Analyst forecasts natural gas shares are getting ready to start beating oil

Ellen Roseman What a week for investors. Crude oil had its biggest drop in more than three years, falling below $129 (U.S.) a barrel on Friday from an all-time high of more than $147 a week earlier. This pushed down Canadian energy stocks, which make up about a third of the Toronto Stock Exchange's main index. The S&P/TSX capped energy index has fallen almost 7 per cent in the past five trading sessions. And it's down 13.5 per cent over the past month. But Canadian energy stocks have done an amazing job for investors in the longer term. You could have gained an average of 14.9 per cent a year over the past three years – and 26.3 per cent over the past five years – by holding the shares. Check out the iShares CDN Energy Sector Index Fund (symbol XEG), which tracks the capped energy index. The fund has $638.5 million in assets... [read full story]