“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Justice Litle thinks Dickens’ classic line  provides an apt description of today’s markets. Sure, this year has been hell. But it has also created some amazing opportunities for contrarian investors. Justice says this is most apparent in the oil and natural gas market, where irrational risk aversion has made most people forget the fundamentals.

High gas prices have forced Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) – the world’s largest oil company – from the retail gasoline business, the company said late Thursday afternoon.

Out in the field, the industry players are doing real work.

Has oil hit its peak price or not? The answer to that question leads us to ask whether or not commodities are a bubble about to burst. Barron’s recent cover story on commodities came down on the side that the party was over.

Rotten, no-good Members-of-Congress. In America, the Senators haul oil executives in front of Congress to insult and belittle them.

Has oil hit its peak price or not? The answer to that question leads us to ask whether or not commodities are a bubble about to burst. Barron’s recent cover story on commodities came down on the side that the party was over.

Gazprom is the world’s largest natural gas company. It holds 17% of the world’s total, and 60% of Russia’s. It also controls the trunk lines throughout Russia as well as most production, transmission, processing and marketing.

For 16 days, they blockaded the halls of congress. For 16 days, they chanted in the streets. Until finally, victory was theirs… the bill was struck down, the enemy bested.

As times change, so do trends. In the old days, the louder and more powerful your car, the better. Now, green is the name of the game and everyone wants to drive super quiet, efficient hybrids.

So Labour got smashed in the local elections. No big surprise, really. It’s tempting to quote Bill Clinton’s famous maxim on what decides an election. In fact, it’s so tempting that I will.