World’s First Solar-Powered Car Carrier

The Auriga Leader, the world's first partially solar-powered pure car carrier vessel, docked at the Port of Long Beach for the first time. The ship has been contracted by Toyota to exclusively carry Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles to the west coast from Japan.

The 656-foot, 60,000-ton vessel's deck is outfitted with 328 solar panels that can generate up to 40 kilowatts. Unlike other ships outfitted with solar panels that feed power directly to accommodation and cargo-hold lighting, the Auriga Leader feeds power to the generator, which contributes to the whole ship.

The Auriga Leader, operated by NYK Line, was launched in December 2008 and can transport up to 6200 vehicles. NYK Line has set a goal to reduce car carrier energy consumption by 50 percent by 2010 through solar power generation, ship operation improvement, redesigned hull form, propulsion systems energy savings and improved cargo handling. 

Larouche, on The Dollar, Jobs, and Healthcare

The video comes from the Larouche political action committee.

Recession IS Ending, DOW 10,000 ...Right?

We've been getting e-mails and voice mails all asking: "how can you print that the recession is far from over, when the DOW has hit 10,000?

Larry Levin says it best in his daily comments:

Dow 10,000! Uh Really?

This has happened before, not too long ago in fact.  Each time I turned the channel from one financial station to the other yesterday and this afternoon, I thought I was watching a scandalous XXX movie.  I kept hearing, "Oh Yes!...OH GOD, OH YES!  That's the stuff 'Big Ben and Timmah'...you know how I like it.  Oh my GOD!!"  Was I hearing an audio replay of Mr. Spitzer's liaisons with his high priced call-girls?  Nope.  I was once again witnessing the on-air hosts experiencing multiple DowGasms.

After all, isn't Dow 10,000 exciting?  Dow 10,000?  Uh, really?  Not so much.  As usual, the so-called financial experts are not giving you the whole story.  And why would they?  The truth sucks.

The truth lies with the value of the US dollar.  Another great illustration of the amazing loss of purchasing power by the US public are the recent ignorant statements about the Dow at 10,000.  While in absolute terms the Dow may cross whatever the Fed thinks is a sufficient mark before its quantitative easing begins to taper off (Dow crosses 10k just as Treasury purchases expire), the truth is that over the past 10 years (the first time the DJIA was at 10,000) the dollar has lost 25% of its value...TWENTY FIVE percent!

On a real basis (not nominal) the Dow at 10,000 ten years ago is equivalent to about 7,500 today!  In other words, not only have we had a lost decade for all those who focus on the absolute flatness of the DJIA, but it is also a decade where the consumer has lost 25% of its purchasing power from the perspective of stocks!  You won't hear this fact on TV.

You don't believe me?  The value of the US dollar only effects high-flying world travelers you say?  Huh - that's odd.  Then why did President Obama give a special $15-billion "bailout" to the elderly this past February?  It was part of the "spendulus bill" in case you forgot.  By definition they're already retired so they haven't lost their employment.  They are losing their purchasing power, like you, so the Pres stepped in for a lil' bailout.

What else should we expect with trillions upon trillions of new dollars flooding into the system via the Fed's printing machine?  It makes the money supply that was available before the money & credit that was created out of thin air worth less than other wise would be.

President Obama, Helicopter-Ben at the Fed, and Tax-Cheatin-Timmy at the Treasury all apparently want the U.S. currency to be used as Kleenex and toilet paper.

With such a great reaction by the media to Dow 10,000, Big Ben and Tax-Cheatin-Timmy must be receiving many messages: "Hey big boy, voulez vous coucher avec moi?"

Trade well and follow the trend, not the so-called "experts."

Do Banks Make Money On Foreclosures? JPMorganChase Does!

Consider this - JPM Chase bought WAMU in September of 2008 for all of $1.9 billion dollars. For that they got a bank with almost $310 billion in assets, $188 billion of it bank deposits. Now Chase will tell you that the deal wasn’t that great as they had to absorb a hemorrhaging mortgage portfolio of $176 billion that they immediately wrote down by $31 billion. That’s true, but hides what really is going on.

If you ignore all the other debt and assets, Chase got $176 billion in home loans for $1.9 billion. That’s just over 1% of face value. Assuming an average loan balance of around $300,000, that’s almost 600,000 mortgages and corresponding homes. That means they paid an average of only $3,000 for each of those loans. Even if they foreclose on the ENTIRE portfolio, do you think they can make money by reselling houses they got for $3,000 each? -Loan Survivor

The Recession Has Ended They Say Part 1

Fact: US foreclosures jumped to an all-time high of 937,840 in the third quarter. According to RealtyTrac that's a 23% rise from the same time last year.

Fact: According to the Mortgage Brokers Association, 58% of the foreclosure starts are now in Prime Loans, not subprime loans.

