Gold vs. S&P 500 – Where is the Value?

This past week we received the final 4th Quarter GDP number which came in at 0.39%. The total 4th Quarter growth was terrible, plain and simple. Based on the performance in the equity markets that we have seen thus far in the 1st Quarter of 2013 investors would expect strong GDP growth. However, the only thing spurring stock market growth is the constant humming of Ben Bernanke’s printing press.

The real economy and the stock market are no longer strongly correlated. Essentially, they are meaningless. How do you evaluate risk when Treasury linked interest rates are artificially being held down by the Federal Reserve? How do you evaluate earnings growth estimates when most government based statistics are manipulated or “smoothed” to perfection?

My final argument to anyone who is a true believer that the stock market is representative of the economy is a very simple premise. If the stock market is the economy, how does the stock market evaluate small business earnings growth when most small businesses are not publicly traded? It is a simple question, but I have yet to find a sell side analyst that can work around it with facts......Read More.



Here's 2 Energy Sectors You Should Invest in This Year

Ignore Banks' Bearish Statements on Gold

By Jeff Clark, Senior Precious Metals Analyst

Goldman Sachs has lowered its gold price projections and says the metal is headed to $1,200. Credit Suisse and UBS are bearish. Citigroup says the gold bull market is over.

So I guess it's time to pack it in, right?

Not so fast. As we've written before, these types of analysts have been consistently wrong about gold throughout this bull cycle. Another reason to disagree, however, is history; we've seen this movie before. In the middle of one of the greatest gold bull markets in modern history, the one that culminated in the 1980 peak, gold experienced a 20 month, one way decline. Every time it seemed to stabilize, the bottom would fall out again. From December 30, 1974 to August 25, 1976, gold fell a whopping 47%.

1976 had to be a tough year for gold investors. The price had already been declining for a year – and it just kept on sinking. Since that's similar to what we're experiencing today, I wondered, What were the pundits were saying then? I wanted to find out.

I enlisted the help of two local librarians, along with my wife and son, to dig up some quotes from that year. It wasn't easy, because publications weren't in digital form yet, and electronic searches had limited success. But we did uncover some nuggets I thought you might find interesting.

The context for that year is that the IMF had three major gold auctions from June to September, dumping a lot of gold onto the market. Both the US and the Soviet Union were also selling gold at the time. It was no secret that the US was trying to remove gold from the monetary system; direct convertibility of the dollar to gold had ended on August 15, 1971.

The public statements below were all made in 1976. You'll see that they aren't all necessarily bearish, but I included a range to give a sense of what was happening at the time, especially regarding the mood of the gold market. I think you'll agree that much of this sounds awfully darn familiar. I couldn't resist making a few comments of my own, too.

To highlight the timing, I put the comments into a price chart, pinpointing when they were said relative to the market. Keep in mind as you read them that the gold price bottomed on August 25, and then began a three-and-a-half year, 721% climb…

[1] "For the moment at least, the party seems to be over." New York Times, March 26.

[2] "Though happily out of the precious metal, Mr. Heim is no more bullish on the present state of the stock market than any of the unreconstructed gold bugs he's had so much fun twitting of late. He's urging his clients to put their money into Treasury bills." New York Times, March 26.

Me: These comments remind me of those today who poke fun at gold investors. I wonder if Mr. Heim was still "twitting" a couple years later?

[3] "'It's a seller's market. No one is buying gold,' a dealer in Zurich said." New York Times, July 20.
Turns out this would've been an incredible buyer's market – but only for those with the courage to buy more when gold dropped still lower before taking off again.

[4] "Though the price recovered to $111 by week's end, that is still a dismal figure for gold bugs, who not long ago were forecasting prices of $300 or more." Time magazine, August 2.
The "gold bugs" were eventually right; gold hit $300 almost exactly three years later, a 170% rise.

[5] "Meanwhile, the economic conditions that triggered the gold boom of 1973 through 1974, have largely disappeared. The dollar is steady, world inflation rates have come down, and the general panic set off by the oil crisis has abated. All those trends reduce the distrust of paper money that moves many speculators to put their funds in gold." Time magazine, August 2.

