Peak Oil & Green_Comments From The Floor

CLARCOR Inc. (CLC)

Important Year For Telecom Sector?

Perhaps this year will be the year that we finally see some meaningful advancements and consumer value in the cell phone market. One of my committee members in the local American Society For Quality lamented: "Every time I go back home to India, I hide my phone. Everyone has these fantastic phones that can do so much. When they ask to see my phone, I tell them that I left it in the United States."

Tomorrow begins the annual CTIA Wireless 2008 with pre-conferences starting today in Las Vegas.

My opinion is that the iPhone will overtake the Blackberry as the phone of choice. The reason is due to Apple's new emphasis on business productivity and security as well as on open software development. However, the CTIA show brings other vendors products into the mix:

• Nokia's N95
  
• AT&T's full length TV content
• Samsung's ???
• LG's ???
  
• Sony Ericsson's Experia X1
  

Blackberry will continue to dominate this year I suspect but the iPhone will be hot on its heels very soon. Plus, since the iPhone has a very good working internet browser (Safari), I suspect we'll see some interesting web apps utilizing the internet as one of the first head turners for the phone.

The one thing that I totally disagree on is:

U.S. Mobile Market is Global Leader
U.S. consumers are paying less, using wireless more, and have more choices than any others in the world.

Based upon what my committee member said above, based on that when I went to Guatemala, cell phone usage was everywhere including being used by the smallest of children, cell towers everywhere and numerous. Based upon the fact that phones and phone service can be afforded by the poor in many cases. I don't know where this headline has any legs to stand on?

Also, are the consumers truly paying less or getting services they should have gotten before, finally at no additional cost? I agree we are using wireless more. I got rid of my home phone years ago because it made sense. More choices? If you count old phones which is where the discounted prices go towards as more choices...maybe that can be seen as true.

I believe it is that telecommunication industry as a whole in the United States aims to milk money out of the American public for all it can at each opportunity by stretching out the time it takes to bring us better service, more features, more value.


Nearly 2 billion people in the world do not have access to financial services but cell phones are about to change that.


BrokerIPTV and Brad Blumberg of Smarter Agent, smarteragent.com, at NAR Convention talking about LBS and GPS mobile real estate services using cell phones and delivering IDX listings using location based services.


Reducing Termination Fees..A Friendly Gesture?

Will Awards Translate To Broader Improvement?

Tonight is the culmination in the tabulation of dossiers of the most nominated candidates in the 4th Annual Executive Leadership Awards.

These awards will recognize executives who in the past year best exemplify:

OVERALL EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
Demonstrated by financial results, shareholder value, management, innovation, corporate governance, business practices, and accountability -- as well as intangible factors, such as integrity and vision.

LEADER IN INNOVATION
Exemplified by advances in technology, business practices, management, production, and/or operations, as well as R&D expense as a percentage of sales.

ENTREPRENEURIAL EXCELLENCE
Leveraged calculated risks as a means to rewards, reflecting his/her entrepreneurial spirit.

GREEN LEADERSHIP
Employed innovative solutions that benefit customers and society at large and are vital to success in our changing world,. This is about creating solutions that are economically advantageous, as well as ecologically sound.

What would be of interest to me, is will we as a people look at the recipients, take note and follow the leaders? Or will we as a people just continue the status quo? What does it take for a new revolution of these award categories en-mass?

Obviously, even though these awards recognize the best, if more leaders were to be equally recognized, perhaps it would spur an increased consciousness. In return, that consciousness could relate in mass improvements across all sectors which would relate in many good things for business, customers, and investors.

Supposedly 1,000 CEOs were are asked to name two executives from companies other than their own, in these award categories. I wonder how many CEOs or their designees responded? I can't imagine nominations came from competitors but rather primarily from partnerships with companies they do business with.

It is being suggested that two of the awards will go to the CEOs of Apple and Toyota. If CNBC provides the videos of the awards, we may be able to link to them here this week.

Food For Thought

This is a mix of the Book, related references and attempted interpretation. The context fits this web log (regards: sub prime and credit/housing crisis) so I thought it would be interesting to present it here and have it get you to thinking. Especially so, as I have witnessed first hand, the manipulation of credit banking against the consumer.

