Richardcyoung.com

The Online Home of Author and Investor, Dick Young

  • Home
  • How We Are Different
  • Debbie Young
  • About Us
    • Foundation Principles
    • Contributors
  • Investing
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
  • Your Survival Guy
  • The Great Reset
  • The Swiss Way
  • My Rifles
  • Dividends and Compounding
  • Your Security
  • COVID-19
  • Dick Young
  • Key West
  • Paris
  • Dick’s R&B Top 100
  • Liberty & Freedom Map
  • Bank Credit & Money
  • Your Survival Guy’s Super States
  • NNT & Cholesterol
  • Work to Make Money/Invest to Save Money
  • Your Health
  • Ron Paul
  • US Treasury Yield Curve: My Favorite Investor Tool

Profit from Natural Gas

December 31, 2009 By E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

The future for energy should be natural gas. It has the potential to move the United States closer to energy independence and is a cleaner fuel than coal and oil. In addition, it has become harder and harder for U.S. companies to do oil deals in foreign countries where new discoveries are being made. That’s why, after a 10-year hiatus from takeovers, ExxonMobil offered to acquire natural gas producer XTO.

Yet politics may disrupt the takeover. At issue is the extraction of gas from shale rock through a process known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”-sending high-pressured liquid through a horizontally drilled hole, cracking shale and facilitating the release of natural gas. Even though 95% of the fluid is water and there have already been hearings in Congress showing no ill effects to the environment, Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) will intervene with more hearings.

Markey created the cap-and-trade bill that passed in the House over the summer. According to The WSJ, the hearings will explore the deal’s effects on competition in the natural gas industry, the role of natural gas in the U.S.’s energy, and environmental questions surrounding production of gas from shale rock formations. He will try to make this a populist issue. ExxonMobil recognizes the risks in dealing with today’s Washington, so as reported in their 8-K filing, the deal is contingent upon no legislation against fracking being introduced by Congress.

Markey should support fracking. According to the Energy In Depth website, “the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) have all found hydraulic fracturing non-threatening to the environment or public health.” Concerns raised by locals over the amount of water used, the makeup of the 5% of the fracturing fluid solution that’s not water, and the removal of waste are resolvable. Unfortunately for the country, this is about control from Washington. The progressives who battled for cap and trade expect to be the beneficiaries of legislation, and they want their payday. Who are the progressives involved?

The Democracy Alliance was formed when a group of donors convened in April 2005 in Phoenix, Arizona-George Soros, Peter B. Lewis, Herbert Sandler, the Sierra Club, and Service Employees International Union (SEIU), to name a few. These groups of progressives fund some of the most liberal organizations in America, such as the Center for American Progress, ACORN, the New Democratic Network, Progressive Majority, and Media Matters for America. Thanks to cap and trade, which according to the Congressional Budget Office will result in tax increases of $872.8 billion for the years 2010-2019, progressives have their legislation to redistribute wealth.

Herbert and Marion Sandler are multibillionaires who made their money from the sale of their mortgage company to Wachovia during the mortgage bubble. They are funding ProPublica, an investigative news website. So why did the Sandlers choose to run an investigative report against fracking? One reason is that George Soros is a good friend of theirs.

Ed Lasky of American Thinker writes, “George Soros is a pal and ally of the Sandlers. He also owns major stakes in energy companies that don’t rely on shale gas for their revenue. These companies would be harmed and become less profitable if shale gas were released onto the market in the vast quantities industry experts believe are available through fracking. He also owns a major interest in InterOil, an energy company that has discovered a vast natural gas find in Papua New Guinea. The potential of that find is enormous and could lead to a very profitable export of liquefied natural gas to the American market.”

Let’s fast forward and see what cap and trade in the U.S. would look like. Europe already has a carbon credits market. Companies that need credits go to the market to buy them to get under the cap. As a result, prices and investment are strongly influenced by legislation, creating a politically driven market.

