The Rude Awakening
Wall Street, New York
Saturday, October 21, 2006 ------------------------- - Environmental degradation in the name of energy
pursuits – old story, new venue,
- A word on the dreary bond market forecast,
- Water from thin air, useless antics at the west coast
Rude H.Q. and plenty more...
------------------------- ***Rude Investment of the Week*** Deep in the trading pits one man is delivering profits on
commodity futures like no other. Just this last week his
readers received yet another email instructing them to bank
profits on a huge corn and O.J. double. But you never get something for nothing and,
unsurprisingly, the price of this premium trading service
is about to escalate. There is little doubt that some
people will miss out. If securing your spot on this
explosive mailing list has been on your to-do list, get
your red pen out because now is the time to "to-do." Time To "To-Do" – Get in before the Price Hike ---------------------------- Energy in, Environment Out
by Joel Bowman "Please accept my humble apologies for this dreadful
weather," remarked your senior editor, the Californian sun
beating down from a flawless blue sky as we drove back from
the Orange County airport, "I even heard whispers of the
possibility of a cloud sometime over the next few days." After dropping off our luggage and procuring a much-needed
caffeine shot, we dutifully headed down to the unofficial
West Coast Rude H.Q. – the Main Beach volleyball courts. It
is on these courts where the Fry clan reins supreme and
uncoordinated Australian editors flail about in the sand,
chasing down impossible spikes from sharply skilled
opposition...opposition like Eric's daughter, Gaby. No worries though, what we lack in grace and finesse at the
net we make up for with enthusiasm and a vast repertoire of
diving acrobatics, unwieldy shot trajectories and other
generally laughable theatrics. At least the crowd seems to
enjoy laughing along with us...or was that AT us? Lacking any discernable skill with the volleyball means
that even the few shots we do manage to make require an
inordinate amount of energy input. The majority of our
dives result in little more than a face full of sand and a
few giggles from onlookers. Still, it is difficult to allow even the most lopsided of
scoreboards to detract from the supreme feeling of
relaxation one feels while enjoying the picturesque
environment here in Laguna Beach. Regardless of where your
eyes rest they are invariably met with delightful
panoramas. From the sweeping blue Pacific to the gently
rolling hills bowing down at its golden shoreline, this is
certainly a precious stretch of creation. With these magnificent images fresh on our mind, it is with
a heavy heart that we read an email sent to us just this
week from a vigilant Rude reader just a few hours plane
ride to the north of us. Our boots-on-the-ground report
comes from the Athabasca Oil Sands, one of the frontiers
for alternative energy development and production. Unfortunately, it seems that while the process of
extracting oil from tar sands may be temporarily sating the
yearning for an alternative to more traditional energy
means, it may be permanently jeopardizing the irreplaceable
environment surrounding it. Couple this alarming reality
with the fact that the process of extraction has an energy
input/energy yield ratio that closely resembles that of
your junior editor's volleyball efforts and the situation
becomes exponentially more serious. Here is the email, in its entirety, that caused us such
grief: Dear Rude, As someone who works in the Athabasca oil sands area, I see
every day the water usage. It's astronomical. I have seen
first-hand the ridiculous amounts of wasted water. Every
day, while oil is being pumped out at a rate of 400,000+
bpoe/d (in just one plant), the water being wasted I'm sure
is bigger than that number. While I have no hard facts to
substantiate this claim, it doesn't take a water scientist
to see the "steam" billowing into the air from the enormous
cooling towers (these towers circulate water to keep
various parts of the process cooled to acceptable
temperatures). And I say "steam" and not just steam,
because anyone with a nose can tell that there's more in
that "steam" than just water. But ask any so-called safety-
person and they will tell you that it's perfectly fine to
breath in, even though no one is willing to show you the
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) on the whatever chemicals
are mixed into the water. And the tailings are a nightmare. How these companies can
say that they are "environmentally friendly" I'll never
understand. Just because they reclaim some of the land
after strip-mining, then plant some grass and trees, and
put in a few wood-bison to roam there, does not mean that
they are doing anything that is environmentally friendly.
The tailings are a soup of waste-water crap that literally
sits in a pool called a tailings pond. Even at -30 degrees
Celsius, this stuff doesn't freeze. It just sits there,
steaming. The stench from these ponds is indescribable.
