Heralding the Next Great Fuel Revolution

[20MillionDinar]

Heralding the Next Great Fuel Revolution

by Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D.

Monday, February 13, 2012 at 7:30am

Over a half century ago, my family made a major investment — in a unique energy source that we knew would someday be at the heart of a great fuel revolution.

But a few years later, as my father, my uncle and I walked up Park Avenue, we made a momentous decision, and I took the above photo to mark the occasion.

Our decision was to sell — to take our profits and come back another day when the technology for that great fuel revolution was ready.

It has taken many years. But now, that day has finally come.

And, as I'll explain in a moment, it could change the world of energy as we know it. But it won't be the first time.

Indeed ...

The History of the Western World

Is the Story of Energy Revolutions

Over the past two centuries, every great leap forward has been driven by a corresponding technological advance related to energy.

Coal — along with the steam engine and the transcontinental railroad — catapulted the economy into the new industrial age.

Electricity lit up the nation's cities, transformed communications and set off a chain reaction of inventions, innovations and changes that continue to this day.

Each of these energy revolutions was sparked by a new technology.Gasoline and the internal combustion engine drove the next great fuel revolutions, as Henry Ford began to mass produce the Model T.

Each was powered by a new source of fuel.

And each made early investors wealthy beyond their wildest dreams ...

J.P. Morgan and

The Railroad Revolution

In the late 19th century, the B&O and Union Pacific railroads became the most visible leaders of a new and vital form of transportation.

But it was the financier John Pierpont Morgan who took the greatest advantage of that technology through smart investing:

He gained control of the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad in the same year that the transcontinental railroad was completed — 1869.

And that was just the beginning!

In the next two decades, he also took over the New York, West Shore & Buffalo Railroad, the Philadelphia & Reading and the Chesapeake & Ohio.

He reorganized each of these companies. He modernized the entire industry. And in the process, he vastly increased his own personal wealth.

How much? J.P. Morgan amassed a fortune of about $1.3 billion, approximately equivalent to $28 billion today.

Without making even one more penny, he would still be among the ten richest people in the world today.

Morgan was also a big mover and shaker in the modernization of the electric power industry.The Electric Revolution

and the Making of a Giant

In 1892, capitalizing on the inventions Thomas Edison pioneered, he arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company, to form General Electric, still one of the largest companies in the world.

Another early investor in GE and the railroad industry: The Vanderbilt family.

In fact, it was Cornelius Vanderbilt and his heirs who dominated the era known as the "Gilded Age," largely through shrewd bets in the great fuel revolutions of their time.

Adjusting for the subsequent growth in the U.S. economy, Vanderbilt's fortune at the time of his death would be equal to approximately $143 billion today.

The Oil Revolution Cements

a New Definition of Wealth

Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company and pioneered vertical integration for the industry, controlling development, refining, distribution and marketing. Plus, at the same time, he also integrated the industry horizontally — investing in other, related fuels.John D. Rockefeller is the only person in American history who can claim an even greater personal fortune than Morgan's or Vanderbilt's, and it was ALSO largely due to another major fuel: Oil!

Within a decade, his companies had achieved a virtual monopoly over the industry, emerging as the largest corporate empire in the entire world.

How much would his fortune be worth in today's dollars? Approximately $700 billion, far more than any other individual ever.

But that's history. What's far more pressing is the fact that, right now, we are ...

At the Cusp of a New Fuel Revolution

Crude oil has served us well for over a century. But now, all that is changing — and fast:

We have an explosion in energy demand from emerging markets.

We have major supply constraints, challenges and threats, some of which could explode to the surface in a matter of months or even weeks.

We have every reason to believe that crude oil simply cannot continue to be the primary fuel source of energy in this century.

And even if the economics were not so bad, strategically, we know that relying so heavily on a single fuel source produced mostly in volatile regions of the world is a mistake of monumental dimensions.

A new civil war is emerging in Iraq — a country in turmoil that still controls some of the world's largest petroleum reserves.

The Arab spring has turned into an Arab winter, threatening Egypt, Libya, Syria and their neighbors.

