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Oil and Russia: Check out the Market Vectors Russian ETF (RSX)

Today's Financial News - Posted November 20, 2008

Energy prices are plunging. Some of us love to see the decline. But countries like Russia and everybody in the OPEC cartel are counting pennies that were once dollars.

By Andrew Snyder, TodaysFinancialNews.com

Baltimore – (TFN): I hate it when my day gets off to a rough start. One early-morning hitch tends to set off an avalanche of problems throughout the day.

Today’s first sign of trouble came as I stopped to fill my gas tank. As I pulled into the corner convenience store with my windshield wipers dusting off the remnants of a strong snow flurry, I saw all four gas pumps were occupied. So I patiently pulled behind a white SUV. With its driver inside paying, I thought the wait would be short.

A few seconds later, the guy came out. I thought I would be pumping and on my way in a matter of minutes. I put my truck in first gear and got ready to pull toward the pump.

As I slid my foot off the clutch, the inconsiderate driver popped his hood and started what appeared to be his semi-annual tune-up. He added oil, checked his antifreeze, and I swear I saw him pull out a spark plug wrench.

It was all stuff he could have done in a parking spot. But instead he decided to rudely hold up the line and keep me from my 60-mile commute. Even flipping my wrist several times to obviously glance at my watch, did not help the situation.

Take a hint, buddy. Nobody needs to know what time it is every six seconds.

Cheap gas makes it all better

Regardless of this man’s selfishness, I eventually pulled up to the pump and put five gallons of gas at $1.93 each into my tank. A ten-dollar fill-up was more than enough to put a smile back on my face.

It would have taken twice that to fill my tank, but I took a bet that prices would be even lower by the time I needed to refuel. I saved five gallons of tank space for gas at $1.85 in just a couple of days.

So far, my prediction is paying of. After nose-diving from the $60 handle, crude prices dipped below $50 this morning. It is the first time in nearly 24 months that we have seen prices that low.

With crude prices dropping, it is no wonder other components of the energy sector are plunging as well. Most importantly, the price of a gallon of gasoline on the wholesale market dropped by more than 6% this morning to trade at $1.034.

Natural gas dropped almost a dime to a level where $6.644 will get you 1,000 cubic feet. And for all you folks waking up to sub-freezing temperatures and snow flurries in the Northeast this morning, you will be glad to know heating oil declined by 5.33 cents to $1.706 per gallon.

In a time when America is facing a major recession and job losses are reaching monumental levels (542,000 workers applied for first-time unemployment benefits last week), falling energy prices are a greatly needed silver lining for consumers. Just imagine if we were still paying $4 per gallon of gas. It would not be pretty.

Our gain is their loss

For the folks depending on record-high oil prices to fuel their economy, the situation is downright horrid. If Venezuela is in financial trouble, then the situation in Russia is downright catastrophic.

Investors should be drooling on their shirts looking for ways to take advantage of Moscow’s troubles. In the office this morning, we were debating all the opportunities face investors. We came up with at least half a dozen great opportunities. As we gather our thoughts and complete our research, we will share what we know.

For now, take a look at the Market Vectors Russian ETF (NYSE:RSX). It invests directly in about 30 Russian securities. It gives investors an easy way to play a market that is down nearly 80% so far this year.

As energy prices continue to drop, Russia’s economy will slow even further. With about 40% of its revenues dependent on the energy industry, the government is in a desperate situation.

When it compiled its 2009 budget earlier this year, Moscow used $95 oil as its base figure. With prices about half of that figure, the country is sitting on a serious deficit. To make matters worst, the country has already lost nearly $100 billion in its emergency reserves thanks to efforts to shore up the ruble and preserve what is left of its economy.

I may have started the day on a bad note waiting to pump cheap gas in my truck, but Russia is about to start 2009 in absolutely horrendous shape.

If I could only make one investment during this entire crisis, I would take a significant short position in the Russian economy. The ETF mentioned above gives investors a fantastic opportunity to do just that.

If you would like to read more about investing opportunities related to Russia, click here.


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Posted by Andrew Snyder · Filed Under Oil and Energy 

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