tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84388802703283327792024-03-13T11:59:41.564-07:00Green Mutual Fund Investing InfoJoe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-20612952362352842272013-01-21T08:03:00.000-08:002013-01-21T08:03:19.868-08:00Jeff Siegel's Electric Car UPDATE 2013 <b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Will Nissan LEAF discounts spur a sales surge?</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by Jeff Siegel, Energy & Capital</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"It's the next big thing!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That's what the PR guys and leggy models always tell you as they recite their boilerplate pitches in front of massive displays of cars, trucks, and guys in white lab coats. Then they hand you a pen or a mini-flashlight and move on to the next person in line. I'd say they're right about ten percent of the time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Still, I'd be lying if I said I didn't thoroughly enjoy checking out all the latest gadgets, technologies, and concepts the automakers roll out every year at the Detroit Auto Show... especially over the past few years, where hybrids and electric vehicles have taken center stage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Of course, this year it was less about fuel economy and more about muscle; GM made a huge splash with its new 2014 Corvette Stingray.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Still, there were a number of new hybrids and electric vehicles on display that upped the ante on performance, design, and even price...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Nissan LEAF has become the first household name in pure electric cars.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The all-electric vehicle debuted a couple of years ago and has sold about 50,000 units globally.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Although this may not sound like much, consider that the first year Toyota's hybrid superstar Prius came out, only 3,000 units were sold, and the following year, only 20,000.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Still, Nissan needs to get more units out of its factories and on the roads. And while sales have been relatively good, given the nature of the disruptive vehicle technology, the Japanese automaker has fallen short of sales goals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So in an effort to improve sales, Nissan's 2013 LEAF will sell at an 18% discount. The company can actually pull this off, as its manufacturing costs are falling with its production moving from Japan to Tennessee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The basic 2013 model will start at $28,800 before the $7,500 federal tax credit and any additional state tax credits.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At this price, California residents, who get a $2,500 tax credit, can get a brand-new Nissan LEAF for $18,800 — or about the same price of a size-comparable internal combustion vehicle. Of course, this one won't require you to spend a dime on 87 octane.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, I'm not saying the new price will definitely increase sales, but certainly this will put the vehicle's purchase price well within range of a few more car buyers who want the environmental and national security benefits that come with owning an electric vehicle, but until now just haven't been unable to come up with the cash.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tesla Motors goes mainstream</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tesla brought some excitement to the Detroit Auto Show again this year as it showed off its electric SUV crossover, the Model X.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Due out in 2014, the Model X is Tesla's version of a family vehicle that can take you from 0 to 60 in five seconds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This particular vehicle was actually unveiled last February, but the company used this year's Detroit Auto Show to show off its interior...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And while the interior is certainly impressive, I'm more interested in how far the vehicle can go on some homemade domestic electrons. Word is the model X is expected to deliver an all-electric range of between 250 and 300 miles (though it should be noted that no official numbers have been released by the company).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The all-electric SUV crossover is likely to run you about $58,000 before the federal tax credit. Certainly not a cheap vehicle, but at roughly the same price, Tesla has had little problem selling its Model S. And to be honest, Tesla's not a company I'd bet <em>against.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">No, they probably won't do the numbers that GM, Nissan, and Toyota will do over the next few years... but they don't have to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And that's why I expect to see Tesla pumping out the cream of the crop in electric offerings for years to come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>General Motors electrifies the Caddy</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Basing its powertrain on that of the Volt, GM's new Cadillac ELR was unveiled this week in Detroit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This vehicle is intended to be the first luxury electric coupe in GM's lineup — and word is it's looking to position this vehicle as a competitor to Tesla's higher-end offerings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although I do think the Chevy Volt is one hell of a great car, I believe the company's going to be in for a tough ride with the ELR — unless the price is ridiculously low.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking at the vehicle, it just doesn't have the same modern look, sparkle, and shine that we see from Tesla. As well, it's really an apples-to-oranges comparison in that the ELR is an extended-range vehicle, while Tesla's offerings are pure electric.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quite frankly, I think GM would be better off focusing on price reductions on the Volt or a cheaper extended-range vehicle that maybe wouldn't be as shiny as the Volt, but would deliver greater fuel economy at a cheaper price.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you want to get these vehicles on the road, I don't think pumping out expensive, high-end vehicles is the way to do it — at least, not ones that look like the ELR.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only reason Tesla can get away with it is because when it comes to vehicle design and performance, it's in a league of its own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Toyota still pushing the envelope</b></span><br />
