Many experts believe that global oil supplies are near or past their peak, while demand for energy products shows no signs of abating.
"If you went to China a decade ago, all you saw were bicycles. Now it's all automobiles," says Jeff Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James.
Over the next few decades, this trend could cause commodity prices to rise sharply. Today, fears of a double-dip recession have dragged down energy stocks, and the sector was recently the cheapest in the Standard & Poor's 500 based on next year's projected earnings.
In fact, although oil prices have moved higher since the recent low in August, stocks of large energy companies like Chevron and Exxon Mobil have not. So now could be a good time to buy, says RBC Capital Markets.
The Energy Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund (XLE) gives you exposure to 43 of the largest oil and natural-gas companies, and the ETF's annual fee, at a mere 0.2% of assets, is practically unbeatable.
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