My membership with a social web site was rejected late last week because they felt that my content was not wholly original or that some of my content was pulled from other sources. I wonder when the last time they checked that their other members were truly wholly original? Perhaps they should send themselves a rejection notice as well! It can be easily said that there is nothing now that is wholly original. Nothing that has not already been thought of before. The closest to original you can get seems to be a variation of an idea.
All businesses are copy-cats. Look at Microsoft for instance. Look at business in general. They buy their expertise through acquisition, repackage an idea, mass market, etc.. Once an idea that hasn't been done before is successful or even a failure, you almost immediately see businesses spring to life that in some way imitate or merely swing a slight variation of the same.
It is not a matter of originality but rather perhaps uniqueness of the same, quality, and marketability. We are all pirates of the earlier innovations and ideas. No one on this earth today has an original. If so, there would be far less businesses, far less wealth. There would be less competition of similar products. Consumer choices would be more definitive. Companies with bad products would not survive to try again as consumers would move onto the better idea rather than be confused over the choices and have to go through the experience of crap vs. genius.
We would not have to wait to speak to customer support or be given the run-a-round when a company like Dell sought to use it's customer service reps as a wall to prevent customers from returning bad product, getting refunds, and or new parts. Google "Dell Nightmare" to see any one of over a thousand posts. (There used to be over 480,000 posts with the content of Dell nightmare. Or see my experience here. My post is the last one near or on the bottom. Dell's stock price has been in an overall downward trend since March 2005.
In fact while the site rejected my membership it is not original either. While its monetizing idea holds some merit, it is not original. The site I won't mention here trys to bring bloggers and businesses together. It seeks to allow businesses to reap the benefits of a blogger's positive comments as a way of gently promoting a product or service on their blog. Businesses give bloggers an opportunity. The opportunity offers to pay bloggers for their words expressing the product/service. The idea is that this gives businesses more exposure for their product/service. What I haven't found out is; does the blogger still get paid if his/her comments on a product are negative?
This is nothing more than an offer to cheaply pay someone to sell their product for them. It is cheap exploitation of blogger's time for little compensation. This is not a new idea. Nor are most of the products/services touted. The site takes the idea from FaceBook or MySpace to exploit networking for dollars. This is no new idea either. Its all a matter of perspective. But we are all pirates. Better perhaps to be a pirate who trys to do something better by providing something more through: education, entertainment, better ROI for the user's time, charity, or something else perhaps.
Anyway it is no different than how companies like Nike exploit the poor and disadvantaged in Vietnam. They might retort otherwise but they are no different in how they use bloggers as cheap labor. Read this article written just this month. Click on the Asia Times pic.
Nike has been a buy since March gaining nearly $10 to a closing price Friday of $67.89
Do I have wholly original content? No Do I glean supportive content from the internet? Yes Do I blog to promote thought? My perspective? To ask questions? Yes
I may be rejected by a site that thinks they are original but then I just smile brightly and giggle at the thought.
I am known for my love-hate relationship with Microsoft's products and for the hate mail that I once received from William (Bill) Gates regarding my thrashing of their first white paper on ROI with Microsoft products.
I felt that it was wrong to capitalize on the extreme number of problems with the Microsoft OS and so basically I got out of the business of computer service. This is partly were the white paper thrashing originated. I have it appears, certain morals in business which may put me at a slight disadvantage when it comes to investing. For example, I have never invested in oil producers.
In all fairness, I'm not an Apple user. I'm a PC user. I don't use Linux but XP and Vista. Microsoft is far from its stock hey day and Apple is the clear front runner when it comes to making money on its stock.
I just noticed these videos on the video bar and thought that I had to give both Apple and Microsoft some even billing on the blooper/funny factor. So in all fairness, it is not just Microsoft that has problems. So does Apple, but perhaps far far fewer problems than Microsoft. Enjoy watching the videos for yourself! LOL
At this point it feels like I'm just dreaming of the warmer weather and sound of crashing waves on the beach. But I'm looking forward to this trip as a way of re-energizing myself for working with the market and providing a new perspective for 2008.