Fact: 46% of Option Arms are currently 30 days past due. An Option Arm is A monthly adjusting adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) which allows the borrower to choose between several monthly payment options.

The bottom line is that far too many Americas, not simply those with low credit scores, have borrowed more money then they are realistically capable of repaying. The credit boom was created by initially low adjustable rate mortgages, interest only, or negative amortization loans, and an appreciating real estate market that allowed homeowners to extract equity to help make mortgage payments. Now that real estate prices have stopped rising, and mortgage payments are resetting higher, borrowers can no longer “afford” to make these payments.

According to the Financial Times, JP Morgan's U.S. credit card division lost $700 million in the quarter, it wrote off $7 billion in noncollectable consumer loans. So how is it that they are making profits? JP Morgan took bailout money, paid bonuses, then played the stock market before paying some of the bailout money back which was the profits it made in the market. They also got some multi-billion worth of mortgages for a song and then wrote down some $31 billion of that which means that their profit was a sure thing from the get-go. Yet despite the bailout, JP Morgan is not lending much of anything to spur the U.S. economy. It made more profits recently trading the stock market instead.

Tale of Two Stories

Yes there are two sides to every story, sometimes more. But one thing you can count on is that one is right and the others are wrong. Why are they wrong? Because they are telling you a tale, a fictional story. The tale they tell is intended to lull you into believing everything is working out the way you nearly want it to. Don't Worry...Be Happy! Don't Worry, Be Happy! Its like a trance or a song line that repeats to the point that you can't get it out of your head and eventually, you start saying it over and over to yourself. That was the design of the story and you believed it. Now that you're baited, they can tell you anything. You have become the drone captive audience of their lies. Yes, I know...you've heard it here before, but get it into your head...you've got to question everything that they tell you because much of it is no good, still more of it is not the whole story...not the true picture, just twisted-wrung-out tiny truths that you should question how much is just plain baloney!

Hey! If you don't believe me, then I've got some AAA rated securities from 2007 and 2008 that I'd like to sell you!

The Federal Reserve Bank or Fed (not a U.S. government entity but a private syndicate/cartel/group) wants you to believe in all their stories and diversions from the truth. "Things are now much better" they say. "Don't worry. Everything is going as planned and the recession is soon ending, so give us more of your money (via your credit card purchases) and we'll get back to business as usual. Good times are coming soon." But step away and the reality speaks the real truth in both Asia and the West:

• Continued weakness in consumption spending in the world's largest economy, the U.S, the consumer sentiment index unexpectedly declined, economic data released one recent Friday in New York revealed.
• Exporters, automakers, trading companies and banks declined on concerns about economic recovery.
• In China, sea ports are full of product which are not leaving port because the U.S. consumer is not buying. This has forced closures of Chinese manufacturing facilities which produce goods specifically for the U.S. market.
• Bank deposits are on the rise which is no longer a good sign within a financial industry that has grown from encouraging customers to buy what they can't afford using credit cards, home equity loans, and the like. Deposits, (those that come in and don't go out in bill payments) mean people aren't spending. It means that they're doing the right thing for a change. Meanwhile bank's non-performing assets are also on the rise which will continue to hurt these institutions in the coming quarters.

Banks which are not intimately connected to the Fed, hence not one of the Friends of the Fed are going to be failing in large numbers. They aren't privy to the bailouts already given to the Friends of the Fed.

Its a Game & You Are the Pawn

We know that the Federal Reserve has inaugurated a policy of aggressively buying Treasury bills, agency debt, and mortgage-backed securities as part of what is often described as Quantitative Easing. The numbers are hard to absorb: $300 billion of Treasuries, $200 billion of agency debt, and $1.2 trillion of mortgage-backed securities, all between March and September.

The Fed doesn’t tell us whom they buy their Treasuries from, but it seems likely to be the same big banks that serve as primary dealers buying the debt from the government. The primary dealers appear to be holding a slice of this paper for only a short term before selling it on to the Federal Reserve. The net of those transactions becomes a further monetization of the federal debt. So whats going on here?

Lets see:

Banks buy debt and sell it to the Fed for profit.

Banks take the extra money and invest in a distorted market for more profit.

What have they actually done? Essentially nothing. All that really happens is that the banks get free money from the Fed so that they can "legally" make more money. The Fed takes the debt and contracts it to the U.S. Government/The Tax Paying U.S. Citizen. The Tax-Payer is on-the-hook for his/her lifetime including the lifetime of their children. Yet another scheme to make banks even more money!

Remember: The Fed makes money from nothing. It costs them only a few pennies to have their own Federal Reserve Notes (not backed by anything of worth/value, it is FIAT money). They loan out this paper via contract to the government who then guarantees that every U.S. citizen will be taxed in some way and that money will go to the Federal Reserve Banks. The IRS is a tool that exists only to serve the Federal Reserve Bank obligation.

Trouble Playing Video? Pause it and let it buffer down to your computer. When the line is fully red, it is all buffered. Now click play button to watch.