..."it will be argued that trade is encouraged by interest. That interest helps trade does not add merit to interest, for most trade today is conducted un-Christ-like. Does our trade glorify God or man? Trade can go on without interest. The old Hebrew nation and many others have managed without.

If we get sucked into the complicated theories about interest a person can get really confused.
The world has their financial gurus that are arguing, studying and contradicting each other as to how interest functions upon an economy. We are not to let ourselves be spoiled by philosophy (Col. 2:8). They would have us believe the economy regulates interest rates and borrowing, and they see all kinds of "benefits" of interest. In simple terms, interest allows people to spend more than their limits, and brings many to ruin.

Sometimes, as Christians we give the thief our coat and our hat besides our wallet to show him that God loves him. Interest is robbery and perhaps we may need to experience it for God's glory, but that does not mean robbery is O.K.
What would you replace lending on interest with? Won't people who will be ruined by borrowing, be ruined whether they took interest or not? Couldn't hard feeling arise if a man lending freely is injured for the need of money that was promised to be repaid, but wasn't? Isn't money lent longer when interest is charged and wouldn't the shorter period of freely loaned money be a hardship?

People can injure themselves with about anything. The Christian applies God's principles and the dynamics of those principles work toward success. First, we are commanded to lend where we do not expect to receive again—Lk 6:35. The borrower is instructed to be "Not slothful in business"—Rm 12:11 and 2 Thes 3. The borrower is plainly instructed not to live off of others unnecessarily. We are all commanded to honestly work with our hands. If we suffer for having righteously loaned money for a need, the Scripture's value system esteems such suffering. If that seems cruel to the world—they should recall all the suffering they have encouraged people to go through, it is an honor in the world to suffer through the Iron Man Triathlon (talk about pain), it was the in thing for worldly women to wear painful corsets and whale-bone girdles to force their bodies into painful unnatural shapes, unless one gets wasted with alcohol and suffers a hangover he is not cool at parties,... the list could go on of the many ways the world expects their people to suffer. So understand that for us to suffer for our God is our glory.

If we give money so that a person can be slothful and waste it, we show poor stewardship, because we do not want to encourage that person's sin of slothfulness. (Some misunderstand and think that not charging interest is carelessness. Satan would have us overly careful lest we lose some of our abundance—yet that abundance was given us so that we could share.) The question
is not whether we might suffer without charging interest, but what is the morally correct thing to do. That is the question. That money freely lent has its faults is no secret. The underlying principle is to do what is most loving toward God, and one's fellow man. The focus of interest is self.

How would the world today survive without interest?— How would it survive without soldiers to fight wars? What if this? What if that? Let us not worry about something the Scripture says will not happen. We know that evil along with its "bloodsucking usurers" are not going to all stop their bloodsucking just because you and I do, nor will the world self-destruct from lack of interest taking. But so what if it did? Why should the Christians be disturbed if the One-World-Order feel apart? These "if" questions are vain— but perhaps it may console the sincere seeker to know that the modern Moslem world has done very well without interest taking. Medieval Europe was often without interest and did fine. The natives of the Americas and Australia did fine without interest. And it is conceivable that the New Heavens and New Earth will be able to do just fine without interest.

As it stands today, interest takers have a vested interest in people being in need. If interest were not allowed the interest takers would develop more concern to see others sufficiently prosper.

Doesn't Mt 25:14-24 teach interest is right? We can use the Master's money to get worldly or heavenly treasure, it's your decision. You can use it selfishly or give it to Christ, it's your decision. God provides us with a surplus, so that we can use it to glorify Him, and so we might enjoy the blessings from giving.

Isn't a man worth $1,500 who loans $100 to a neighbor worth $1,500 losing more than the one borrowing gains? No. It is true though that the value of money can fluctuate—there is nothing wrong with repaying according to the real value of the paper one has borrowed. To say "you loaned me x amount of purchasing power and I will pay back x amount of purchasing power," is not interest. This is due to the fact that the paper we call money is not real money, but the alchemy of the Satanic financial Power. Yes, the occult does create gold out of paper and lends it out to nations and individuals on interest. (See chap. 3.3 to learn how the international bankers are a Satan worshiping clique.)

