Popular opinion suggests any slowdown in resource demand from China, which is becoming more desperate in its attempts to revive its flagging economy, will be especially bad for a commodity-dependent economy...
Oil’s slide below $50 (U.S.) a barrel is the latest turn for a bear market that looks to be settling in for an extended stay. In the oil patch, hope springs eternal that prices will rebound and the cyclical industry can begin...
Jan 16 – Jim welcomes back Jeff Rubin, author and economist. Jeff and Jim discuss the dramatic decline in the price of oil, which Jeff had predicted back in early October in his last interview with Jim. Jeff explains his views on...
What does Canada’s economy look like with oil prices at $40 a barrel? Certainly it won’t be the energy superpower envisioned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. If $40 a barrel still seems a ways off...
Adherents of index investing in Canada have had a rough month as falling oil prices have inflicted considerable pain on not just the energy sector but the entire Canadian market. After surveying the landscape I’ve finally thrown in the towel on the TSX...
If beaten up Canadian investors are looking to assign blame for the bruising suffered by their portfolios of late, they could do worse than point an accusatory finger at China. The resource super-cycle that drove valuations...
Part of the impetus behind constructing new pipelines to carry bitumen from northern Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast, Kitimat on the Pacific, or even all the way across the country to Saint John, New Brunswick was to help close the substantial discount between Canadian oil and world prices.
Oct 9 – Jim welcomes back author and economist Jeff Rubin to discuss the energy markets. Jeff analyzes the collapsing spread between Brent crude and WTI, and how Brent is now well below $100 a barrel despite geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East, which he views as bad news.
The real reason global oil prices are falling doesn’t have much to do with a bump in the amount of refined products that are being exported from the U.S. In actuality, it’s the same reason that coal prices have been cut in half over the last two years.
The latest battleground for U.S. President Barack Obama’s so-called war on coal isn’t even in the lower forty-eight states. It’s across the border in British Columbia’s densely populated lower mainland where a recent proposal to...
In the world of energy investing right now, two visions of the future are on a collision course. In one corner, global energy demand will keep ticking along status quo for decades to come.
May 7 – Jim welcomes back Jeff Rubin, economist, and author. Jeff and Jim discuss the shale oil and gas revolution in the US, which Jeff believes is the biggest energy game-changer in a century. Jeff speaks to how a secure and...
China’s pollution epidemic has finally spurred the country’s leadership to declare a war on smog. It’s about time. Chinese citizens are angry about what’s going into their lungs, while a recent government report says pollution has left 16 percent of the country’s land unfit for use.
One of the largest accidental releases of oil in Alberta’s history isn’t a burst pipeline and it doesn’t involve a train of tanker cars derailing into a river. It’s also not a thing of the past. It’s been going on for about a year and it’s still happening.
It’s nine years and counting since the Keystone pipeline was first proposed and TransCanada is still waiting for Presidential approval to build the line. An environmental assessment report from the US State Department that landed last week would seem to move TransCanada’s hopes forward, but the pipeline’s ultimate fate is still very much in limbo.
Judging by pump prices, Canadian drivers might think oil companies were rolling in profits that only move higher. Lately, though, the big boys in the global oil industry are finding that earning a buck isn’t as easy as it used to be.
It’s a few weeks into a brand new year and so far Canadians are discomfited by watching our dollar rank among the world’s worst-performing currencies. The oft-cited reasons include high consumer debt levels, the potential for a housing bubble...
In the lifespan of multi-billion dollar projects, five years is a relative blink. It’s why committing to big infrastructure projects is so nerve-wracking—the world can change in a hurry.
Tick, tick, tick. The countdown to another rail accident is already on. A 90-car derailment last week in Alabama is only the latest in a series of train wrecks unfolding across North America. The next one, as promised by a dangerous combination of lax regulations and booming traffic, is just around the bend.
Nov 6 – Jim welcomes back economist Jeff Rubin, author of The End of Growth. Jeff and Jim cover a number of topics, including the downside of higher US energy exports. Jeff notes that with increased domestic oil production the price to US...
