

Shrinking interest rates are wreaking real havoc on the Boomers' children, extending the time to retirement for that generation by nearly a decade.

Why would any politician pass legislation to change Social Security eligibility, a measure that usually doesn't bode well for reelection, if they can simply rely on fiscal policy to accomplish the same net effect?
To make matters worse, the years of financial turmoil, a tough post-college job market, high levels of student loans, and numerous other factors have kept most Millennials out of the stock markets.

Millennials are far less likely to open a retirement savings account than previous generations.  According to a recent Wells Fargo survey, "In companies that do not automatically enroll eligible employees, just 13.4% of Millennials participate in the plan."

This is worse even than the number EBRI collected in the graph presented earlier, which still pegged retirement plan participation rates at all-time lows for the 20-something set. Only a small percentage of Millennials are taking even the most basic step toward taking charge of their own retirement.

With their parents and grandparents showing them the failure of the pension system and Social Security first-hand, one would think the opposite might be true. But the numbers clearly show that Millennials are less interested in saving for their future retirement than their parents were.
Having seen it happen to their own grandparents, maybe they are just resigned to the idea that they'll have to work well into their golden years anyway. And who could blame their generation for not trusting the stock markets with their capital after seeing what happened to their parents’ nest eggs so many times during their own childhoods?

The youngest working generation is eschewing investment, at what might be a great cost down the road.

Adapt to Survive

 

Multiple years of shrinking interest rates, thanks to heavy bond buying by the Federal Reserve in its Quantitative Easing program, have taken an immense toll on generations of savers. The increased risk that current and future retirees have to take on to meet their income needs has left many shaken and financially insecure.

As a result, many are now looking to new strategies to make up for the shortfall the Fed's zero interest rate policy has created—shifting their focus from bonds to dividend-paying stocks and adapting as they go along.
Dennis Miller is a noted financial author and “retirement mentor,” a columnist for CBS Market Watch, and editor of Miller’s Money Forever (www.millersmoney.com), an independent guide for investors of all ages on the ins and outs of retirement finance—from building an income portfolio to evaluating financial advisors, annuities, insurance options, and more.  He also recently participated alongside John Stossel and David Walker in America’s Broken Promise, an online video event that premieres Thursday, September 5^th.
 
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6 Successful Trader Things In Common

Crude Oil Bulls Gain Momentum Despite "Weak" Washington News on Syria

October crude oil closed higher on Thursday and poised to extend the rally off Tuesday's low. The high range close sets the stage for a steady to higher opening when Friday's night session begins. Stochastics and the RSI are neutral to bearish hinting that a short term top might be in or is near. Closes below the 20 day moving average crossing at 106.69 are needed to confirm that a short term top has been posted. If October renews this summer's rally, weekly resistance crossing at 114.83 is the next upside target. First resistance is last Wednesday's high crossing at 112.24. Second resistance is weekly resistance crossing at 114.83. First support is the 20 day moving average crossing at 106.69. Second support is the reaction low crossing at 103.50.

6 Things Successful Traders Have in Common

October Henry natural gas posted a key reversal down on Thursday and closed below the 10 day moving average crossing at 3.591 signaling that a short term top might be in or is near. The low range close sets the stage for a steady to lower opening on Friday. Stochastics and the RSI are overbought but remain neutral to bullish signaling that sideways to higher prices are possible near term. If October extends the rally off August's low, the 50% retracement level of the May-August decline crossing at 3.842 is the next upside target. Closes below the 20 day moving average crossing at 3.489 would confirm that a short term top has been posted. First resistance is the 38% retracement level of the May-August decline crossing at 3.680. Second resistance is the 50% retracement level of the May-August decline crossing at 3.842. First support is the 20 day moving average crossing at 3.489. Second support is August's low crossing at 3.154.

How to Trade Small Cap Stocks and 3x ETF's Current

The September S&P 500 closed higher on Thursday and above the 20 day moving average crossing at 1656.33 confirming that a short term low has been posted. The high range close sets the stage for a steady to higher opening when Friday's night session begins trading. Stochastics and the RSI are bullish signaling that sideways to higher prices are possible near term. If September extends the rally off August's low, the reaction high crossing at 1667.00 is the next upside target. If September renews the decline off August's high, the 62% retracement level of the June-August rally crossing at 1611.47 is the next downside target. First resistance is today's high crossing at 1658.00. Second resistance is the reaction high crossing at 1667.00. First support is August's low crossing at 1625.00. Second support is the 62% retracement level of the June-August rally crossing at 1611.47.

