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.

Natural gas prices are dropping like a rock today, but the bearishness is not preventing a few bulls from taking million-dollar stands. As winter approaches, things are going to get very interesting.

Recently, natural gas prices have been lower due to reduced demand during this recession and excessive supply from domestic natural gas fields.  Natural Gas prices are poised to head much higher.  This gives you an opportunity to accumulate one of the best natural gas companies Chesapeake Energy stock (CHK) at a great value.

There are all sorts of catalysts that could send oil prices even higher. We are getting just a small dose of the action today and energy-related stocks are surging.

Last year — 2008 — started out so well for the world’s energy industry. The price of oil was in the $90s and low $100s per barrel, not exorbitant.

Natural gas could have a bright future as a clean and cheap alternative to fossil fuels in the auto industry, says David Fessler. Government efforts to promote the use of autos powered on natural gas could see gas production soar in the coming years. David says investors can play this ‘gas game’ with these six major producers and distributors.

Toll Brothers 4Q Revenue Caves; Vodaphone Focuses on Cash; Tyco Doubles 4Q Net Income; StatOilHydro Buys Shale Gas from Chesapeake; Oil Hits 20-month Low; Sirius Posts Profit Loss Despite Increase in Revenue

Taipan daily editor Justice Litle responds to some of his readers’ investment queries below. Is this the perfect time to get into the market, or is the market still a no-go zone?

To say that trading energy stocks has been difficult in recent months is a major understatement. And when you see that even an industry giant like Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) lost money in its hedging activities, you know that trading activity during that quarter was extremely wild. But Chesapeake is still a great buy, says Money Morning’s Horacio  Marquez…

After declining for 15 years, U.S. natural gas production is finally on the rise, thanks to new technological developments that make it possible to draw large amounts of gas from deposits previously thought to be unreachable. An increase in natural gas production of the magnitude many industry insiders predict could do wonders for business, the environment and even U.S. energy independence.