We know inflation is coming due to central governments around the world printing up trillions in new currency in an attempt to pull out of this global recession.  Inflation will send gold prices much higher.

In addition, gold is known as the crisis commodity and we have certainly seen geopolitical risk picking up lately.

A mad man dictator in North Korea just set off a nuclear device and shot off a few missiles.  Kim Jong Il wouldn’t hesitate to sell a nuclear device to a terrorist.  Even China is running out of patience and the world is about to turn the screws on the North Korean regime.

The North Korean people need to get rid of that evil regime which ran their country into the ground, and embrace freedom and democracy.

What’s more, Iran is continuing to irritate the civilized world and further isolate itself by developing nuclear weapons, rather than focusing on their faltering economy.

There is a good chance that Israel will attack Iran’s nuclear facilities if the hardliner Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is re-elected next month.

Hopefully, the Persian people will take this opportunity to elect moderate political leaders so we can avoid a major war in the region.

War with Iran could easily escalate up to the use of nuclear weapons.  Iran will become a glass parking lot and gold will be over $5,000 per ounce.

Then, you have the Taliban which is trying to take over nuclear armed Pakistan.  Do you think the Taliban would even hesitate before starting World War III?

Higher inflation and geopolitical risk are just two reasons to own gold.  Make sure a portion of your investment portfolio is in the yellow metal.

Source:Next Stop for Gold is $1,000 Per Ounce!

As prices have recently touched lows of $33.20 per barrel, inexpensive oil has caused severe problems for Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Chavez just invited oil companies Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) and Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT) back into the country. And Ahmadinejad is fighting re-election troubles caused by a government used to surpluses and excess cash.

Apparently inefficient state-run energy companies can’t squeeze out profits like the professionals. And when they aren’t screwing production up, Russia has proven that it can simultaneously show the world it’s a bully – in addition to cutting off it’s income stream.

And things certainly don’t seem to be getting any better for these three. OPEC just released its 2009 demand forecast that spells out a dismal outlook for the coming year. But it’s not just low demand.

Oil inventories are at all time highs, “contango” opportunities abound, and OPEC hasn’t cut production anywhere near to where it needs to be to level out prices. And even if it did, the “bad boys,” mentioned above, would still be pumping it out at full speed to meet their obligations.

Lets fact it, oil could be down for much longer than they expect.

Source: Oil – U.S. State Department’s Newest Ally

The move would play further havoc with oil prices, and could send the price of oil spiraling to $200 and beyond.

Iran claims to have the world’s third largest reserves of oil at approximately 136 billion barrels as of 2007. The country ranks second if Canadian reserves of non-conventional oil are excluded.

This from The Jeruslam Post:

[A senior Israeli] official claimed that a senior member of the president’s entourage, which concluded a trip to Israel last week, said during a closed meeting that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were of the opinion that military action was called for.

However, the official continued, “the hesitancy of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice” was preventing the administration from deciding to launch such an attack on the Islamic Republic, for the time being.

The report stated that according to assessments in Israel, recent turmoil in Lebanon, where Hizbullah de facto established control of the country, was advancing an American attack.

Of course, there a reasons other than national security for Bush to launch an attack on Iran.

First, there’s the upcoming US presidential election. An attack on Iran would force the Democratic candidate to go toe to toe with war veteran John McCain while the US was at war on three fronts.

Secondly, it would neutralize Iran’s attempts to have oil priced in non-dollar denominated currencies.

Profit Watch editor Manraaj Singh points out that at a summit in Saudi Arabia last year, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the falling dollar as a “worthless piece of paper.” Iran actually ditched the U.S. dollar for international oil transactions last December. They’re selling in euro and yen these days.

You only have to look at Iraq to see what happens when an uppity Middle-Eastern oil producer targets ditching the dollar for oil trades.

“Investing in oil isn’t the best way to play this boom, however,” says Manraaj.

“We expect the price of oil to keep rising. But as I have pointed out before, we don’t think the best profit opportunities from this trend come from investing directly in oil. There’s too much volatility in the price.

“The REAL money is going to be made by putting your money into the fast growing companies operating in the regions that are profiting from the petrodollar boom.”

Read on here to find out how to profit from the rising tide of petrodollars.

“I have reserve capability, in particular our Navy and our Air Force so it would be a mistake to think that we are out of combat capability…” said Mr. Mullen.

Tough words…

Bullish news for oil.

Here at Profit Hunter we don’t dwell on the politics, but it is at the heart of the sort of profit opportunities that we uncover.

The upshot of the latest American move is that the “risk premium” which adds up to $30 to the price of a barrel of oil – isn’t going to disappear anytime soon.

If anything, it will increase.

As the Americans talk tough… the Persians act smart

“Official says Iran quits using US dollar for oil deals,” states a headline in the International Herald Tribune.

