Jeff Rubin, of CIBC World Markets, predicts in a guest column in today’s Report on Business (no available online) that the TSX will hit 18,000 by the end of the decade, driven by bullishness in the energy sector. He says that energy stocks are currently pricing in $40-range oil and $5-range natural gas prices. CIBC, of course, recently predicted that oil could hit $100 a barrel by 2010. Mr. Rubin argues that the energy sector weighting will grow from the current 25% to as much as 54% of the TSX composite index.

The frenzy in the energy sector makes my recent decision to lighten my exposure to the sector look dumb. However, I still think it was prudent to take the profits.