The Department of Energy (DOE) recently released the 2014 Wind Technologies Market Report, providing a comprehensive update on the state of wind power within the US and the challenges that lie ahead. The report shows that while US wind power capacity has been increasing, the lack of a coherent and comprehensive governmental policy will likely
Commodities
The near-term future for commodities looks grim and the recently released “Commodity Markets Outlook, July 2015” from the World Bank reinforces this point. The second quarter of 2015 saw most commodities drop by 2% in overall non-energy commodity price indices. Oil prices were actually up slightly during the reporting period, but have taken a recent
Now that the U.S. is among the world leaders in oil production, does it make sense to retain the ban on U.S. oil exports? These bans were imposed in the mid-1970s in response to the oil embargo from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). At the time, the U.S. was highly dependent on oil
Solar energy seems to be reaching a mainstream tipping point worldwide. While solar power currently makes a small contribution to the world’s energy production (accounting for 0.5% of global electricity demand in 2011 according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions), the percentages are growing rapidly. Within the U.S., the amount has grown from
Eike Batista has been on the most extreme financial roller coaster you could ever imagine. Actually, it is doubtful that anyone but Batista could truly understand the financial highs and lows he has experienced over the past few years.
Eike, a Brazilian entrepreneur, built an empire of companies that resulted in a net worth of
What do Silicon Valley and agriculture have in common? Not much, you may think… but agriculture and technology are becoming increasingly intertwined. Tech companies see financial opportunities in agricultural pursuits, farmers see potential cost savings and higher yields through technological improvements, and perhaps world hunger may be reduced as a result.
The tech industry is
There have been rough times in the commodity markets, but copper has been hit especially hard. From an early-2011 peak that approached $10,000 per metric ton, copper lost nearly 30% of its value in mid-2011, and after a brief recovery, has slowly dropped to its current price ($2.534 per pound or $5,575 per metric ton
The term “market correction” is unsettling to most investors, but it really should not be. If you take the longer view of investing and resist overreacting, you may be able to capitalize on the correction and make long-term lemonade out of short-term lemons.
A correction is generally defined as a relatively short-term loss of 10%
Alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power are considered crucial by many people and their respective governments to combat global warming and climate change. Cost factors and reliability are the primary reasons that solar and wind power have not made larger inroads into our infrastructure.
A study by Charles Frank, an economist and
Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) can be tricky to value, because they have the pricing characteristics of both mutual funds and stocks.
ETF’s, like mutual funds, contain a market basket of shares of different companies, and so their valuation is calculated as a Net Asset Value (NAV) which gives you the collective valuation of the underlying holdings
Pairs trading, developed by analysts at Morgan Stanley in the 1980s, uses correlation between two similar investment vehicles to create a market-neutral trading strategy – where profits are not related to whether the overall market goes up or down.
Correlation of two investment vehicles refers to how their prices change relative to each other. If
The Foreign Currency Market, often called the FOREX or FX market, is a marketplace for the buying and selling of currencies, which are considered a form of commodity. Investors make or lose money based on changes in the value of relative currencies.
Trades on the FOREX market are made in currency pairs – you are
Natural gas has been touted by some as a greener alternative to other fossil fuels, and thanks to technological improvements to increase supply, the current price also makes natural gas an attractive option.
The relatively sudden increased availability of natural gas was a boon for energy consumers. Unfortunately for investors, natural gas price plummeted through
Futures are investments that allow you to buy commodities by locking in a certain price at a specific time without actually buying the shares. These are speculative bets you are placing on the future price of a commodity, sometimes far in advance. In addition to commodities such as crude oil and corn, stocks, foreign currencies
Commodities are commercial goods that are considered interchangeable with other goods of the same kind and quality, and traded in that fashion. When most people think of commodities, they may think of traditional commodities such as wheat, cattle, heating oil or gold. Today, this definition can also include financial instruments such as currencies or indices,