Iran, the world's 4th largest producer, could soon be at war with Israel.

Even Russia, the world's 2nd largest producer, is beginning to fear similar social unrest domestically.

Fortunately, however, there is an alternative, and I'm not talking about a utopian vision of solar or wind power.

I'm referring to an energy source available in vast quantities just waiting to be tapped — the same source my family invested in over a half century ago. And it's right here in the U.S.

This new fuel source has the potential to spark a revolution that could meet our vast energy needs — not just for a decade or a generation, but for a century and beyond.

Moreover, just as with coal, electricity and crude oil, early investors have the opportunity to build very substantial wealth for their families.

This Is So Timely That I'm Going to

Do Something I've Never Done Before

He is one the earliest proponents of this new energy source.I assume you know Sean Brodrick. If not, it's about time you met him.

And he's finding the companies that he believes could become the 21st century's version of General Electric or Standard Oil.

In fact, this is so timely — and so potentially profitable — that I'm doing something I've never done before:

For the rest of this week, I'm turning ALL of our regular morning Money and Markets issues over to Sean Brodrick.

Don't worry. Our full team will be back as usual next week. But I feel this opportunity is just too important to handle in any other way.

Each day this week, Sean will give you new insights about this great fuel revolution — and point you to new ways to profit from it.

Plus, he'll show you why the time was not a half century ago, when my family first saw this opportunity on the distant horizon.

Nor is it going to wait for some uncertain moment in the future.

The time is here and now.

So don't miss even ONE of Sean's morning reports this week. They will open your eyes — and your pathway to unusual wealth-building potential.

Good luck and God bless!

Martin

[one2one]

the u.s. first coal to gasoline plant is in the planning stages here [ wyoming ]

[20MillionDinar]

Our natural resource analyst, Sean Brodrick, is on top of what could be THE biggest profit story of 2012 and beyond. It's all about a "New Fuel Revolution" that's taking place right now ... a fundamental shift in the entire energy landscape. Below, Sean explains more about why this is happening ... and also how investors like us can play it. — Best wishes, Tom

What Comes After Peak Oil?

by Sean Brodrick

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 7:30am

Yesterday I told you how it's getting harder and harder to find new sources of oil — and why that essentially means "peak oil" has already arrived.

No, the day where we bid a total "goodbye" to oil isn't here yet, but it IS fast approaching.

Remember, as we discussed yesterday, "peak oil" doesn't mean that there isn't any more oil in the world. It means we're at the point where global oil production tops out, and starts to decline.

However, to make matters worse, this is happening just as billions of people are adopting modern lifestyles that demand even MORE energy ... demands that oil alone simply cannot meet. Not for the long haul, anyway.

Worldwide, oil demand is up nearly 15% just since 2002.

The World Currently Uses More Than a

Thousand Barrels of Oil PER SECOND!

When you break that down, it amounts to 60,000 barrels every minute ... or more than 1,000 barrels of oil every single second!

Most of this new growth came from countries like China and India ... and other emerging markets in South America and Africa.

And amazingly, this rising demand just keeps accelerating.

But what's even more important is the fact that all these new people are living lives that are far more energy-intensive!Sheer population growth is partly to blame: In fact, the world population is expected to hit 9 billion people by 2040.

They're heating more of their homes ...

They're driving greater numbers of cars ...

They're traveling farther and more frequently ...

And the end result is a sort of compounding effect that requires ever-greater amounts of oil.

You can see this very clearly just by looking at the numbers.

For example, countries outside the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development — basically non-Western countries — have seen explosive oil demand growth since the 1990s.

In fact, as you can see from looking at this chart, non-OECD oil demand has nearly DOUBLED in less than 20 years!

Even now, major emerging market countries such as China, India and even Saudi Arabia have reached the important GDP-per-capita range where oil demand historically blasts off.

Look, at this point what the world is REALLY addicted to is energy itself.

So Clearly, the World Is Going to Need

New Energy Solutions ... and Fast!

For the last hundred years, oil has simply been the mostconvenient source of that energy.

But now that oil is getting harder and harder to find, the world is clamoring for a new solution — one that can carry us for the next 50 or 100 years (or even longer).