This view ended up being shortsighted, as these conditions all reversed before the decade was over. Does this sound similar to pundits today claiming the reasons for buying gold have disappeared?

[6] "Our own predictions are that gold will go below $100, with some hesitation possible at the $100 level." As stated by Mr. Heim in the August 19 New York Times.

Yes, this is the same gentleman as #2 above. I wonder how many of his clients were still with him a few years later?

[7] "Currently, Mr. LaLoggia has this to say: 'There is simply nothing in the economic picture today to cause a rush into gold. The technical damage caused by the decline is enormous and it cannot be erased quickly. Avoid gold and gold stocks.'" New York Times, August 19.

You can see that these comments were made literally within days of the bottom! Take note, technical analysts.

[8] "'Gold was an inflation hedge in the early 1970s,' the Citibank letter says. 'But money is now a gold-price hedge.'" New York Times, August 29.

Wow, were they kidding?! This reminds me of those dimwits journalists who said in 2011 to not invest in gold because it isn't "backed by anything."

[9] "Private American purchases of gold, once this was legalized at the end of 1974, never materialized on a large scale. If the gold bugs have indeed been routed, special responsibilities fall on the victorious dollar." New York Times, August 29.

The USD's purchasing power has declined by 80% since this article declared the dollar "victorious."

[10] "Some experts, with good records in gold trading, declare it is still too early to buy bullion." New York Times, September 12.

Too bad; they could've cleaned up.

[11] "Wall Street's biggest brokerage houses, after having scorned gold investments during the bargain days of the late 1960s and early 1970s, made a great display of arriving late at the party." New York Times, September 12.

No comment necessary.

[12] "He believes the price of bullion is headed below $100 an ounce. 'Who wants to put money over there now?'" As stated by Lawrence Helm in the New York Times, September 12.

The price of gold had bottomed two weeks before, making the timing of this advice about the worst it could possibly be.

[13] Author Elliot Janeway, whose book jacket states, "Presidents listen to him," was asked by a book reviewer about his preferred investments. He writes: "Then, gold and silver? He likes neither. In fact he writes: 'Any argument against putting your trust in gold, and backing it up with money, goes double for silver: silver is fool's gold.'" New York Times, November 21.

Mr. Janeway ate his words big-time: from the date of his comments to silver's peak of $50 on January 21, 1980, silver rose 1,055%!

[14] "Mr. Holt admits that 'in 1974, intense speculation caused the gold price to get too far ahead of itself.'" New York Times, December 19.

So, anything sound familiar here? Yes, it was a brutal time for gold investors, but what's obvious is that those who looked only at the price and ignored the fundamentals ended up eating their words and dispensing horrible advice. Investors who followed the "wisdom of the day" missed out on one of the greatest opportunities for profit in their lifetimes.

I was pleased to learn, though, that not all comments were negative in 1976. In fact, in the middle of the "great selloff," there were those who remained stanchly bullish. These investors must've been viewed as outliers – they, much like some of us now, were the contrarians of the day.

Also from 1976…

• "Many gold issues, in fact, are down 40 percent or more from their highs. Investors who overstayed the market are apparently making their disenchantment known. The current issue of the Lowe Investment and Financial Letter says, 'We are showing losses on our gold mining share recommended list… but keep in mind that these shares are for the long-term as investments.'" New York Times, March 26.
  
  Sounds like what you might read in an issue of a Casey Research metals newsletter..

• "The time to buy gold shares," [James Dines] declares, "is when there is blood in the streets." New York Times, September 12.
  
  If you glance at the chart above, Jim's comments were made within two weeks of the absolute low.

• "We're recommending to clients that they hold gold and gold shares," [C. Austin Barker, consulting economist] says. "The low-production-cost mines in South Africa might be interesting to buy for the longer term because I see further inflation ahead." New York Times, September 12.
  
  Investors who listened to Mr. Barker ended up seeing massive gains in their gold and gold equity holdings.

