According to a November forecast from Zacks.com, global demand will climb 3.3% this year, building on a 3.1% gain in 2013 and a 2.0% rise in 2012.
China is front and center in any discussion of steel, because it produces about 50% of the world’s raw steel and uses about 46%.
Last year, the country’s steel use gained 6%, but that will ease off to a 3% rise in 2014 due to government efforts to rebalance the economy. The U.S. will pick up some of that slack, with demand rising 3% from 2013 due to the improving global economy and strength in the automotive, energy and residential construction sectors. Europe’s consumption will also climb 2.1% after dropping 3.8% in 2013.
ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT), the world’s largest steelmaker, is also making positive noises. “The indicators do suggest that we are turning a corner, and we are cautiously optimistic on the prospects for 2014,” chief financial officer Aditya Mittal said in a November 7 conference call.
Hot Industrial Conglomerate Companies To Watch For 2015: BP p.l.c.(BP)
BP p.l.c. provides fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services, and petrochemicals products. Its Exploration and Production segment engages in the oil and natural gas exploration, field development, and production; midstream transportation, and storage and processing; and marketing and trading of natural gas, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), and power and natural gas liquids (NGL). This segment has exploration and production activities in Angola, Azerbaijan, Canada, Egypt, Norway, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as in Asia, Australasia, South America, North Africa, and the Middle East. This segment also owns and manages crude oil and natural gas pipelines; processing facilities and export terminals; and LNG processing and transportation, as well as NGL extraction facilities. BP p.l.c. has interests in the Trans-Alaska pipeline system, the Forties pipeline system, the Central Area transmission sys tem pipeline, the South Caucasus Pipeline, and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, as well as in LNG plants located in Trinidad, Indonesia, and Australia. The company?s Refining and Marketing segment involves in the supply and trading, refining, manufacturing, marketing, and transportation of crude oil, petroleum, and petrochemicals products and related services to wholesale and retail customers primarily under the BP, Castrol, ARCO, and Aral brands. Its Other Businesses and Corporate segment produces and markets rolled aluminum products, as well as generates energy through wind, solar, biofuels, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage sources; and engages in shipping activities. The company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Canadian Value]
To quantify the relationship between real gold prices and real yields, we can regress the price of gold from 2006 to 2013 (we used the logarithm of the real price of gold in our model) against the 10-year real yield from the Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) market. (In our view, this regression is appropriate since gold and real yields are co-integrated and there is an economic rationale for believing they should be.) Based on our study, the regression shows that, all else equal, a 100-basis-point (bp) increase in 10-year real yields has historically led to a decline of 26.8% in the inflation-adjusted price of gold. In other words, over the past seven years gold has had a real duration of 26.8 years. (Note that this is solely an empirical duration that describes the way that gold has traded. Since gold has no cash flows, its duration does not need to be constant, and there is nothing magic about the 26.8 number. Just as the correlation between stocks and bonds varies over time depending on changes in macroeconomic variables and investor risk appetite, the real duration of gold may also change in the future.)
Top 10 Energy Companies To Own In Right Now: Forum Energy Technologies Inc (FET)
Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. incorporated on May 10, 2005, is an oilfield products company, serving the subsea, drilling, completion, production and infrastructure sectors of the oil and natural gas industry. The Company designs and manufactures products, and engage in aftermarket services, parts supply and related services that complement its product offering. It operates in two segments: Drilling and Subsea Segment and Production and Infrastructure Segment. In December 2012, the Company acquired Merrimac Manufacturing, Inc. (Merrimac). In May 2013, the Company acquired Blohm + Voss Oil Tools from STAR Capital Partners Limited. In July 2013, Forum Energy Technologies Inc acquired Moffat 2000 Ltd.
Drilling and Subsea Segment
The Company designs and manufactures products and provides related services to the drilling, well construction, completion, intervention and subsea construction and services markets. Through this segment, it offers Subsea Technologies, including robotic vehicles and other capital equipment, specialty components and tooling, a range of complementary subsea technical services and rental items, and applied products for subsea pipelines. It offers Drilling Technologies which include capital equipment and a range of products consumed in the drilling and well intervention process. It offers Downhole Technologies, including cementing and casing tools, completion products, and a range of downhole protection solutions.