Statistical Edge Floor Traders Use to Beat The Market

October gold closed lower on Thursday and below the 20 day moving average crossing at 1367.20 confirming that a short term top has been posted. The low range close sets the stage for a steady to lower opening when Friday's night session begins trading. Stochastics and the RSI are bearish signaling that sideways to lower prices are possible near term. If October extends today's decline, the reaction low crossing at 1351.60 is the next downside target. Closes above the 10 day moving average crossing at 1397.50 would temper the near-term bearish outlook. First resistance is last Wednesday's high crossing at 1432.90. Second resistance is May's high crossing at 1489.00. First support is the reaction low crossing at 1351.60. Second resistance is August's low crossing at 1272.10.

Ready to start trading crude oil? Start right here....Advanced Crude Oil Study – 15 Minute Range

Things That Make You Go Hmmm…A Barrel of Monkeys

By Grant Williams

"What's more fun than a Barrel of Monkeys?

Nothing!"

Not my words, but those of the Milton Bradley Co., which still produces under license a game first created by a gentleman named Leonard Marks, who sold the rights to his simple but addictive game to Lakeside Toys in 1965.

It would be difficult to imagine a simpler premise for a game than that of Barrel of Monkeys. The rules of the game, printed on the bottom of the plastic barrel in which the monkeys are contained, are simplicity itself:

Dump monkeys onto table. Pick up one monkey by an arm. Hook other arm through a second monkey's arm. Continue making a chain. Your turn is over when a monkey is dropped.

Easy!

Each barrel contains 12 monkeys but can accommodate, at a push, 24, which makes the game so much more enjoyable. What could be better than assembling a long chain of tangled monkeys, each reliant on those either side of it for purchase, with just the one person holding onto a single monkey's arm at the top end of the chain, responsible for all those monkeys dangling from his fingers.

Of course, with great power comes great responsibility; and that lone hand at the top of the chain of monkeys has to be careful — any slight mistake and the monkeys will tumble, and that, I am afraid, is the end of your turn. You don't get to go again because you screwed it up and the monkeys came crashing down.

On May 22nd of this year, Ben Bernanke's game of Barrel of Monkeys was in full swing. It had been his turn for several years, and he looked as though he'd be picking up monkeys for a long time to come. The chain of monkeys hanging from his hand was so long that he had no real idea where it ended.

That day, in prepared testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress in Washington, DC, Bernanke stated that the Fed could increase or decrease its asset purchases depending on the weakness or strength of data:

The program relates the flow of asset purchases to the economic outlook. As the economic outlook — and particularly the outlook for the labor market — improves in a real and sustainable way, the committee will gradually reduce the flow of purchases.

To assuage any lingering doubt, he continued:

I want to be very clear that a step to reduce the flow of purchases would not be an automatic, mechanistic process of ending the program. Rather, any change in the flow of purchases would depend on the incoming data and our assessment of how the labor market and inflation are evolving.

Markets fluttered a little as they tend to do around these carefully stage-managed performances, but remained largely sanguine. However, in the Q&A session that followed his prepared remarks, Bernanke, in response to a fairly innocuous question, went a little off-piste, straying into some improv, making a suggestion that, within minutes, had given rise to a phenomenon which by the end of the day had earned its very own soubriquet: the "Taper Tantrum":

If we see continued improvement and we have confidence that that's going to be sustained then we could in the next few meetings ... take a step down in our pace of purchases. If we do that it would not mean that we are automatically aiming towards a complete wind down. Rather we would be looking beyond that to see how the economy evolves and we could either raise or lower our pace of purchases going forward.

The statement contained the usual bit about the Fed being open to both decreasing OR increasing bond purchases; but it added one, as it turned out vital, piece of information:

"... we could in the next few meetings ... take a step down in

 our pace of purchases."

