IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, JOIN "EM

No need to sit around and complain about gasoline and utility prices. Accuse these companies of gouging all you want but the market place sets these prices and attempts to jawbone the price down are doomed to failure. What can you do about high energy prices? You can conserve by driving less, buying more fuel efficiency, keeping thermostats lower, or a number of other measures. We probably should all do more of that anyway but in the final analysis, we can't conserve our way out of this one. One way I've been dealing with this is to invest in companies that produce energy. Here are but a few suggestions of companies you might want to research if you decide to take this route. Be aware that these are not specific recommendations. Devon Energy (DVN) is a company that produces natural gas from their own reserves. The price has been pretty well stagnant for the past year, mainly because natural gas inventories have been building and prices stagnating. I think it is a bargain at less than 9 times earnings. If you are looking for an income stream (and who isn't) you could buy a royalty trust that distributes income earned from royalties. One natural gas play is San Juan Basin Trust (SJT), a trust that pays royalty distributions monthly. The yield varies with gas prices and inventory levels but is virtually assured to go up if gas prices continue to increase. You could also invest in refinery companies. For example, Frontier Oil (FTO) is a refining company with the capabilities of refining less expensive, high sulfur, crude oil. Their refineries are located away from the gulf coast and less subject to hurricane damage. By way of disclosure, I either own, or have recently owned all these stocks. I seldom mention specific companies in my posts and these are just a few of the many companies that you could invest in that will profit from increasing energy prices. The purpose of this post is to let you know that it is possible to derive some benefits from high energy prices. These benefits can go a long way towards helping you deal with higher transportation and utility prices.