More on How to Own Energy Stocks

Updated from April 16

Oil, natural gas, solar or ethanol?

Stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs)?

Ready to "expose" your portfolio to energy? But don't know where to start?

Here is the latest from TheStreet.com on the potential opportunities and risks in energy investing.

From Cramer's 'Mad Money Recap': A Natural Gas Gem:

El Paso (EP Quote) owns and operates the largest natural gas pipeline in the U.S. and has one of the largest exploration and production operations in the country.

Cramer said that El Paso's two businesses -- exploration and production on one hand and pipeline on the other -- have made the company confusing to many investors and have been keeping its share price down. But he said there has been talk of the company splitting its two businesses and unleashing its hidden value.

The stock has been largely overlooked because it has risen only 3% this year compared with an average of 30% for its peers.

Regardless of whether the company splits or stays together, Cramer says both businesses are "on fire."

Read the full article.

Plus, don't miss Cramer: Make Money With Natural Gas (Video).

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From Best Stocks to Make Money Off Ethanol:

1) VeraSun Energy (VSE Quote) is the largest publicly-traded ethanol stock. Now that its merger with US BioEnergy is completed the combined entity will have a capacity to produce 1.64 billion gallons of ethanol annually.

Read the full article.

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Cramer: Speculation Not Fueling Oil (Video)

The rise in oil prices and commodities has to do with worldwide demand, says Jim Cramer.

Watch the video.

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From Cramer's 'Mad Money Recap': Green Stocks Hit Pay Dirt:

Cramer said that green has worked well and will continue to work because of rising oil prices. "We correctly anticipated that oil would be up huge, $125 is still our price target," he said. "It's high oil prices that have driven up everything related to clean energy. This is the trend behind the trend. I don't think it's going away."

First Solar (FSLR Quote) has been the biggest winner, up 367.8% since April 17 of last year. "I have been the strongest backer of this stock out there, and I remain so," he said. "It will be the standard of this country no matter which presidential candidate wins, as it already is the standard in Germany."

Read the full article.

Plus, don't miss Cramer: First Solar Is the Bomb (Video).

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From Big Movers Among Utility Funds

The best-performing utility fund this week [ending April 17] is the Ultra Utilities ProShares (UPW Quote), gaining 6.96%. The fund is 200% leveraged to the Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Index. The second-place ProFunds Utilities UltraSector ProFund (UTPSX Quote) tracks the same index, but at 150% leverage. The four largest holdings are Exelon (EXC Quote), Southern Union (SUG Quote), Dominion Resources (D Quote) and FPL Group (FPL Quote).

Read the full article.

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Energy Stocks Still Have Earning Power (Video)

A growing number of Wall Street analysts are saying energy stocks are ready for a big pullback. Keith Walter, co-manager of the Julius Baer Global Equity Fund (BJGQX Quote), says it's only the beginning with coal, oil and natural gas shares headed higher.

Watch the video.

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From Profits Climb at Baker Hughes:

Oil-services firm Baker Hughes (BHI Quote) announced Tuesday [April 22] that its earnings in the first quarter rose 5% over the same period last year, beating analyst estimates.

Higher-than-expected revenue from its North American segment was cited as the primary reason behind the earnings gain.

Read the full article.

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From 10 Ways the World Could End and How to Play Them:

We run out of oil. The Middle East would plunge into chaos, industry would grind to a halt. Super investors T. Boone Pickens and Peter Thiel are already on top of this oil issue and placing their bets accordingly.

Read the full article.

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From New Solar ETF Helps Spread Sector's Risk:

Claymore Securities just listed the Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy Index ETF (TAN Quote), and it seems to have potential. Solar has been an interesting place to invest because of the importance of the products and the wild volatility in both directions that is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

It should be clear from the chart of the top three holdings, First Solar, Renewable Energy Corp. of Norway and Q-Cells of Germany, that the names underlying the fund are unambiguously volatile.

The fund really is global: China is the largest country represented in the fund, at 29.91%, followed by Germany at 29.01% and the U.S. at 26.33%. Still, ex-U.S., TAN invests in only five countries.

Read the full article.