Boom! That's all it took. The monkeys began to shiver, shake, and screech.

Now, I have been saying for the longest time that these days nothing matters to anybody until it matters to everybody, and that is largely down to the Fed themselves (and their peers across the various oceans and borders who are complicit in this era of free money). The proof of my statement is seen in the fact that as soon as Bernanke mentioned that the "taper" — which, let's face it, EVERYBODY knows has to happen sooner or later — would possibly begin before the end of 2013, markets began to crumble.

The S&P 500 dropped a quick 6% on the outlandish idea that free money by the trillion wasn't going to continue forever, and this came as something of a shock to investors who had watched the index levitate relentlessly as the stimulus being applied by the Fed to the tune of $85bn a month did its job — and by "did its job" I wish I were talking about lowering unemployment and stimulating growth; but, alas, I'm talking about bolstering bank balance sheets and driving equity prices to unsustainable and unfairly valued levels.
As you can see from the chart below, the market turned around and recovered its losses pretty quickly as a seemingly endless procession of Fed governors and "friendly" journalists were rolled out to explain — in increasingly panicked tones — that everything was OK and that the esteemed Chairman didn't actually say they would definitely be cutting off the easy money.

Source: Bloomberg

In his own prepared remarks the following morning, Fed mouthpiece and Wall Street Journal reporter Jon Hilsenrath was quick to soothe:

(WSJ): The next step by the Fed could be especially tricky. One worry at the central bank is that a single small step to shrink the size of the program could be interpreted by investors as the first in a larger move to end it altogether. [Yesterday] Mr. Bernanke sought to dispel that view, part of a broader effort by Fed officials to manage market expectations.

If the Fed takes one step to reduce the bond buying, it won't mean the Fed is "automatically aiming towards a complete wind-down," Mr. Bernanke said. "Rather we would be looking beyond that to seeing how the economy evolves and we could either raise or lower our pace of purchases going forward. Again that is dependent on the data," he said.

It's OK, folks. Ben's got this. Calm down.

After the scrambling was over and the 6% air pocket was safely navigated, the S&P 500 first regained and then surpassed its previous high. At this point, the Punditocracy (as my buddy Scott calls it) declared that any "taper" had now been priced in.

And there the story should have ended. Nothing to see here folks, get back to your couches.
But of course it didn't end.

To continue reading this article from Things That Make You Go Hmmm… – a free weekly newsletter by Grant Williams, a highly respected financial expert and current portfolio and strategy advisor at Vulpes Investment Management in Singapore – please click here.

Crude Oil Traders Appear to Shrug Off Syria News....Prices Headed Lower

October crude oil closed lower on Wednesday as it consolidated some of Tuesday's key reversal up. The low range close sets the stage for a steady to lower opening when Thursday's night session begins. Stochastics and the RSI are bearish hinting that a short term top might be in or is near. Closes below the 20 day moving average crossing at 106.46 are needed to confirm that a short term top has been posted. If October renews this summer's rally, weekly resistance crossing at 114.83 is the next upside target. First resistance is last Wednesday's high crossing at 112.24. Second resistance is weekly resistance crossing at 114.83. First support is the 20 day moving average crossing at 106.46. Second support is the reaction low crossing at 103.50.

Ready to start trading crude oil? Start right here with our "Advanced Crude Oil Study – The 15 Minute Range"

October Henry natural gas closed higher on Wednesday and above the 38% retracement level of the May-August decline crossing at 3.680. The high range close sets the stage for a steady to higher opening on Thursday. Stochastics and the RSI are overbought but remain neutral to bullish signaling that sideways to higher prices are possible near term. If October extends the rally off August's low, the 50% retracement level of the May-August decline crossing at 3.842 is the next upside target. Closes below the 20 day moving average crossing at 3.475 would confirm that a short term top has been posted. First resistance is the 38% retracement level of the May-August decline crossing at 3.680. Second resistance is the 50% retracement level of the May-August decline crossing at 3.842. First support is the 20 day moving average crossing at 3.475. Second support is August's low crossing at 3.154.

