The rally in natural resource stocks should catch the attention of all investors.

SPDR Gold Shares, (NYSE: GLD), the exchange traded fund for gold, is up more than 10 percent for 2014 (chart below).  United States Natural Gas, (NYSE: UNG), the exchange traded fund for natural gas, has risen more than 17 percent for 2014.  Stocks in the groups ranging from ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX), the two biggest in their sectors, to promising small caps such as Mondial Ventures (OTC: MNVD) and Premium Exploration (OTC: PMMEF), have bullish futures.

Those operating in North America are especially promising.

That is due to the unrest that still bedevils much of the world.  The current situation in the Ukraine provides real time proof.  That is what has helped to drive up the price of gold and energy assets.  These are considered safe haven assets by investors, favored when there is turmoil in the markets.

It is also what makes those with holdings in North America alluring, no matter what the size.  Mondial Ventures does business in the legendary oil and natural gas fields of Texas.  For Premium Exploration, it is the bountiful gold fields of Idaho.  Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-B), the second largest oil and natural gas entity in the world behind only that of ExxonMobil, had to sell off assets due to violence in Africa.

As a result, the market has wisely put a premium on natural resource companies like Mondial Ventures and Premium Exploration that have appealing assets in North America.

For the long term investor, the natural resources sector should prove to be rewarding.  As detailed in many previous articles on this post, Big Oil firms like Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil are great for generating dividend income.  For growth investors, small cap firms like Premium Exploration and Mondial Ventures have the most potential.  Barrick Gold, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, and others of that size are simply too large to deliver high growth numbers for the future.