Japan Election Rout Shakes Shares; Shanghai Composite Falls Nearly 7%; Walt Disney Adding Marvel to its Roster; Baker Hughes Buys Rival BJ Services; PetroChina Gaining Athabasca Tar Sand Control; Petrobras Wants 30% Stake in Brazil Reserve Wells; India’s Economy Grows 6.1%; JPMorgan: China-Taiwan Interested in Mutual Opportunities; Funds Dumping U.S. Consumer Stocks

With large purchases of iron ore, copper and oil, China has been taking full advantage of depressed commodities prices and excess production capacity. Now, the Red Dragon is making its presence felt in the natural gas market – landing two blockbuster deals in the past two weeks.

Crude looks like it is entering its own type of recession this year, with the International Energy Agency predicting a fall in oil consumption for the first time in 25 years. But David Newman still thinks there are huge profits to be had in the oil industry. He recommends an Oil & Gas ETF (NYSE:IEO) and Oil Services ETF (NYSE:OIH), using a ‘protective put strategy’ to cover against downside risk.

Don’t expect oil prices to remain at these low levels for long, says Byron King. Demand weakness for crude is temporary. And oil-producing nations cannot sustain their own economies unless oil prices are close to $100 a barrel. Byron says it could be time for investors to slowly build up a position in oil service stocks.

Crude oil has dropped form its July 11 record of $147 to just over $113 a barrel. Gold, meanwhile, has come off its March high of $1,030.80 to slip back below $800 an ounce.

Many in the mainstream press are calling an end to the “commodities bubble.” But oil and energy expert Byron King warns investors against betting against cheap oil and gold.

Byron says what we are seeing now is a short- to medium-term correction in the trends for energy and resources. Investors who buy beaten-up oil service stocks and gold miners now stand to make major profits…

Oil made two runs toward $150 recently, and failed both times. Now oil is in a retreat. Oil was trading near $121 earlier this week. And it appears that support at that price is crumbling. This will surely take the oil company stocks down, as well as those of the oil service companies.

Editor’s note: What are shale fields, and how easy is it to suck oil out of them? That depends, says Matt Badiali. As companies like Schlumberger (SLB), Halliburton (HAL) and Baker Hughes (BHI) are finding out, if it’s a permeable reservoir then it’s all systems go. If it’s an impermeable reservoir, then it will take time, effort and horizontal drilling.

This piece is taken from The Growth Stock Wire. It’s in the form of a questions and answers session. But it’s well worth the read if you’re interested in the ins and outs of shale oil.

The IEA forecast for a daily increase in global oil production of 31 million barrels by 2030—a 37% jump—sounds like pure fantasy. Do the facts support it? Are big oil companies already searching for that future oil and finding it? Do they have plans to produce it?