George Soros knows the power of politics. During the climate summit in Copenhagen, as it became clear a deal wasn’t going to happen, carbon credit prices dropped off a cliff. I don’t know if George Soros lost money in that trade, but I find it interesting that he tried to put a deal together, looking to the IMF to provide $100 billion through special drawing rights. This could have created a huge surge in carbon credit prices.

I sense conflict from within the progressive camp. On a national level, the Sierra Club supports fracking. They realize natural gas is the bridge to renewable energies such as wind and solar and is cleaner than coal and oil. Locally, though, members are fighting the natural gas drillers. I expect the ExxonMobil takeover of XTO to close. But don’t be surprised if Soros and Markey turn the local’s plight into a national populist movement.

E.J. Smith is Managing Director of Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. an investment advisory firm managing portfolios for investors with over $1,000,000 in investable assets.

Related Posts

  • Preventing the Next Natural Gas Outage
  • States Take the Lead on Natural Gas
  • Natural Gas Explosions Last Week
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy
E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998.

E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention.

E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris.

Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com

Click here to sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.
Latest posts by E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy (see all)
  • Schwab Down 30%, Fidelity, Vanguard, BlackRock, and You - March 31, 2023
  • BEWARE: The Road to Digital Currencies - March 30, 2023
  • Bad Guys Have Guns, Targets Must be Hardened - March 30, 2023

Dick Young’s Must Reads

  • Mises and Rothbard Finally Get Their Due
  • SVB – There’s Panic in the Air
  • The Problem in America
  • Yes! Money Can Bring You Happiness
  • Your Cash Swept into Your Broker’s Bank Account!
  • Paris, The Palace Hotels: Part I
  • Democracy & Diversity: Not In the Constitution
  • Key West’s Best Burger
  • My Smith & Wesson Revolvers Home Defense Team
  • What’s the Best Survival Currency?

Our Most Popular Posts

  • Freefalling at Stanford
  • Is Vanguard Voting Against Your Political Beliefs?
  • The Forgotten America
  • Does Anyone Still Think Ron Paul Was Wrong?
  • Rand Paul Surprises Moderna CEO with Inside Information about Myocarditis Risk
  • “You Just Have to Be Willing to Move Defensively”
  • Biden's Fake Democracy Summit: Hungary and Turkey Snubbed
  • Your Survival Guy’s #1 Habit of Fairly Successful People
  • Dick & Debbie: Over Three Decades in Key West
  • What’s John Kerry Doing in Mexico?

Disclosure

RSS Youngresearch.com

  • Schwab Down 30%, Fidelity, Vanguard, BlackRock, and You
  • BEWARE: The Road to Digital Currencies
  • Another Habit of Highly Successful and Fairly Wealthy People
  • The Greatest Threats to the American Economy
  • Your Survival Guy’s #1 Habit of Fairly Successful People
  • New Regulation Coming for CDS Market?
  • “You Just Have to Be Willing to Move Defensively”
  • Americans Are Fleeing Bank Deposits
  • If You’re a Highly Effective Person, We Should Talk
  • Trouble Now Brewing at Deutsche Bank

RSS Yoursurvivalguy.com

  • Schwab Down 30%, Fidelity, Vanguard, BlackRock, and You
  • Why Your Survival Guy Eschews Annuities
  • Government Debt Service a Growing Burden for Americans
  • BEWARE: The Road to Digital Currencies
  • Bad Guys Have Guns, Targets Must be Hardened
  • Another Habit of Highly Successful and Fairly Wealthy People
  • The Greatest Threats to the American Economy
  • Is America about to Deploy Star Wars-like X-Wings on the Battlefield?
  • Your Survival Guy’s #1 Habit of Fairly Successful People
  • Western Real Estate: From Zoom to Bust

Our Friend from Hungary Holding Court at “Thirsty”

Schwab Down 30%, Fidelity, Vanguard, BlackRock, and You

My Grandkids All Own Guns

Globalism Has Made America Dependent on Foreign Countries

The County Sheriff: America’s Last Hope

Is Modern Warfare Causing Cancer?

Copyright © 2023 | Terms & Conditions | About Us | Dick Young | Archives