And then to avoid the effect of the Satanic alchemists and their inflation people try to use the interest-rates (extortion-rates) to profit from inflation. They justify their interest in extortion by claiming they are merely "protecting" themselves from inflation. If they simply want to protect themselves they should buy real money, i.e. gold, silver and real wealth i.e. land, houses, and tools; rather than stealing from someone through interest.

Aren't you trying to turn the world upside down? True Christians, like Paul was (Acts 17:6), will be accused of this, because they are trying to turn it right side up. When the Power makes Christianity illegal, will we have enough Christianity to be convicted? I hope so.

What have Christians done in the past (before the Media was controlled by the wrong people)
concerning interest? We should not rest our faith on the actions of men, but rather "let God be true, but every man a liar." Rm 3:4
Still, many will be interested in the past.

EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
Barnabas, known from many scriptures concerning him in Acts, Corinthians and Galatians, wrote against interest (usury). He also wrote "Thou shalt labor with thy hands to give to the poor that thy sins may be forgiven."1

Clement, who also worked with Paul (see Phil.) wrote in praise of the Old Testament for its humanity in forbidding interest. He said, "indeed the man who is generous to the poor receives sufficient usury in gratitude, praise and honor of his fellowman."2

Barnabas' writings were considered scripture in Alexandria for about a century, and Clements' writings were considered scripture for two centuries by the early Christians. The Christian Hermes also wrote against interest. An early writing which some say Hermas wrote says, "They that receive without a real need, shall give an account for it: but he that gives shall be innocent; for he has fulfilled his duty as he received it from God."3

Tertullian (c.155-220 A.D.) wrote against Interest. He wrote that Lk 6:35 means the same as Ez. 18:8. Remember that Ez. 18:8 refers to interest as evil and Lk. 6:35 refers to lending without hoping for anything in return. For Tertullian's references to the evil of interest see this footnote.4

St. Cyprian (205-258 A.D.) and St. Apolonius of Hierapolis (who wrote in 175-176 A.D.) also wrote against interest.
Cyprian wrote in 248 or 249 A.D. "Non faenerabis fratri tuo usurum pecuniae et usuram ciborum"—"We must not practice interest."5


In the 5th and 6th centuries we have the writings of many religious leaders who completely condemn the taking of any kind of interest.6

The Catholic church banned interest until 1830. Augustine in his City of God, Bk. III, chapt. 17 related how the worst measure of oppression in the Roman Empire during the Punic wars of all the many oppressive measures was "The people overwhelmed...most of all by usury..." The Anabaptist churches although they disagreed with the Catholic church over many issues, saw eye to eye with the Catholics concerning interest taking. Only in recent times have many of them lost the teaching that interest is evil.

One of the first important assemblies of Christians after the Apostles was the Council of Nicene. This Council forbid usury (interest) to the clergy with these words, "Whoever of the clergy, for filty Lucres sake, exerciseth Usury, let him be Disposed."7

The 44th of the Apostolic Canons and the 1st Council of Aries (314 A.D.) prohibited it in the same way. The reformers Menno Simons, Martin Luther and Zwingli were agreed on one thing. They all condemned interest.

Martin Luther-"When money is lent and a charge made or more taken back than was originally made over, that is usury, and as such is condemned by every law...nor can they (interest takers) be saved unless they do penance"8 "the devil invented it," and anyone who charges interest is "a thief, robber and murderer."9 "Rents are but the 'fig leaves' behind which usury hides its shame".10 "Money is an unfruitful commodity which I cannot sell in such a way as to entitle me to a profit."11 "Will not interest soon be the ruin of the world?"12 Luther felt Luke 6:34 commands us to follow the Old Testament teachings against usury.13 He also felt that the trading companies, and bankers, and merchants revealed such a "bottomless pit of avarive and wrong-doing that there is nothing that can be discussed with a good conscience."14 "How can there be anything good in trade?" 15

