Europe's Large Banks - Are The Titans Crumbling?

Winds of confusion and despair swirl around Europe's largest banks. Bank stocks plunged sickeningly late last summer as the euro crisis worsened. Its been a skittish, rumor-driven market ever since.
Adding to the confusion Central banks (US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England, etc.), sovereign wealth funds, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have all become involved. The European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) is Europe's latest savior. Such an entanglement of financial entities. How can anyone know the truth?
Dexia (DXBGF.PK), previously Belgium's largest financial institution, has become the first (but probably not the last) casualty of the crisis. It is being nationalized.
Which institutions actually own European sovereign debt? Read more here

Investing In Small- And Mid-Cap North American Oil Producers

Light oil is the crème de la creme of crude. Why? You need look no further than your garage. It's simple: Nothing is better than high quality, low sulfur sweet oil for making gasoline.
Automobiles are everyone's favorite mode of transportation. But It's not just developed countries anymore. Newly prosperous Asian countries are quickly building roads. And, predictably, Asians are buying automobiles in droves, rapidly boosting gasoline demand. Think how the U.S. expanded auto ownership in the 1950s.
Chinese auto ownership is currently less than 2% of U.S. ownership. But, Asians can't wait to catch up - and they have plenty of U.S. dollars to do it. Read more here

7 High Yielding Stocks to Defend Against a Market Downturn

What to do? Dismal economic figures and soon to end government stimulus seems to finally have crippled the 3 year old bull market. U.S. markets are now faltering or declining and commodiites are stagnating.

A healthy cash position is warranted. I've previously written how inverse ETFs can help (see here). High yielding securities may also provide protection. The high yield (even if reduced) is a natural defense against disinflation. Consider the following: . . . Read more here

5 High Yielding Israeli Stocks

Looking for yield? Look to Israel -- a prosperous, democratic country, known for its innovative, high-tech companies.

When the Great Recession hit worldwide in 2008, Israel largely escaped. Why? Israeli banks had avoided toxic debt and the Israeli government wisely stimulated with tax cuts -- not money printing.

Yes, I know what you are thinking. Why invest in the most reviled (at least by its neighbors) country in the Middle East? Good question . . . stay with me . . . we will revisit the issue.

Consider these 5 high yielders:

Cellcom Israel Ltd. (CEL)

Israel's largest cellular communication company  . . . Read more here

Saudi Arabia Posts Major Production Decline

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, posted an almost 10% monthly production decline in March says a Thursday Wall Street Journal Online article.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said Sunday that oil production from the kingdom was 8.292 million barrels per day in March, down about 800,000 barrels a day from 9.125 million barrels per day in February.

A Strange and Confusing Situation
Last February, with great fanfare, Saudi Arabia pledged to increase production -- making up lost Libyan exports. Now, we hear March production was actually down big time.  Read more here

Russian Oil: Investors Should Proceed With Caution

uick, which country produces more oil than any other? If you know that, can you name its largest oil and gas companies?
Odds are (unless you're an oil and gas enthusiast) you don't know.
Russia is the world's largest oil producer -- pumping 10.12 million barrels/day (mb/d) out of the ground. Saudi Arabia is second with 9.8 mb/d, the U.S. comes in third with 9.06 mb/d, and Iran a distant 4th with 4.1 mb/d (See complete list here).

The Russian company Rosneft (RNFTF.PK), producing 2.18 mb/d of Russia's 10.1 mb/d, is Russia's top producer while Lukoy (LUKOY.PK) holds the largest reserves. Russian oil flows . . . Read more here

5 Best Positive Cash-Flow Oil Companies

Millions of acres in oil shale prospects ... production continues to expand ... good times are just beginning ...
You've heard the stories. Almost every exploration and production company seems to have at least one. Here are 5 of the better ones. For this article, let's just stick with the stuff that really matters: Cash income, specifically free cash flow. I screened a dozen or more energy companies looking for those with the best market capitalization/levered free cash flow -- call it MC/LFCF -- over the last 12 months. This information is readily available in Yahoo Finance's Key Statistics. The lower the number, the more undervalued the equity.
Of the couple dozen energy companies I looked at, the following five had the best MC/LFCF -- all under 20. . .  Read more here