The Company designs and manufactures subsea capital equipment; specialty components and tooling; and applied products for subsea pipelines; and it also provides a suite of complementary subsea technical services and rental items. It has a core focus on the design and manufacture of unmanned submarines, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), as well as other specialty subsea vehicles. The Company�� brands include its Perry and Sub-Atlantic vehicle brands. Its related technical services complement its vehicle offering by providing the m! arket with a selection of critical product solutions and rental items that enhance its customers��ability to operate in harsh subsea environments. The market for subsea ROVs can be segmented into three classes of vehicles based on size and category of operations: large work-class vehicles for subsea construction activities; drilling-class vehicles for use around an offshore rig, and observation-class vehicles for inspection and light manipulation. The Company is a provider of work-class and observation-class vehicles.
The Company manufactures ROV components, such as a range of Sub-Atlantic branded ROV thrusters. It designs and manufactures thrusters for incorporation into its own vehicles, as well for sale to other ROV manufacturers. It also designs and manufactures a tether management system (TMS). It also provides a suite of subsea tooling, both industry standard and custom designed for subsea applications. Industry standard tooling includes hot stabs, cable cutters, torque tools and indicators.
The vehicle-related subsea products, its Offshore Joint Services (OJS) brand is a provider of applied protective coatings on rigid subsea pipeline field joints, spools, and structures. Its VisualSoft product line provides another related technical product that reinforces in subsea vehicles and products. It sells or rents VisualWorks and VisualDVR Digital Video Systems that provide a solution for digital video capture, playback, processing and reporting of pipeline, structural or other inspection survey data. These products are often used in conjunction with the operation of inspection class ROVs or diving personnel when conducting survey work.
Geoscience Earth and Marine Science (GEMS) is its geophysical and geotechnical engineering group that provides consulting services to the oil and gas, and marine industries. It provides an interpretation service based on the analysis of third party subsea data provided by clients. The business has broadened into managing every p! hase of p! roject development, including scope of work, liaising with data acquirers, interpretation and analysis. Its primary customer base consists of oil and gas operator producers.
The Company provides both drilling consumables and capital equipment, including powered and manual tubular handling equipment, specialized torque equipment, customized offline crane systems, drilling data acquisition management systems, pumps, valves, manifolds, drilling fluid-end components, pressure control equipment for both coiled tubing and wireline well intervention operations and a broad line of items consumed in the drilling process. The Company has a core focus on products that enhance its customers��handling of tubulars on the drilling rig.
The Company designs and manufactures specialized torque equipment and related control systems for tubular connections, including high torque stroking, or bucking, units, fully rotational torque units, portable torque units for field deployment. In addition the Company designs and manufactures a range of rig-based offline activity cranes, multi-purpose cranes and personnel transfer solutions.
The Company�� pressure control products used for well intervention operations are sold directly to oilfield service companies and equipment rental companies. These products include both coiled tubing and wireline blowout preventers and their accessories. It also conduct aftermarket refurbishment and recertification services for pressure control equipment. The Company also designs and manufactures a range of consumable parts for pumps on drilling rigs, well servicing rigs, pressure pumping units, and hydraulic fracturing systems, along with top drive parts. The Company also manufacture data acquisition products that include integrated drill floor instrumentation and monitoring systems. These systems provide real-time monitoring and logging of drilling data to drilling contractors and oil and gas producers on the rig and at remote locations.
! The Compa! ny manufacture a broad line of downhole products that are consumed during the well construction, completion and production enhancement process. Through its Davis-Lynch downhole well construction and completion tools product line, it designs and manufactures products used in the construction of oil and gas wells. It designs and manufactures a range of centralizers, float equipment, stage cementing tools, inflatable packers, flotation collars, cementing plugs, fill and circulation tools for running casing, casing hangers and surge reduction equipment.