• "The probability of runaway inflation by 1980 is 50%... In light of this, the only safe investments are gold, silver, and Swiss francs,'" said the late Harry Browne on November 21 in the New York Times.
   

• "In the longer run, [Jeffrey Nichols of Argus Research] believes gold's price trend 'is much more likely to be upward than downward.'" New York Times, December 19.
  
  The "longer run" won.

• "'I think the intermediate outlook for gold is a period of consolidation and a bit of dullness,' says Mr. Werden. 'However, six or nine months from now, we could see renewed interest in gold.'" New York Times, December 19.
  
  He was right; within nine months gold had risen 13.5%.

• "Mr. Holt offers some advice to investors who are taking tax losses on their South African gold shares – some of which are selling at just 30 to 35 percent of their peak prices in 1974. 'If leverage has worked against you on the way down,' he reasons, 'why not take advantage of it on the way up?'" New York Times, December 19.
  
  Solid advice for investors today, too.

• "What's his [Thomas J. Holt] prediction for the future price of gold? 'A new high, reaching above $200 an ounce, within the next couple years.'" New York Times, December 19.
  
  His prediction was conservative; gold reached $200 nineteen months later, by July 1978.

It's clear that there were positive "voices in the wilderness" during that big correction, and as we all know, those who listened profited mightily.

There were other interesting tidbits, too. For example, gold stocks had been performing so poorly for so long that some advisors suggested a strategy we also hear today…

• "It is probably too late to sell gold shares, the stock market's worst-acting group these days, except for one possible strategy: selling to take a tax loss and switching into a comparable gold security to retain a position in the group." New York Times, September 12.

Even back then, it was widely known that gold often bucks the trend of the broader markets…

• "You might put a small portion of your money into gold shares and pray like the dickens that you lose half of it. In that way, chances are that if gold shares go down, the rest of your stock portfolio will go up." New York Times, September 12.

Gold miners provided critical revenue and jobs, just like today. From the August 2 issue of Time magazine…

• "South Africa, the world's largest gold producer, is being hurt the most. The price drop will cost it at least $200 million in potential export earnings this year."

• "Layoffs at the gold mines would make it even worse – the joblessness could intensify South Africa's explosive racial unrest."

• The Soviet Union, the world's second-largest gold producer, is feeling the price drop, too. The Soviets depend on gold sales to get hard currency needed to buy US grain and other imports."

Gold was also used as collateral…

• "The international gold market was also roiled yesterday by a report by the Commodity News Service that Iran was negotiating to lend South Africa roughly $600 million, predicated on a collateral of 6.25 million ounces of gold."

And just like today, there were plenty of stupid misguided US politicians: From the New York Times on August 27:

• "The drop in gold bullion prices from $126, which was the average at the first IMF auction June 2, provoked the Swiss National Bank to attack Washington's attitude toward the metal as 'childish.' Aside from the estimated $4.8 billion of gold reserves held by Switzerland, bankers there advocate some role for the metal as a form of discipline against unrestricted printing of paper money."

That last statement from the Swiss bankers is hauntingly just as true today.
Last, you know how the government in India has been tinkering with the precious-metals market in its country? And how it's led to smuggling? From the New York Times on August 27:

• "India announced it was resuming its ban on the export of silver. India is believed to have the largest silver hoard and the government there freed exports earlier this year as a means of earning taxes levied on overseas sales. However, most silver dealers minimized the significance of India's move yesterday. As one dealer explained, 'Smuggling silver out of India is so ingrained there that the ban will have no effect on the flow. It never has. Indian silver will continue to ebb and flow into the world market according to price.'"

So what's the difference in mood today vs. the mid-1970s? Nothing! This shows that the same concerns, fears, and confusion we have now existed at a similar point in the gold market then. There were also those who saw the big picture and stayed vigilant. Virtually every comment made in 1976 could apply to today. Keep in mind that most of the statements above are from two publications only; there are undoubtedly many more similar comments from that year.