So even in times of recession or economic downturn, the Federal Reserve & Friends are making money on the backs of the same people it busted in causing the recession, in order to make even more money. I hope that is simple enough for most of you to understand.

The Fed is also buying even more mortgage-related debt. With the government now guaranteeing mortgage-backed securities, those securities are not that much more risky than actual government debt. This gives the Fed further rationale for having purchased almost $600 billion of mortgage-backed securities since March. Which brings us to a likely connection to the speed of the stock market rebound since March 2009. Looking through the evidence today, we can see that the Federal Reserve has purchased close to $250 billion in Treasuries, and that may have provided the liquidity needed for the big banks to turn around and dump new cash into stocks. Goldman Sachs made upwards of $100 million (per day) on many days through its trading activities in just one quarter alone.
You can compare the surprising stock market rally to the Fed’s purchases of Treasuries. You can likely suspect despite what they say in the media, that our stock market is far more manipulated than most people realize. As a cautionary note, many of the emergency programs of making direct loans to financial institutions are being wound down by the Federal Reserve at the same time it is focusing on direct purchases in these specific markets. Those countervailing actions have kept the total balance sheet of the Federal Reserve relatively stable since it doubled in the second half of 2008, but that could quickly change if the Fed wanted to launch new programs.

So we are the Fed's important game pieces in a giant profit-making game. The Fed is the game's creator, rule-changer, banker, and extra player, all rolled up into one entity. The Friends of the Fed are additional players in their game. Try as we might, or not so much, the odds are heavily stacked against us (the tax-paying American). In fact, the way the Fed writes the rules, there is no way that You and your family members have any chance to beat the game. And to not play?? Well, its not an option at this point because your leaders have opted you, your family, friends, and co-workers into the game. After all, your leaders are your representatives and they do so on your behalf. Don't you like those odds?

WAKE UP AMERICA!
WAKE UP UK!

What The Banks Don't Want You to Do!

American consumers are in debt to the tune of $2.5Trillion dollars. This is part of what makes the Fed & Friends continue to find new ways to entice you to buy even more of what you can not truly afford. It is why they lower interest rates. It is why they shower you with credit card offers with perks for using them. But what the banks don't want you to do is to save your money and liberate yourself from your credit cards.

What is the fastest way to save money? Stop using credit and pay off your cards. Those little devils in your purse or wallet are constant temptations to buy something today and pay for it tomorrow. Problem is...you pay, and pay, and pay some more for the privilege of a little piece of plastic. Is it really worth it? Since the start of the recession, banks have been raising interest rates on the average consumer. They know that many are in trouble (reduced wages, hours, or both) they know that you will rely on the card for quick cash or that special present to yourself, even groceries this week and next. So they're jacking up the privilege as much as 29.9% for many. Banks aren't your friend, they only pretend to be.

They fill your statement envelopes with more offers and ways to get the most out of that card and to get the most out of you! They'll even offer to have you skip a payment or two...isn't that nice of them? What they will ever rarely do is suggest that you stop using the card and save hundreds to thousands of dollars a year in interest payments. Even carrying a fairly low balance can eat up valuable buying power if your interest rate is in the double digits.

The banks won't tell you to follow their lead. Banks got overly greedy again and continued with criminal-like zest despite the risks. They got themselves in trouble. What to do? Walk away from the problem/or shove it to the consumer, the tax-payer, the hand that feeds them. The very financials that walked off with big bonuses did so at your expense while your buying power diminished further and your investments shriveled under the heat. You could follow one from their own play-book and walk away from this wholly lopsided obligation. Why should you pay when they addicted you to easy credit? These dealers are the bad guys here, not you. You are just weak minded and they like that an awful lot don't you know? So stop paying more interest on owed interest and fee upon fee. Or what about this: How much are all the bailouts worth on a per tax-payer level? Thats your leverage, your credit, your payment towards the account!

War...Its All About Money, Even At The Cost of Lives!

Think of what you could do with all the money you will save by not using credit. My Father never borrowed money. He wasn't interested in credit. He saved for his homes, cars, and vacations. The savings he amassed by not paying for what he could not afford, allowed him to invest and have a decent retirement account for himself and his wife. While he enjoyed working, he did not have to ask his wife to work because of necessity, except in the very beginning, nor did he need to seek part time work to make ends meet. Not borrowing from the banks or living with credit was a financial boon for he and his spouse. Sure they worked

hard and pinched pennies when needed. But in the end, they didn't need to worry about not having enough to take care of themselves.

WAKE UP AMERICA!

Smart or Irresponsible?

"Mr. Geithner, in a letter to U.S. lawmakers, said that the Treasury projects that the current debt limit could be reached as early mid-October. Increasing the limit is important to instilling confidence in global investors, Mr. Geithner said. The Treasury didn't request a specific increase in the letter."

