Japan Aims to Sell Massive Floating Structures to Stockpile Oil
Source: Takeo Kumagai, Platts  (2/19/12)
"The Japanese government will partner with the private sector to promote exports of megafloats to stockpile oil products, starting with a possible deal with Vietnam in 2013." More >

The Positive Side of the WTI–Brent Spread
Source: Kent Moors, Money Morning  (2/19/12)
"In the Midwest, refinery capacity has been strained; however, there is a glut of crude coming from Canada, which is creating a discount for these companies." More >

Silver Could Double by Year-End
Source: Jason Hamlin, Gold Stock Bull  (2/18/12)
"Once fear begins to subside, look for precious metals to come roaring back to new highs by midyear. Whenever the next financial crisis finally hits, we are likely to witness a new injection of quantitative easing that is even stronger than what transpired in 2008." More >

Oil Sands Semantics: I Say Potato, You Say Po-Tar Sands
Source: Joel Chury, VantageWire  (2/18/12)
"The key descriptor falls into two categories: oil sands or tar sands. The former is the term more commonly used among industry types. To use the term 'tar sands' is to evoke the negative, to essentially tar and feather the debate." More >

MLPs Post Biggest Weekly Gain of 2012
Source: Hinds Howard, MLP HINDSight  (2/18/12)
"On the back of rising commodity prices, a reprieve from equity offerings and benign broader stock markets, MLPs had a very good week, up 2.7% compared with the S&P 500, which was up 1.4%." More >

Gold's Wild Ride Leaves Explorers Ready to Grow: Tom MacNeill
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report  (2/17/12)
Lesser resource companies have been slowly starving to death since the capital faucet was turned off in 2008. What's left? Some exciting, early-stage companies with management teams industrious enough to make it through with promising projects on the horizon. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Tom MacNeill, CEO of 49 North Resources Inc., a Saskatchewan-focused resource investment company, discusses some names his firm is excited about, including some primed to debut on the public markets soon. More >

Quiet Session Sees Gold and Silver Flat
Source: Ben Traynor, BullionVault  (2/17/12)
"Spot market prices for buying gold held just above $1,730/oz during flat trading this morning in London, as speculation continued over whether a Greek bailout will be agreed next week." More >

Record High Gold Prices Fail to Curb Global Demand
Source: Eric McWhinnie, Wall St. Cheat Sheet  (2/17/12)
"Gold prices continue to receive additional support as central banks not only devalue fiat currencies, but also purchase gold themselves." More >

Silver Eagles Soar
Source: Rick Mills, 
Ahead of the Herd  (2/17/12)
"Investors are currently risk averse and mining stocks are not well understood by the general investing public, but at least one thing is going to become very apparent to most: The best way to hedge yourself against inflation could be owning silver." More >

Suppressing Gold
Source: Guiseppi Borelli, The Unpunctured Cycle  (2/17/12)
"Someone is capping gold, but this is a bull market with both the primary and secondary trends headed higher. Under such conditions, stay long and buy dips where liquidity allows." More >

Study: 'No Evidence of Groundwater Contamination' from Fracking
Source: Shannon Brushe, Energy InDepth  (2/17/12)
"A new study from the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin has found 'no evidence' of hydraulic fracturing leading to groundwater contamination, as well as a marked trend of negative, ill-researched media coverage on the topic." More >

Infectious Disease Technologies Could Open Investment Opportunities in 2012: Stephen Dunn
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (2/16/12)
Investors have avoided infectious disease companies like the plague, but LifeTech Capital President and Senior Managing Director of Research Stephen Dunn doesn't agree, and he has staked out some ideas in this space that could make you financially better off. In this exclusive interview with The Life Sciences Report, Dunn explains the rationale and delivers the names of bug-fighting companies that use the newest technologies to overcome old barriers to success. More >

Biofuels Carry Upside for Early Investors: Jim Lane
Source: Zig Lambo of The Energy Report  (2/16/12)
The biofuel sector, already an $80 billion a year industry, is still in its infancy. In this exclusive interview with The Energy Report, Biofuels Digest Publisher Jim Lane discusses the exponential growth slated for this once-obscure energy source, and how its market resembles the traditional oil and gas industry in many ways. While biofuels are not for the faint of heart, as Lane cautions, investors who do their homework can get in early on companies that offer incredible upside potential. More >