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This year Toyota showed off its second generation Toyota RAV4 electric and its second generation Scion iQ EV.</div>
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But the real star of Toyota's lineup was the NS4.</div>
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Some are calling it the Prius of the future, but Toyota insists it isn't part of the Prius family.</div>
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A dedicated plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), it's more fuel efficient, offers a longer all-electric range compared to the PHEV Prius, and comes with better acceleration as well. Charging times are also expected to be shorter.</div>
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But the real sell on the NS4 is that its really upping the ante on what consumers can expect from a PHEV...</div>
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First, the NS4 comes with a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) that provides a user interface built around a multi-touch screen.</div>
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It basically looks and feels like a smartphone. The multimedia and vehicle-controls of the HMI system can direct air conditioning, audio, battery charging, and navigation functions. It can also “learn” driver preferences and habits to anticipate driver responses in specific environments and situations.</div>
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Toyota is also using the NS4 to showcase its new glass technologies that are integrated into the windshield and front triangle, door, and rear windows. These new technologies allow for improved driver visibility, gas mileage and electric drive mode mileage efficiency.</div>
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This really is some next-generation stuff. And here's how Toyota is touting it:</div>
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<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Hydrophobic coating</span> – Fluorine-coated glass causes rain drops to form into semispherical shapes for improved visibility and rain drop elimination. It's also used on the roof solar panel.</li>
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<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Anti-fog film</span> – High performance resin material with anti-fogging characteristics and increased durability.</li>
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<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;">High ultraviolet absorbing inner-layer</span> – Removes 99% of harmful UVA and UVB rays.</li>
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<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Anti-solar film with radio-wave transparency</span> – Reduces the internal vehicle temperature and improves electronic device functionality.</li>
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And all of this is being integrated in a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. No glorified golf carts here, my friend!</div>
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President and COO of Toyota Sales USA told reporters that by the middle of the decade, the automaker plans to transfer its plug-in hybrid technology into other models — and also aims to launch a midsize sedan that runs on hydrogen fuel cells.</div>
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Change is coming, my friends... fast and furious.</div>
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<br />Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-22203434503373166792012-05-24T10:33:00.000-07:002012-05-24T10:33:31.612-07:00Saudi Arabia plans photovoltaic future<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">By Angus McDowall and Reem Shamseddine</span></i><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">RIYADH/DAMMAM, May 23 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, may finally be getting serious about overcoming the technical and financial hurdles for tapping its other main resource: sunshine.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Thousands of solar power panels have sprung up across Europe over the past few years, thanks to generous subsidies that make the technology an attractive alternative to conventional energy.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Saudi Arabia too, wants to generate much more solar power as it lacks coal or enough natural gas output to meet rapidly rising power demand.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Doing so would allow it to slash the volume of oil it burns in power plants bankrolled by billions of dollars worth of saved oil earnings.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">"At world market prices, solar is competitive if you use crude oil to generate electricity," said Maher al-Odan, a senior consultant at King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Research (KA-CARE) which was set up to plan Saudi Arabia's energy mix.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Saudi Arabia has said it wants to become a major solar producer before, but its investments amount to much less than 50 megawatts versus several countries which have added thousands of megawatts a year.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">This month, KA-CARE set forth a much more ambitious plan, recommending that the kingdom aim to get more than a third of its peak-load power supply, or about 41 gigawatts (GW), from the sun within two decades at an estimated cost well over $100 billion.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Making the plan work economically rests on three assumptions: that technology improvements will cut costs, that a domestic solar industry will emerge and create jobs for a booming population, and that many billions of dollars worth of exportable oil will be saved.