Can you believe that winter is officially over? Wow, it was a cold couple of months. Makes you want to say, “So much for global warming.”

Louis Basenese is one of the smartest investment analysts I know, and a good friend of mine to boot. And most of the time I agree with his research – and his conclusions. Just not this time.

When gold was going for $300 an ounce and oil for $25 a barrel, it was easy to know where to put your money.

Solar stock Ersol rose to a new record after German engineering giant Bosch said it paid $157 a share, a premium of more than 60%, for a controlling stake in the company. This from The Guardian:

Shares in leading German solar stocks rose substantially on expectations that other big players, including oil groups, are on the prowl in a market that grew to €6.6bn last year and is forecast to top €18bn by 2020.

Companies specializing in centralized fossil fuel fired generation need to move towards energy efficiency and diversity of generation, Scottish and Southern Energy, Britain’s second largest energy supplier, said today.

“The days of meeting an unchecked demand for energy through monolithic carbon intensive power stations are coming to an end. Increasingly the emphasis will be on energy efficiency, renewables, cleaned up fossil fuel plant and micro generation,” the company said in a statement accompanying its full-year results, according to Britain’s The Guardian newspaper.

The price of oil, now nearing $130 a barrel, is being driven up by subsidies on cheap petrol and diesel, according to a report by Reuters.

China, India and other nations that subsidize cheap petrol and diesel may be even less willing to raise prices than they were six months ago, aiding crude’s ascent toward $130 even as demand deteriorates elsewhere.

While Indonesia appears set to raise prices as soon as this week, the world’s fastest-growing oil users show little inclination to tackle their subsidy schemes, as fighting food-fueled inflation has become their top priority.

It’s funny what one thinks about when packing for a trip (especially when that packing is taking place in a mad dash frenzy). Your humble editorial director has jet fuel on his mind as he prepares to scoot across the friendly skies once again — or rather, the price of jet fuel to be more specific. How much longer can the airlines afford to lose money with nearly every mile they fly?

Why worry about money when you have a printing press? As long as there’s paper in the machine, you’ll never run out. Well, as Bill Bonner explains, the problem arises when people forget that with every fiat currency, less is more.