Do you think this is a wise move? Our debt with respect to GDP is currently reaching into the 90% range with the U.S. expected to be fully extended by some time in 2010.

It seems that this is a blatantly irresponsible move from a fiduciary standpoint. So I guess the question is: Does Mr. Geithner have an ethical duty to act in the best interests of the people of the United States?

Obviously the Federal Reserve wins by the debt limit being raised again but do the people? What happens when debt to GDP reaches 100% or more?? This means even more than saying that your personal credit is maxed out!

Since the Federal Reserve makes money from absolutely nothing, (we are not on the gold standard anymore) it would be a huge deal to forgive all debt to-date owed to the Fed. It would do an awful lot it seems to help this country out. After all, its not like the Fed is in any kind of financial trouble. After all, they got us in this mess with their money-making schemes. It seems only fair!

Now on the other hand we've been hearing from the media in an almost droning-like way, that the recession is near its end. Even Bernanke says that the recession has ended. They say that all reports indicate this...well, those reports as we all know have had their data skewed and manipulated in order to make things look rosier than they really are. AND...when the new report is dramatically different than the previous report, they have to re-manipulate all the past data to come into line with the current report. See what I mean?

As recently in 2005-2006 Bernanke said that the U.S. Housing Market is fine and is properly valued. He said that the U.S. is on the path to full employment. Bernanke said that we have a strong future economic growth and boom in exports. To that we simply say: HUH??? Whats you talkin about Bennigins? He obviously doesn't have a serious clue in his body about whats going on unless he's told by those who are really running the show. He's just the puppet on the marionette stage.

Then they point to a lower unemployment claims number and say that this is the biggest proof. Well it seems to us that all that means is that the big wave of layoffs deemed necessary by companies as a cost-cutting device is slowing. It does not mean that near 15 Million people are not still out of work, it does not mean their lowered hours, trimmed wages, or reduced benefits have returned. It does not mean that consumer spending in the retail sector has returned either, nor has discretionary spending. How do we know this? Because brand new manufacturing cities in China had their gates closed to workers returning from Holiday.

This means that the west is not buying. Furthermore, sea ports in China have containers stacked as high as they can possible go and they're filled with product for the west. But it isn't being shipped because there are no buyers. Many real estate markets in the U.S. are still seeing record foreclosure rates. Global shipping companies are bobbing in the ocean rather than going full steam ahead because there is little to ship now a days. Banks still are not lending and this is the biggest indicator! Sadly even banks and mortgage companies are being caught trying to lend to people who shouldn't be borrowing. Those financials should be closed and taken over immediately by responsible institutions. When all this reverses, perhaps then we can say that the recession is ended. Why must they put the proverbial cart before the horse?

Others are pointing to the recent stock market rally saying that the per- severance of the bulls is proof that the recession has ended. Seems to me that maybe this is just another but rather longer bear rally. Even though economists are all calling for the end by the fourth quarter of 2009, these folks almost always lag the market with their opinions. Wasn't the economists that were partying over the economy in 2007 when the market was at all time highs? This was also the point where it all started unraveling.

During the Great Depression, there were eight distinct stock market rallies. The rallies lasted an average of 11.3 weeks during which time the average increase was 52.6%.

The rally that began in March of 2009 is now 29 weeks long and has seen the S&P 500 rise 58. percent. Which is to say, it is now double the average duration of the average bear market rally during the Great Depression.

More interesting is that the current rally is eerily parallel to that of the longest bear market rally of that era – a 52% rally that came at the very beginning of the depression and lasted 22 weeks.

Since history has a way of repeating itself as it has time and time again...the folks here at Future1investors group will wait for something much more indisputable before we start saying and writing that the recession has indeed ended. Until then, we are preparing for a longer road back to recovery. A road we feel must include one well traveled by new innovations and technologies that have mass benefits as in things like alternative energy. We are quick to blame the Saudi's for the price of oil, yet our very own American Oil Companies just saw the most profitable year in the entire history of the black gold!

Seems more responsible to work this way rather than throw caution to the wind, only to be let down yet again. Aren't you tired of it?

WAKE UP AMERICA!

Proof You Only Want to Be Mediocre!

The United States of America was a great country because it strived to make technological advances ahead of the rest of the world. The USA wanted to be #1 and for all accounts and purposes, it was. Lets see that word again....WAS!

What has happened to the USA? Has the credit card charge abilities of the mass public made you mediocre? Is the only thing you think about; that next big screen HD TV?

When the US wanted to be #1, it put massive resources into technological research, seeking breakthroughs and viable products that could propel it into the future. That future is now its past, and very little advances have taken place since. It still uses an un-godly amount of crude oil to propel your transportation system and most of that oil is imported. Yet your American owned oil companies made their biggest profits in the country's history. Guess what America? You are the Saudis!

