The past few years have been unsettling for Andrew Beal, the publicity-shy billionaire banker from Piano, Tex. who has a penchant for high-stakes poker. Like other smart money men, Beal is leery of asset prices fueled by central bank intervention. So Beal hasn't been making many loans recently and instead has built up a sizable war chest of capital-enough to make more than $20 billion in fresh loans. "There has not been anything to invest in. It's the craziest environment, a world flooded with money," says Beal. "It's hard to sit by and pick your nose when you want to be doing deals." But with West Texas crude prices now down by 50%, to $50 a barrel, and many U.S. oil and gas companies scrambling for cash, Beal has been quietly building an oil and gas lending team at his Texas bank, and though he has yet to close on his first deal, he expects to pull the trigger soon. "We are trying to get real active in the oil patch," he says. "We're looking at some decent-size deals, hiring people-we are going to go after it." According to Beal, volatility will become the driving force in markets once the Fed actually begins raising rates. But this will have little effect on the inevitability of oil's long-term price appreciation.
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