We urgently need cheaper, cleaner, more-plentiful sources of energy to solve the world's growing needs.

And I'll explore some of these alternative energy sources in my column tomorrow.

[Editor's note: Sean's presentation — "How the New Fuel Revolution Can Make You Rich" — is going online this Thursday at noon eastern time. It's free and no registration is necessary. Just be sure to click here shortly before noon Eastern Time on Thursday, February 16!]

But as you'll see, I think most of the proposed "solutions" are still many years — perhaps even decades — from practical implementation.

In fact, there's only one REALISTIC solution to the oil problem available right here and right now.

I am utterly convinced that the rest of the world is rapidly waking up to this same conclusion.

And most importantly, I believe the very best companies involved in this solution stand to make early investors very rich ... much sooner than most people currently believe possible.

Through exhaustive research, I'm figuring out who those companies are right now. And I'll tell you all about them — along with all the details on this "New Fuel Revolution" that's getting started — tomorrow.

It all happens promptly at noon Eastern Time tomorrow when my special presentation, "How the New Fuel Revolution Can Make You Rich" will go online.

I'll send you a reminder just before it goes live, but just in case you miss that ... you can always use this link to access it. No registration or fee will be required to watch it.

I can guarantee that you will be amazed at some of the things I've been uncovering ... so don't miss it!

Yours for trading profits,

Sean

Inconvenient truths about alternative energy ...

by Sean Brodrick

Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 7:30am

President Jimmy Carter's answer to the crisis was to set an example. He called for a comprehensive campaign to conserve energy and famously installed solar panels on the White House.The year is 1979. And with the Arab oil embargo in full swing, Americans are coming face-to-face with an unpleasant truth — that our country has become dependent on foreign oil.

As he proudly unveiled the new installation, President Carter also announced new plans to finance solar energy ... all in an effort to help America become energy independent.

Of course, we all know how that turned out.

And 30 years later, Carter's dream of solar-fueled energy independence was resurrected by President Obama ... only to meet a similar end with companies like Solyndra, the failed solar manufacturer that received $535 million in government support.

But as I'm going to explain today, there IS one viable alternative to oil that's already available to us right now ... a source of fuel that is quietly gaining more and more share of the world's energy market ... and ushering in what I believe is truly a "New Fuel Revolution."Considering these things, it's no surprise that the average investor is pretty jaded about alternative energy right now.

This New Fuel Revolution is not a pipe dream. It's here and it's happening. And it's going to create a fundamental shift in the energy markets that could be VERY profitable for investors like us.

In fact, I have been digging up stories of everyday people who are ALREADY cashing in on this New Fuel Revolution. More on that in a minute, though.

First...

Why Solar, Wind and OtherAlternative-Energy Sources Just Aren't Ready Yet

Before I go on, I'd like to let you know that I DO believe renewable energy is still a great idea for the future.

Unfortunately, it's just not ready to solve the world's energy problem TODAY.

Why? It's all in the details ...

Take wind farms, for example.

I've read stories of wind farms that could sell you electricity for as little as 1 cent per kilowatt-hour.

But there's just one problem: These wind farms are way off the grid ... so there's no way to get this power to consumers.

But without government subsidies, the cost savings aren't there yet. Solar panels are still relatively inefficient, so you'll only save a fraction of your energy bill in the end.Meanwhile, solar is something you can install on the roof of your home.

Oh, and then there are also hydrogen fuel cells. Remember how all of our cars were supposed to run on them by now?

That "energy solution" has never translated to the real world because hydrogen-fueled cars are way too expensive, and hydrogen fuel is too explosive.

Even electric cars still have drawbacks!

Take the Chevy Volt. Its promise is tantalizing ... but it hasn't lived up to that promise in real life.

Fox News host Eric Bolling recently tried out a Chevy Volt for a week. After two nights of charging the Volt at his home for 12 hours, he was on his 20-mile commute to work when the Volt ran out of juice in the Lincoln Tunnel!