The obvious lesson here is that patience won out in the end. It took the gold price three years and seven months to return to its December 1974 high. It only took another 18 months to soar to $850. Today, that would be the equivalent of gold falling until June this year, and not returning to its $1,921 high until April, 2015. It would also mean we climb to $6,227 and get there in November, 2016. Could you wait that long for a fourfold return?

This review of history gives us the confidence to know that our gold investments are on the right track. I hope you'll join me and everyone else at Casey Research in accepting this message from history and staying the course.

So, what will your kids or grandkids read in a few decades?

• "Buy gold. It's going a lot higher." Jeff Clark, Casey Research, March 24, 2013.

Gold is going higher, but gold producers are going to go higher still. Now, junior gold explorers… if you select the right ones, you'll experience life-changing gains. Identifying junior gold miners with the right stuff is how contrarian investing legends Doug Casey, Rick Rule, and Bill Bonner have made millions – and right now you have the opportunity to hear them reveal exactly how they did it, and how you can, too. It's all happening during the upcoming Downturn Millionaires web video event, which is free.

To learn more, click here.


The 2 Energy Sectors You Should Invest in This Year

The Collapse in the Junior Mining Stock Sector

To say the precious metals market is in turmoil would be an understatement. Gold has dropped 3% in the last year, while gold stocks have been completely decimated, even strong firms with outstanding projects are down 50% or more.

It's not surprising many investors are wondering if the bull market in precious metals is over… yet conditions like we're seeing now in the mining sector are exactly what contrarian investors look for.

To help clarify today's investing environment in precious metals stocks for you, Casey Research called together a panel of experts in mining and natural resources for an urgent summit: Downturn Millionaires.

We videotaped this event on location (at La Estancia de Cafayate in Argentina, with video feeds to panelists in the junior resource capital of Vancouver) and will air it on the Internet at 2 p.m. Eastern time on April 8.

This event is free to the public. All you have to do is register....Just click here.

Among the topics covered in depth:

* Does the bull market in gold and silver still have legs?

* What investors with positions in junior resource stocks can do today to reduce losses and reposition their portfolios.

* Is the gold stock sector doomed, or has the disconnect between the price action of the juniors in the face of rampant central bank money printing created a once in a generation contrarian opportunity to profit?

* A critical, extremely timely overview of the state of the global economy.

Here's the "Downturn Millionaires" all star guest line up and registration form to sign up now for the Downturn Millionaires webcast.


The 2 Energy Sectors You Should Invest in This Year

Say Goodbye to Yellow Gold and Hello to Black Gold

The gold market continues to frustrate the bulls and confound conventional wisdom. The market action yesterday and early today can only be seen as negative. With both our weekly and monthly Trade Triangles red, we see no reason to get excited about gold moving higher at the moment, so for now say goodbye to yellow gold.

On the other side of the ledger, say hello to black gold. Yesterday our weekly green Trade Triangle kicked in and gave a buy signal in the crude oil market. Yesterday's buy signal was in line with the longer term monthly Trade Triangle, which has been bullish and in place for quite some time. We see the renewed bull market in crude oil continuing from here based on our Trade Triangle technology. With gasoline and crude oil prices moving higher, it does raise concerns about gas prices. If gas prices become so expensive, is that going to derail the economy?

The 2 Energy Sectors You Should Invest in This Year

The 2 Energy Sectors You Should Invest in This Year

Top energy analyst Marin Katusa, frequently featured in the financial media such as Forbes, Business News, Financial Sense News Hour, and the Al Korelin Show, says two highly undervalued energy sectors will provide windfalls for smart investors this year.

Read his assessment, including which two energy sectors you should be bullish on for 2013....and which two you'd only lose money on. Click here for Marin's free report, The 2013 Energy Forecast.


Read "Fortune Favors the Bold Energy Investor"

What Does 8% Inflation Really Mean?

From Dennis Miller at Casey Research......

