[TreebeardsUncle]

Hi.
Now that the election is over, I figure it is a good time to buy into an oil services company, particularly Slumberger since it is one of the most favored. Am thinking that a good target price would probably be just above 60 if the current upward trend continues. However, as it had dipped into the 50's just recently (during this fall), I am not certain. It has been on the up and up nearly continually from January, 2003 on, going from around 17 or 18 then to nearly 75 earlier this spring. Any thoughts on this? I am going to put in a tentative (limit order) at 61.00 which will give me some time to adjust.

Thanks in advance.
Geoff

[shakespear1]

It is Schlumberger my friend

[Heineken]

I think the real bargains right now are the Canadian royalty trusts. They've been absolutely smashed by proposed legislation to tax them as corporations (which won't even take effect for four more years), but the underlying value of their oil and gas assets is intact and will, inevitably, rise, forcing the prices of these stocks upward. In the meantime you collect (at least for the next four years) dividends with yields around 10%, assuming the bottom doesn't fall out of oil prices.

[zberry]

Obviously be extremely carefuly when putting money into the stock market. Having said that, investing in energy seems pretty low-risk right now. I've been scaling into positions in a number of companies, including Schlumberger.
I agree that the royalty trusts seem cheap. My worry is that as energy prices rise, governments will continue to take more and more of the proceeds.
My favorite investments for sleeping well at night are physical gold and silver and USO, which is an ETF tied to the price of crude. Physical Gold and silver should really be the foundation upon which you build.
I just hate everything to do with Wall Street. But physical commodities are where it's at.
So SLB looks good but you might want to wait a bit. The broad market has had a very strong run and is due for a pullback. Looking kind of "toppy" right now. But the oil stocks probably won't pull back as much.
After you buy, you probably should forget about it and wait about five years before checking it again. We are in a bull market in energy and the market will do absolutely everything it can do to shake you out of your position. When you know you're on the right side of the trade, just don't pay attention to the day-to-day noise in the markets.

[bobbyald]

zberry, so you're holding physical gold and silver.

Where did you say you lived?

[zberry]

If you really want it, you will have to go to the UK:
Goldmoney.com

[Heineken]

But Bobby lives in the UK!

"Johnny, I'm on the first step."

(You might have to be a little older to understand this literary allusion.)

[FatherOfTwo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', 'I') think the real bargains right now are the Canadian royalty trusts. They've been absolutely smashed by proposed legislation to tax them as corporations (which won't even take effect for four more years), but the underlying value of their oil and gas assets is intact and will, inevitably, rise, forcing the prices of these stocks upward. In the meantime you collect (at least for the next four years) dividends with yields around 10%, assuming the bottom doesn't fall out of oil prices.