The Company manufactures a line of downhole completion tools, including composite plugs and wireline flow-control products. Its composite plugs are primarily used for zonal isolation during multi-stage hydraulic fracturing in horizontal and vertical wells. It offers l range of downhole protection solutions.
Production and Infrastructure Segment
The Company designs and manufactures products and provide related equipment and services to the well stimulation, completion, production and infrastructure markets. Through this segment, the Company suppllies Flow Equipment, including well stimulation consumable products and related recertification and refurbishment services; Production Equipment, including well site production equipment, process equipment and specialty pipeline construction equipment; and Valve Solutions, which includes a range of industrial and process valves.
The Company provides a range of high pressure flow equipment used by well stimulation, or pressure pumping, companies during the stimulation, intervention and flowback process. It focuses on consumable products that experience high rates of wear and replacement. The Company designs and manufactures pressure control plug, choke and relief valves, swivel joints, pup joints and integral fittings, manifolds and manifold trailers, as well as triplex and quintuplex fluid-end assemblies.
The Company surface Production Equipment product line p! rovides e! ngineered process systems and field services for capital equipment used at the wellsite, for production processing, and at the refinery. It serves the upstream, midstream and downstream segments in oil and gas production equipment and services. The Company engineers fabricates and installs tanks, separators, packaged production systems and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and American Petroleum Institute (API) coded and non-coded pressure vessels, skidded vessels with gas measurement, modular process plants, header and manifold skids, process and flow control equipment and separators to help clean and process oil or gas as it travels from the wellhead and along the transmission line to the refinery.
The Company design, manufacture and provide a wide range of industrial valves that principally serve the upstream, midstream and downstream markets of the oil and gas industry. In addition its valve solutions serve general industrial, power and process industry customers as well as the mining industry. It also provides ball, gate, globe, check and butterfly valves across a range of sizes and applications.
The Company competes with Cameron International Corporation and FMC Technologies, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
Another issue that Varco has to face is the specter of increasing competition. Cameron International (NYSE: CAM ) has arisen as a big player in the drilling and production systems space, with a particular emphasis on subsea applications like blowout preventers. With Cameron sporting a recent partnership with Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB ) , the combination will have both the expertise and the financial resources to challenge Varco in that niche. More broadly, up-and-coming Forum Energy (NYSE: FET ) has sought to emulate Varco's broad-based services menu, offering remotely operated vehicles for deepwater inspection and construction as well as pipe and cementing materials and a range of subsea systems and equipment. Forum has posted solid results in its brief history, taking steps to continue its fast growth trajectory.
Top 10 Energy Companies To Own In Right Now: Legacy Oil + Gas Inc (LEGPF.PK)
Legacy Oil + Gas Inc. (Legacy) is engaged in exploration, exploitation and development drilling for oil and natural gas reserves. Legacy's wholly owned subsidiary, Legacy Oil & Gas ND, Inc., holds properties and operates in the State of North Dakota. Its Southeast Saskatchewan properties are located in an area ranging from approximately 130 to 290 kilometers southeast of the city of Regina, Saskatchewan. Legacy has an average working interest of approximately 75% in 24,576 gross (18,647 net) acres of undeveloped land at Taylorton. It has an average working interest of approximately 70% in 32,959 gross (22,938 net) acres of undeveloped land in the Viewfield Bakken play with properties at Stoughton, Heward and Star Valley. On January 1, 2011, it amalgamated with its wholly owned subsidiaries Legacy VRI Ltd. and Legacy TV Ltd. In April 2013, it closed the acquisition of Villanova Oil Corp. (Villanova) and the acquisition of light oil assets. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Value Digger]
To open up new Cardium opportunities, Manitok is also expanding to the Southern Alberta Foothills, where it plans to drill the first well of the farm-in with Legacy Oil & Gas (LEGPF.PK) before year end. Legacy Oil has a 99% average working interest in the Farm-in Lands prior to Manitok earning. Manitok will pay 100% of the cost to drill, complete and equip one horizontal Cardium oil well in order to earn 70% of Legacy's working interest, in a small block of land within the Farm-in Lands. If Manitok drills, completes and equips 3 horizontal Cardium oil wells at 100% of the cost, it will earn the entire 70% of working interest in Legacy's Farm-in Lands.