 

Eight percent is not good news. In my latest article I shared some reader feedback from our inflation survey, and in case you missed it, the Money Forever Reader Poll Inflation Rate is 8%. But what does that number really mean for us – seniors and savers trying to protect our buying power? It's time to read the tea leaves and find out.

 

Up to Your Ass in Alligators

You may remember the old poster that read, "When you are up to your ass in alligators, it's tough to remember the goal was to drain the swamp." You may have felt overwhelmed during the last few years, as the investment options for your retirement portfolio changed. You might read about the benefits of gold and silver one day, then CDs, dividend-paying stocks, and annuities the next. It's pretty easy to feel overwhelmed, particularly when you cannot afford to put too much of your life savings at risk.



One of our readers really drove home the challenges we all face:

"Anyone who has been living on SS [Social Security] checks since 2000 will tell you the same thing. They cannot live on those checks alone, and [have] depended on the interest they receive from their savings accounts or CDs. They cannot do this any longer. They now need to withdraw principal or redeem some CDs just to make ends meet. … [We are] on fixed incomes with no hope of getting a raise. These people understand the effects of inflation more than any other group. These people live with fear every day, understanding they have little control over their financial future, while watching their life savings slowly vanish every year."

Of the readers who responded to our poll, 1.6% think the inflation rate is 2% or less. On the flip side, the remaining 98.4% must think the government is lying (or in need of a new statistician).
My dear friend Toots, whom I often quote, wrote, "Did we prove once again the world is not flat?" Perhaps, but there's more to it. Certainly, I've made that point before, but that doesn't negate the need to highlight these phony government numbers. We shouldn't accept falsehoods with a nod and a wink; that's how they become immutable "facts" of life in many people's minds.

Some folks want to debate the methodology used by Shadow Government Statistics, but that misses the point. The bottom line is: 98.4% of us agree that the real inflation rate is higher than the rate reported by the BLS. That is the reality of our readers – at the grocery store, the gas pump, and today at the flower shop (gentlemen, don't forget roses for your sweetheart). Anyone living on a fixed income already knows this.
The real issue is that we are getting squeezed! At least, 98.4% of us think so. There's no need to dwell on whether it's 6%, 7% or 8%, etc. What really matters is how this affects your life. If the price of my favorite snack doubled, and the price of broccoli dropped 50%, my costs are rising. The price of broccoli could drop 99%, and I still wouldn't buy it.

While planning for retirement, most of us planned for a 2% inflation rate and anticipated earning 6% on our portfolio. That was a nice retirement plan while it lasted, but it won't do much good for anyone now.
Another old-line "rule" was: a retiree could safely use 4% of his portfolio every year to supplement Social Security, and still be fine for the rest of his life. Where did the math come from? If your portfolio grew 6% every year and you took out 4%, the remaining 2% covered any loss to inflation. It was really that simple, and it worked just fine for me in my early retirement years.

We have all heard the old rule, "Live off the interest and never touch the principal." That is exactly what we were doing, while also protecting that principal from inflation.

Now comes the scary part. If the real rate of inflation is anywhere near the Money Forever Reader Poll Inflation Rate of 8%, how much can we take out of our portfolio every year without losing buying power? The math is still simple, but with a frightening answer: nothing, unless you earn more than 8%.

The problem is easy to understand, but the solution is tough to implement. If we want that same 4% to supplement our Social Security checks, we need to earn 12% on our portfolio every year – 8% for inflation and 4% for income. And this does not even factor in taxes. Those of us with a traditional IRA who are over 70 1/2 years old are required to take a minimum distribution, which can come with a nice tax bill.

Imagine that you have a $1 million portfolio, and your goal is to keep up with the Money Forever Reader Poll Inflation Rate and earn 4% income to supplement your Social Security checks. That's $120,000. To maintain a somewhat conservative posture, we recommend 30-33% of your portfolio be in cash, which pays little if any interest; let's assume cash pays 0% for the moment. That means you must earn 17.1% on the remaining $700,000 to reach your goal of $120,000.

