Bear Mountain Bull

It’s time again for a little BMB R&R, especially with the market behaving as bizarrely as it’s been. Maybe if we stop watching it start to behave a little better…

Posting will be very light and variable over the course of this week, but we’ll put up an open thread each market day for our readers to comment on the day’s market activity or to post any interesting links they might run across.

Check the space below for whatever the latest might be during this ‘off’ time, and please visit the various sites in the ‘Links’ and ‘Regular Stops’ for up-to-date market news and analysis.

BMB will be back in full swing by next weekend.

Think that cheaper energy prices are just around the corner? Think again. Jim Puplava at Financial Sense lays out the facts on the potential crisis that faces not just the United States, but the entire world, when it comes to our supply of energy:

Oil discoveries peaked in the 1960s and most of the oil we consume today comes from giant Middle Eastern oil fields that were discovered and put into production over 40 years ago. Most of the world’s key oil producers have already experienced peak oil. According to Richard Duncan, director of the Institute on Energy & Man, 25 out of the top 45 oil producers are past their peak. These 45 producers account for 98.7% of the world’s oil production. Another study done by Washington energy consultants, PFC Energy, found that 33 out of the 48 major oil-producing countries have either peaked or plateaued.

	Not too many pretty pictures to look at this week. The formerly strong utilities have finally crumbled under the weight of higher interest rates.
	Energy stocks had the second worst week, and have gotten hammered pretty hard over the past two weeks. Amazingly enough, they’re still the only group in the green over the past 8 weeks, and look like they’re going to fight to hold 46.50 as near-term support.
	Health care stocks were the only ones to stay above water for the week. Typically considered a ’safe’ investment in difficult times, they still haven’t done much to generate a lot of excitement.

The numbers after another tough week:

Charts courtesy of StockCharts.com