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">An average of 700,000 barrels a day of crude were used in Saudi power stations during the peak air-conditioning demand period from May to September last year, according to official data supplied to the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI).</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Although a rise in gas production should temper crude burning this summer, it will likely rise substantially in years ahead unless alternatives are found, and fast.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">"Domestic oil consumption is rising very rapidly and you get far more value for oil if it's exported than if it's consumed domestically," said Paul Gamble, chief economist at Jadwa Research in Riyadh.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><b>TECHNICAL CHALLENGES</b></span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">KA-CARE said the first two solar plants, with combined capacity of 3 GW, might be put to tender in the first quarter of next year.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">One of these will use concentrated solar power (CSP), which Riyadh says could supply an eventual 25 GW of the total 41 GW of planned solar capacity.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">The other will use photovoltaic (PV), the technology expected to meet the rest of the overall goal.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">CSP is relatively new and much more expensive than PV. But unlike PV, it can store solar energy for several hours, which is a big advantage in a country where air conditioning demand remains high in summer long after the sun has gone down.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Both technologies will suffer efficiency losses in Saudi Arabia's harsh, arid conditions, but long periods of intense sunshine should help compensate.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">"High temperatures in situations with high direct solar irradiation can have a significant impact on the maximum possible power output," according to GFZ Potsdam, Germany's national research centre for Earth Sciences.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Another problem could stem from desert dust that can reduce solar energy by 10-20 percent in efficiency, according to King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">"We have losses due to high temperatures and so on," KA-CARE's Odan said in an interview, comparing the likely performance of solar power in Saudi Arabia with that of Germany, the world's leading solar power.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">"But what we gain from high radiation (from increased sunshine) more than compensates for the loss of efficiency."</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><b>SUBSIDIES</b></span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Paddy Padmanathan, chief executive of Acwa Power, which has developed eight fossil fuel power plants in Saudi Arabia and is bidding to build a large CSP plant in Morocco, said solar should be competitive for peak-time supply against gas and oil.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">He said that at Saudi Arabia's heavily subsidized gas price of $0.75 per million British thermal units (mmbtu), utilities could provide electricity at a cost of 7.5 halalas ($0.02) per kilowatt hour (kWh).</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">However, if the gas was valued at $6 per mmbtu, closer to world market prices, the cost of electricity would rise to 34 halalas/kWh.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Yet oil-fired power costs around 12.5 halalas/kWh at the Saudi oil supply price of $4.40 a barrel, rising to 60 halalas/kWh with oil valued closer to world levels at $80 a barrel.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">By comparison, PV could deliver electricity for 45 halalas/kWh and CSP for 70 halalas.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">While those prices are uncompetitive against artificially low gas prices in Saudi Arabia, he said solar power should work out cheaper when the cost of keeping large oil and gas plants on standby for delivering peak-load power are factored in.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">"It makes economic sense as a kilowatt hour produced from solar will be cheaper than that produced through traditional electricity production," said Christopher Burghardt, managing director at First Solar, which is opening a Gulf office.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">But some industry experts say that while a recent slide in PV costs makes the maturing technology attractive, CSP costs need to fall further to guarantee swift payback on the Saudi investment plan.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">"PV is highly competitive now against oil and against the higher cost gas the Saudis have available," Robin Mills, head of Manaar Energy Consulting, said.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">"For CSP, would it be competitive against oil valued against international prices? I think it would be marginal," said Mills, who has published studies on the commercial viability of solar power in the Middle East.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">KA-CARE's Odan said he anticipated the cost of CSP in particular would drop as the technology evolves and the market grows but Mills said there is more downside on PV costs.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Because Saudi Arabia wants to keep consumer electricity prices very low, solar power investments will need hefty state support.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">But the economic benefits of saving hundreds of thousands of barrels a day of oil, the country's largest export earner, supports the economic case.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">"We know well that the cost of generating power from these sources will be higher and we did a model that will help us bridge the gap," said Khalid al-Sulaiman, vice president for renewables at KA-CARE.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">"You call it subsidies. I don't call it subsidies and many countries don't call it subsidies. They are incentives for the sector."</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><b>NEW INDUSTRY</b></span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">KA-CARE expects the aim of developing an indigenous solar industry to increase costs.