Energy mutual funds anyone?

[midnight armadillo]

I've just been looking at two high-risk, high-yield mutual funds, Guinness Atkinson Global Energy (GAGEX) and US Global Investors Global Resources (PSPFX). Both have returns that far outstrip the S&P 500. HIgh risk though...

From what I can see however, energy markets are hoppin' and the prices for oil & gas will continue to rise for at least the next several years unless the US starts taking conservation seriously. Putting some money into this sector seems to make some sense...

Any thoughts?

[MsTryska]

1. well personally -

i would stay away from energy mutual funds.

IMO the time to get into them was last year around this time - when they were jsut starting to get bullish. Now they've been at record highs - and you could bet that they'll keep going higher, but a safer bet to me, is that they've got a long way to fall, at this point.

Perhaps rather than a mututal fund with all it's expenses and commisions, how about an Exchange Traded Fund that is in the energy sector, if you're hell-bent on riding out what's left of this bull? that way you can get a better idea of what it's doing on a day to day basis, and liquidate it a little quicker if it's not to your liking.


Finally - I ran across this ETF just yesterday that I am keeping my eye on - it's actually an Alternative Fuel ETF that's been going gangbusters since inception (May 2005) but especially after Katrina. That may be "false profits" that we're seeing tho. In any case, i'm watching it, and intend to make a play in a couple of weeks. It's called Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy Portfolio (PBW). Here's the yahoo details on it:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=PBW&d=t

[TheDonkey]

2. XLE is THE ETF for oil+gas stocks

Forget about mutal funds for oil and gas and go with XLE.

BUT I like the PBW suggestion for those that was into SRI.

[hvn_nbr_2]

3. PBW? SRI? Translation, please?

PBW could mean PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy Port, although it doesn't seem certain from the context. I can't make any sense of SRI?

[hvn_nbr_2]

4. Oops, that's what I get for not reading the WHOLE thread first.

First post defines PBW. But I still don't get SRI.

[TheDonkey]

5. sorry, SRI means socially responsible investing

there are ETFs and mutal funds dedicated to SRI (which is the commonly used label).

An ETF of exchange traded fund is a basket of stocks that can be traded as one. So the etf XLE I mentioned is a collection of dozens of energy stocks like Exxon, Halliburton, ConocoPhilips etc. so some may have a problem with investing in such companies.