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The September S&P 500 closed higher on Wednesday as it extends the rebound off the 50% retracement level of the June-August rally crossing at 1629.45. The high range close sets the stage for a steady to higher opening when Thursday's night session begins trading. Stochastics and the RSI are diverging and are turning neutral to bullish signaling that sideways to higher prices are possible near term. Closes above the 20 day moving average crossing at 1657.83 would confirm that a short term low has been posted. If September renews the decline off August's high, the 62% retracement level of the June-August rally crossing at 1611.47 is the next downside target. First resistance is today's high crossing at 1654.20. Second resistance is the 20 day moving average crossing at 1657.83. First support is last Wednesday's low crossing at 1625.00. Second support is the 62% retracement level of the June-August rally crossing at 1611.47.

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October gold closed lower on Wednesday as it extends the decline off last Wednesday's high. The low range close sets the stage for a steady to lower opening when Thursday's night session begins trading. Stochastics and the RSI have turned bearish hinting that a short term top might be in or is near. Closes below the 20 day moving average crossing at 1367.20 would confirm that a short term top has been posted. If October renews the rally off June's low, May's high crossing at 1489.00 is the next upside target. First resistance is last Wednesday's high crossing at 1432.90. Second resistance is May's high crossing at 1489.00. First support is the 20 day moving average crossing at 1367.20. Second resistance is August's low crossing at 1272.10.

Take the Quiz. Find your best match: Market, Timeframe, Trading System

5 Ways To Protect and Grow Your Retirement: Whether You’re 45 or 75 or Somewhere In Between

By Dennis Miller at Casey Research.....

Your retirement dreams have never been in a more perilous situation, at least not in the memory of anyone alive today. Rising taxes and health care costs, diminishing benefits and next to nothing yields have forced seniors and those saving for retirement to seriously considering drastic means.

The options aren't always pretty: a diminished standard of living, working longer, taking on a part time job or just plain doing without. Investors who take steps now can shield themselves from the coming challenges thrust upon retirees.... Read the entire article.

5 Ways To Protect and Grow Your Retirement: Whether You’re 45 or 75 or Somewhere In Between

 

Upside Reversal in Crude Oil Gives the Bulls Momentum

October crude oil posted an upside reversal on Tuesday ending a two day decline. The high range close sets the stage for a steady to higher opening when Wednesday's night session begins. Stochastics and the RSI are bearish hinting that a short term top might be in or is near. Closes below the 20 day moving average crossing at 106.34 are needed to confirm that a short term top has been posted. If October renews this summer's rally, weekly resistance crossing at 114.83 is the next upside target. First resistance is last Wednesday's high crossing at 112.24. Second resistance is weekly resistance crossing at 114.83. First support is the 20 day moving average crossing at 106.34. Second support is the reaction low crossing at 103.50.

If you attend one webinar this summer make it..."How to Beat the Market Makers" with John Carter. Click here to Sign up NOW!

October Henry natural gas closed higher on Tuesday and tested the 38% retracement level of the May-August decline crossing at 3.680. The high range close sets the stage for a steady to higher opening on Wednesday. Stochastics and the RSI are overbought but remain neutral to bullish signaling that sideways to higher prices are possible near term. If October extends this month's rally, the 50% retracement level of the May-August decline crossing at 3.842 is the next upside target. Closes below the 20 day moving average crossing at 3.457 would confirm that a short term top has been posted. First resistance is the 38% retracement level of the May-August decline crossing at 3.680. Second resistance is the 50% retracement level of the May-August decline crossing at 3.842. First support is the 20 day moving average crossing at 3.457. Second support is August's low crossing at 3.154.

Ready to start trading crude oil? Start right here....Advanced Crude Oil Study – 15 Minute Range

The September S&P 500 closed higher on Tuesday as it consolidates above the 50% retracement level of the June-August rally crossing at 1629.45. The low range close sets the stage for a steady to lower opening when Wednesday's night session begins trading. Stochastics and the RSI are diverging but remain neutral to bearish signaling that sideways to lower prices are possible near term. If September extends the decline off August's high, the 62% retracement level of the June-August rally crossing at 1611.47 is the next downside target. Closes above the 20 day moving average crossing at 1659.67 would confirm that a short term low has been posted. First resistance is today's high crossing at 1649.80. Second resistance is the 20 day moving average crossing at 1659.67. First support is last Wednesday's low crossing at 1625.00. Second support is the 62% retracement level of the June-August rally crossing at 1611.47.