There has been so much gloom and doom in the recent past that almost anything is positive. And it seems with last two weeks the market thinks so too. Everyone is jumping in, perhaps not with both feet but certainly a few toes. We are looking very positive on solar and the alternative energy sector and will be carefully observing various company moves and their technicals to find good entry points for maximum profits on our end.
We look forward to seeing you in Cabo next week; not only to share great weather and fun but also to share our business insights and investing experiences.
Perhaps I'm like Gomer, but I just also realized why advocates of mutual funds, and holding companies don't like stock price volatility.
Their success largely is seen by continual growth or rise of chosen stock prices in their portfolio and not from trading the volatility. The costs are too high for them in trading volatility. And as in the sake of mutual funds it is a double whammy. The mutual fund's management fee would be generally higher which customers tend to shy away from. Also portfolio turnover is high which generally at least in the past, indicates that maybe the manager doesn't know what he/she is doing or that they are taking on too much risk in the process.
In my way of reasoning, this is also why only 20% of mutual funds beat the S&P 500.
Thanks to a great work-mate from my very recent past (James Keegan) and his band Planet4's awesome music video, I am spending time between markets thinking about the value of a vintage future.
So what do you define as a vintage future? If you like the video and you get the meaning, that could be it, or you may formulate your own. This is how I hope to define mine: I pray that the hopes, dreams, and lessons from my past will take a glorious place in my future. There are many things that shape our lives such as our parents, friends, school, children, adults, habits, passions, money or the lack there of, community, giving, getting, taking, love, hate, rich experiences, experiences we wish we'd not had, marriage, divorce, deaths, births, romance, successes, failures, creativity, the shared lives of others and so much more.
I had my own business for most of my life thus far. It was interrupted in the market crash of 2000. I went to college and got a job working a corporate quality position. After six years and considerable stress and conflict I find myself working on my own again. It feels so right, this is where I'm meant to be. I've made some solid friends along the way. Experienced the trials of some bad relationships and it has all made me a much better person today.
I have a book in the making, more lessons to learn and an enjoyable, promising future ahead in the markets. This may be 'my vintage future' as seen from my perspective. Whats yours?
Enjoy this video of Planet4 with front man Jimmy Keegan - Lead Vocals & Second Guitar Michel Losier - Bass James Favron - Drums
And Jimmy... Thanks for remembering me and looking me up. Stay true to Joy and your wonderful family. You are living a rich life my man! You know what I mean. My wishes for great success in all facets of your life. Keep me in mind, perhaps I'll be able to see you and my cousins both in a trip to the north country sometime soon eh? -Future1investor
Several reports were out this morning. Among them that housing starts were twice as bad as the permits. Some view that as good news and a cleansing of the inventory. The dollar made a new historic low against the Euro. Some see that as selling more export goods out of the United States helping some business get an extra boost. Financial reports were bad as usual but in-line with expectation which is good. Potash prices are up which is good news for (POT) and copper prices are up and good for companies such as (FCX) and (PCU).
China bubble? China's GDP was reported last night as being up 10.6% which is higher than expected. Last week, it was said that even with China's problems, its growth would still manage 9%.
Intel's (INTC) positive earnings were up 7.1% boosting the tech sector. Among them (AAPL), (DELL), (EBAY).
Oil hit a new high of $114.53 a barrel. Gasoline and heating oil was on a record run.
Early morning news gave the solar sector a boost before the bell Wednesday. FOX News analyst, FNC panelist, and executive editor of ChangeWave MicroCap Investor Tobin Smith said: "It's not too late to add stocks with huge growth potential like alternative, renewable energy companies, in an interview on BizRadio. " "green" power technology is only in the "first inning" in the U.S. as we are 1) finally approaching grid parity in 2010-11 where solar energy and coal plants will have equivalent costs per watt-hour and 2) the whole world is going to carbon credits, which will turbo-charge this investment sector. Tobin Smith's ChangeWave investing strategy focuses on new technologies that will transform our business and/or living styles.
Stocks up before the bell: 8:47am (FSLR) 6.34%, (JASO) 6.00%, (CSIQ) 4.72%, (CSUN) 5.85%, (SPWR) 9.65%, (AKNS) 1.22%, (SU) 2.58%.