Menno Simons-"But in all things, one toward another, long-suffering, friendly, peaceable, ever ready in true Christian love to serve one's neighbor in all things possible: by exhortation, by reproof, by comforting, by assisting, by counseling, with deed and with possessions."16 "We beg of you from the bottom of our hearts, for Jesus' sake, to reflect a moment whether your spirit is one with the Lord's Spirit, and your conviction agrees with His holy Word; whether it is the Spirit of the Lord and the love for your neighbor or the thirst for gain and the thought of temporal support that send and drive you into your profession. Do you preach God's Word out of a pure heart without falsification; administer His sacrements correctly, and lead a pious and irreproachable life as the Scriptures teach; and do you verily shun and expel from the fellowship of the Lord, public transgressors, primpers, drunkards, LOVERS OF GAIN, USURERS, liars, swindlers, contentious persons, brawlers, adulterers, such as follow after prostitutes, blasphemers, those who take oaths, unrighteous people, etc.?"17 (Emphasis added)

Even the Catholic and Church of England preachers at this time warned of the evils of the merchants and their commercial schemes.18

For more, read or download The Magical Watchtowers, The Masonic Tower of Babel, Christianity's Systematic Destruction.

Game On!

Some things are more fun than checking company fundamentals and trade trend technicals.

Like sail surfing on the Caribbean, watching a great SciFi movie, playing with your BFF on a Saturday morning, or playing Gran Tourismo 5.

One of my earliest big successes in the market was not with Sony but with the company that sells all our favorite games to us.

GameStop (GME) was chosen this week by Zacks Aggressive Growth as a strong buy. Since Christmas, I've turned away from GameStop and concentrated on China but maybe its time to take a second look. Their earnings release says its up 17%. Like Ikea, GameStop is very selective about where they locate stores like in strip and shopping malls, foot and bicycle accessible. They are also the largest reseller of used games which is important to parents with children as new games can easily drain the pocketbook but used games are still as good as new but at a discount. The sentiment above really isn't as bad as it seems. Trading in your old played out games gives you a a discount on your new one. At the same time it makes it available to others and is not only a cheaper way to play but a bit more green too!


The company sells every popular game on every popular platform. By taking cues from the customer it is able to easily position itself to optimize sales and inventory. Unlike many companies where often no better than 50% of analysts raise their rating, ten out of 11 have raised their numbers on Gamestop. It isn't likely for that many analysts to be wrong all at the same time...er uh, I hope not. Guess I better do the homework, and recheck the fundamentals on my own!

Visa?

I visited a local TDAmeritrade today. One of the consultants asked me what I was thinking of investing in. 'Visa (V) among other things' I told him. "Visa? Pretty speculative" he quipped. "Have you looked at TDAX its an ETF"? I felt like I was at US Bank all over again with them trying to sell you on their products. I tend to like and dislike these guys all at the same time. Some like to shoo you away faster than others as if you are cutting into their video watching time while others try to make commission by noting that they talked to you on this or that. It depends upon how much money you have in your account and how you've performed with it I think.

Solar did fairly well today as everyone that we track was in the green and five of them in the double digits percentage wise. They were SOLF 20.82%, SOL 16.24%, CSIQ 20.50%, AKNS 20.00%, and STP 11.03%.

There has been a lot of news this month in solar. Much more than I expected to see. One of them that made me bust out laughing was the pittance the U.S. government is going to invest at 11 universities over the next three years.
U.S. Department of Energy selects broad range of PV R&D projects to fund
Monday, March 17, 2008 10:35 AM
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will invest approximately $13.7 million over three years in 11 university-led photovoltaic projects addressing a wide range of technologies related to manufacturing processes and products.

Isn't that a paltry $415,000 per school per year? How fast can we develop anything at that pace? Heck our daily expenditure in Iraq is about $576,000,000 or or more precisely $575.96 million usd. Daily!

Something is better than nothing? Seems like the "Don't say we didn't do anything about alternative energy research" retoric. Uncle Sam has left the building, gone fishing, out to lunch, or do not disturb...in regards to being a world leader in innovation and technology. Have we really given up our technological leadership in favor of violence? How soon till we are no longer the one to watch? Huh? Seems like that time is coming quickly.

The German Federal Association of the Solar Industry reported that there were 1,300,000 solar plants in Germany in 2006. 220,000 new plants were erected in 2006 alone. Read more about the leader in renewable energy.