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">Yet this offers the benefit of hi-tech job creation and the prospect for developing new solar technologies in the country.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">To that end, the kingdom will require bidders for big solar projects to offer jobs to Saudi nationals and technology transfers.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">KA-CARE plans to pick the best technology currently available around the world and develop it further and sees most scope for this in the comparatively immature CSP market.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">"They factor in an assumption about domestic value creation to the local economy from the creation of a new industry, and also for the export of new technology," said Gamble.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">"I think to justify that level of money you would need to make some assumptions that both those factors would be significant." </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein and Maha El Dahan, editing by Daniel Fineren and Jason Neely)</span>Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-56569167285284831622012-03-23T10:50:00.003-07:002012-03-23T11:03:25.765-07:00Downturn in China a matter of Hu and Wen<span style="font-weight:bold;">Xi and Li set to take stage, need to shine in 2013 and 2014</span><br /><br />Think of sequential quarterly earnings reports and the pressure these put on senior executives to continually outperform the past, and then multiply that pressure by 10,000 times. Got it? That is China in transition to its 5th Generation of leaders, Xi and Li.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Consider avoiding commodity and resource funds for at least next six months</span><br /><br />Expectations and economic performance are both down in 2012, and global investors should look for this trend to continue for at least another half year. Why? With the new leaders being appointed this October and taking full power in early 2013, this is an ideal time for a down year in China. The growth target is 7.5%, the lowest in years, but it may actually turn out to be a year of negative growth, for two main reasons.<br /><br />One: Xi and Li will want to have decent year-over-year numbers, at least from mid-2013 and on, so between now and the end of the year, the current "lame duck" administration will be given plenty of incentives to let things slide, so that any rebound and turnaround can be credited to the next leaders. The legacy of the 4th Generation has already been firmly established, so a few months of sliding numbers will not tarnish their massive accomplishments.<br /><br />Two: Commodity prices; any shoring up of the Chinese economy in the near-term will boost commodity prices, whereas it will be far more beneficial for Xi and Li if commodities happen to drop precipitously over the next year.<br /><br />Summary: If you believe that China will loosen credit significantly in the coming weeks to avoid a severe downturn, keep an eye out for cosmetic moves that make it appear the government is dealing head-on with the situation, when in reality they will likely be conspiring to slow the rate of decline, but not the decline itself. That work will begin around November to February.Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-87859876021513387502012-02-27T18:28:00.003-08:002012-02-27T18:40:23.752-08:00Bombay Stock Exchange launches BSE Greenex sustainability indexAsia’s oldest bourse, the Bombay Stock Exchange launched its carbon index – the BSE Greenex – a new index of sustainability stocks that help investors looking for green companies. Green companies, or companies that have the best environmental practices to reduce their carbon footprint, are now increasingly seen as more sustainable in the long run.<br /><br />Global investments in green energy grew by nearly a third to $211 billion in 2010, the latest year for which figures are available, according to data from the United Nations Environmental Program More than half of those were in developing countries.<br /><br />Here are pointers on how this could benefit you:<br /> <br />• Greenex has 20 companies from the broader BSE 100 index that meet energy efficiency norms, allowing investors to derive benefit from the related cost savings. The company with the biggest weightage in this index is Tata Steel at 6.7 per cent. ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC, Sun Pharma and BHEL are the other major constituents of the Index. The exchange says that these companies are good in terms of carbon emissions, free-float market capitalization (non-promoter holding) and daily turnover.<br /><br />• The index will allow investors to track companies that invest in energy efficient practices. Energy-saving practices allow companies to save money, thus improving profitability as well as having an environmental impact. "There are many socially aware investors willing to pay a premium to invest in green companies in the hope of getting better returns," said Ashishkumar Chauhan, BSE's deputy chief executive officer.<br /><br />• The Greenex will allow asset managers to create products to help investors put their money in green enterprises.<br /><br />• The Greenex is targeted at retail, as well as institutional investors such as pension funds looking for investments in companies with strong long-term prospects and develop green financial products.<br /><br />• Investors can invest in a mutual fund that invests in companies that form this Greenex.<br /><br />The Greenex index includes stocks that meet energy efficiency norms, allowing investors to bet on securities that are best placed to benefit from the related cost savings.<br /><br />The index will have 20 companies selected from the BSE-100 index and will help institutional and retail investors evaluate a particular stock on the basis of the amount of money these firms save by being energy efficient, said a person involved with the matter.<br /><br />Corporate affairs minister Veerappa Moily will on Wednesday make an announcement to this effect.<br /><br />He confirmed that he will be part of the function at BSE.<br /><br />The Greenex gauge has been developed by gTrade, a local firm working on financial innovations in energy efficiency, and BSE Ltd. While BSE provides the financial analytics, the carbon analytics are provided by gTrade.