Top 10 Energy Companies To Own In Right Now: Denbury Resources Inc (DNR)
Denbury Resources Inc., incorporated in 1951, is an independent oil and natural gas company. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had 461.9 million barrel of oil equivalent of proved oil and natural gas reserves, of which 77% was oil. The Company�� oil and natural gas properties are concentrated in the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain regions in the United States. As of December 31, 2011, the Company's properties with proved and producing reserves in the Gulf Coast region were situated in Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana and Alabama, and in the Rocky Mountain region were primarily situated in Montana, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. In April 2012, it sold certain non-operated assets in the Greater Aneth Field in the Paradox Basin of Utah to Resolute Energy Corporation and the Navajo Nation Oil and Gas Company. In December 2012, the Company closed its first phase of its previously announced Bakken sale and asset exchange with Exxon Mobil Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiary XTO Energy Inc. In March 2013, it announced the closing of acquisition of producing property interests in the Cedar Creek Anticline (CCA) of Montana and North Dakota.
The Company�� CO2 source, Jackson Dome is located near Jackson, Mississipp. In addition to the proved reserves, it has an additional 2.5 trillion cubic feet of probable CO2 reserves at Jackson Dome. As of December 31, 2011, there have been 13 structures drilled within the Jackson Dome area and only one has not been productive. In addition to using CO2 for the Company�� Gulf Coast tertiary operations, it sells CO2 to third-party industrial users under long-term contracts and has three CO2 volumetric production payment contracts (VPPs). Approximately 91% of its average daily CO2 production during the year ended December 31, 2011 was used in its tertiary recovery operations on its own behalf and on behalf of other working interest owners in recovery fields, with the balance delivered to third-party industrial users. During 2011, the Company sold an av! erage of 89 million cubic feet per day of CO2 to commercial users, and the Company used an average of 920 million cubic feet per day for its tertiary activities.
In Eastern Mississippi properties, the Company has four tertiary operations (Soso, Martinville, Eucutta and Heidelberg Fields). The majority of the conventional oil production at Heidelberg is from waterflood units that produce from the Eutaw formation (at approximately 4,400 feet). The Company has converted all of the waterflood units in West Heidelberg to CO2 enhanced oil recovery (EOR). As of December 31, 2011, the Company either owned, or controlled through long-term financing leases, approximately 864 miles of CO2 pipelines in the Gulf Coast region. In addition to the NEJD CO2pipeline, the major pipelines are the Free State Pipeline (90 miles), the Delta Pipeline (110 miles) and the Green Pipeline (325 miles).
The Company�� primary Rocky Mountain CO2 source, Riley Ridge is located in southwestern Wyoming. The gas composition from Riley Ridge is approximately 65% CO2, 19% natural gas, 5% hydrogen sulfide (H2S), 0.6% helium, and the remainder other gases. As of December 31, 2011, its interest in Riley Ridge and minor surrounding acreage contained net proved reserves of 415 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 2.2 trillion cubic feet of CO2 reserves. Bell Creek Field is located in southeast Montana. Cedar Creek Anticline (CCA) is primarily located in Montana. CCA is a series of 10 producing oil units. During 2011, the Company fracture stimulated 31 operated wells in the Bakken and four wells in the Selma Chalk utilizing water-based fluids.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Claudia Assis]
Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR) �declined 5.5%.
- [By Tyler Crowe]
Certainly, some of these moves will hurt certain parts of the oil and gas industry harder than others. For example, Denbury Resources (NYSE: DNR ) is an Enhanced Oil Recovery specialist, so the EOR tax credit would hurt it much more so than others. Another example is a shortening of primary lease terms for federally auctioned land. This would shorten the time an exploration and production company has to start producing from federal lands before the lease expires. A move like this would certainly hurt companies with lots of undeveloped land on their books (Chesapeake Energy, anyone?).