Photovoltaic in new dimensions
Here the sun is shining again: Europe's largest solar energy installation is located in the middle of a former lignite coal-mining area. The company GEOSOL has built a solar energy power station with an output of 5 MWh on a former sedimentation basin for ashes in Espenhain to the south of Leipzig. Not far away on the grounds of a former lignite power station in Borna there is another 22 hectare “solar field” with an output of almost 4 MWh.

Innovative: solar diesel and bio-ethanol
The company Choren AG from the Saxon city of Freiberg has developed a new process for producing synthetic fuel from biomass which is a world's first. Together with Daimler Chrysler and Volkswagen the „Sun Diesel“ is being made ready to go into production. In the Saxon-Anhalt town of Zeitz the company Südzucker AG has erected Europe's largest bio-ethanol plant. Here 260,000 m³ of bio-ethanol, 260,000 t of fodder which is rich in proteins and 30 million kWh electric current are being produced every year.

Spain Requires New Buildings Use Solar Power As part of the country’s efforts to bring its building rules up to date and curb growing demand for energy.

Until now Spain’s building standards have done little in seeking to improve energy efficiency.“We have to make up the time we have lost,” Environment Minister Cristina Narbona said, inaugurating a seminar on the new technical building code

This means new homes have to be equipped with solar panels to provide between 30 and 70 percent of their hot water, depending on where the building is located and on its expected water usage.

New non-residential buildings, such as shopping centers and hospitals, now have to have photovoltaic panels to generate a proportion of their electricity.

I want someone else to get mad and say we are doing something substantial for renewable energy usage. I want someone to show me. I want to hear it on the news and see it in my town. I want to hear people talking about it like it wasn't some far off future thing.

Solar Cloudy But Clearing

That is my current position on solar investments at this time. Due to a bit of bad news of a polluter along with so much more going on in banking, housing, etc.. investors have turned away from solar for the moment. That is due to change however as we refocus the importance of the latest efforts in solar research and design.

The annual report from The Clean-Tech Market Authority was released this month citing the importance of subsidy support by government. The report shows that out of the total investment of Venture Capital, 10% has been focused on green technologies. (see below) Their forecast for green technologies is seen in the graphic above. (top)



We currently hold two companies: China Sunergy (CSUN) and Solarfun (SOLF) but there are many companies with attractive reasons to invest in them out there. If you've watched the videos from last week, you'll see an Israeli company which is running at full bore. Its technology is being used in the Mohave Desert right now. Germany has shown that much of the country can be sustained by a combination of Solar, Wind, and Biofuels which is managed by a single power station.

Like I said, there are many attractive companies, some of them you can't invest in yet through the markets, still others are available via OTC trading. I caution everyone on OTC trading as it is harder to reliably follow companies trading this way versus via the mainstream stock market. It is very easy to loose your money or see it go into limbo, so we won't trade there.

Perhaps the bottom line for the rapid growth of solar lies with our governments. Greed and corruption are rampant in almost every government including here in the U.S. With this lies the problem of support for what is right vs. where the money is for our leaders. Our men and women in politics seem to have their morals surgically extracted from them when they enter the political arena. They are bought and sold by large corporations who have no interest in what is right and wrong, what is good or bad. The greed of industry giants controls it seems every politician in an office which can do something for them now or in the near future.

We need the full support of government in order to quickly build an infrastructure of clean energy technologies. With the expenditure so far on Iraq and its future capital fallout, we could have provided every household in the U.S. with renewable energy. Or we could have done so on a large scale with alternative energy power stations. However this doesn't happen because there isn't enough money upfront apparently for politicians.

So it will take smaller corporate investment or the leadership of a company such as GE and the voice of the people to pressure politicians to embrace the technologies that can save our planet. It has to be done now, and not delayed in a long protracted plan as is so often used to quasi-table the important issues.

Ultimate Dream

• Beyond your typical job
• More value than money
• Better than sex to some
  or chocolate to others

There is one basic need in all of us. Were it not for the need of food and water, it would be the one thing that each of us craves beyond all else.

The need to feel connected in some way, to another human being.

