AEC ended up 1%

CLP ended up 1%

CCJ ended up .35% flat

Silver ended up 2%

And my new position, BAS, after erasing an early 5% gain, still ended the day up 1.5%

Good gravy, even my cash, as measured by the DXY, was flat for the day. This was an all around positive day in the market for those wise enough to shun short selling.

Sometimes, nature just sends you blessings, and you drink deeply from the cup of life. There’s no rhyme or reason; you just have to go with it.

We are going higher methodically into this Fall.

CLP reported numbers yesterday. I was busy, so I had to wait until today to look at them.

Low and freaking surprises, but they absolutely crushed it. It was AEC part II. Just like AEC, they did so well they had to book a gain, even after massive depreciation.

Revenues were up 12%. Half of that comes from expansion; the other half was just their current operation breaking out – occupancies and rents are high, and going higher. And the company will continue to expand at a 5%+ clip on acquisition alone.

You must embrace the renting nation, for it is our destiny.

I was looking over some stocks today, and noted that my old holding, AWK, has gone on quite a run after I parted ways with it late last year.

Looking at its recent price, it seems almost like AWK is towering high above the land in a continuous path that drags your eyes higher – it rather reminds me of the way my 9th floor office used to be (though isn’t anymore) – but that’s a story for another time.

Now certainly I don’t resent AWK for mocking my office with its well-groundedness. After all, since I bought it in the low $20’s and road it into the low $30’s, it did me quite a service on its own.

And I don’t much resent it for continuing to run higher without me. I chose to disembark it, after all.

But its price is too high. It’s a water utility after all. Not a tech company. The dividends it offers are valuable, and useful if you’re trying to find something other than the bond markets. But they’ll never be that valuable.

Looking at the timing of the ascent, I can’t help but wonder, “do people believe this company is going to benefit greatly from the drought?” And certainly it will, from higher sales volumes.

But those volumes are going to be stifled soon enough. And will three months of hot summer weather really justify an extra 15% on the price of the stock?

I can’t believe that. Why, that’s a taller tale than the one I intend to tell you…

But that’s for later. Selling AWK is for now.

APC has now returned back below both my last sales points. The dollar and Europe are hitting the entire energy sector hard – if APC dips back into the low $60’s, I’ll consider buying back into a full position with some of my cash.

Enjoy your day tomorrow; I’ll be en route to the city of New York. Barring some sort of catastrophe, it’s unlikely you’ll hear from me.

The iBankCoin annual dinner will be getting underway this weekend, at undisclosed locations, to engage in abstruse designs.

Until next week.

I always start bragging about these REITs, only to see them succumb to the horror by multiples of everything else.

You’d think I would have learned by now, but…

In case you’ve missed it, after the rally, energy stocks have continued to get their ears boxed, pushing lower. Oil, gas, nuclear, coal, … the whole sector is getting the hot blade pressed to their necks.

That statement does not transfer to the commodities themselves. Gasoline is nearing $4 a gallon again here in Michigan. Coal prices are higher. Natural gas prices are higher. Oil prices are higher.

That’s a rough divergence, and one that will probably be reconciled with commodities hanging themselves in suspension. The energy companies are going lower because actual business is slowing. Higher prices for goods will not help that problem.

But we saw all this last year. The summer has been slow; but as soon as prospects for Santa are added to the equation, it’ll be a holiday miracle. Only Europe somehow going endothermic on the planet, dragging in all the energy and freezing out everywhere else, could possibly ruin that.

So continue to have cash, but avoid betting against the world outright. A continent of miscreants will NOT be ruining eggnog – not for me, and not for you. We will ignore them if it is at all possible to do so.

Get ready, because in another two months, it’ll be sweat pants time…as horrible a thing as it is beautiful.