Tom Bulford, writing for Penny Sleuth, UK, draws from his years of penny stock experience to share his two top coal picks in the UK market for 2010.

David Fessler, contributing writer for Money Morning, analyzes the ongoing trends and mid-term future for solar energy companies.

Over the last couple of years, consideration of the effect of climate change has become increasingly important in analyzing a company or market trend — particularly in the energy sector. For example, our very bearish view on the thermal coal producers in North America is due exclusively to the high levels of carbon dioxide that coal-fired power plants generate, and the widely held belief that these emissions contribute to global warming.

If the news today is an indication of things to come, the next few months are not going to be pretty. If the big boys are preparing for the worst, imagine the fear from the debt-ridden little guys.

As the US strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) approaches capacity (721.5 million barrels filled out of a total possible 727 million, and will be filled by January 2010), the federal government will fade out of the oil-buying business. Some bearish traders believe that this factor can weigh in on prices, since most petroleum stocks in the United States are government-held rather than private. Bullish traders have also used the filling of the Chinese SPR as a reason that oil should go much higher.

As the second-largest provider of electricity to the United States, Constellation Energy Group Inc. (NYSE: CEG) has a tremendous upside. At least, it would if the economy were growing strongly. 

Oil traded around $66 a barrel on Monday, steadying after an earlier decline which extended last week’s 8.4 percent slide, as the U.S. dollar lost ground and stock markets moved higher.

The past 18 months have taken a serious toll on normal supply and demand in many industries. But no industry was impacted more than energy…

Offshore Nambia is quickly becoming one of the world’s greatest frontier oil provinces.

The number of traders betting that oil prices will drop outnumbers the number of traders who believe they will rise by the largest margin ever. Some analysts believe prices will fall significantly lower in the near future – at least into the low $60 a barrel range – after soaring to $75 a barrel in August.