There ARE other electric cars that work much better, such as the Nissan Leaf. But the source of that electricity still isn't really coming from clean sources like solar or wind power, anyway ... at least, not right now.

So yes, each of these energy alternatives has its own advantages and disadvantages, and I do believe they'll continue to gain some traction in the next few decades.

But the World's Energy Problems

Can't Wait Years, Let Alone Decades!

As I've explained over the last few days, we've already reached the point at which annual crude oil production has peaked.

And a skyrocketing global population — along with a massive worldwide increase in living standards — is creating an even-stronger demand for not just oil, but ALL types of energy.

Unfortunately, none of that is going to improve or reverse ... it's only likely to get much worse.

Meanwhile ... while a lot of buzz has been revolving around hybrid cars, and solar and wind power ... a quiet — and very REAL — New Fuel Revolution is already happening right under our noses!

[Editor's note: Sean's presentation — "How the New Fuel Revolution Can Make You Rich" — is going online TODAY at noon Eastern time. It's free and no registration is necessary. Simply click here shortly before noon Eastern!]

Again, I'm not tilting at windmills ... or other forms of green energy like solar or geothermal. This New Fuel Revolution is notabout those alternatives, but instead something that's already been around for a long time.

And it's being used all over the world.

What's recently changed is the TECHNOLOGY involved with this type of fuel ... as well as new TECHNIQUES that are allowing us to get at it more efficiently ... transport it more economically ... and harness its power in more useful ways.

In addition to the simple supply-and-demand factors, THOSE are really the two driving forces behind this New Fuel Revolution.

And for investors, the most important part is that, with these innovative new techniques and technologies ... and with all the evidence of greater and greater adoption of this alternative fuel source around the world ... comes absolutely huge profit potential.

Based on everything I've uncovered, I think this story is going to explode into the mainstream this year.

Which is why I've been working so hard to break the story first ... and why I'm preparing a brand-new presentation that GOES LIVE TODAY AT NOON Eastern Time.

In this free webinar, called "How the New Fuel Revolution Can Make You Rich," I'm going to tell you:

• What source of fuel I believe is going to revolutionize the energy landscape — not someday but NOW ...
• How everyday Americans are already making huge fortunes from this revolution ... and why even-bigger profits lie ahead for investors like us ...
• And most importantly, details on the specific companies that I believe will rocket higher as this New Fuel Revolution continues taking the world by storm!

Viewing this presentation won't cost you a penny, and there's no registration required. All you have to do is click this link at noon today to be among the first to see my brand-new presentation, "How the New Fuel Revolution Can Make You Rich."

Again, I realize that it's easy to be jaded about alternative energy.

After our experience with the solar "solutions" of the past, it's easy to assume that things won't ever change.

But I have plenty of evidence that proves this revolution IS already taking place.

And the fact that most other investors have yet to recognize it isexactly what gives the New Fuel Revolution so much potential!

So if you're willing to go against the herd ... if you're curious about the global transformation in energy — and how you can cash in on this New Fuel Revolution — make sure you watch my presentation as soon as it goes live later today!

Yours for trading profits,

Sean

Edited February 16, 2012 by 20MillionDinar

[20MillionDinar]

***EAGLE DIESEL***

http://pro.stansberryresearch.com/1202PSTEAGLE/EPSTN204/?o=620463&s=624788&u=28512049&l=387299&r=Milo

[wealthhound]

***EAGLE DIESEL***

http://pro.stansberryresearch.com/1202PSTEAGLE/EPSTN204/?o=620463&s=624788&u=28512049&l=387299&r=Milo

I received the information regarding Eagle Diesel...it sounds pretty amazing, the only thing that bugs me about these presentations is that they drag on and on and on...I would like to listen to it again, but need to schedule an hour to do it.

20 MillionDinar, what did you think??

Regards,

Wealthhound

[20MillionDinar]

I received the information regarding Eagle Diesel...it sounds pretty amazing, the only thing that bugs me about these presentations is that they drag on and on and on...I would like to listen to it again, but need to schedule an hour to do it.