I've been there. I've seen it. I've smelled it. And yet, thousands of people work at these plants every
day. The economy in the Wood Buffalo region is booming.
New vehicles are everywhere. New houses are everywhere.
People have money to throw around. Working 50 and 60 hour
work-weeks is common, because the money to be made is
great. Not many seem to care that the water supply is
dwindling. Not many seem to care about the big brown cloud
of who-knows-exactly-what-is-in-there that moves towards
the town of Fort McMurray when the wind is blowing from the
north. Some people see their bank accounts going up. Some
decide to let their bank accounts stagnate while collecting
toys - a big truck, a quad, two snow mobiles, a boat, an RV
- and the list goes on. But it seems like most people
decide that the "things" are more important than their
health. I work there, but I don't live there. I commute from
Calgary (a 7 ½ hour drive one-way). I stay in Ft. McMurray
and drive out to the plants every day to go to work. So why
am I different than all the rest? Because I can go home any
time I want. When I get tired of breathing in toxic fumes,
I can go home for a few months and work in Calgary.
Eventually though, the lure of bigger money brings me back
to the oil sands. It always does. Am I getting rich by
working there? No, but I make more money than your average
bear when I work "up north" as we call it. Right now, I
just came home. My stay was sixteen months this time. But
with winter coming, and the roads getting worse by the
week, I've had enough of the oil sands for now. I'll find a
job here in Calgary to keep me busy for the winter. It's
not hard to find a job in Alberta when you're a qualified
tradesman. Is the rate of cancer higher in the Athabasca region as
compared to other parts of Alberta, or even Canada? I don't
know. Is the water being used, abused, mistreated, and peed
on (or in)? Absolutely. I've been there. I've seen it. And
I've smelled it. Sincerely, Stephen Borsy As you can see, the situation is far from desirable from an
environmental standpoint. So, while we take leave for the
Laguna Rude H.Q. for another schooling on the courts, we
encourage you to arm your minds with our Rude reading
below. This week Justice Litle exposes more woes for the
oil sand endeavors while technology specialist, Jonathan
Kolber, takes a closer look at air to water conversion and
Chris Mayer investigates paper wealth with another little
known Canadian company. And, of course, you will read Rude
Captain, Eric Fry's insightful musings on another possibly
flawed environment in the bond market. All that and more
just below... --- Commodity Special ---
Once Every 32 Years For The Last 2,000 Years,
One Asset Class Has Spewed Profits Like AMassive,
Predictable Volcano. She's About to Blow Again...Learn all about it right here: http://www.isecureonline.com/reports/CTA/ECTAGA00/ ---------------------------- And the Week's Rude Reading... Turning Air into Water
By Jonathan Kolber New technology is about to make shortages of potable water
a thing of the past. I recently met with a representative
of the AirWater Corp. in California, and it's but one of a
collection of companies capable of, well, making water from
thin air. Bonds Away!
By Eric J. Fry "Oh wow! That's incredible!" we gasped to ourselves when we
first observed the squiggles on the chart below. Squiggles
on a graph rarely elicit an "Oh wow!" from your even-
tempered California editor. Typically, he reserves his "Oh
wows!" for animate, three-dimensional phenomena. But in
this particular case, he simply could not stifle his
amazement. Paper Wealth
By Chris Mayer I spent some time in New York a couple of weeks ago to
attend the Grant's Investment Conference. These gatherings
always showcase some of the best investment minds in the
business, which is why I always try to attend. One of the
most engaging speakers at this particular conference
presented a very compelling case for buying beaten-down
Canadian paper stocks. Turning Caviar into Fake Crab
By Justice Litle Don't unload your oil stocks just yet!
A few months ago we posed the question "Does Peak Oil
Matter?" In other words, has global oil production actually
peaked? And if so, how should investors respond. We posed
this question in the context of the fact that North America
oil shale holds billions of barrels of "theoretically"
recoverable oil. Theoretically, therefore, global oil
production may not have peaked. --- Special --- His Readers Had a Chance to Turn $5,000 Into $1 Million...
and You Can Too! This options Guru gave his readers a chance to turn $5,000
into $1 Million in just over 5 years... And it's no wonder,
considering his 100% success rate in 2005 and 95% in 2004. Learn how YOU can follow in their footsteps with his simple
and straightforward system... http://www.isecureonline.com/Reports/OHL/EOHLGA16 ---------------------------- | 
