The powerful Hurricane Felix, which for a time was a category five hurricane with winds of 165 mph, is making landfall in Nicaragua today and should have little to no effect on the United States. The hurricane has taken a path even farther to the south than did Hurricane Dean. Dean caused some minor problems by interfering slightly with the oil production just off the central Mexican coast. This area will be spared this time, as Felix dies out over the mountains in the next couple of days.
Though Felix should not effect the United States at all, there are signs that the 
tropics are becoming far more active. Accuweather forecasters are watching three different areas in the Atlantic Ocean that have the potential to become hurricanes. One area sits just a few hundred miles off the coast of Florida and will be watched closely in the next day or two.
September 10th is the peak of the hurricane season, so there is plenty of time left for the tropics to become active and effect this economy. If the tropics become more active, energy stocks are likely to benefit. Already today with the threat of these tropical systems, crude oil is inching toward $75 a barrel and the energy sector is leading the stock market higher. Insurers will certainly be keeping a wary eye to the sky hoping that there is no major disaster on the United States coasts.
With water temperatures near their hottest point of the season and forecasters saying these next few weeks will be very active, investors would do well to pay attention to the weather and the tropics. Though hurricanes are terrible things because of the destruction they cause, investors can sometimes make large profits off of these major natural disasters.
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