MAD MONEY

Well, there is a practical limit to the amount of coal one can own because of the bulk. It certainly makes sense to buy in bulk to get a break on transportation costs and lock in at today's prices. But don't overdo it. It's not a very liquid asset (pun intended) and can't be quickly turned into cash like a stock or bond. I would not want more than a decades worth of coal for my personal heating needs. If you believe Anthracite coal value will increase in the future what's needed is a futures contract. You would be betting on an increased price at some future date but not actually physically owning the coal. There are certainly coal futures contracts for Power Plant coal but don't think there are any for Anthracite coal.

stockingfull wrote:

spc wrote:If these oil producing countries see environmentally based & alternate energy products taking hold they will start ramping up production which I think (?) will lower oil prices. In turn these alternate products & research for them will fall by the wayside. Is this scenario possible?

Historically, that's what's happened. But this time I think people -- including governments -- will look much more closely when/if that happens.

Some of that will possibly happen, but no were enough to make much of a difference. It's all very complicated but the oil rich nations (i.e. state controlled) are not making the investments to significantly increase production. It's not to their best interest to do so and they can get a better and less risky return on their investment dollars else where. For the next decade or so coal will be the king for US electric production with new nuclear plants trying to gain a greater share of the production. New nuclear will happen because no politician will want to be blamed when the light go out. No amount of conservation can possibly blunt the growing electric demand. For transportation use the Canadian tar sands will provide a growing share of the US needs. That's where the big oil companies will be investing big bucks. Oil prices need to rise some more to really make it happen. There are scaled up production projects going on right now. It's one reason why the current NAFTA is so important to the US. If we cancel the treaty or change it to harm Canada they can just sell the tar sands oil on the free market. Like, I said it's all very complicated. We need a new President with a real thinking brain to figure this all out.

invest in Whaling futures. We used to use whale oil before we got oil from the ground, we might have to go back. Traditionally when stocks are down collector cars gain value. Same with gold. I don't recommend buying gold at $1000/oz or Chevelle's for $250,000 but people do.

Yanche wrote:For the next decade or so coal will be the king for US electric production with new nuclear plants trying to gain a greater share of the production. New nuclear will happen because no politician will want to be blamed when the light go out. No amount of conservation can possibly blunt the growing electric demand. For transportation use the Canadian tar sands will provide a growing share of the US needs. That's where the big oil companies will be investing big bucks. Oil prices need to rise some more to really make it happen. There are scaled up production projects going on right now. It's one reason why the current NAFTA is so important to the US. If we cancel the treaty or change it to harm Canada they can just sell the tar sands oil on the free market. Like, I said it's all very complicated. We need a new President with a real thinking brain to figure this all out.

Yeah, "kill NAFTA" only sells in the rust belt -- you know, the swing states in all the elections since, what, Reagan?

Why would he show a chart of the stock on his program but be talking about pulling money out of the bank. Confusing.