Life gravitates to life
a life in the present or in the past
real or imaginary

Tonight I was reminded of this through a fantastic soul moving movie of sound.

A fantastic story of love lost, both romantic and parental.

A story of faith, of hope, and love.



A story of how music moves us, drives us, propels us forward.

A quest for the life we know we deserve.

This movie stars:
Freddie Highmore as August Rush
Keri Russell of Felicity, Waitress
Jonathan Rhys Meyers of Bend It Like Beckham, Elvis, The Tudors
Terrance Howard of Hustle & Flow, Crash
Robin Williams
William Sadler of Roswell

You need to see this movie. Because it will give you something back that you've been missing. Its a good investment!

War Cost Update

Before we went to Iraq, Donald Rumsfeld told us the cost would be a war estimate of between $50 - $60 billion. Two academics estimate the government is spending $12bn a month in Iraq. A new book has hit the market, The Three Trillion Dollar War , by Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize winning economist, and Linda Bilmes, a senior official during the Clinton presidency in the 1990s.

The authors project that 791,000 troops from Iraq and Afghanistan will claim disability compensation and benefits, noting that 39 per cent of the 700,000 troops who fought in the (brief) 1991 Gulf war claim disability. They estimate these costs from Iraq alone will be $371bn to $630bn. The extra costs to the defense budget - they estimate from $66bn to $267bn - come from the need to reset and replenish a military in which equipment has been used up at six to 10 times normal rates and human capital has been exhausted.

Their government spending estimate for the war is $1,292bn- $2,039bn, rising to $1,754bn-$2,655bn if interest is added.

Stiglitz and Bilmes add social costs not paid by the government, including the loss of productive capacity of those killed or wounded and quality of life impairments. These, they estimate, would amount to $295bn-$415bn for Iraq and Afghanistan

Add macro-economic costs deriving from higher oil prices and other effects including the impact on the economy of higher interest costs. For both Iraq and Afghanistan, they calculate this would come to between $187bn and $1,900bn. Yet, these estimates do not cover the cost outside the US.

Bilmes, who says the book leaves others to estimate the war's benefits, describes the book's 'three trillion' headline number as very conservative. She notes that the US federal government spent $108m last year on research into autism, a condition affecting one in 150 children. "We spend that in 4½ hours in Iraq. I'm sure, if they knew that, people would say it was wrong."

Hand To Mouth

We need to plan for the future and take active steps in that planning. Then we must begin executing the plan and manage it. That is the skinny for fundamental investing. Hell, that is the basis for living a fulfilling life! However during this action, I had to go to the store to get some basics. Not video games to stave off the boredom of the constant bad news, not liqueur or beer to temporarily numb the effects of the current market. I had to go and get things like milk, eggs, bread, meat, and vegetables.

About every two weeks I go, get in the car and drive to the local Costco or Sam's Club for these things. And... if I don't want to be gone long, I go to a Meijers because it is closer. It recently dawned on me that every time, I've been wide-eyed when the final total lit on the register. I pick up the few bags and head back. Now normally you take this in stride as each year prices rise, like gas prices which we become accustomed to over time. Soon, the $3.05 per gallon will be cheap compared to the $3.80 we'll start seeing pop up here and there. Till a time when even that is cheap as we begin seeing the start of $4.05 per gallon.

But back to the food. I've started to see a few people carrying grocery sacks by hand as they walk home on our sidewalk-less streets. Which shows you that some people are starting to save the cost of transportation by walking (a novel idea?). Sadly perhaps they've even lost their job and they've even canceled their car insurance. They risk their lives by walking our sidewalk-less streets, crossing crosswalk-less intersections, all because it is too expensive to drive; but that they still must eat! They still must feed themselves and their families.

So as agflation - rising prices of agricultural products, affected by ethanol production and the rising oil prices (transportation of goods), increasing fertilizer costs hits us squarely in the mouth, we should probably look at profiting here while everyone is noticing. By some estimates, it takes ten to fifteen pounds of grain to get a pound of pork. Wheat price increases relate to higher cereal prices. Everything affects everything. So why not play on the side of those who are doing the very same thing; profiting from the ag-sector? Perhaps then we could also take on a little risk and save a Mother or Father from orphaning their children by giving those walking with grocery sacks a ride back home. Maybe the feeling that you've done a good thing will be payment enough for the bit of gasoline you consumed being a human being.

