News You Can Use, Saturday Edition

We're heading to Sarasota to do Easter with the grandparents as soon as my daughter's soccer game is over. So I'll leave you with a little news you can use ...

Permanent drought predicted for Southwest
Study says global warming threatens to create a Dust Bowl-like period. Water politics could also get heated....
The computer models, on average, found about a 15% decline in surface moisture ... A 15% drop led to the conditions that caused the Dust Bowl in the Great Plains and the northern Rockies during the 1930s.

UN Warming Report "A Near-Apocalyptic Vision Of The Earth's Future"

A new global warming report issued today by the United Nations paints a near-apocalyptic vision of the Earth's future if temperatures continue to rise unabated: more than a billion people in desperate need of water, extreme food shortages in Africa and elsewhere, a blighted landscape ravaged by fires and floods, and millions of species sentenced to extinction.

[XX Sean's note -- the interesting thing about this is the behind-the-scenes feuding going on. Scientists pitched a fit as UN politicians representing some of the largest greenhouse gas emissions (guess who!) toned down the report and removed timescales for future events. Some scientists who worked on the report say they'll never get involved in such a political report again.]

Dubai Runs Out of Office Space as Economic Boom Draws Companies to Region
Dubai, the Middle East's fastest- growing city, is running out of office space, according to the commercial property broker CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.

Permitting US Uranium Mines Takes Years
As we discovered, the process can take between three and six years (sometimes even longer), costing several million dollars and requiring numerous scientific studies on a company’s property. This could add additional pressure to uranium prices.

Uranium markets off to strong spring start
Spring was off to a strong start for uranium markets, with spot prices pushing upwards of US$100 per pound and the Canadian uranium index holding steady into the Easter holiday period.
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In a good stroke of timing, Uranium Focused Energy Fund opened the TSX market on April 4 through a $195-million initial public offering. The fund, which trades under the stock symbol UF.UN, was designed to capitalize on the view that the uranium sector will continue to provide "attractive opportunities" for investment over the next several years.

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Meanwhile Down Under, Aussie uranium explorers are buzzing with news of a new discovery described in a Reuters report as having "potential to rival the country's biggest deposit at Olympic Dam." The Four Mile discovery in South Australia is so-named because it is four miles from the producing Beverly uranium mine. The project is part of the Arkaroola Joint Venture between Alliance Resources of Australia, and Quasar Resources.

Japanese exchange to offer gold-based trading fund
Osaka Securities Exchange, which operates the second-largest Japanese stock market, may list an exchange-traded gold fund as early as this month as it taps rising interest in commodities from investors looking to diversify their portfolios.The fund, which is linked to gold prices, was being created by one of the largest investment trusts in Japan, and would have net assets under management of ¥3 billion to ¥5 billion, or $25 million to $42 million.

Check out my new gold and energy blog at MoneyAndMarkets.com