They calm you by repeatedly telling you that the recession is ending yet there are nearly 15 million out of work families. Salaries are falling, as are work hours for the hourly, companies are going part-time without benefits. People are just getting by while others are not. The country's GDP is still falling and debt is rising like a rocket into space. Your country is so out of kilter that without Social Security to steal from and pay some of the debts, you are already in way over your head. Meanwhile, rather than being a country to compete against, the USA is just a country to sell to because there is little here left to buy. Most notable companies have moved off the US shores and taken their jobs with them. All thats left is just an addicted public that frequently over-doses on anything attached to credit, forever the slaves to your financial masters. The same masters that came up with the invention of the Internal Revenue Service; the tax collector that exists solely to pay for money borrowed from the Federal Reserve. Money that makes money from absolutely nothing. Boy! the Fed & Friends have it good don't they!

The U.S. claims that it is spearheading a major effort to accelerate scientific breakthroughs in order to build a new energy economy. It accompanies that to the tune of $777 million dollars in backing (U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science). Hmmmm how many dollars has it spent on the financial debacle lead by the Federal Reserve? Oh you remember, all those banks that made billions off of selling bad loans, and then putting them into a package that carried a AAA rating to sell to unwitting investors, many of the same financial firms who then where handed over how many billions to prevent them from loosing their ill-gotten gains? Money you gave them, so that they could also turn around and pay themselves historic bonuses! You people are out of your minds for letting that happen. You must be a glutton for punishment. Its like the USA is the wild-wild-west of the new criminal world.

Going back to that spearhead....Hmmmm $777 million towards something that might bring the country into sync with some of the rest of the world? Germany, Spain, China are the top three leaders in solar energy already. China has made a mockery of your spearheaded announcement for funding such research. China's effort will equal an impressive $220 BILLION! Just mentioned, China is #3 in Solar. As for Wind energy, the current goal is set for 100 Gigawatt by 2020. They've already begun construction on the first of seven 10 gigawatt wind projects.

South Korea is investing 1.2 percent of its total GDP, or about $30 billion, into new green strategies to drive their own economic recovery. Meanwhile, the United States is investing less than one half of 1 percent of our GDP on clean-energy stimulus programs. But perhaps less than $10B is all the U.S. needs to leap forward technologically, and be #1 again with everyone back to work, the country and its people prosperous once again...... ahem!

Then I guess you believe what they are saying on the news; that your recession is already coming to an end..... ahem!

Your people make me laugh! You are your own reality TV show! Each episode is more outrageous than the last. And while the rest of the world looks on, you are the only ones except for those in the U.K. that don't know what is going on right under your noses because they tell you lies and you think.... What do you think? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? HELLO! ANYONE IN THERE WITH A BRAIN IN THEIR HEAD?

Who wants to be mediocre? Wait...don't say anything. I'm going to tell you cause you believe everything anyway and this is the real truth. You are mediocre. You've proved it to the rest of the world. You don't care what those Banksters do to you because you are oblivious to the truth. What do they candy-coat their lies with over there with anyway?

Who pity the fool? We don't, not anymore anyway. How sad are you?

Update:
In the weeks since I prepared this, a few new bits have surfaced: $3.4 Billion for smart grid investments grant, $6.3 Billion for improvement of bio feedstocks, $32 Million for improved hydro-power. So lets say approx $10 Billion on behalf of the U.S. for alternative energy advancement. Problem is, there seems to be a lack of thrust and importance of this movement. Perhaps the administration is taking the lead from the current energy manufacturers meaning the big U.S. Oil companies...some of who are diversifying into these areas. It is clear however that if this is true, big oil isn't in any big rush to deviate from the product that made historic profits for them last year. And that is despite the fact that there hasn't been any significant oil finds since the late 50's and early 60's. That is with the exception of Alberta Canada!

Alberta Canada has seen major oil companies moving in and literally stripping the land (Alboreal Forest) and turning it into a dump of toxic waste water and cancer killing environment for its residents. But hey! Even the Canadian local government doesn't care because it has brought them the first real significant revenues ever...so why should we care eh? What you can see going on in Alberta is like a fast forward movie of what the planet has undergone in the last million years or so. Amazing how it can take thousands and even millions of years to produce a fossil fuel like oil. Yet put humans into the mix and they can suck it all up in about a hundred years or so, and at the peril of their own health, the health of the animal kingdom, and the health of the environment which is supposed to sustain them both. Well guess what? When you take without providing equally in return, you wind up with devastation. The only thing is how long that devastation will take and will anyone care if they aren't alive when it happens? Do they not care about the unborn and the children now growing up in this toxic world we've created? Wheres the profit in that?

Clearing the Air

Please do not be put off by the negative air that you'll read in the upcoming articles. We are in a recession which was caused by entities who were way more concerned for themselves and cared not for the masses that their work affected.

It is necessary to clear the air so-to-speak and allow folks to know what part they played in it and who where the game designers.