Will We Finally See The Light?

One of my big investing interests is in solar power. The Bush administration was sharply criticized by environmental groups for walking out of a round of informal discussions aimed at finding new ways of curbing greenhouse gases. That was in the year 2005.

Since then, focus has shifted to China because of its awesome hunger for energy. China and the United States, pollute more than anyone else. The U.S. pollutes more per person.

Thanks to this focus, more people are seeing the effects of pollution world wide and the consequences it will have on our very near future. For instance, the Florida Keys may no longer be inhabitable in just 20 years as sea water continues to rise.

One of the best answers for global carbon reduction and alternative energy is with solar power. Germany has taken the lead in helping communities embrace solar usage. Rooftops everywhere are being populated with panels. Farmers are beginning to devote a percentage of their fields to farm the sun's energy. And the 1st video below shows a combination of technologies in use today.

Solar is a good investment in the future and something we should all start talking up. The U.S. needs to see the light, not ethanol as a viable source of alternative energy. Scientists, engineers and the United States need to step up and take a lesson from Germany. Why not take the proven technology, improve it even more and put it to use in the this country!

Check out a couple of these videos:

Scientists of the University of Kassel in Germany prove that the entire country can be powered by renewables only. They connected biogas, wind and solar power in a distributed way and show it can deliver both baseloads and peakloads.

Solar energy breakthrough in Israel

To illustrate the decisions on the energy package presented to the European Commission on 23/1/2008, the EC's audiovisual service has produced an infoclip on photovoltaic energy. The Serpa Solar Plant, in Portugal, is one of the largest producers of solar energy in the world. Its construction was completed in January 2007 and the plant's 52,000 panels cover an area of 60 hectares. Enough electricity is produced to power 8,000 homes and farms in the Alentejo Region which reduces greenhouse gas emissions by over 30,000 tons per year. The European Union granted 3,675,576.63 euros to help co-finance the project.


How solar works and at the cost savings, value added to the home, environmental benefits and security and energy independence benefits.


Lawrence Kazmerski, director of the National Center for Photovoltaics in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, discussing the prospects of solar-photovoltaic (PV) technologies. Ashamedly, the current prospect for future energy resources in the U.S. does little to reduce carbon emissions. It is time we changed that fact!!

War Funds Clarification

I received a question from someone asking me to clarify the content of my last post in which I mentioned: "the money pouring out of the U.S. for the “war on terrorism”".

Sure. One would argue that the United States profits by going to war no matter what the reason. While I am not disagreeing that the U.S. profits from war, I would say that the profit has a narrow focus in that it benefits only employees and shareholders of the specific companies which profit from war.

The point which I meant to express was that all these billions of U.S. dollars which is the money of the people largely through taxes has no benefit for them. That through expenditure of funds for war, the programs of the people get cut and others get grossly underfunded. This of course as a direct result of the war spending.

There is no doubt that war means big money. But it only benefits a very tiny percentage of Americans. Millions of Americans however are being and/or will be affected by program cuts. And amazingly, even our men and women serving in the armed forces who are sacrificing their lives and quality of their lives will be seeing further program cuts in veteran medical care. So even here, what is bad now gets worse. Why must we use these dedicated men and women like expendable pawns? Anyway, I hope this clears up any uncertainty.

Hail Mary Play!

Last Monday at my investor's meeting we had an interesting presentation on the money pouring out of the U.S. for the “war on terrorism” and the big $30 billion dollar Hail Mary play that the Fed used to get JP Morgan to rescue Bear Stearns. Then I received the stimulus letter from the government promising to pay me up to $600 of my 2007 taxes back.

Point is this is money that is being taken away from programs that we need for ourselves, our community, and our children. With the money spent for Iraq we saw that every household could have been outfitted with renewable energy, cutting our electric bills dramatically and even more dramatically, reduce the carbon emissions which are choking the planet and the future of our children. Would not this be the stimulus package that could have made the U.S. turn a corner and climb back up the economic and financial ladder? A strategy like this could have inspired every U.S. citizen to think and work towards our immediate future, one far more positive than what we now face as we continue our spiral downwards.

