Author Archive
Can European Countries Afford Liberal Pension Benefits ?
Many countries in Europe are struggling with huge deficits. In the past few years Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain (PIIGS) have had severe economic issues with Greece requiring multiple bailouts to avoid a default on its debt. One of the reasons why many of the European countries are suffering with debt problems is that [...]
15 Investment Opportunities in the MidStream/Infrastructure Industry
Companies operating in the midstream and infrastructure category perform some of the vital functions in the global energy industry.While the infrastructure firms provide the required infrastructure facilities for the industry the midstream companies process, store, market and transport commodities such as crude oil, natural gas, etc. Hence investors looking to add some exposure to the [...]
The World’s Oil Reserves by Country
The world’s oil reserves by country is shown in the chart below. Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Canada, Iran and Iraq hold the top five reserves as a percentage of the world’s total as of January 1, 2011. It is interesting that Canada’s tar sands puts the country in the top five list ahead of even Russia. [...]
Deleveraging by US households Delayed
One of the major reasons for the credit crisis of 2008 was US consumers over extending their debt levels. All types of personal debts such as credit card debt, mortgages, auto loans, home equity loans and others reached historical levels before the credit bubble burst. With stagnant rises in wages for years the debt to [...]
The World’s Top 20 Natural Gas Reserves by Country
The U.S. has the fifth largest natural gas reserves in the world as shown in the chart below. The top five countries – Russia, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. – account for over 60% of the world’s total reserves: Click to enlarge Source: International Energy Outlook 2011, U.S. EIA Related ETF: U.S. Natural [...]
Avoid Companies Buying Their Own Stocks
Stock buybacks by U.S. companies has reached record levels. Flush with billions in cash many companies have figured out that the best way to spend those funds is to simply buy their own shares. The following chart from a recent Wall Street Journal article shows the gradual rise in share buybacks since the market lows [...]