That return can come in the form of an income check, dividends, and stock appreciation. Whatever the source, that's a pretty tall order. And it's particularly daunting when you consider that anyone close to retirement age should make minimal high-risk investments. We can't bet it all on a speculative stock, hoping to catch the next Internet startup success story.

Finding the Strength to Strangle the Nemean Lion

The Money Forever team is on the lookout for solid companies that not only pay dividends, but also have a history of regular dividend increases. In the last quarter, three of the stocks in the Money Forever portfolio increased their dividends. It is highly unlikely that most of us will live long enough to see our dividends equal 50% of our investment (which is what Warren Buffett receives from Coca-Cola, according to what I've read). However, if a company is currently paying 4%, it won't take too long to see an 8% yield. Once our dividend yield is at or above the inflation rate, we can factor in appreciation and start gaining ground on the inflation monster once again.

While dividend-paying stocks will get us on the right track, there's still more work ahead. Dividends alone are not enough; we also need stock appreciation. If you subscribe to our premium publications, it may be a good time to review our special report, Money Every Month, where we discuss this in great detail. As of today, over half of the stocks in our portfolio have double-digit gains. While we are proud of what we have accomplished to date, we also understand that the current market could change any minute. We have to remain vigilant. Stocks with a long history of increasing their dividends plus a good history of appreciation are hot tickets. Perhaps this is part of the reason why the stock market is doing so well in a tough economy.

Alternative sources of income can also help. Two of our recent Money Forever premium issues focused on annuities and reverse mortgages. Under the right circumstances, as we outline in our reports, these can be valuable alternatives for filling your cash-flow gap. Nevertheless, please consider all of the risks and cautionary tales included in our reports before purchasing an annuity or signing a reverse mortgage. One seemingly simple mistake – like neglecting to put your spouse on a reverse mortgage – can be devastating.

So can it be done? Can we really build a portfolio that will stand up against the current rate of inflation? Sure; but we have to stay on top of our investments and continue to educate ourselves. "Set it and forget it" won't work.

From the Stadium to the Golf Course

For many of us, cutting back on expenses is very difficult. It can feel like part of our retirement dream is going up in smoke. We have friends who planned to take summer and winter cruises every year after they retired. They thought they had the money to do it, but now they have to cut back. They do not enjoy their driving trip to the local state park nearly as much as they do a cruise.

One of the respondents to our survey mentioned that he cut back on golf from three days to two days a week. Our good friend Phil addressed his golf situation in a unique manner. For several years he had volunteered during spring training for a major league baseball team. Then the local golf course advertised for part-time help. He inquired; the job sounded like fun, and he negotiated complimentary greens fees as part of his package. For him it is the best of both worlds. Now he has a little extra income, his golf expenses are radically reduced, and he still is able to golf regularly, something he really enjoys. And yes, the baseball team is going to have to recruit another free laborer. Somehow, I think they'll manage!

I'm realizing we all have to come to grips with the reality described by our reader at the beginning of today's article. While it may be difficult for all of us, we are old enough to know that putting things off only makes problems get worse faster. It's like our own personal fiscal cliff, but we can't keep running the printing press and ignoring the real problem.

My oldest daughter, also a baby boomer, went to a class on personal financial management about ten years ago. I asked her what she thought the biggest lesson was. Her response surprised me:

"The first thing to deal with is your expectations. If you want a lot of stuff, and currently do not have the income to pay for it, you must find ways to increase your income. If that is not possible, then you must learn to adjust your lifestyle and be happy with what you have, living within your means. Dad, they stressed that part of being truly happy is the realization that your neighbor may have more or less than you do and it makes no difference. Personal financial management is as much an adjustment of your attitude as it is an adjustment of your spending habits."

In retrospect, that class had a major effect on her life. She is a grandmother now, and she and her husband have a truly happy family. I believe it was philosopher William James who said, "Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes." That sentiment certainly rings true.

OK, you get the point, but you may not like it. Neither do I, and neither do the millions of our peers in the same predicament. So what should we do? To start with, everything I just mentioned, which is quite a task. Become an active investor, learn, and adjust to the new market. We must protect our nest eggs and look for solid income opportunities. We must look at our spending habits and see where we can cut back. Every dollar we save takes a little pressure off our portfolio and the need for it to produce income.