20 MillionDinar, what did you think??

Regards,

Wealthhound

I agree! They do drag on and on, BUT, this new fuel revolution is actually pretty big and I am wondering now if this is going to directly affect our potential RV. Right now we are basically entering a new era in regards to fuel technology and it looks like Oil is not going to have such a high demand within the next 10 years. I'm not sure if it is going to affect our potential RV but it just got me thinking... Right now I am not entirely sure what to think about this new fuel technology and how it is going to affect us. Still need to soak it all in.

Just got the following email this morning:

A highly unusual TRIGGER event for a great boom ...

by Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D.

Monday, February 20, 2012 at 7:30am

It was a major investment for us at the time. And it prospered.In the early 1950s, my family formed a corporation exclusively for the purchase of natural gas properties — a sector we believed would be at the core of a future fuel revolution.

But the expected fuel revolution was still many years away. So, as I explained here last week, we decided to take our profits and come back another day — a day when all the stars would be in alignment for a major new opportunity.

By a strange coincidence, the trigger event occurred just last year in the country that was my primary major area of study in grad school: Japan.Before he passed away, Dad and I often talked about what kind of global event would most likely trigger the fuel revolution. But we never imagined it would happen quite the way it did.

And by an even stranger coincidence, the very first American eyewitness to report on the event to the global media was my own son, Anthony, who lives in Tokyo.

I woke up around 4 AM Eastern Time and read the headline online in aLos Angeles Times story:It was the morning of March 11.

8.9 QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS IN JAPAN

"Oh my God!" was my first thought.

"OK. The epicenter is far from Tokyo. But 8.9 on the Richter scale?! That's catastrophic! WHERE IS ANTHONY?"

To my great surprise, the article itself gave me the exact answer just a few paragraphs later:

"Anthony Weiss, a 29-year-old from Florida studying Japanese in Tokyo, was on a train when the quake hit, shaking his passenger carriage sharply back and forward. 'People covered their heads with their bags as dust and small debris fell,' Weiss said. 'Something sprung a leak, as there was a lot of water on the platform. ... People were scrambling for the doorways. The aftershocks are continuing even now.'"

It turned out to be one of the most shocking disasters in modern history — the massive earthquake, the gigantic tsunami, and multiple meltdowns that struck the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Thankfully, Anthony and his host family in Japan are fine!

And although some radioactive material was released into the atmosphere and water, their life is mostly back to normal.

But the nuclear disaster — the largest since Chernobyl — has had a dramatic impact on the country's energy policy:

Last June, a poll of Japanese citizens conducted by Asahi Shimbunfound that 74% of respondents wanted the government to ultimately decommission ALL 54 of the country's nuclear reactors.

So in October, the Japanese government responded by proposing a dramatic long-term reduction in the nation's reliance on nuclear power.

The key question:And already, when it comes to nuclear enrichment, Japan has virtually shut down its facilities.

How Does the World's Third-Largest Economy

Compensate for Such a Huge Loss of Energy?

Solar and wind power? No.

They are simply too new and too small to fill the gap. As Weiss Research's Sean Brodrick told us last week, those technologies won't be viable on a large scale for years or even decades.

The only solution: Natural gas.

And sure enough, in the 11 months since the Fukushima Daiichi disaster ...

• Japan's electric utilities have all switched to natural gas.

• The country has ramped up production at power plants fired by natural gas. But Japan's domestic production is able to meet only 4% of the country's demand!

• As a result, Japan, already the world's largest single importer of liquid natural gas (LNG), has had to ramp up its imports even further.

Predictably, Japan's increased demand for natural gas has driven up prices, as illustrated by this chart from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) ...

Here's the fascinating picture it paints:

Not long ago, Japan's average import price was under $8 per million British thermal units (BTUs). Now, it has DOUBLED to $16!

By comparison, the average spot price for natural gas in the United Kingdom and continental Europe is about $12.

But even $12 is still FAR higher than the price in the U.S., where natural gas was recently hovering near the $4 level.

That's about one-third its cost in Europe and one-FOURTH its cost in Japan!

How Long Can This Huge Discrepancy Last?

Given new technologies to more easily ship natural gas overseas, not long!