Last Monday’s stock pick was Visa (V) which on Wednesday (3/19/08) proved to be the biggest IPO in U.S. stock history. The volume showed how positive this IPO was as Visa has no connection with the financial crisis. It gave banks a gain on the books, it gave private investors hope of a sunnier 2008. It my opinion it also showed how sick most of us are of the current stormy climate.

The market continues to be unusual in that many areas went opposite what was expected. Traders are calling many of these moves it is suggested as they work hard to make a living on the stormy seas.

We saw that analysts continue to be as wrong as ever. One day here and again they are pushing this stock or that, only to see that the recommendations goes south in the following days leaving us trapped in the purchase. This brings me back to something that I have been meaning to write about. We’ve heard it time and time again; don’t let emotions into your buying/selling decisions. This holds true too as excited friends, relatives, and investment club members talk about the stock they’re going to buy. While your confidence in these people are important; what’s more important is that regardless of what they are going to do, you MUST investigate it for yourself; in other words: Do Your Homework, your own homework BEFORE you too jump on the stock. If you do not continue the practice of doing your homework and making a complete decision based on your research…if you too are going to buy a stock and you tell someone about it…if you don’t encourage them to do their homework first before making a decision to buy along with you…then you could risk putting your relationship at risk!

Investing must be all you! Meaning that every decision to buy or sell should always be completely yours. While someone like me presents my opinions and my suggestions, no matter how much you believe me or believe in your friend, your business associate or your financial advisor, you should still do your own homework. In this way, you’ll have no regrets.

It is too easy for people after the fact to parrot: “Woulda - Coulda – Shoulda” But in the end, it is on you to take full responsibility for your decisions. So make them based on your own research. If you don’t have the time to do so, guess what?

• You better make the time.
  
• Why? It’s your money isn’t it?
  
• It’s your future isn’t it?
  
• You care about your future don’t you?
  
• If you can make the time to go to a party
• to do your laundry
• to go out to dinner
• to watch TV

Then you have the time to do the homework on a stock before making a decision to buy or sell. Don't be a wus and blame someone for the decisions you should make for yourself. Care about your future by taking an active part in it today and every day.

U.S. News Ruffles World Markets

Early news of Carlyle Capitol's demise to -70% has affected world markets today.

I wish that I had more money to buy more stock! The over reaction to bad news has driven stock prices down, down and down further.

Great time to invest by getting good stocks very cheaply. Problem is, no one knows when the markets will stop dropping and start moving back upwards again. Japan suggests the U.S. will rebound from its ills late 2009 to early 2010. Others think end of 2008, while one man suggests March 21, 2008 will be the end of our problems.

I'm getting tired of people telling me that they've lost 30% or whatever. You don't loose unless the stock you hold looses everything or if you sell below your purchase price. If you own stock in good companies, the chance of loosing is minor. The down side however is the length of time you may have to wait to reach the break even point and then the profit point (positive sell price).

I've been up all night watching the market day in Asia. With more bad news on the way from the less than stellar U.S. market, I'm heading to my pillow for a nap before I go bike riding. No sense watching our market today!

Déjà vu

This truly is déjà vu.
You see, I was a budding entrepreneur until the Dot.com crash of 2000 which wiped out $5Trillion smackaroos in market value of technology companies.

I painstakingly learned another trade and went into service in the corporate world.


Today I'm back working for myself in the stock market. It is truly déjà vu because we are now in a recession that I annoyed my work-mates in the corporate world about a year ago. This time it isn't technology that has been the center of trouble. It is the people who decided to make a market of selling mortgage contracts and persuaded that lenders not act in a fiduciary manner when it came to working with applicants. In this way, more contracts could be written (to many people who had no business borrowing the amounts they were persuaded to borrow).

I left my business following the recession of 2000 and I went back to my own business during the 2008 recession. Deja vu? I'd say so!

Introduction

This is my rant about my investing thoughts as I follow the stock market. It also questions many things about the world as it relates to the companies, sectors, and people affected by the the money we seek to make.