RE:Energy excluding nuclear:Lithium will displace oil/gasolineThanks peterstockhouse interesting observations.
It is somewhat premature to be writing off oil. While I do anticipate a rapid decline in the use of ICE's resulting from uptake of electric cars even if all cars in the world were electric it would still not reduce demand for oil for other industries like plastics...although NG can be used as a substitute.
I am being very cautious on Lithium and Cobalt. The reason for their importance is that most electric cars use L-ION batteries. However what would happen if there was a better battery technology or storage system developed...the value of those companies would plummet to near zero. Unfortunaely there are a number of technologies in the wings that are better (much better) than Li-ION. Supercapaitors for example using graphene have been recently demonstrated and can charge in a few minutes, have much greater capacity than a battery and could form the skin of the vehicle meaning there is no battery. They are also very light so the power to weight ratio is extremely high. While I am sure Li-ION batteries will be the preferred technology for a few more years that will end very quickly when supercapaitors can be manufactured in quantity....which is not that far off.
Going back to electric car adoption...certainly it is coming and I think it will occur faster than most people expect. However there is not much point in decreasing exhaust emissions usinmg all electric cars when the power is supplied by coal oil or gas fired plants. The best fitting technology to electric cars is nuclear. Charging will occur overnight (most of the time) so additional grid capacity is not required and that is a perfect fit to nuclear which is running all the time and is pollution free.
So I see electric cars as inevitable and the electricity to run them will come from nuclear plants not solar and wind as some pundits will tell you.
Interestingly California is aboiut to find out why solar is a bit of a problem. There is a solar eclipse on 21st August which will take out just about all of the States solar production....the equivalent (installed nameplate capacity that is) of 6 nuclear power plants. We shall see how all the anti nukes like their A/C off because the Sun is not shining. It will be a joy to watch.
So in summary...I am a little bit cautious of Lithium and Cobalt stocks for a long term play. NXE I like because it is a long term play on a commodity that is a must have for all nuclear power plants.....I like monopolies like that...especially in a contrarian market. It is the closest you can come to a guarantee to make money.
All the best...liked your post alot.
Malcolm