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From XTO Buys Marcellus Shale Stake:

XTO Energy (XTO Quote) announced Tuesday [April 15] that it will acquire 152,000 net acres of leasehold in the Appalachian basin from Linn Energy (LINE Quote) for $600 million.

The deal marks XTO's move into the white-hot Marcellus Shale play stretching from West Virginia through Pennsylvania to the outskirts of New York City. Some geologists say the Marcellus could produce more than 50 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The potential windfall has ignited a land-rush that the domestic oil and gas industry hasn't seen the likes of in years.

Read the full article.

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From Cheap Oil-Services Stocks:

One overlooked announcement recently illustrates why oil-services stocks should continue to draw investor attention for a longer period than previously anticipated.

PetroBras (PBR Quote) announced it had awarded a $4 billion contract to Noble Corp. (NE Quote) for five deep-water drilling rigs, nearly doubling Noble's backlog to $10 billion. The Noble announcement extends a current arrangement but on much better terms, as Noble indicated in its press release.

What's going on here?

The current supply of deep-water drilling equipment is running at full capacity.

Deep-water drilling-rig day rates continue to hit new highs. Globally, exploration companies are going into deeper and deeper waters to find oil. But there are a limited number of deep-water rigs.

Read the full article.

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Cramer: One Way to Play 'Beat the Street' (Video)

Oil services is a great play for TheStreet.com's 'Beat the Street' game, says Jim Cramer.

Watch the video.

Plus, play 'Beat the Street' at beat.thestreet.com.

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From Weigh Your Options With Energy ETFs:

The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration Index (IEO Quote), a tracker for the Dow Jones U.S. Select Oil Exploration & Production Index. It holds stocks of companies involved in domestic exploration and production of oil and natural gas, such as Apache (APA Quote), Chesapeake Energy (CHK Quote) and Occidental Petroleum (OXY Quote). The fund uses a capitalization approach to weight its holdings, and its expense ratio is 0.48%.

The fund recently took a hit along with most energy equities, but it is one of the best performers in the space. Many energy stocks, including those of the major integrated energy companies and oil-service firms, have recently moved lower along with domestic equity indices on the notion that their operations would be affected by a slowdown in the global economy.

Read the full article.

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From Weigh Your Options With Energy ETFs, Part 2:

Jeffrey Ptak, ETF analyst at Morningstar, says that the focused ETFs are riskier investments than the broader, diversified funds, primarily because they haven't been around as long. For example, the Vanguard Energy ETF (VDE Quote), a diversified ETF that is highly favored by many analysts, has generated consistent and dependable returns since its inception in September 2004, whereas the Market Vectors Coal ETF (KOL Quote) has only been around since January.

"The proof is still in the pudding," Ptak says. "So far, nobody in the niche ETF space has built a better mousetrap than the broader diversified vehicles."

That's not to say that there aren't niche energy ETFs with strong performance records. However, investors who buy into these funds should understand the inherent risks and treat those holdings accordingly.

Read the full article.

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China Watch Mail Bag: LDK Solar Not So Hot (Video)

One reader wants to know whether now is a good time to add to his LDK Solar (LDK Quote) position.

Watch the video.

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From Can Energy, Ag Continue To Surge?:

It isn't a slam-dunk that energy stocks will move in lock step with their underlying commodities. Historical data predict that these issues will follow the futures markets in quiet times but track the equity indices in wild times. This occurs because macro forces affecting the broad stock universe can affect sector profitability despite a booming oil market. With this two-sided relationship, I look for energy stocks to gravitate toward index leadership whenever the Market Volatility Index rises above 25. This indicator closed at 23.82 in Monday's [April 14] session after ticking higher for the last two days. So it's nearing the critical level where equities might decouple with the futures markets.

Read the full article.

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McCain's Gas Tax Cut Helps Consumers and Refiners (Video)

Charles Marvin and John Fout discuss whether or not John McCain's gas tax cut would help hurting consumers.

Watch the video.

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Travelers Shrug Off Hotel Gas Refunds (Video)

Farnoosh Torabi asks tourists about whether they'd be enticed to travel by car if hotels offered gas refunds.

Watch the video.

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