Much about the operation of a large country is about sedating the masses. In doing so you limit the uprising, something the USA has not seen in a very long time. This they've mastered, to the degree that we all just keep turning the other cheek. Well our cheeks are battered now, all black and blue. Its time to put a stop to this and wake us the hell up. We need to know the truth and start to think about what to do in order to make things better.

Back With A Vengeance!

Take a chance but live and learn. Good intentions do not always payout.

First, we left this blog in limbo to be the main contributors to MarketEDU, then when that went by the wayside, brought into MarketDiscoveryNetwork, then that went by the wayside. Thousands of hours spent writing, maintaining, and promoting, all for not.

Of course the reasons are much deeper and while intentions were good, it is unknown weather our so-called partner would have ever come through with the promised reward for all the work. Signed a virtual contract, a verbal contract, but who knows?? Of course I'm not blaming our partner who by the way is hundreds or thousands of miles from this computer. I blame the economy, and the usual and obvious suspects which put us here.

To put things straight, when I say "I", it is the part of Future1Investor that directly puts the content here. Future1Investor however is more than the product of one individual. It started out as a tiny group of anonymous contributors, then evolved to be the world! thanks to Google. Now content comes from the original group but also from hundreds of resources, from individuals to large organizations.

The focus of Future1Investor is of course to save and make money. But the twist is, that this won't just be trying to sell you something. Rather, it is to educate on the cause of money made or lost!

The cause will involve politics, individuals, controversy, innovation, persistence, passion, and more.

You can join us to become an even stronger collection of thoughts, facts, and education for the masses. Set aside your individualism and move into a higher train of thought brought together by many minds. Just send your words to: future1investor@gmail.com

Join us here once again but also share your thoughts in form of comments to the articles brought forth by you and the world at large...
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“What is good for General Motors is good for America” link Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:32:29 -0700 (2845 KB) Download MP3 Friday 5 link Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:24:56 -0700 (326 KB) Download MP3 Response To Article Post: Wow that Sox! link Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:42:35 -0700 (1439 KB) Download MP3 Goldman Sachs Changes Tune link Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:40:13 -0700 (281 KB) Download MP3 Thurs Top 5 link Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:35:38 -0700 (343 KB) Download MP3 UK Prime Minister Vows Dramatic Renewable Energy Program link Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:22:12 -0700 (885 KB) Download MP3 Alaskans Gets A Royal Screwin & Big Oil Smiles With Pleasure link Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:49:19 -0700 (2187 KB) Download MP3 Tuesday Top 5 link Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:04:18 -0700 (371 KB) Download MP3 Social Networking Power Seeps Into Applications link Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:02:53 -0700 (2077 KB) Download MP3 Doesn't Hurt to Ask! link Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:10:40 -0700 (386 KB) Download MP3
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“What is good for General Motors is good for America”

For those of you who did not take advantage of the FREE look into MarketClub, a tool we live by and for those who have but have not had the time to really get into all they have to offer, I am reposting a blog post written by one of the founders Adam Hewison. I'm doing so because not only does it follow-up to my previous posts regarding electric vehicles and our country's need to get on the ball, but it shows how MarketClub can be used when a stock is going down, as well as up! This is the case for General Motors (GM). You can read the entire piece here too if you like.

“What is good for General Motors is good for America”

Back in 1955, Charlie Wilson, then chairman of General Motors Corp. made this somewhat pompous statement. Here we are, some 53 years later and look what is happening to the stock of General Motors (NYSE_GM). This stock is at a 53 year low and shows no signs of turning around.

So the question becomes, what happened to America and General Motors? How did this company lose its edge in the marketplace?

HOW DID GM GET IT SO WRONG?

Digging through the history of GM, I found one fascinating item. GM developed an electric car back in 1996 when gas was $1.28 a gallon! They named the battery powered car the EV1 and then basically scrapped it in 2002.

Today there is very little evidence that this car was ever in existence. I am sure you’re thinking right about how we could sure use a car like that today with gas prices trading over $4.00 a gallon.

When you look at the stock of General Motors, you’ll see that the high for the stock in the last eight years was around $68 in 2002. What’s interesting is that high point in the stock was right around the time GM scrapped its EV1 car.

So what happened to GM’s first electric car? GM claims there was not enough public demand. That could be, but I think the story is a lot more complicated than that.

You can see all the GM - Big Oil conspiracy theories in the movie

WHY KILL THE GOLDEN GOOSE?

From a business standpoint, why would GM want to improve something that would kill the goose that lays the golden egg? General Motors tends to make most of its money on sales of replacement parts. Up to 40% of its profits come from selling replacement parts for existing GM automobiles, so why would they sabotage their own cash flow?

Unlike a gasoline driven car, which has many moving parts, an electrical car like the GM’s EV1 has very few parts to go wrong, so therefore part sales and cash flow would go right into the tank for GM. The other perception problem GM has with an all electric car with zero emissions is this: if GM produces an all electric clean car with zero emissions, it’s making an admission that all of their other cars are dirty, spew out harmful emissions and pollute the planet.