Also, don't discount finding other sources of income. Write the book you've been dreaming about – turn your hobbies into a profit. I have a buddy who worked in the auto industry. Dealers often sell a car they do not have in inventory if there is one at a nearby dealer they can trade for. He set up a business helping dealers move vehicles around. He loves it because he stays active, and he says he had to learn zero new skills. His comment was, "Where else can I get a part-time job where I get paid to drive around listening to a ball game?"

You, dear readers, drove home the point for me with your feedback to our survey. If we need 12% or so to protect our nest eggs, then we all have to accept that challenge. If we have a really good year, we can grow our nest eggs and increase our buying power. If we fall short, we must keep erosion to a minimum.

The last time I ran a retirement planning computer program, it said I would be fine as long as I passed away before age 125. In a bad year that may slip to 115. We are all in this together, and I'm committed to making sure Miller's Money Forever lives up to its name.

One final thought…

My overriding point is that we have to take control of our retirement finances. Like I said earlier, the days of "set it and forget it" are gone. The upside here is that we can actually secure our retirement. Together with thousands of subscribers we're doing just that. One way to start is with our free Money Every Month plan outlining how to invest so you’re getting income every month.  Click here to find out more about this plan.
 

The 2 Energy Sectors You Should Invest in This Year

Where is all the new Natural Gas Pipeline Construction?

U.S. natural gas pipeline capacity investment slowed in 2012 after several years of robust growth. Limited capacity additions were concentrated in the northeast United States, mainly focused on removing bottlenecks for fast growing Marcellus shale gas production. More than half of new pipeline projects that entered commercial service in 2012 were in the Northeast (see map below). Excluding gathering, storage, and distribution lines, project sponsors in the United States added 4.5 billion cubic feet per day of new pipeline capacity and 367 miles of pipe totaling $1.8 billion in capital expenditures in 2012.




Read the entire EIA article


Today's Top Performing ETF's

Tax Treatment of PFGBest Losses

Our friends at DeCarley Trading are reminding Ex-PFG clients to be sure to properly claim the fraudulent losses on your tax return......


Many of you have been asking about the tax treatment of losses sustained at the hands of PFGBEST. Please see below statement from the CCC:

The IRS has confirmed that victims of the PFGBest fraud can access the optional safe harbor mechanism set forth in Revenue Procedure 2009-20 so that victims can claim their losses as theft losses. Responding to the CCC’s request for guidance, the IRS stated in a letter:

…the PFGBest scheme qualifies as a “specified fraudulent arrangement” within the meaning of Revenue Procedure 2009-20. Thus, investors who otherwise meet the requirements of Revenue Procedure 2009-20 may use the safe harbor, following the procedures as set forth in that revenue procedure.

The full response is posted below, along with the documents necessary to utilize this mechanism. Please note: it is not required that PFGBest victims use this procedure. It may not provide the best solution for your particular tax situation. Claimants in the PFGBest case are urged to consult their tax professionals as soon as practicable to determine if it is appropriate and wise to seek relief under the safe harbor deduction for theft losses. You may need to provide the following documents to your tax advisor:

IRS Response to CCC
Revenue Ruling 2009-09: PDF Version
Revenue Procedure 2009-20:PDF Version
CCC Request to IRS CCC Request to IRS
Wasendorf Plea Agreement Wassendorf Plea Agreement
Wassendorf Judgement Wassendorf Judgement

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Hugo Chavez Is Gone, But His Oil Legacy Lives On

On March 5, 2013, Hugo Chávez, one of the most iconic presidents in the world, died at the age of 58. While he was alive, Chávez was a highly controversial figure, calling George W. Bush a drunkard and a "psychologically sick man" and Tony Blair an "imperialist pawn who attempts to curry favor with Danger Bush-Hitler."