If you had purchased $1000.00 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.00.
With Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the original
$1,000.00.With WorldCom, you would have had less than $5.00 left.
But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, You would have had $214.00.
Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle. It's called the 401-Keg Plan! --------
Cars, Computers and What It Means To You
At a recent computer expo Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated
"If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving twenty-five dollar cars that got 1000 mi/gal."
Recently General Motors addressed this comment by releasing the statement: " Yes, but would you want your car to crash twice a day?" Not only that, but....
Every time they repainted the lines on the road you would have to buy a new car.
Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason, and you would just accept this, restart and drive on.
Occasionally, executing a maneuver would cause your car to stop and fail and you would have to re-install the engine. For some strange reason, you would accept this too.
Y ou could only have one person in the car at a time, unless you bought "Car95" or "CarNT". But, then you would have to buy more seats.
Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast, twice as easy to drive, but would only run on five percent of the roads.
The Macintosh car owners would get expensive Microsoft upgrades to their cars, which would make their cars run much slower.
The oil, gas and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a single "general car default" warning light.
New seats would force everyone to have the same size butt.
The airbag system would say "are you sure?" before going off.
If you were involved in a crash, you would have no idea what happened.
Have you ever been frustrated because you didn't get certain things done that were important to you? Have you ever been undecided or uncertain going into a new week of trading? As each week of this year presents itself, sometimes it seems that it gets harder and harder to find the quality trades.
Each trade's success becomes more important as the year wears on because percentages can go down as easily as they sometimes go up. The need to make bigger gains and smaller losses, or more frequent gains and less lengthy holds sometimes weighs one down. But if that is the only stress I'll feel on a weekly basis, my mind feels like its on vacation even when working 60 plus hours a week.
Perhaps some of the frustration has to do with the anticipation of getting out of this too often gloomy Ohio winter and seeing the sunny hot breezy beach of the Pacific and Sea of Cortez. Its more the former but Cabo has something to do with it. Luckily the plan is to continue working while there but not nearly as much. With some luck, I'll come back with a full tan and account full of profits.
In February the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Renewable Energy and Energy Tax Act of 2008. This Act would eliminate $18 billion in tax breaks for big oil companies to help pay for extending renewable energy tax credits. Now we’ll see if Senate Republicans can vote for good energy and environmental policy – or just vote for Big Oil again.
We’ve been through this before. Last December Senate Republicans voted along party lines – at the urging of the White House – to defeat a similar bill. This year, Republican opposition to this bill and favoritism to Big Oil is becoming a theme of the presidential campaign.
The result is that solar power and other forms of renewable energy have become politicized – to the detriment of everyone who uses electricity and cares about the environment. Fortunately, it looks like the next new thing is clean tech: silicon for solar cells as well as chips. But there’s a cloud on the horizon – and that is the Federal Government’s apparent hostility to any industry that has the potential to impede Big Oil. We’ve seen this with absurdly lame CAFÉ standards, the EPA’s refusal to allow California to regulate their own emissions, and outright obstruction of the Kyoto Protocol’s efforts.
Renewable energy legislation that Republicans should pass moves $18 billion in tax incentives from Big Oil to the renewable energy industry over 10 years. In 2007 alone the profits of the Big Five oil companies were over $120 billion – if these profits continue at this pace they’d generate $1.2 trillion in profits over the same ten-year period.
Big Oil’s influence on our country’s energy and environmental policy. The impact is now being felt economically as higher energy prices create inflationary pressures. With $4/gallon gas and $110/barrel oil, our economy is going into a recession while our country writes ever bigger checks to foreign oil producers.
Big Oil does not need tax breaks while they’re earning record (some say windfall) profits. Senate and House Republicans need to wake up to the fact that their votes for big oil are embarrassing and politically suicidal. Our country’s energy policies are an economic and environmental dead end, and we cannot wait until next year to turn around. Let’s get an Energy Bill passed now that removes unnecessary support for Big Oil and accelerates the growth of clean, renewable power. You people know that my investing friends and I here at Future1investor are big fans of solar. It is written about a lot on this web log. Though we are light years away from the SHINING example that Germany has placed before us with solar installations, I can only hope that the United States will not only follow suit but become the new example in what can be done with solar power in the near future. Meanwhile, we have opportunities to take long or short positions in the solar sector with companies such as First Solar (FSLR) , a Cramer favorite, Solarfun (SOLF), Evergreen Solar (ESLR) , Akeena Solar (AKNS), Canadian Solar (CSIQ) and others. The above article is an extract from Akeena Solar.
