The upcoming US midterm elections and recent votes in Australia and the UK have important implications for the market and energy-focused investors.

Whereas coal still appears to be king, the purported heir to the throne, alternative energy, appears a ways off from being a contender; second-quarter results were decent, but 2011 is shaping up to be an absolute disaster for the former market darling.

Investors should regard any pullback as an opportunity to buy the names in the model Portfolios. In particular, subscribers should consider adding to positions in my favorite oil-services names and master limited partnerships (MLP).

Big Oils are a classic value proposition at current prices; now is the time to go shopping.

Macro issues will continue to drive stock prices in the energy sector until second-quarter earnings season gets into full swing. Here are two short plays to hedge your portfolio.

Fundamentals suggest that now is the time to buy shares of tanker companies.

A steady stream of negative news and sensationalist headlines is behind the extreme volatility in global markets. Here's my game plan to navigate this challenging market.

Global stock and commodity markets are following developments in European credit markets. Earnings, economic reports and stock-specific news simply aren’t the main drivers of market performance right now. Although the current scare could drag on for a few more weeks, it’s likely to prove a buying opportunity for energy stocks.

It might seem callous to identify opportunities to profit from the deadly disaster on the Horizon rig. However, panic and lead to overreaction in markets. And extremes of sentiment typically offer investors opportunities that would never occur in normal trading environments. That’s the case with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

In this issue, I introduce a series of proprietary indexes that I use to keep on top of the hottest trends and share my early read on trends emerging from first-quarter earnings season.