Like him or hate him, Chávez definitely had a huge following in Venezuela, as well as the entirety of Latin America. His anti-American and socialistic rhetoric made him an ally of Fidel Castro in Cuba and Ahmadinejad in Iran. Combined with Correa in Ecuador, Fernández in Argentina, and Morales in Bolivia, Chávez was able to make a front in South America against the "evil imperialist gringos."

But with him no longer in the picture, things will change, and cheap Venezuelan oil will be able to flow into the markets, right?

Wrong!

Whoever succeeds Hugo Chávez will be trapped between a rock and a hard place. Venezuela currently has some of the cheapest gasoline in the world; it's costing an average of $1 to fill up one's tank. These low prices are made possible by the enormous amount of fuel subsidies – estimated to be 4.5% of the GDP (for reference, the US Department of Defense spends 4.5% of the US GDP). Any attempts to remove these subsidies will be met with enormous resistance from the population, which has long viewed cheap gas as a birthright.

To make things worse, the production of oil from Venezuela has been steadily decreasing due to the lack of reinvesting back into the oil patch and lack of upgrading the energy infrastructure. Instead of investing in the oil sector, Chávez has been spending most of the money on social programs. This decrease in supply combined with increased demand for oil from a growing population means there is much less oil available for exports.

In fact, since Chávez took power in 1999, Venezuela's oil exports have been cut by half. Oil provides 45% of Venezuela's revenue, so in order to keep running the country, the government must find a way to get more money out of every barrel that it exports. And what better way is there than to pass it on to the evil imperialist consumers of the West?

This situation is not happening just in Venezuela, but in many other oil producing countries: Iran, Kuwait, and Indonesia are just a few examples. It is only a matter of time before these countries conspire in order to raise the worldwide price of crude oil. What will they raise it to?

U.S. $100 per barrel of oil? U.S. $150? U.S. $200? Whatever it takes to keep the country running and the ruling classes in power. Will America be spared? According to the latest International Energy Agency (IEA) report, the United States will become self sufficient in energy by 2035, which means that it will be free from the geopolitical manipulations of oil producing countries.

Unfortunately for America, this report is flawed and filled with inconsistencies, relying on it to guide your energy investment decisions would likely prove disastrous to your portfolio. A better bet for your portfolio would be to follow the advice in The 2013 Energy Forecast. It provides an insider's view of two segments of the energy sector likely to provide sizable near term returns to investors who position themselves now.

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When it comes to coffee, at this point all that matters is Brazil

Well, the JO crowd finished the week on a positive note. But the bears are still in charge when it comes to coffee. As I have said before, we can pick apart what is going along across the globe but it looks like as Brazil coffee farmers go, so goes coffee futures pricing. Here's today's post on coffee from one of our trading partners Mike Seery......

Coffee futures finished this Friday afternoon on a positive note closing at 136 a pound up 200 points for the trading session finishing higher for the 3rd straight day but still right near 2 ½ year lows as the bear market continues finishing down around 100 points for the trading week.

Coffee futures on the daily chart has excellent chart structure so if you are willing to stick your neck out you will be able to place tight stops limiting your monetary loss in case you are wrong and at this point there is still talk of a tremendous crop coming out of Brazil which is keeping a lid on prices despite the fact of rust problems in Central America a bad drought in Vietnam which is reducing their crop forecast but Brazil’s crop could be so huge as traders are unwilling to stick their neck out on the upside at this point.

As I’ve stated in many previous blogs I was bullish coffee and I was wrong, however the longer we start to grind lower like we are at this point with no volatility going into the volatile frost season I still believe if you have deep enough pockets and you are willing to take a longer term view coffee prices I believe will reward you in the long run because I do believe prices will be higher 12 months from now than they are at these depressed levels.

Even producers in Brazil are starting to complain that prices are getting to low and are starting hold back some of their crop eventually that’s what happens with prices get to low and if prices get too high producers often produce too much sending prices lower but at this point prices are so low that production in my opinion will start to decrease.

Coffee trend? Lower. Chart structure? excellent.

We remain long coffee using ETF "JO"

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