But look at how GM got it wrong. This may be one of the biggest blunders ever in American corporate history. GM took the lead in electric car technology (smart move), but was not convinced that they as a company could be profitable selling electric cars.

WHO OWNS THE MOST ADVANCE BATTERY TECHNOLOGY?

One fascinating piece of information is that GM acquired advanced battery technology from Ovonic’s in the form of a NiMH battery. This battery produces a stronger, longer lasting charge, and was the ideal battery for their second generation of EV1 cars. What came out later was truly a shocker, GM sold this amazing battery technology along with the patent (dumb move) to Texaco who was later taken over by Chevron. Now Chevron owns the technology and the patent!

You have to ask yourself the question… why would an oil company be interested in purchasing advanced battery technology from a major car producer like GM?

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

Fast forward to 2008 when everyone is mad as H#LL for having to pay over $4.00 for a gallon of gas. Back in 1996 when GM launched the EV1 with very little fanfare, the cost of gas was around $1.28 a gallon.

EVcrush

Why GM decided to scrap the EV1 and look for short-term profits in big cars as opposed to building and preparing to adopt a different business model is still a mystery and one that has decimated GM’s stock price in the last five years.

The automobile business has not changed in almost a century and the industry appears reluctant to embrace change. It would now appear that GM’s business model like many of its big cars is rapidly becoming outdated and destined for dinosaur land.

LET’S LOOK AT THE STOCK OF GM

EV1

Let’s take a look at the GM stock chart and see how you would have fared had you purchased GM stock at $68 in 2003. Then let’s look at the same stock using a MarketClub’s proactive approach. As you can see the results of a buy and hold strategy have been a disaster losing 79% of its value for all share holders while the proactive results have been quite stellar.

EV2

If a major company like General Motors can fall to a 53 year low, so can any stock on the big board.

Readers of this blog know that MarketClub uses a proactive approach when taking positions in the marketplace. The world has changed, and it has changed not only for GM but for many other mature companies that are using business models and products that are rapidly becoming outdated and will prove to be noncompetitive in the long run.

Original Posting

Friday 5

Everyone has a top ten list so we are going to have one each day too! These are our top 5 stock picks with volume exceeding 1 million.

* Sport Supply Group (RBI)
* Spectra Energy (SE)
* National Oil Well Varco (NOV)
* Atwood Oceanics (ATW)
* Royale Energy Inc (ROYL)

These are stocks we like as a buy. Watch the technicals closely as they may turn quickly.

Response To Article Post: Wow that Sox!

Soxdummy

Niclas Winblad of MarketEDU writes regarding Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX).
"The act was implemented as a reaction and means to control companies involved in fraud, such as Enron and WorldCom. Despite the good intensions, the question is whether SOX actually exerts a cost or benefit on companies and society.
....However, all the “suffering” may be worth it in order to catch the single bad guy who tries to cause trouble. So overall, airport security or SOX, as annoying as it is to the honest people or the world, may in fact be a huge benefit considering the possible price to be paid for poor security or lack or financial reporting laws."

We agree that such controls can be annoying and We agree with Niclas that it may be worth it. We also know Niclas, that there are plenty of companies who will make a wide berth in order to skirt the question of weather their company would pass even a minimum SOX audit.

No company will use it unless it is absolutely required of them. Even if required it may not matter if they fail an audit. If the SOX audit is not reported on and turned into an actionable matter unless there are grave problems which were seen in Enron and other notable news, then why would they care to do it at all?

Sarbanes-Oxley in our opinion is a far too difficult means of preventing a wrong. This is one clear example of why companies show disdain and disrespect for formalized Quality and quality employed individuals and teams. Quality professionals face a continued upward battle in corporate America because it has not seen that the best way to improve is to respect the fact that people can be taught to improve their work processes if allowed, given respect and given the proper and sufficient resources. Also, much can be gained from employing 'best practices' from a wide range of process improvements and solutions to problems.

Take for instance the global success of Toyota (TM) as just one example. The United States was once the leader in innovation, in fact the leader in many things. Now it seems to have lost the pioneering spirit and support of government. Instead the U.S. sits back and watches as the rest of the world especially developing countries, grow, innovate, and prosper. It sits back while jobs are lost to those same countries and sees more venture in war and oil.

Perhaps the U.S. should find a new focus on excellence rather than go on with the idea of capital expansion at all cost including that of the workforce. Perhaps a new focus has to take place in the workforce by companies honoring employees and then perhaps companies will find that profits can rise from employee loyalty and the attainment of excellence!

With this attainment, wrong-doing will dramatically decrease as excellence will not be conducive to wrong-doers.