They’re quoting a top official from Iran’s oil ministry who made the statement on Iranian television yesterday.

As Profit Hunter readers will know, Iran’s been heading down this road for a while.

At a summit in Saudi Arabia last year, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the falling dollar as a “worthless piece of paper.” Iran actually ditched the U.S. dollar for international oil transactions last December. They’re selling in euro and yen these days.

So why on earth did they bring it up again today in full glare of the international media? Because it’s more bad news for the dollar, which is good news for the price of oil.

As OPEC President, Chakib Khelil, explains… each 1% decline in the value of the dollar drives the price of oil up by $4.

Iran is OPEC’s second largest oil exporter and oil and gas make up the bulk of the country’s $80 billion in exports. If anyone wants to see the price of oil continue to spike, it’s the Iranians.

Remember, oil is still priced in dollars. The Iranians just don’t want to be left holding a falling currency when they get paid.

Investing in oil ISN’T the best way to play this boom…

We expect the price of oil to keep rising.

But as I have pointed out before, we don’t think the best profit opportunities from this trend come from investing directly in oil. There’s too much volatility in the price.

The REAL money is going to be made by putting your money into the fast growing companies operating in the regions that are profiting from the petrodollar boom.

Some of the biggest winners have been the Middle Eastern countries. But getting into their markets isn’t easy for foreigners, so most British investors are going to be shut out of this fantastic opportunity.

Here at Profit Hunter though, we have already got exposure to this exciting growth story (sign up for a three month trial here and you can have all the details).

And we now look to a number of other interesting opportunities taking shape in that booming region…

Where the big money is heading…

The shift in economic power is being felt far and wide across the emerging economies. And it isn’t all about oil and commodities.

By the end of last year, China had three of the world’s biggest banks in terms of market capitalisation.

As the sub-prime shockwave hit, b anks in North America and Western Europe saw $695 billion dollars in market capitalisation evaporate by the end of 2007.

Banks in emerging market countries saw their market value soar by $753 billion dollars.

Return we will, to old Brazil

One of the biggest winners from the boom in emerging economies has been Brazil.

The Bovespa Index has shot up by 37% over the last year. That’s a nice change from the FTSE’s miserable 6.5% decline over the same period.

Foreign investors have been flooding into the country too… Brazil pulled in a record $34.6 billion in foreign direct investment last year. It got $18.8 billion the year before. They’re running a $40 million trade surplus and they have gone from being a debtor to a creditor country.

That was more good news than the analysts at international credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s could handle. They raised the country’s rating to “investment grade” yesterday. Many analysts weren’t expecting that to happen until next year.

The Bovespa leaped by 6.3% to a new record high on the back of the news…

Of course, S&P also told us that the sub-prime securities, now dragging the western financial system down, deserved a triple-A rating

Is this a brave new world or the next great bubble?

We haven’t had direct exposure to the Latin giant since we closed out our position in the county’s second biggest bank, Banco Itau, with a 58.1% gain last August.

Brazil was good to us and there is a lot going on there now… which makes me think of that old Frank Sinatra song…

Now, when twilight dims the sky above
Recalling thrills of our love
There’s one thing I’m certain of
Return I will to old Brazil

Find out about the profit opportunities we disclose to our subscribers here

Regards

Manraaj Singh
Editor
Profit Hunter

The official, Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, told Iranian state-run television today that “the dollar has totally been removed from Iran’s oil transactions,” and that the country has “agreed with all of our crude oil customers to do our transactions in non-dollar currencies.”

The dollar’s spending power, like it or not, is at the mercy of Iranian president President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, says Addison Wiggan in the 5-Minute Forecast.

“At a November 2007 meeting of the OPEC’s 13-member cartel, , whose country already receives payment for 85% of its oil exports in nondollar currencies, urged other countries to follow suit and ‘designate a single hard currency aside from the U.S. dollar…to form the basis of our oil trade. ‘The empire of the dollar has to end,’ chimed in Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez; his state oil company changed its dollar investments to euros at his order — er, request.

“Rumors are circulating that the Bank of Korea, after selling off $ 100 million worth of U.S. bonds in August 2007, is getting ready to sell $1 billion more, and if Washington forces trade sanctions, China, which threatened recently to cash in $900 billion of U.S. bonds, will probably follow suit.

“In Russia, Vladimir Putin’s dream of a stock market to trade the country’s natural resources in rubles is not so far-fetched; in 2005, Russia, the world’s second-largest exporter of oil, followed South Korea’s lead and ended the dollar peg. And once again, Sudan is hinting that it will impose trade or financial sanctions against companies that do business with the United States — only this time, the words just might have teeth. As other countries follow suit, the dollar — and your spending power — drops. What does this mean? You will need more dollars to buy things than it takes today.”