In fact, just this past Friday, natural gas prices rocketed 6.3% higher — ON TOP OF its 5.9% surge on Thursday. That's over 12% in just 48 hours!

The main reason U.S. natural gas prices have been so low in recent years: The same reason we see such an opportunity in the fuel — its abundance.

Official estimates place the amount of technically recoverable natural gas in the United States at 482 trillion cubic feet. In 2009, the U.S. extracted 96 billion cubic meters of the fuel, overtaking Russia as the world's largest producer. In 2010, output surged to 142 billion cubic meters. And in 2011, even further!

Why such a huge jump in U.S. production?

Because of new technologies and techniques that allow for more effective extraction, cheaper transport, and more efficient use of natural gas.

And now, just when investors were beginning to say "natural gas will stay cheap forever," global demand is surging ... and not just in Japan!

China imported 12.2 million metric tons in 2011, worth approximately $5.8 billion, despite the fact that it's sitting on a supply of shale reserves three times larger than that of the U.S.

You see, China hasn't been able to match the natural gas boom in the United States because its supplies are generally deeper underground — locked up in rocks that have a higher clay content, making the fuel harder to extract.

Meanwhile, natural gas demand is rising on every continent on the planet except Antarctica.

Brazil, Argentina, India, and South Korea are stepping up imports steadily and often dramatically.

Everyone is quickly waking up to the fact that crude oil alone simply cannot meet their energy demands — and that other sources are simply NOT commercially viable.

THIS is the new fuel revolution my family first anticipated over a half century ago.

THIS is the revolution that I alerted you to right here one week ago.

And THIS is why Sean has devoted himself to natural gas companies, picking THE candidates he believes could become leaders in the industry.

Click here to watch his brand new video, "How the New Fuel Revolution Can Make You Rich."

It could help you start very near the ground floor of a trend that's already beginning to sweep the world.

Good luck and God bless!

Martin

[wealthhound]

20MIL,

Yeah, I do wonder about the potential effects of the RV>>>hum....let's believe they just get it done soooonnnn...they are already quite far into getting done what they need to,

This Eagle Diesel is sure something to keep in mind currently I am not focusing on investments but, it sure is something to consider jumping on in the short term....Bless, WEALTHHOUND

[20MillionDinar]

Has anybody been following the recent progress concerning Natural Gas and our everyday automobiles?

Good stuff going on right now!

[20MillionDinar]

What China’s Stockpiling of Natural Gas Could Mean For You

By Andy Hecht, Senior Commodities Editor

Dear Sovereign Investor,

In the spring of 1989, students demonstrated for democratic reform in Beijing. Tiananmen Square was ground zero for the demonstrations.

On June 4, the People’s Liberation Army moved in, killing hundreds, if not thousands of protestors. I watched the unprecedented coverage from my office in London.

Two weeks later, I talked to my colleague in New York.

I told him: “If we want to get close to the Chinese, let’s go there now – while the rest of the world is treating them as a pariah.”

At the time, I ran the global precious metals and nickel business for the Wall Street commodity trading firm Philipp Brothers, and I operated from their London office. Our commodity trading house had been doing business in China for decades, and I had been there several times myself. I had many contacts in China, although they were all government business people and fiercely loyal to the communist government.

Vastly Increasing Quantities of Commodities

But we knew China was the future. Not only did China produce commodities, it also consumed vastly increasing quantities of them each year. We knew China would grow and become the most important player in the commodities markets in the coming decades.

We also knew that the commodity trading companies that developed the best relationships there would not only have an edge in the markets, but with Chinese orders to buy and sell commodities, those with the relationships would run the markets.

I contacted the People’s Bank of China, which arranged for visas and meetings with the government agencies that bought and sold commodities in Beijing.

Some of our colleagues (and most of our families and friends) told us we were crazy to go. It was dangerous. But my colleague and I decided it was in the best interest of our business to be the first ones there.

We traveled to Beijing at the end of June, just weeks after the massacre. When we arrived, the airport was quiet. The streets were quiet. There were very few foreign visitors. The situation was tense.