- [By Matt DiLallo]
Not only do high oil prices affect producers' decisions to pursue exploration projects, but they also encourage companies to squeeze more oil out of current resource basins. Denbury Resources (NYSE: DNR ) is just one example of a company using "enhanced oil recovery" procedures to revive aging oil fields. Because of the initial capital investments required to source carbon dioxide and build pipelines, these projects wouldn't be as economical and therefore unlikely to be a viable option if oil prices were lower.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
But Kinder Morgan also needs to demonstrate its ability to keep its organic growth going. In the first quarter, the company's terminals business only managed to report flat growth, leaving it well off track to meet Kinder Morgan's 12% growth goal for the segment. Also, its carbon dioxide business only saw 1% growth in the quarter, despite producers Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY ) and Denbury Resources (NYSE: DNR ) having used CO2 as part of their tertiary recovery methods to get additional oil from largely depleted oil fields in the Permian Basin and on the Gulf Coast.
Top 10 Energy Companies To Own In Right Now: IHS Inc. (IHS)
IHS Inc. (IHS), incorporated on May 5, 1994, is a source of information and insight in areas, such as energy and power; design and supply chain; defense, risk, and security; environment, health and safety (EHS) and sustainability; country and industry forecasting, and commodities, pricing, and cost. The Company is organized by geographies into three business segments: Americas, which includes the United States, Canada, and Latin America; EMEA, which includes Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and APAC (Asia Pacific). IHS sources data and transforms it into information and insight that businesses, Governments, and others use every day to make decisions. Its product development teams have also created Web services and application interfaces. These services allow its customers to integrate the Company�� information with other data, business processes and applications (computer-aided design, enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, and product data/lifecycle management). The Company develops its offerings based on its customers' workflows, and it sells and delivers them into the industries in which IHS�� customers operate. As of November 30, 2011, HIS focused on five customer workflows: strategy, planning, and analysis; energy technical; product engineering; supply chain, and EHS & sustainability. As of November 30, 2011, it was focused on six verticals: energy and natural resources; Government, defense and security; chemicals; transportation; manufacturing, and technology, media, and telecommunications. In March 2012, the Company acquired Displaybank, a global authority in market research and consulting for the display industry; the Computer Assisted Product Selection (CAPSTM) electronic components database and tools business, including CAPS Expert, from PartMiner Worldwide, and the digital oil and gas pipeline and infrastructure information business from Hild Technology Services. In March 2012, the Company acquired IMS Research. In March 2012, the Company acquired BDW Automotive GmbH. I! n May 2012, it acquired Xedar Corporation, a developer and provider of geospatial information products and services. In July 2012, the Company acquired CyberRegs business from Citation Technologies, Inc. In July 2012, the Company acquired GlobalSpec, Inc. On April 16, 2011, IHS acquired ODS-Petrodata (Holdings) Ltd. ODS-Petrodata is a provider of data, information, and market intelligence to the offshore energy industry. On April 26, 2011, it acquired Dyadem International, Ltd. (Dyadem). Dyadem offers operational risk management and quality risk management solutions. On May 2, 2011, the Company acquired Chemical Market Associates, Inc. (CMAI). CMAI is a leading provider of market and business advisory services for the worldwide petrochemical, specialty chemicals, fertilizer, plastics, fibers, and chlor-alkali industries. On August 10, 2011, the Company acquired Seismic Micro-Technology (SMT). SMT offers Windows-based exploration and production software, and its solutions are used by geoscientists worldwide to evaluate potential reservoirs and plan field development. On November 10, 2011, it acquired Purvin & Gertz. Purvin & Gertz is a global advisory and market research firm that provides technical, commercial, and strategic advice to international clients in the petroleum refining, natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and petrochemical industries. Energy and Power IHS covers the technical and economic spectrum of energy and power. Detailed records and forecasts on oil, gas and coal supplies, combined with insights on traditional and emerging energy markets, help enable its customers to make decisions. Its offerings include production information on more than 90 % of the world's oil and gas production in more than 100 countries; oil and gas well data that includes geological information on more than four million current and historic wells worldwide; energy activity data that includes current and future seismic, drilling and development activities in more than 180 countries and 335 hydrocarbon-producing regions worldwide; information and research to develop unconventional hydrocarbon resources-shale gas, coal bed methane and heavy oil; knowledge of energy markets, strategies, industry trends, and companies; information and research summits, such as IHS CERAWeek and the IHS Herold Pacesetters Energy Conference, which offer