Movies are a passion of mine! I love thrillers, romance, action, bollywood, scifi, and definately Disney (DIS) movies!
Almost every rating/analysis service has them as a buy right now. This week they reported that they will be buying Gamestar who is a video game developer based in China.
In other news, the company is going to regain ownership of the Disney Store chain from The Children's Place retail stores. And all this time, I thought that it was always owned by Disney?? In any case this these two acquisitions add to the company's large holdings:
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Disney Toon Studios
Touchstone Pictures
Hollywood Pictures
Miramax Films
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Disney Theatrical Productions
Disney Live Family Entertainment
Disney On Ice
Walt Disney Records
Hollywood Records
Lyric Street Records
Disneyland Park
Disneyland Resort
Disney Cruise Line
Vacation Club
Adventures By Disney
Walt Disney World Resort
Tokyo Disney Resort
Disneyland Resort Paris
HongKong Disneyland
Disney Consumer Products
Disney Publishers Worldwide
Disney Interactive Studios
ABC Television Network
Disney Channel
ABC Family
SOAPnet
The Radio Disney Network
Lifetime Entertainment netword (equity interest)
A&E (equity interest)
ESPN (all versions)
Walt Disney Internet Group
Disney Store (re-acquiring)
Gamestar (new)
The stock is near ripe for a buy with RSI at 42.43, and the MACD under the median line of oscillation with the fast and slow lines about to cross. Stock performance has been down YTD but only about half as much as its industry group. Its peers are Scripts E W Co., Viacom, Rogers Communications, and World Wrestling Entertainment. The stock is well traded with a daily average volume of 12,761,000. Click the Narnia books for a chance to win! No purchase necessary.
Today I wrote briefly about the need for a web site that would be truly useful and productive. Immediately following that article about Facebook I was contacted and informed about a new site that might fit my need for a useful and potentially profitable social site. Some would call it a social investing site.
There are plenty of web logs such as Future1investor but these blogs are not meant as community type sites. There isn't anything that brings people together to chat about, share, and help with a common interest. This is where Covestor comes in. Covestor is the Facebook of investing but instead of a general meaningless place to waste your time, it encourages the members to help each other by sharing their investing decisions.
There are two types of Covestor members:
Fund Managers
Investors
Fund Managers link their online portfolio into the site via any of 18 available brokerage services. Each portfolio is analyzed so that people can follow either individual stocks or fund manager moves. Users can also see how risky certain investments can be.
Investors are able to track and compare their own portfolio to fund managers as well as to other users. The system will email them when fund managers that they are following have a change in the fund manager's portfolio.
The Chief Operating Officer at Covestor previously ran the portfolio analysis systems at Goldman Sachs. So in this way you can see that this is not just another site designed on whim and idea. Covestor has partnered with research providers and also plans to monetize the site. Fund managers will be able to charge a small fee for allowing investors to follow them. Covestor will retain a portion of that fee. In this way, users are encouraged to allow their portfolio to be posted in a way that helps others learn from their successes and failures.
The main lure of being a Covestor are these three things:
To prove your investing skills
Track other members real trades
Profit from sharing your decisions
I'd suggest changing the top bullet point 'To prove/improve your investing skills'. In this way it shows the value of learning from others which is the point of social investing.
The stolen source code and idea may be nearing an IPO. Reportedly the company is nearing a settlement with the actual originators (brains behind the what is now Facebook). Law suits generally get settled prior to an IPO or other major event as not to depress the value of the new security.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and a colleague, Divya Narendra accuse Mark Zuckerberg of stealing the source code, design, and business plan for Facebook in 2003. Meanwhile in October of 2007, Microsoft invested $240 million in Facebook. The company is valued at $15 billion, making supposed thief Mark Zuckerberg the youngest billionaire in the United States if not the world.