Goldman Sachs Changes Tune

In a couple short weeks following our outcry over GS downgrading Solarfun Power (SOLF) and suggesting that they took the opportunity to buy into the stock for themselves and their customers...

Goldman Sachs upgrades Solarfun Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (Nasdaq: SOLF) from Sell to Neutral.

Makes you go Hmmmm?!!!

UK Prime Minister Vows Dramatic Renewable Energy Program

Prime Minister Brown today reaffirmed that the UK will spend $100 billion on a dramatic new energy program. The $100 billion will come from private business and encouraged through financial incentives in a speech to come from its business secretary, John Hutton.

Thousands of new wind turbines could be built across the UK as part of the program. Prime Minister Brown says: "It will require real leadership from government - being prepared to make hard decisions on planning or on tax for example. It will mean new kinds of consumer behaviour and lifestyles. And it will demand creativity, innovation and entrepreneurialism throughout our economy and our society."

The announcement comes on the heels of the U.S. announcement of a paltry $100 million toward renewables and after the defeat of bill H.R. 6049. The bill would have had legislation to extended the residential and commercial tax credits for solar energy for eight years. The bill was supported by a diverse coalition including manufacturers, construction firms, environmental groups, electric utilities, chemical companies, banks, investors, labor, public health and religious organizations, trade associations and many others. But sadly the U.S. Senate defeated it.

Meanwhile, the U.K. says that this new renewable energy program will bring 160,000 new jobs. It plans that the North Sea will be turned into "the equivalent for wind power of what the Gulf of Arabia is for oil". Wind turbines will also be built inland, but with sensitivity towards local communities.

Alaskans Gets A Royal Screwin & Big Oil Smiles With Pleasure

Did anyone drop their bagel mid-bite or spit out their coffee when the news Exxon was getting a pat on the hand came through today?

Not long after our dear President Bush indicated that he wanted to put the pipe to more pristine Alaskan territory in that bravado tone he uses...
The $2.5 billion in punitive damages formerly decided against Exxon for the sea of thick black crude it disastrously puked upon Alaska's wildlife and way of life was all but dropped today.

Tax paying Americans, and every TV watcher with a heart and soul worldwide, wept tears of sorrow for the countless suffocating, devastated, and dead creatures of God's design.

The persons of the Supreme Court of the United States deemed that the original ruling should be slashed because it was excessive under maritime law. Instead it has lowered the punishment, not in half but less than a fourth to just over $507 million dollars.

Big oil must be smiling with supreme pleasure. Exxon earned just over $40 billion in the year 2007 alone. Which basically amounts to a minor traffic violation fee for what it was responsible for. The amount won't even come anywhere near to covering the losses families have been forced to endure as they themselves saw their way of life literally drown in the thick, sick sludge which poured from the tanker at 11,300,000 gallons in just a few hours. The result was an oil slick the size of 3,000 sq. miles which has caused a lasting effect still 19 years later.

We can not embed the video here because while they have not been able to prevent the video from being archived, they have managed to prevent the video from spilling out all over the internet. Instead, you'll have to see it by clicking on this link.

If you are a stock holder of Exxon (XOM), you have Supreme Court Justice David Souter to thank for keeping your stock price where it is at today.

Tonight we pray for the souls of the Exxon Board of Directors.
However we doubt they will put things right because they take pleasure in the now and obviously are not worried for their future.

Punishment for the damned (see also the last paragraph)

As of last August 2007, the Exxon Valdez still rode the waters of the world as the S/R Mediterranean. The new name was given in 1990 after 1,500 metric tons of steel were removed and replaced in repairs following the incident.

FROM Wikipedia:
The Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, representing approximately 40,000 workers nationwide, announced opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) until Congress enacted a comprehensive national energy policy. In the aftermath of the spill, Alaska governor Steve Cowper issued an executive order requiring two tugboats to escort every loaded tanker from Valdez out through Prince William Sound to Hinchinbrook Entrance. As the plan evolved in the 1990s, one of the two routine tugboats was replaced with a 210 foot (64 m) Escort Response Vehicle (ERV). The majority of tankers at Valdez are still single-hulled, but Congress has enacted legislation requiring all tankers to be double-hulled by 2015.

In 1991, following the collapse of the local marine population (particularly clams, herring, and seals) the Chugach Native American group went bankrupt[26]

Many of the real estate appraisal methods used to value contaminated property and brownfields were developed as a result of and following the spill. The use of survey research (e.g. contingent valuation and conjoint measurement) became a well-accepted appraisal method as a result of the complex valuation problems associated with contamination.[27]

According to several studies funded by the state of Alaska, the spill had both short- and long term economic effects. These included the loss of recreational sports fisheries, reduced tourism, and an estimate of what economists call "existence value," which is the value to the public of a pristine Prince William Sound.[28][29][30]

WikiScanner discovered changes made from within Exxon Mobil, altering this article's descriptions of the oil spill and down playing its severity.