Day Trading History of 16 Major Candlestick Patterns

October gold closed higher on Tuesday and the high range close sets the stage for a steady to higher opening when Wednesday's night session begins trading. Stochastics and the RSI are overbought but are turning bearish hinting that a short term top might be in or is near. Closes below the 20 day moving average crossing at 1361.90 would confirm that a short term top has been posted. If October renews the rally off June's low, May's high crossing at 1489.00 is the next upside target. First resistance is last Wednesday's high crossing at 1432.90. Second resistance is May's high crossing at 1489.00. First support is the 10 day moving average crossing at 1396.10. Second resistance is the 20 day moving average crossing at 1361.90.

Michelle "Mish" Schnieders new free eBook. Download now, and get "Mish's Daily" insight to the next moves!

"Beating the Market Makers" John Carter's Webinar Replay

Our trading partner John Carter has decided to replay his wildly popular "Beating the Market Makers" webinar this Wednesday September 4th at 8 p.m. eastern time. He is going to teach you more in one hour, for NO COST, then you could learn in 3 months. John is going to show us in detail how he uses a weekly options trading method that puts you on the same side of a trade as the market makers. A good place to be.

Over 10,000 traders watched the live webinar on Tuesday and John does limit seating so sign up right away before traders fill all of the slots.

Just Click here to Register Now

Here's what he'll be covering...

-  How to be on the same side as the Market Maker

-  How to protect yourself in a trade

-  How to pick the right stock at the right time

-  What Wall Street doesn't want you to know about weekly options

-  The one simple trick to put the odds in your favor

   And much more......

This timely webinar replay will take place this Wednesday, August 22nd at 8:00 PM Eastern Time.

Click here to register

After you register you will receive reminder emails automatically so you don't miss the webinar. I don't know if they'll be recording this, or if he'll ever share this information again, so don't miss out.

We'll see you in this free training class, then we'll see you in the markets. Will you be trading with us....or against us?

Ray @ The Crude Oil Trader

Market Makers.....Can you be on the same side of the trade?

Is 1,600 the Next SP500 Support Level?

Investors and traders alike are heading into the long weekend with a variety of potential risks facing them. The media has made us aware of the situation that is going on in Syria and that the United States may be planning a military strike.

Since the current Syrian situation arose, we have seen some strong volatility return to U.S. financial markets. The observed volatility has included both realized volatility and implied volatility in many of the various option chains. There are pundits who will surmise a variety of outcomes, but frankly no one knows for sure. Will oil prices spike if military action occurs in Syria? Will oil prices fall on a military action(s)? What will happen to gold? What will happen to risk assets? Will they find Jimmy Hoffa?

We have recently received several emails asking these questions. We have answered them all in the same manner. We have no idea what is going to happen in financial markets for sure. Anyone who says they do does not respect the randomness of markets. We can look at option based probabilities for some clues, but there is no definitive answer.

Instead we want to look at a very powerful tool that is available on most trading software platforms. Volume by price is a powerful tool to determine where key levels are in an index or price chart.

Our complete chart work and set ups for the S&P 500 Index are shown here.



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The Energy Report: Micro-Cap Oil Stocks that Hit the Jackpot

The Energy Report: With oil prices firming up over the past couple of months and the spread between West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent Crude narrowing, what are your price expectations for the remainder of 2013 and into next year?

Phil Juskowicz: While I don't spend a lot of time predicting commodity prices, I personally see relatively stable short-term oil prices. Intermediate or long-term prices may weaken, assuming no supply disruptions arise from political upheavals, while gas prices may strengthen based on supply/demand fundamentals. We've seen continued oil supply growth and the short term market seems to be pretty range bound, having developed a good base around the $100 per barrel ($100/bbl) level.

TER: Where do you see some of the best investment opportunities in the oil and gas business?