Will Gold Cleanse the World from Dirty Fiat Currencies?
Source: Eric McWhinnie, Wall St. Cheat Sheet  (2/16/12)
"Despite a temporary boost in the dollar this month, gold and silver continue to receive support from extremely loose global monetary policies." More >

Are We at Gold "In Extremis"?
Source: Julian Phillips, Gold Forecaster  (2/16/12)
"Gold brings interbank/international liquidity to clogged credit markets, acting as a guarantee of repayment and allowing for the lowering of interest rates on interbank/international loans. This role supports the paper money system." More >

Gold Stocks Basing After Bottom
Source: Jordan Roy-Byrne, The Daily Gold
  (2/16/12)
"We expect 2012 to be a transition year in which precious metals reemerge while the broad market peters out at resistance." More >

Euro Crisis Still Supporting Gold
Source: Ben Traynor, BullionVault  (2/15/12)
"The euro fell sharply against the dollar Wednesday lunchtime, after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble expressed concern over whether Greece can be given its second bailout." More >

Gold, Silver Heading Up: Roger Wiegand
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report   (2/15/12)
Roger Wiegand, editor of Trader Tracks, says cycles will bring gold and silver higher in the first half of 2012: gold up to $2,050/oz and silver up to $44/oz or even $50/oz. He sees plenty of opportunities for volatility given the political and economic situation in the U.S. and the EU. In this exclusive Gold Report interview, Wiegand reveals names of mining companies poised to profit. More >

Takeovers the Path to Golden Returns: Sascha Opel
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report  (2/15/12)
Sascha Opel, publisher of one of Germany's most popular commodity newsletters, looks at the economy with rose-colored glasses. He sees the end of the Euro crisis and sees Asian growth as the engine pulling the world out of its economic malaise. He finds the path to golden returns in gold and silver companies likely to be taken over and in this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, he's not afraid to name likely targets. More >

Pandas and Pipelines: China Yields Big Deals and Bigger Promises
Source: Joel Chury, Vantage Wire  (2/15/12)
"Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper returns from China with two giant pandas in tow and $3B worth of signed agreements. The Northern Gateway pipeline will most likely tie China to Alberta's oil sands." More >

Why Energy Investing Is Worth the Effort
Source: James Baldwin, Money Morning  (2/15/12)
"Even if you only have a small amount of money to invest, you can fight inflation's assault on your wallet by investing in the most profitable sector of all time." More >

The Lesson of Half-Hearted QE
Source: Adrian Ash, Bullion Vault  (2/15/12)
"Keeping banks on life support, as the Japanese experience shows, will mean extending and expanding QE indefinitely." More >

A Financial Perspective on Graphite
Source: Jessica Roberts, Industrial Minerals  (2/15/12)
"Graphite is gaining momentum, but understanding, education and interest are all low. Go, go, go, because graphite is going to be a race." More >

Rare Earth Metals Demand Is Unstoppable: Jeb Handwerger
Source: Sally Lowder of The Critical Metals Report  (2/14/12)
Not long after the New Year dawned, Gold Stock Trades Editor Jeb Handwerger noted certain rare earths emerging from their 2011 slumber to produce impressive gains. It's not yet March, but the good news keeps coming. Despite dire predictions that demand is drying up, Handwerger tells The Critical Metals Report in this exclusive interview that the world remains at risk of supply shortfalls. It's not strictly a rare earths story, either. Read on to see what he has to say about the nascent niobium space. More >

Oil Prices Make for Profitable ETF Trades: Roger Wiegand
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Energy Report   (2/14/12)
Today's retail investors have more options than ever before, but there is a shortage of practical information on how to manipulate different investment products, be they ETFs, options or equities. Enter Roger Wiegand, editor of Trader Tracks. In this exclusive interview with The Energy Report, Wiegand discusses his methods for energy investment and how to set tailor-made time and price windows to realize solid gains. More >