I think that these social networking web sites have a long way to go before they can be something which can be useful and not just time wasting. Perhaps I don't have the same enthusiasm for Facebook as my former colleagues who waste time each week on the site which could be much more productive if it had a way of linking applications which complemented their work in some meaningful way.
People constantly have the excuse of not having enough time to do this or that. Sometimes I view that as a cop-out but in many cases it is actually valid. So if we are to use the web in our daily lives, then at least lets not waste our time needlessly on sites such as Facebook. Google lost out to Microsoft some say, but I think that Google could easily wipe it's nose with the Facebook site and premiere something truly useful. Something that would be social but provide truly useful and productive web apps at the same time.
I added these vids on 4-17-08 because of their relevance to this article.
The first Future1investor's Conference will take place this month in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico. This will take place the week of April 27th at the Hotel Riu Santa Fe. We encourage you to book now because prices are ripe at this brand new all inclusive resort property.
At the conference we will discuss such topics as solar, agriculture, cruise liners, and telecom. Feel your winter blues vanish as you arrive at the picturesque Hotel Riu Sante Fe. You can sip cool drinks in the infinity pool and smile at your increasing tan. We'll use part of our evenings to talk about where we stand in investments and what our outlook is going forward. The hotel sits on a great stretch of beach property, has a view of the Cabo Arch and an easy walk to Cabo San Lucas during the day for shopping.
The best site to evaluate and search for best deals is at BookIt and TripAdvisor for comparison deals and for great pictures from recent travelers. Through BookIt you can get in as low as $99 per person per night. Again, this includes all meals and refreshments and is a great savings for this brand new property that offers 24hr. All Inclusive Service.
If you plan to go, please send me an email and your name as registration. That way I can notify everyone of the conference times and topics. Your email should include:
Names of attendees with age
Date of your arrival
A bio of yourself
Country, state/province of residence
How many years of investing experience
Portfolio size (approx dollar amount)
Investment frequency
What type of investor/trader are you?
Brokerage service used
List five of your current Hot! stocks
Tools/references you use the most
About Cabo San Lucas: This area, between San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, lies on the tip of the Baja California peninsula. San José del Cabo, the capital, founded in 1730, offers visitors a wide variety of shops, restaurants, bars, discotheques and hotels. The tip of the peninsula is known as “the end of the earth” by local inhabitants, and from it one can contemplate the exuberant mountains, the desert and the long beaches of white sand. The famous Archway in Cabo San Lucas is where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean, offering the visitor one of the best natural landscapes in Mexico.
About Hotel Riu Santa Fe: Riu is a Spanish company which operates resorts in 17 countries. The Hotel Riu Santa Fe is its new flagship and largest of all its resorts. The Riu Santa Fe opened in November of 2007 at a cost of approximately $188,800,000.00 USD. This is a five star facility with 902 rooms. Watch video below.
Rooms - 902 guestrooms, Bathroom, Hairdryer, 110 V, Telephone, Central air conditioning, Ceiling fan, Mini-bar, Liquor dispenser, Satellite TV, In-room safe, Balcony or terrace, Inter-connecting rooms available, Rooms with sea view may be reserved.
Suites with: Adjoining living room, Bathroom with hydro-massage bathtub, shower cabin and bidetRooms with Jacuzzi on upper terrace may be reserved.
All Inclusive features All meals and snacks:
Breakfast: Full American breakfast buffet and on the spot cooking stations, Continental breakfast/snacks Lunch: Hot and cold buffet and on the spot cooking stations, Pizzas, pasta, salads and assorted desserts Dinner: Buffets and dishes prepared on the spot, Special evenings: theme buffet (twice a week) Optional dining (reservations required in advance): Asian cuisine, Grill and steakhouse, Mexican cuisine, Italian cuisine Snacks 24 hours a day Beverages: Local and imported beverages served 24 hours a day. Regularly restocked mini-bar and liquor dispenser
So book today and join us for an energized week that will help shape your outlook for 2008! See video below. It was filmed in late 2007 when it was still unknown.
