In other words, it’s the time from bust to boom to bust. It’s something I’m calling “Oil $500.” We’re approaching the next bottom. Oil still has farther to drop. But when demand for oil ramps up, oil prices will move much, much higher. And for businesses that are prepared – like the ones we’ll show you in this book – their shares will soar. Like my grandfather always told me, “Boy, you can’t score a touchdown if you’re not in the game.” My Alpine trip proved you just can’t assume nothing good is happening. Oil prices will move higher. You want to be in the game now. There Is Bad News... And Good News Oil prices are down and going lower. Reports estimate that 200,000 oil and gas jobs have been lost in the U.S. since mid-2014. Companies are going broke, and many that aren’t broke are strangled with debt. According to corporate law firm Haynes & Boone, from January 2015 through December 2016, there were 114 exploration and production company bankruptcies totaling $74.2 billion in debt. Add that to the 111 oilfield service company bankruptcies totaling $18.8 billion in debt, and you have 125 company bankruptcies with $93 billion in debt. But there is some hope. Goldman Sachs says 100,000 jobs might return by 2018. I’m not sure where you’ll find the talent. Most of those old oil survivors are working at the Toot’n Totum now, or they have left to work construction or at the local car lot. Oil prices have been stuck around $40-$50 a barrel since 2016. And $50 oil makes almost every oil play in the U.S. uneconomic… Worldwide, $50 oil is killing entire economies. The cost of getting a barrel of oil out of the ground in Russia is about $70. The cost in Iran is in the mid-$60s. The cost in the North Sea around Western Europe is $55. As I write in summer 2017, it is all bad news.
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