But no post-war recession in US history has lasted longer than 16 months; in all likelihood, we’ll begin to see signs of economic stabilization and recovery by the end of 2009. Of course, the market typically leads the economy by several months. While timing the turn precisely is next to impossible, it’s likely we’ll see a major low for the market sometime next year.

Crude oil and natural gas have declined sharply since early July. Oil has now slipped below the psychologically important $60-per-barrel level, while natural gas continues to hover around $7 per million British thermal units (MMBtu). The obvious questions: How low can oil go, and when can we expect a turn?

For the past few weeks, I’ve been looking for signs of a broader market low and the potential for energy stocks to see a sharp rally into yearend. Investors have a rare opportunity to buy defensive stocks with conservative management teams to grow their dividends and lock in yields around 10 percent.

Learn what one of the world's top scientist has to say about thin film photovoltaics and what you can expect in coming years.

The global stock market selloff continues unabated with most major market indexes touching five-year lows. The S&P 500 is close to retracing the entire 2002-07 bull market. The speed and strength of this selloff certainly qualifies it as among the most vicious in stock market history.

Make no mistake about it: The stock market is in a precarious position right now. There are legitimate fears that our credit and financial systems will go from clogged to downright frozen and that more large US companies will end up bankrupt.

Inside my subscriber-based service, The Energy Strategist, I recommend a handful of companies that are organized as publicly traded partnerships (PTP); the most common forms of PTP are Master Limited Partnerships (MLP) and limited liability companies (LLC). I’m also co-editor of The Partnership, a newsletter dedicated solely to investing in this group. Here's one stock I currently recommend in both publications.

Just three years ago, the main topic of conversation for the North American natural gas markets was liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The father of modern economics, John Maynard Keynes, was once asked in a debate how he justified changing his mind on certain key issues of his day. Keynes replied “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”

If there’s one factor that’s catalyzed the recent selloff in crude oil prices, it’s declining oil consumption from developed-market economies.