PJ: Micro-cap exploration and production (EP) stocks have severely underperformed the SP Small Cap EP Index since the second half of 2011 (H2/11). However, the definition of "small cap" depends on who you're talking to. The Small Cap EP Index consists of companies around the billion-dollar range like Approach Resources Inc. (AREX:NASDAQ) and Northern Oil Gas Inc. (NOG:NYSE). Casimir has a micro-cap EP index, which is comprised of companies with market caps up to $500 million ($500M) with some names under $100M. That index level started to diverge in H2/11. Both of these groups consist of relatively equal gas/oil weightings, so the performance should not, in our opinion, be attributed to the relative strength of oil prices over gas that commenced around that time. As a result, we believe that there are attractive investment opportunities in the micro-cap EP universe.

Casimir Micro-Cap EP Index (White) vs. SP Small-Cap EP Index (Yellow)


Casimir Micro-Cap EP Index composed of: AMZG, ANFC, CAK, CPE, CXPO, EGY, EEG, ENRJ, ENSV, FEEC, FXEN, GMET, GNE, HDY, HNR, IFNY, IVAN, LEI, MCEP, MILL, MPET, MPO, OEDV, PHX, PNRG, PSTR, RDMP, SARA, SSN, STTX, TAT, TENG, TGC, TPLM, USEG, WRES, ZAZA
Source: Bloomberg; Casimir Capital

TER: How do you choose the companies in your coverage list?

PJ: We look for small companies that have largely flown "under the radar screen" and are underfollowed. The companies we cover have strong management teams and operate in premier areas with good assets that have substantial cash flow potential.

TER: Do you cover any service companies?

PJ: Enservco Corp. (OTCBB:ENSV) is on our "watch list". The company is the only nationwide provider of hot oiling, well acidizing and frack heating services generally used to coax oil out of the ground, for example to counter paraffin buildups. Enservco experienced healthy margins in Q2/13 despite it typically being a seasonally weak time for heating services. The company continues having to turn customers away in some areas while it builds out its fleet. Management, in our opinion, has a track record of building successful companies and its regional staff has strong relationships with EPs. The company is also expanding into other basins and successfully tapping into new revenue sources.

TER: Why aren't competitors seeing the opportunity here and moving in to get a piece of the action?

PJ: There are regional pockets of mom and pop shops that will do some of these services, but, a nationwide company like a Noble Energy Inc. (NBL:NYSE) might turn to Enservco because it already has a reliable relationship with Enservco's staff in different areas. Enservco's services account for a very low percentage of total well drilling and completion costs (it might cost around $100,000 to service a $7M well) so customers are not as likely to conduct competitive bidding processes. Instead, they choose to use a company with which the frontline managers already have existing relationships.

TER: So it has developed a national reputation, which is its competitive strength.

PJ: And it's building out the capacity as we speak. Enservco is expanding its already large presence in the Marcellus Formation. In its Q2/13 conference call, management said they were starting to see the Utica play out a little bit. The Utica underlies the Marcellus in a lot of areas and Enservco gets some economics of scale there. [See map] Furthermore, management has been getting the word out more and also may be contemplating a reverse stock split and listing on another exchange.


Source: Marcellus Coalition

TER: What EP names on your coverage list look interesting?

PJ: We like Miller Energy Resources (MILL:NYSE; MILL:NASDAQ), which, in late 2009, captured former Pacific Energy Resources Ltd. assets out of bankruptcy that were valued at $500M for an outstanding $4.5M. Miller's entire enterprise value, meanwhile, is just $240M. Moreover, its infrastructure assets were valued by third parties on behalf of its lender at $190M. What makes these assets most attractive is the fact that recent well results indicate that original estimates by Forest Oil (which sold the properties to Pacific in 2007) may in fact be correct, which would mean that these Alaskan assets could contain 100200 million barrels (MMbbl) of recoverable oil reserves. Proved oil reserves presently stand at 8.61 MMbbl.

TER: How was Miller able to buy $500M worth of assets for less than 1% of their value? Even in bankruptcy, you'd think that there'd be buyers willing to pay more than that.

PJ: David Hall, a Miller Energy executive who had worked on the assets even before Pacific bought them from Forest Oil in 2007, was following the Alaskan bankruptcy proceedings. He got in touch with the CEO of Miller, Scott Boruff, and told him about these assets that were becoming available.