The day before our meetings, we visited the square. We looked around at the stains and holes in the pavement. It was a difficult site to behold.

The next day, we were careful to discuss only business with our hosts. They were happy to see us and thanked us profusely for coming.

We all attended a banquet that evening. After many toasts and shots of Mao Tai (which tastes like grain alcohol), our hosts loosened up.

They asked what we were hearing in New York and London. They called it propaganda and said that no one was hurt. According to our hosts, the protesters were convinced to “see the light” and had retreated.

Then they proceeded to reveal the most interesting and perhaps most prophetic information of our careers…

China’s 100-Year Plan

Our hosts explained that China was on a path to reform, but it could not happen overnight. Slow and steady was the only path for the Chinese people to grow and prosper.

Our hosts told us that China had a 100-year plan.

Unlike Eastern Europe, which would become a ward of the West after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, no one was there to support China if its economic environment collapsed. Eastern Europe had the wealth of Germany, France and England to support it. China was on its own.

They explained that we would see the Eastern bloc countries struggle economically, while China would maintain a slow and steady pace of economic reform and growth. Our hosts were dead right in their predictions.

I do not condone what the Chinese government did in Tiananmen Square. But just as it did then, China knows its path now.

What China Buys, You Should Buy

In the last 22 years, the world has watched China blossom into the second most powerful economy in the world, soon to be the first. China is not beholden to anyone.

Today, with the country in building mode, China is the demand side of the equation in the world of commodities.

China continues to grow and consume. Its emerging middle class is the biggest in the world. As it expands in wealth and numbers, it will continue to support prices for all commodities and raw materials for decades.

China routinely buys commodities on price dips. This is evidence of its hunger for commodities. The need for raw materials in China is significant, and the government understands that strategic stockpiles and investments in commodity-producing companies around the globe will ensure that the country has sufficient supply.

The message for investors is clear – follow China in business. When it buys, you should buy. China is still very much the future.

Today China (and Asia) is Buying Natural Gas

In 2009, China was the eighth-largest consumer of natural gas in the world. That year, it used 87.08 billion cubic meters of the commodity. What is more interesting is that China was only 93rd in consumption per 1,000 people at 53,342 cubic meters.

The potential for growth of natural gas consumption in China is staggering. In 2011, China’s consumption grew by 48% to 129 billion cubic meters. China’s imports of natural gas rose 66.7% year on year to hit 3.6 billion cubic meters in January alone, when consumption of natural gas in China rose to 13.7 billion cubic meters.

At that rate, China will consume 164.4 billion cubic meters in 2012. That is an increase of 27.4% from 2011.

Meanwhile, natural gas consumption is also growing throughout the rest of Asia. Japan’s consumption of natural gas grew 6% from 2009 to 2011, South Korea grew 26%, India grew 26.7% and Malaysia grew 36%.

These are amazing growth rates for the use of a commodity whose price is basically in the toilet in the US. And while I mentioned the staggering potential for growth in China, the potential for growth in India (the 97th country in consumption per person), Indonesia (the 74th), Japan (the 47th), Korea (the 51st) and Malaysia (the 35th) makes this commodity extremely interesting.

As far as Asian prices are concerned, according to Bloomberg data, “record Japanese imports to replace nuclear power after the Fukushima Dai-Ichi March-mega earthquake-induced disaster and a 27% leap in China’s first-half purchases may send prices to roughly $20 per million British thermal units (BTU) this winter, up 71% from last year and the highest since 2008.”

While U.S. prices for natural gas are plummeting, the same commodity is soaring in Asia.

Follow China…

Follow China and Asia for that matter. Consumption and imports of natural gas are rising. The demand for LNG (liquefied natural gas) will continue to grow. As I recently wrote, “There is a race to export natural gas to Asia where prices for the commodity are many times higher than prices are in the U.S. or Russia.”

China should be on the mind of every investor. Follow China and watch the natural gas price. The current low price level of this commodity in the U.S. is an anomaly. Technology and processing natural gas into LNG will force natural gas prices higher in the future – and China knows it.

Happy trade hunting!

Your eyes and ears in the commodities markets,

Andy Hecht