In the past, Richard Lehmann has recommended positions in both energy and agriculture in his Forbes/Lehmann ETF Investor. His latest recommendation is a single fund that invests in both.

The advisor explains, "We've felt that oil prices would likely continue to remain high, mostly because OPEC has control of supply and has become accustomed to $60 plus oil rather than the old $35 target price."

He adds, "We've also recommended positions in agriculture Fund because distortions caused by increased ethanol production has caused an increase in corn prices, which translated to higher wheat and soybean prices as farmers switched production to corn."

Now, he says, there is a fund that tracks not only agricultural commodities but also energy prices at the same time -- the iPath Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index Total Return ETN (ASE: DJP).

Actually, this "fund" is not an ETF; rather, it is an ETN, or Exchange-Traded Note. Lehmann explains, "ETN's have an advantage over ETF's in that they don't have to pay out distributions and are treated like a zero coupon debt instrument or a promissory note backed by Barclays."

This ETN, he notes, tracks several commodity sectors. According to Lehmann, the fund has 35% invested in the energy sector, 28% in the agricultural sector, 19% in industrial metals and 9% each in precious metals and livestock.

He suggests, "This ETF will tend to be uncorrelated with the broader equity market. Barclays invests in the respective futures contracts and keeps any remaining cash in Treasuries."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com features the latest investment ideas and market commentary from the financial newsletter community.

Two funds in one: Energy & agriculture originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

same situation here...too much summary/too little analysis

In his Swing Trader portfolio, Melvin Pasternak looks for technically strong short-term trades. Among his latest "long" ideas is Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU), which explores for and mines coal and develops technologies to convert coal to fuels such as natural gas.

Pasternak bases his recommendations on rather sophisticated technical indicators such as doji candle formations, relative strength, Bollinger bands and MACD.

For those unfamiliar with these terms, one can simply note that he considers the stock both fundamentally favorable, and technically poised to move higher. He explains, "BTU has had a great run, going from near $10 a share in early 2004 to the mid-$70s in 2006. From there, BTU pulled back substantially, reaching a low of $32.81 in September 2006 before rebounding.

For the more technically-inclined, he says, "For the past several months, BTU has consolidated, establishing what appears to be a stage I base. In the last several weeks, the shares have broken out above their 30-week moving average (which is again beginning to slope upward), signaling the possible beginning of a stage II advance.

"Despite forming a doji candle, the candle remained outside the upper Bollinger band, which is a continuation signal. The relative strength line has broken a prolonged downtrend and is back above its own moving average for the first time since the summer of 2006.

"BTU has formed an ascending triangle with resistance at $50. Just above that, there is additional resistance at $52.75. ADX is on a buy signal and MACD is bullishly trading up through the zero line. My target on Peabody is $64.95 with a stop loss at $41.89."

For more stock picks from the leading financial newsletter advisors, visit Steven Halpern's free daily website, TheStockAdvisors.com.

BTU: Technician lights up Peabody originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 May 2007 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.