TER: Why does Miller believe that the original estimates of recoverable oil reserves may, in fact, be correct?

PJ: The thesis is that Forest Oil used the wrong completion techniques, which is why well performances had dropped off. The completion techniques Forest Oil used were in fact different from techniques used for other assets on the McArthur Trend. David Hall believed that workovers on existing wells, for example, replacing some electric submersible pumps and making changes to completion techniques on new wells, could improve production. Low and behold, that's exactly what's happened.
In addition, Miller just started doing sidetracks of some of these old wells. It posted a 21-day production test of its RU-2A well several weeks ago at 1,314 barrels per day, which would indicate that that the oil's there and it's recoverable. Management has been doing a good job of utilizing preferred equity to have substantial capital expenditure programs without diluting the common shareholders. To top it off, it has about 600,000 undeveloped acres that it's just starting exploration on as well.
TER: What other names look interesting?

PJ: I like Trans Energy Inc. (TENG:OTCBB), which is a pure play in the Marcellus Shale. The company holds about 20,000 net acres in the Marcellus, a substantial portion of which are in the core, liquids-rich part of the play. Operators, including Range Resources Corp. (RRC:NYSE), EQT Corp. (EQT:NYSE) and Gastar Exploration Ltd. (GST:NYSE), continue to increase their return assumptions for acreage adjacent to Trans Energy's. The company's production is set to ramp up as soon as Williams Companies Inc. completes the construction of certain infrastructure. Trans Energy's acreage is in northeast West Virginia, on the southwest Pennsylvania border. There's been a lot of success coming out of that area.

TER: What sort of strategy would you suggest our readers consider?

PJ: I think the micro-cap space, in general, is less correlated to the market's vagaries. Perceived changes in foreign interest rates, for example, have a larger effect on large-cap names. Micro-cap pricing is determined more by company-specific dynamics, such as anticipated future cash flows. Plus, a lot of micro-cap names and EPs in general seem to be more active on hedging, and therefore should be less susceptible to changes in commodity prices. As a result, investors that exercise due diligence should be rewarded for accurate cash flow predictions. If you want to find companies where your hard work can actually pay off, then the micro-cap space is a good place to look.

Micro caps seem to be getting more active in reaching new investors, and some of the management teams have regrouped from previous lives and are starting up very successful new companies. I think Bonanza Creek Energy Inc. (BCEI:NYSE) is a great example of management hailing from one company and getting back together and starting all over again.

TER: Thanks for talking with us today and giving us some interesting input, Phil.

PJ: I appreciate the opportunity.

Philip Juskowicz, CFA is a managing director in the research department at Casimir Capital, a boutique investment bank specializing in the Natural Resource industry. Juskowicz began his career at Standard Poor's in 1998, where he was one of the first analysts to recommend Mitchell Energy, credited with discovering the Barnett Shale. From 2001-2005, He worked with a former geologist in equity research at both First Albany Corp. and Buckingham Research. At Buckingham, Juskowicz was promoted to a senior oilfield service analyst position, leveraging his extensive knowledge of the EP space. From 2006-2010, he was an insider to the oil and gas industry, serving as a credit analyst at WestLB, a German investment bank. In this capacity, Juskowicz was responsible for $500M of loans to energy companies and projects. He earned a Master of Science in finance from the University of Baltimore.

Here is our complete disclosure

Precious Metals & Miners Flash Short-Sell Signal

It has been a bumpy ride for precious metal investors over the past couple of years and unfortunately we do not think its over just yet. But we feel fortunate to have our trading partner Chris Vermeulen on our team walking us through this.

Today Chris is telling us that the good news is that the bottom has likely been put in for gold, silver and gold miners BUT the recent rally in these metals and miner looks to be coming to an end. While we could see another pop in price over the next week or so the price, volume and momentum seem to be stalling out.

What does this mean? It means we should expect short term weakness and lower prices over the next month or two.

Here are three charts Chris posted several months. Their forecast were based off simple technical analysis using cycles, Fibonacci and price patterns. As you can see we are not trading at our key pivot level which we expect selling pressure to start to increase and eventually overpower the buyers sending the prices lower.....Click here to see Chris' complete chart work and article.