Folks,

I did another interview with the Invest Express radio talk show on the Business TalkRadio network today. We discussed oil prices, the recent high stock valuations in the solar sector, and the new “Tupi” offshore oil discovery in Brazil.

You can download the interview here.

–C

I did a brief (about 10 minute) call-in interview on the Invest Express show on Business Talk Radio last Friday. If you want to check it out, you can download it here.

–C

Folks,

If you follow the markets, you are more than aware that they have been melting down for the last three weeks, with the Dow crashing hundreds of points in a day. For those of us who trade stocks, it’s been a very volatile time, with fear and greed hashing it out big-time.

The cause of all this was the “sudden” realization that a huge number of adjustable rate mortgages out there were sold to people with poor credit, and that many of those mortgages are about to have their interest rates raised, leading to a large number of defaults. This in turn caused the rapid devaluation of many other investing vehicles which were levered to those loans, which in turn has sharply devalued the businesses of some of the biggest banks on Wall Street, and caused carnage in the hedge fund world (like, losing 60% of their portfolio values).

I won’t try to get into more detail than that here–there is plenty to read elsewhere on the subject written by more knowledgeable observers–but I’ll give you my bottom line, based on my research: The economy is in trouble, banks are in trouble, there’s not a whole lot that the Fed can do about it, and it is going to take a while to unwind…not days or weeks, but months or even years.

Consequently, I have unloaded almost all my long positions and gotten short via ETFs: SKF and SRS. I believe that this is a good time to be in cash or in a defensive posture. But the markets have been extremely volatile and irrational. There has already been a rally since the first selloff two weeks ago–when the Dow and oil had both reached record highs–but it has been a classic “dead cat bounce” and more than a few investors (like myself) swooped in on an apparent buying opportunity, only to get stopped out of those positions a day or a week later.

Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

That’s about all I’ll say on the markets right now.

Moving on…I feel compelled to comment on the announced resignation of “Hot” Karl Rove, since he’s been a regular whipping boy in these pages, but I’m not sure what to say. In a sense, I think I felt safer knowing approximately where he was and what he was doing. Who knows what his next trick will be? But of this I’m sure: he’s not going anywhere. I have no doubt that he will continue to work on Republican campaigns and do everything he can to divide and conquer America by actively destroying its social fabric, pitting us against each other in order to scrape a few more votes his way. Just for grins, feel free to email me your best guess at Rove’s next gig.

Finally, I did a short (~6 minute) guest appearance at the daily online podcast The Real Story with Aaron Task today. Check it out here (“No Shelter From the Selling”). My bit starts around 27:00.

Keep your powder dry and your stops tight, and good luck everybody!

–C

Folks,

I did another interview on Ken Brown’s show on Wednesday. We discussed recent action in the markets, the situation with oil and renewables, and the energy legislation that was recently passed in the House.

You can download it here (33 mins, 84 MB).

–C

Folks,

If you tried to tune in to my interview on the Ken Brown show last week only to find another interview being broadcast, my apologies. I’m new to the broadcast business, but it seems to be a very flexible environment where last-minute changes to the schedule are common. Such was the case at the Florida radio station hosting my interview last week.

But they were kind enough to give me an MP3 of it, so I can share it with you here. Do note this is a large file–85 MB–so if you’re not on a broadband connection, you might want to let it download overnight or something.

I was pleased to have this opportunity to speak at length (45 minutes) on a broad range of energy topics, and I hope that it is informative and useful to the public. If you listen to it, please drop me a line with your constructive criticism!

Download here: Chris Nelder on the Ken Brown show July 5, 2007

–C

Folks,

Today I had the privilege of appearing as a guest on The Real Story with Aaron Task, a daily podcast from TheStreet.com. We talked about alternative energy stocks.

You can listen to it here: Bulls Feel the Pinch.

He also covered my stock picks in his article today, Gurus: Top Alternative Energy Stocks.

For those who are interested in alternative energy investing, you might also want to check out the recommendations in Aaron’s article yesterday, Coming Week: Alternative Ideas. .

–C