In the March 22nd post, I talked about looking to profit from agflation. It is no longer the case in the grocery market where $100 can get you a shopping cart filled with food for the family. Now you are lucky to push the cart to your car for less than $200 with the very same items.
This week we did very well from the agflation play. And we did so with Mosaic (MOS).
Mosaic is is a producer of phosphate and potash combined, as well as nitrogen and animal feed ingredients. The Company operates its business through four business segments: phosphates, potash, offshore and nitrogen. The Phosphates segment operates mines and concentrates plants in Florida that produce phosphate fertilizer and feed phosphate, and concentrates plants in Louisiana that produce phosphate fertilizer. The Potash segment mines ad processes potash in Canada and the United States and sells potash in North America and internationally. The Offshore segment produces and markets fertilizer products and provides other ancillary services to wholesalers, cooperatives, independent retailers, and farmers in South America and the Asia-Pacific regions. The Nitrogen segment consists of its equity investment in Saskferco and Mosaic’s nitrogen sales and distribution activities.
We ended the week with two very good trading days with this play. The market in most sectors traded pretty well and even better news came Friday. The company said its fiscal third-quarter profit jumped more than tenfold on higher prices. This gave everyone in the game a terrific weekend present!
We pulled out at the close on Friday with the anticipation of not knowing what the week ahead would bring. It was felt that taking profit and waiting to see the sentiment next week was the prudent thing to do verses risk loosing those long awaited gains.
It is no surprise that prices of food and fertilizer to grow the food is not expected to retreat. So we will look to play MOS again if the technicals are favorable. Fertilizer demand is higher than supply which also makes this play very positive. However the street is where the real game is playing this year so we'll have to keep a keen eye on the road in front of us and try to anticipate as well as react to the bumps in the pavement.
One thing that I have noticed is that in many areas around the city, restaurant traffic has not subsided. This proved to me at least that we indeed are a consumer nation! Despite loss of jobs, higher prices in food and gasoline, we like our luxuries. Perhaps we do not even consider them luxuries. My friends and I have talked about the spending habits of our relatives. Despite not having the means to live within our means and meet our obligations easily, we continue to spend.
There should be laws that prohibit banks from issuing credit cards to people who don't meet certain financial criteria. Also there should be laws which force creditors to review accounts regularly and reduce credit availability. There should be laws to prohibit interest rate increases.
While each individual is to blame for allowing themselves to get into a position of indebtedness, our government allows banks and credit issuing institutions to lend money irresponsibly to folks who have no business getting credit cards or for buying a home too expensive to reasonably afford.
If this is a government of the people, why are the people getting screwed? If we elect leaders, why don't those leaders do the right thing for their constituents? Why don't our leaders do what is right for the common man with pushing ahead on mass solar and wind power projects? Why don't our leaders make it easier rather than harder to be a small business person? Why do capital gains taxes have to be so high as to discourage investment? Why is big business favored over the small businesses? When it is obvious that big business is so often the root of many problems and small businesses are historically the backbone of our country? WHEN IS OUR COUNTRY GOING TO GO BACK TO ACTING FOR THE PEOPLE? It seems that they are against the people and for themselves. Why do we as a people put up with it? When Germany built over 100,000 solar generating plants in 2006 for the people, we are paying ever higher prices and our solar projects are like a needle in a hay stack in comparison?
Pollution is at an all time high globally. The problem is so bad that finally we are seeing videos, news casts, articles, movies, word-of-mouth, and web logs which scream the bloody bad situation we've managed to put our planet home into.
We may very well choke to death if we don't quickly figure out what to do about it. Still though, the governments of many countries including the U.S. don't seem to be taking any of it seriously enough to interrupt business as usual.
I've replaced all my regular bulbs and appliances with energy star rated products everywhere possible. I drive a car that gets an average 40 miles to the gallon. I combine my trips and don't have a heavy foot.
As an investor we can do another thing or two to encourage more focus on combating pollution. Alternative energy stocks in solar and wind are a start. And tonight I came across a company who deals with air born contaminants. The CEO has just acquired new shares.
