In this excerpt from a talk at the Casey Research Recovery Reality Check Summit, legendary resource speculator Rick Rule makes a strong case for careful, disciplined investing in the junior resource sector, despite the market turning truly ugly.

By Doug Casey, Casey Research

In an excerpt from his presentation at the Casey Research Recovery Reality CheckSummit, legendary contrarian speculator Doug Casey remarks on the farcical aspects of international air travel.

For pretty much everyone, no matter where they are located in the economic strata, few if any questions are more germane to making plans for the future than whether the US and other major global economies are in recovery.

Getting the answer to that question right is of special importance to investors and businesses.

Stating the obvious, if the broader economy really is in recovery, then investors would be well served by investing in the equities of solid companies positioned to take advantage. Similarly, those very same solid companies would be rewarded by increasing their productive capacity through investments in the plants and people necessary to meeting growing demand.

On the same side of the ledger,

Yesterday, I made a prediction that should scare a lot of investors.

I predicted a massive loss in market valuation for some of North America's largest energy producers. You might own some of these names yourself.

I'll share some specific names with you in a moment... But before we cover them, it's important you know the dynamics that will drive them lower.

I covered the first dynamic yesterday. It's called "reserve write-downs." 

As you probably know,

If you think the bloodbath is over for natural gas stocks, think again...

Despite falling 50% over the past year, many natural gas stocks are about to enter another major decline.

And if you know what's going on here, you can use this coming decline to make huge capital gains over the next 12 months.

The key idea in this coming trade is something called "reserve write downs." It will cause billions of dollars of market valuation to vanish... overnight. Some very well-known energy firms (that you might own) will suffer huge share price declines.

Here's how it's going to work...

Source: Karen Roche and JT Long of The Energy Report (5/10/12)

The Energy Report: Since we last talked in November, oil went from $90–110 per barrel (bbl). Has it established a floor that will stick? Or, as Porter Stansberry predicted during the summit, is it getting ready to crash? He said that using the same sorts of technology that brought on the glut of natural gas will lead to finding too much oil and driving its price down.

Marin Katusa: Porter was basing his comments on the success of shale gas in North America, and with that you have natural gas liquids and some oil. In North America, gas became a victim of its own success,

The University of Michigan has been awarded $1.3 million to teach students about nuclear energy, the U.S. Department of Energy announced today.

An estimated $830,000 will be used to research how new reactor designs and technologies can have wider applications, while $465,000 will go to graduate fellowships and $20,000 for four undergraduate scholarships for students who are planning for careers in nuclear energy

Some thought that nuclear energy may get buried after the Japanese Fukushima deluge. But the rumblings in this country are suggesting that it won’t die.

Several issues are creeping back into the American consciousness at once: The revival of Yucca Mountain, the safety measures enacted and the possibilities of surviving a nuclear accident here and finally, the licensing of two new nuclear sites after 33 years. The message that is radiating from those seemingly disparate events is that the nuclear resurgence is gathering more steam.

“The United States is building new nuclear energy facilities under an improved licensing process that exhaustively addresses safety considerations,”

Porter is a friend of mine and a very smart, successful individual… but I think not.

From my perspective, the pressures at play in the oil market are all pushing prices in the opposite direction: up. Global supplies are tightening, costs are rising, and demand is not falling. Prices are going to remain high, and then go higher. And there will not be a shale oil revolution anytime soon.

I'm the kind of guy who puts his money where his mouth is, so I challenge Porter to a bet. I bet Mr. Stansberry that the price of oil will stay above $40 a barrel over the next 12 months. The wager? 100 ounces of silver.

Porter has made a lot of good calls in his career. I highly recommend watching his videoThe End of America, an interesting and entertaining look at his prediction that the US will soon drown in its debts and cease to be a global economic powerhouse, a transition that will lead to riots across the country.

Porter and I agree on a lot of things, but on this one he's wrong. Below are my top ten reasons that high oil prices are here to stay.

Reason 1: "The Big Pinch"

Oil production levels, as well as exports, have been falling in most of the world's top ten supplier nations:

The "Seven Sisters of Declining Exports"

Visit will add momentum to cooperation, according to Chinadaily.com.