decision makers the opportunity to interact with its experts, and critical information about analysis of coal, nuclear and renewables, including wind, solar, and hydro power. The Company competes with DrillingInfo, Inc., TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, Accenture, Deloitte, Wood Mackenzie, Ltd., Schlumberger Limited, Halliburton, LMKR and Paradigm Ltd. Design and Supply Chain IHS Design and Supply Chain solutions provide information for customers that allow them to manage a product from conception to research and development to production, maintenance and disposal. It also provides companies access to specifications and standards. The Company�� offerings include market and technology research and analysis; standards management solutions, including more than 370 commercial and military standards and specification publishing organizations; advanced product design and process engineering; strategic product content and supply chain management; environmentally compliant product design; counterfeit part risk mitigation; product performance and cost optimization, and indirect parts and maintenance, repair, and operations logistics, inventory and cash flow optimization tables, including wind, solar, and hydro power. The Company competes with SAI Global and Thomson Reuters Corporation. Defense, Risk and Security IHS delivers open source intelligence in the areas of global defense, risk, and security, including maritime domain awareness. IHS offers open source intelligence solutions for military planners, national security analysts, and defense and maritime industry strategy and planning professionals. The Company�� offerings include military and national security assessments; defense equipment and technology information; defense budgets and procurement forecasting; defense industry trends and analysis; terrorism and insurgency analysis; global commercial ship identification and specifications; live tracking of commercial ship movements; shipping and shipbuilding markets and forecasts, and ports and port security information. The Company competes with McGraw-Hill, Gannett, Forecast International and Control Risks Group. EHS and Sustainability IHS EHS and Sustainability solutions support critical decisions around environmental, health and safety, operational risk, greenhouse gas and energy, product stewardship and corporate responsibility. The Company�� offerings include global and local software implementations; material compliance and lifecycle information content; strategic planning services in greenhouse gas management and cap-and-trade; compliance and verification expertise for local, regional, national, and international EHS and sustainability management system responsibilities, and risk management assessment across a range of industries. The Company competes with SAP and Verisk. Country and Industry Forecasting IHS delivers detailed forecasts and analysis of economic conditions within political, economic, legal, tax, operational, and security environments worldwide. Additionally, IHS provides forecasts, market-sizing, and risk assessments for a number of industries worldwide, including aerospace and defense, agriculture, automotive, chemicals, construction, consumer and retail, energy, finance, government, healthcare and pharmaceutical, military and security, mining and metals, commerce and transport, and telecommunications. Its offerings include in-depth analysis of the business conditions, economic prospects, and risks in more than 200 countries and more than 170 industries; security risk analysis and daily updates on both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and sovereign risk ratings in more than 200 countries; event-driven updates of its risk analysis and ratings; short-, medium- and long-term forecasts for business planning and decision making; historical information since 1970; Deep market intelligence for the automotive, agriculture, chemicals, construction, consumer goods, commerce and transport, energy, financial, healthcare and pharmaceutical, telecommunications, and steel industries; and scenario explorations examining alternative outcomes to the questions impacting global business. The Company competes with Economist Intelligence Unit and Moody's Corporation. Commodities, Pricing and Cost IHS offers information, forecasts, and analysis to help its customers understand the how, when, and what of commodity prices and labor costs. IHS analysts monitor and forecast more than 1,300 global price, wage, and manufacturing costs across the regions for sectors, including energy products, chemicals, steel, nonferrous metals, industrial machinery and equipment, electronic components, paper and packaging, transportation, and building materials. Its offerings include analysis and forecasts for more than 1,300 global price, wage, and manufacturing costs; market intelligence of drivers, assumptions, and risks relating to commodity and service prices; cost and price data with actionable insights; forecasts covering global spot market prices, wages, and material costs; advisory forums to assist in monitoring, forecasting, and managing power and energy portfolio project costs, and consulting capabilities that enable clients to source materials. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Paul Ausick]
The dollar value of global merger & acquisition (M&A) transactions in the oil & gas industry plunged by nearly 50% in 2013 from a record high level in 2012. The transaction count fell by 20% led by a very sluggish first half of the year. The data was reported last Thursday by research firm IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS).