This from a recent SEC filing: We are one of the leading providers of air-pollution control products and services. We have a diversified base of more than 3,000 active customers among a myriad of industries including aerospace, brick, cement, ceramics, metalworking, ethanol, printing, paper, food, foundries, power plants, metal plating, woodworking, chemicals, tobacco, glass, automotive, and pharmaceuticals. Therefore, our business is not concentrated in a single industry or customer.
Our return to profitability in 2006 and 2007 after several years of losses is directly related to an increase in the level of pollution control capital expenditures which is being driven by an elevated focus on environmental issues such as global warming and energy saving alternatives as well as a U.S. Government supported effort to reduce our independence on foreign oil through the use of bio-fuels like ethanol and electrical energy generated by our abundant domestic supply of coal.
Consolidated sales in 2007 were $235.9 million, an increase of $100.5 million or 74.3% compared to 2006. This increase was primarily due to increased demand for our products and services created by the fundamental strength of many industrial sectors including ethanol production, steel production, coal fired power plant construction and automotive related sectors. This increase also included $27.5 million in new equipment sales revenues attributed to the addition of Effox, Inc. which was acquired in 2007 and $48.1 million in contracting revenues from a large automotive project at H.M. White, Inc. Additional demand for our products and services was created by increasingly strict EPA mandated industry Maximum Achievable Control Technology standards (“MACT”) and OSHA established Threshold Limit Values (“TLV”), as well as existing pollution control and energy legislation.
Financial highlights for the twelve months ended December 31, 2007 compared to twelve months ended December 31, 2006 include:
Net sales increased 74.3% to $235.9 million; Gross profit increased 67.7% to $40.4 million; Operating income increased 108.9% to $12.6 million; Net income GAAP - $6.3 million (increase of 103.8%); Net income non-GAAP - $7.0 million (increase of 204%); GAAP Earnings per diluted share - $0.45 (increase of 87.5%); Non-GAAP Earnings per diluted share $0.50 (increase of 256%).
The company is called CECO Environmental Corp(CECE)
News This Week:
CECO Environmental Corp. (Nasdaq: CECE), a leading provider of air pollution control and industrial ventilation systems, announced today that it has booked 33 new orders, each of which has a value of over $200,000.
Rick Blum, President and Chief Operating Officer, commented, "As usual, our orders are coming from a wide variety of industries. The largest order, which is in excess of $2.5 million, was received from an automotive company. Another significant order was received from a tire manufacturer. The rest of the business came from the metals, power, electric equipment, ethanol, steel, aluminum, gypsum, refining, and copper smelting industries."
Phillip DeZwirek, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Fisher-Klosterman's China operation booked a significant order just last week. We are seeing ever increasing quoting activity in China and have already had established CECO customers visit the facility. Now that Fisher- Klosterman is part of CECO, we are in the process of establishing that facility as CECO Filters' manufacturing base in China along the lines of the facility that CECO Filters already has in India."
Renewable energy is still a good investment for private equity, but high corn prices have taken investors' eyes off ethanol, said Scott Brown, chief executive of New Energy Capital.
New Energy Capital is a holding company that acquires minority or majority stakes in renewable energy companies.
"Any kind of renewable that generates energy, especially wind and solar power, are experiencing billions of dollars in new investments," Brown told Dow Jones Newswires in a telephone interview.
Southern California Edison (SCE) launched a project that will place 250 megawatts of advanced photovoltaic generating technology on 65 million square feet of roofs of Southern California commercial buildings. "This project will turn two square miles of unused commercial rooftops into advanced solar generating stations," said John E. Bryson, Edison International chairman and CEO. "We hope to have the first solar rooftops in service by August. The sunlight power will be available to meet our largest challenge – peak load demands on the hottest days." MORE
Executives from the world's top oil companies, in a congressional hearing today, told U.S. lawmakers that competition and high costs justify the industry's opposition to higher taxes.
Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, called on chief executive officers from the oil industry to testify on record profits and gasoline prices before his Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. The House passed a measure in February over oil-industry objections that would impose $18 billion in new taxes on oil and gas companies to pay for wind and solar projects and energy conservation measures. The industry argues that the money should go toward exploring for and producing more fossil fuels, which executives say could help bring down prices. ``In general, the United States tends to resist the need to develop new domestic energy supplies,'' John Hofmeister, president of The Hague-based Royal Dutch Shell Plc's U.S. unit, said in written testimony. ``Can we afford to continue this approach while energy demand and costs are rising?'' `MORE
Southern California Edison said it would spend $875 million to put solar cells on 65 million square feet of commercial buildings, enough to generate 250 megawatts of electricity.
The FPL Group, a subsidiary of Florida Power & Light, said it would build a 250-megawatt Beacon Solar Energy Project on 2,000 acres in Kern County and have it running by 2011.
The Dine Wind Project, a partnership between the Navajo Nation and Boston's Citizens Energy, would put hundreds of 400-foot-tall windmills in the Gray Mountain area, about 50 miles north of Flagstaff, Ariz.
Pacific Gas & Electric today (April 1) will announce the largest series of solar-power contracts in the utility's history. The deal, to buy as much as 900 megawatts of electricity- or enough to power 540,000 California homes each year - involves five plants to be built during the next decade.
Top executives of the five biggest U.S. oil companies were pressed today to explain the soaring fuel prices amid huge industry profits and why they weren't investing more to develop renewable energy source such as wind and solar.
An acre of solar panels and converter boxes sits atop a Target store in Manteca, installed just two weeks ago as part of a corporate plan to control energy costs by harvesting the power of the sun.
On Thursday morning, U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney toured the store — one of just 18 solar-equipped stores in California — guided by several Target officials from Minneapolis. The panels provide about 20 percent of the store's energy, said Raj Maheshwari, senior group manager of engineering property development for Target, who oversees the solar program. In the summer, when the days are longer, the percentage climbs to 60 percent.
A solar-powered hydrogen fueling station is officially open, just days after the state gutted rules designed to increase the number of hydrogen-powered cars on the road. The station uses solar energy to separate hydrogen from water to power clean-fuel vehicles. Its solar panels produce 80 kilowatts of electricity, roughly enough to power 40 homes, or about 14 fuel-cell vehicles. The station opened Tuesday as a joint venture between the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, British Petroleum, Ford Motor Company and the U.S. Department of Energy. It will power SMUD's fleet of seven fuel cell vehicles. A solar-powered hydrogen fueling station is officially open, just days after the state gutted rules designed to increase the number of hydrogen-powered cars on the road.
MTI Instruments Inc., a developer of precision measurement instruments, has made a new product focused on the solar cell production industry. The product, called the PV1000, will be on display at the Photovoltaic Technology Show in Munich, Germany, on April 2. MTI Instruments, a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTY), based in Albany, N.Y., said the product would be incorporated into solar cell production lines. Robert Kot, MTI Instruments' vice president and general manager, said the product was developed with input from solar equipment suppliers and solar cell manufacturers.
New York Investing meetup organizer Daryl Montgomery predicts inflation and recession in 2008. Also the credit crisis spreading to credit cards, car loans, and student loans; real estate problems moving to commercial real estate; and more bank bailouts with the assistance of the U.S. government. Material presented at the Dec 12, 2007 meeting.
Overall Executive Leadership John T. Chambers Chairman & CEO CISCO Systems Inc.
Entrepreneurial Excellence Bradbury H. Anderson Vice Chairman & CEO Best Buy Co., Inc.
Lifetime Achievement Award Robert L. Johnson Founder & Chairman The RLJ Companies
The Lifetime Achievement Award honors the executive who has accomplished great success over his tenure and whose work has substantially influenced the business world.
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.
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.
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
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!
This was started by a long-time entrepreneur who was forced into corporate service by the Dot.com crash which wiped out $5-Trillion in market value of technology companies from March 2000 to October 2002.
See March post: Deja Vu.
This is a web log created by many contributors about their investing thoughts, making-saving-loosing money, as we together 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.
NOTE:Under no circumstances does the information presented here represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. The author(s) do not claim to be registered investor advisors but claim "publisher's exclusion" from the definition of "investment adviser" as provided under Section 202(a)(11) of the Investor Advisers Act of 1940 and corresponding state securities law.
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