Top 10 Energy Companies To Own In Right Now: First Solar Inc.(FSLR)
First Solar, Inc. manufactures and sells solar modules using a thin-film semiconductor technology. It also designs, constructs, and sells photovoltaic solar power systems. The company?s solar modules employ a thin layer of semiconductor material to convert sunlight into electricity. Its integrated solar power systems activities include the project development; engineering, procurement, and construction services; operating and maintenance services; and project finance. The company sells solar modules to project developers, system integrators, and operators of renewable energy projects; and solar power systems to investor owned utilities, independent power developers and producers, and commercial and industrial companies, as well as other system owners. It operates in the United States, Germany, France, Canada, and internationally. The company was formerly known as First Solar Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to First Solar, Inc. in 2006. First Solar was founded in 1999 a nd is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Stocks turned early morning losses into gains today, as the market continues to digest yesterday’s Fed meeting, and AT&T (T), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), First Solar (FSLR) and�Frontier Communications (FTR) gain.
- [By Tyler Crowe and Aimee Duffy]
It's been a heck of a year for First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR ) . After a hefty jump in stock price following an uptick in guidance, now the company is making big sales to add to it. This week, First Solar sold 139 megawatts of generation capacity to utility giant Southern (NYSE: SO ) , the largest solar purchase in Southern's history. While this certainly adds to the case for First Solar, it also gives more credibility to the entire solar industry.
Top 10 Energy Companies To Own In Right Now: Western Gas Equity Partners LP (WGP)
Western Gas Equity Partners, LP, incorporated on September 11, 2007, was formed to own three types of partnership interests in Western Gas Partners, LP (WES). WES is a limited partnership formed by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation to own, operate, acquire and develop midstream energy assets. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had no independent operations. On January 13, 2012, WES acquired 100% interest of Mountain Gas Resources LLC (MGR). On August 1, 2012, WES acquired 24% interest of Chipeta Processing LLC (Chipeta).
WES is engaged in the business of gathering, processing, compressing, treating and transporting natural gas, condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil for Anadarko, as well as third-party producers and customers. The assets of WGP, through its partnership interests in WES, include thirteen gathering systems, seven natural gas treating facilities, ten natural gas processing facilities, two NGL pipelines, one interstate gas pipeline, one intrastate gas pipeline, and three separate interests in Fort Union, White Cliffs Pipeline, LLC (White Cliffs) and Rendezvous Gas Services, LLC (Rendezvous). These assets are located in East and West Texas, the Rocky Mountains (Colorado, Utah and Wyoming), and the Mid-Continent (Kansas and Oklahoma). WES also has facilities under construction in South Texas and northeast Colorado. During the year ended December 31, 2011, WES completed the construction of a cryogenic processing train at its Chipeta facility , which had a designed capacity of approximately 300 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and was placed into service in October 2012.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonas Elmerraji]
The exact same setup is potentially giving traders a reason to jump into shares of $8.5 billion midstream gas company Western Gas Equity Partners (WGP). Just like Flotek, WGP is forming a textbook channel up. And this week, Western Gas is testing trendline support.
It's a little too early to call WGP's trendline buyable here. At some point, all trends eventually fail -- and when this one does, you don't want to be left holding the bag. A bounce this week will be a good indication that WGP can still catch a bid at this price level. When and if that happens, I'd recommend keeping a tight protective stop in place just below WGP's most recent swing low at $38.
While the 50-day moving average has been crossing paths with WGP quite a bit in the last month, I'd recommend ignoring it. The average hasn't acted as a meaningful support or resistance level to date. In the case of this particular name, it's just not technically relevant.
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