<br /><br />“One of the parameters for measurement of efficiency performance used in Greenex calculation is emissions intensity, total emissions upon total revenue (which is assumed to be a close proxy for energy efficiency),” the person said on condition of anonymity. “Mandatory disclosures on energy usage by assessed companies make it possible to estimate these numbers for listed companies.”<br /><br />Currently, groups such as the Confederation of Indian Industry collect and publicize voluntary disclosures made by companies of their environmental performance.<br /><br />Several similar indices, such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, list companies based on their environmental peformance. However, the same person said that the Greenex will be different and will assess companies relative to others in its sector and not a generic set of performance indicators, “thus, if for example, one measures ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd) against other such firms, one can know the relative efficiency levels,” the person said.<br /><br />The approach is in line with a relatively recent push by government to get companies to become less polluting by eschewing penalties for poor performance, and instead provide monetary incentives for outperformance.<br /><br />“It’s certainly in the larger vision of how government intends to move forward on getting companies to be more energy efficient. But I can’t really comment on the specifics of this,” said Ajay Mathur, director-general, Bureau for Energy Efficiency (BEE). BEE is a nodal government wing that promotes energy efficiency schemes by government.<br /><br />India, which has refused to adopt a legally-binding cap on its emissions, has announced a national action plan on climate change to tackle the challenge. One of these is a scheme called the perform, achieve and trade (PAT) mechanism by which industries that achieve energy-efficiency targets, over and above stipulated limits, can trade their surpluses with those that fail to meet targets using energy certificates.<br /><br />As much as 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emission is expected to be curbed by this scheme, according to the government’s estimate.<br /><br />Independent analysts say that this initiative could be helpful for PAT. “It could be very useful, however, it would require quality disclosures by companies on how well they’ve managed their emissions,” said Seema Arora, a top official in the environment unit of CII.<br /><br />“This is a responsible form of doing business and adds to the brand image of the corporation,” said Arup Roy Choudhury, chairman and managing director of NTPC Ltd. “We as a company have been looking at ways and means to be environmentally sustainable, which is also a good way to do business.”<br /><br />The power producer said it has improved the efficiency of its boilers and has brought it up to around 41% from 32%. This is because for every percentage improvement in boiler efficiency, the coal consumption and carbon dioxide emissions come down by 2.5%.<br /><br />Similarly, India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has taken steps to save energy.<br /><br />“We look at how can we conserve energy on producing a particular car,” said Ajay Seth, chief financial officer, Maruti Suzuki.<br /><br />Maruti Suzuki has been able to reduce per vehicle electricity consumption by 32% and 38% at its Gurgaon and Manesar plants, respectively. Similarly, per vehicle water consumption has reduced by 62% and 61%, respectively.<br /><br />Both facilities are zero water discharge outside factory premises.<br /><br /><br />Sources: http://profit.ndtv.com/News/Article/five-facts-about-the-bse-s-greenex-298372, http://www.livemint.com/2012/02/21220919/BSE8217s-Greenex-index-to-b.html?atype=tpJoe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-4946868398935952432012-02-23T10:13:00.002-08:002012-02-23T10:27:48.103-08:00As China construction falls off, oil prices will followIn January in China, the bulldozer sales volume is 460 sets, declines by 66.64% year-on-year and 18.73% month-on-month, becoming the worst since January 2010. The sales volume in domestic market is 226 sets, declining by 79.25% year-on-year. The export volume is 234 sets, declining by 19.31% year-on-year. <br /><br />World crude steel production fell 7.8 percent to 117 million tonnes in January, compared with the same month last year, World Steel Association data showed. China's crude steel output fell 13 percent in the same period to 52.1 million tonnes.<br /><br />China's four biggest state-owned banks extended about 70 billion yuan ($11.1 billion) in new local-currency loans from Feb. 1-19, suggesting a big drop in lending, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Wednesday.<br /><br />Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is expected to target growth of less than 8 percent for the world's second-biggest economy in his report to the National People's Congress on March 5, according to 8 of 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The government had an 8 percent goal from 2005 to 2011, however, even a return to that level of growth may be difficult in a real estate downturn.<br /><br />Look for oil prices to peak in coming weeks and then retreat below $90.Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-28894514987075858922012-02-09T13:15:00.000-08:002012-02-09T13:20:36.578-08:00Green Mutual Funds provide value to communities<span style="font-weight:bold;">The Value In Socially Responsible Investing</span><br /><br />Marc L. Ross, Investopedia<br /><br />Once considered a niche area of investment practice, socially responsible investment (SRI) now embraces a wide investment audience that includes individuals, high net worth and otherwise, and institutions such as pension plans, endowments and foundations. Religious tenets, political beliefs, specific events and the broad remit of corporate responsibility (i.e. green investing, social welfare) all drive this investment practice. <br /><br />Indeed, the professional association USSIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, estimates in its "2010 Report on Socially Responsible Investing Trends" that around $3 trillion in assets under management subscribe to one or more of the aforementioned approaches to socially responsible investing. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">$316 billion in socially responsible mutual funds alone</span><br /><br />Over 250 mutual funds in the United States alone, utilize a social screening process, with assets of approximately $316 billion. There are hedge and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that adopt a socially conscious approach to investment, as well. <br /><br />Socially responsible investing expresses the investor's value judgment of which several approaches may be used. One example is when an investor avoids companies or industries that offer products or services the investor perceives to be harmful. The tobacco, alcohol and defense industries are commonly avoided by people who try to be socially responsible investors.<br /><br />In the 1980s, divestment of American companies doing business with South Africa was highly publicized. Another is a performance ranking in terms of how well a company achieves on not only financial metrics, but also on social, environmental, governance and ethical issues. <br /><br />Yet another involves active engagement between the company's shareholders and its management. Finally, there is the activist tack that involves the investor advocating specific issues. Any one or a combination of these approaches is a critical driver in the process of portfolio management and fiduciary oversight. <br /><br />Moreover, the practice is global, with different approaches emphasized in various countries as a function of their culture, government, business environment and their interrelationship. What obtains as socially responsible or not has led to differing opinions on whether these approaches yield competitive returns.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">For Whose Benefit? </span><br /><br />Socially conscious investors may assume a more holistic view of a company when making investment decisions, looking at how it serves its stakeholders, a rubric under which are subsumed not only shareholders, but also creditors, management, employees, the community, customers and suppliers. Within this context, socially responsible investment seeks to maximize welfare while earning a return on one's investment that is consistent with the investor's goals. <br /><br />On the surface, these two notions may appear contradictory. For example, there may be an implicit cost of such an approach to the extent that it eschews profitable companies and sectors. Tobacco, alcohol, firearms and gambling have been lucrative industries. <br /><br />However, to a socially conscious investor, their inclusion in a portfolio would fail to serve the investor's objectives of living in a world void of conflict and legal stimulants and depressants. As with any investment approach, the socially conscious investor needs to:<br /><br /> - Define his, her or its risk and return objectives and constraints. <br /><br /> - As to the latter, the investor needs to determine what its socially conscious constraints are. These may differ considerably, depending upon the investor. Muslims who wish to be compliant with Shari'a law would exclude any companies connected with the production, sale and distribution of alcohol, any financial institution that lends and any business that profits from gambling. Investors opposed to armed conflict as a means of dispute resolution may avoid any company or industry associated with defense, national security or firearms. <br /><br /> - Once the investor defines its constraints, it must decide upon an approach to implement them, be it the use of inclusionary or exclusionary screens, best practices criteria or advocacy. The type of investor may determine the most suitable approach. For example, advocacy and dialog with a company or industry would be better suited to a large public pension fund. <br /><br />Consider the work of CalPERS or the Swiss billionaire activist Martin Ebner, the latter more an example of individual shareholder activism. By contrast, an individual investor working with an advisor would find the screening process more feasible. <br /><br /> - Social investing has implicit costs - the returns potentially foregone through the exclusion of companies with unacceptable products or business practices - and explicit costs. <br /><br />For those considering an active approach, fees for exchange-traded and mutual funds tend to be a bit higher. For investors seeking a passive management, there are fewer indices to replicate and the funds that do typically bear higher costs. <br /><br /> - Diversification is always an important consideration. Screens may hamper this process, unintentionally or otherwise. <br />Utilizing this type of traditional investment framework would appear to make the process manageable, so long as the investor weighs the costs and benefits of this type of investment approach carefully. <br /><br />However, there could appear to be a dilemma upon whose horns the investor invariably would be impaled. For example, if investment in such "vice" products as alcohol and tobacco is anathema to a socially conscious investor, what about the transport and energy industries? <br /><br />After all, the products have to be shipped to the point of sale which requires various means of transport which, in turn, require fuel. These types of considerations make the precise definition of one's socially responsible investment goals all the more crucial. The practice is often a gray area. <br /><br />Depending upon the perspective of the individual, companies may display characteristics that are both irresponsible and responsible.<br /><br />The Bottom Line<br />Socially responsible investment reflects an investor's values. While the opportunities in this realm of investment management have grown considerably, one may not ignore best practices of investing. <br /><br />The investor must clearly define their goals when undertaking this sort of approach, recognizing its potential trade-offs and clearly articulating a policy that considers all the variables when looking to maximize the good over the plentiful and abundant. <br /><br />Risk management and attention to costs are essential. Research seems to indicate that results from socially conscious investing are not statistically significant from a more conventional approach.Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-28086913096277940672012-01-12T09:12:00.000-08:002012-01-12T09:15:35.649-08:00Why "Peak Nature" requires a collective consciousness bump<span style="font-weight:bold;">Capitalism has no soul, by Timothy Morton, Adbusters.org</span><br /><br /><br />Nature is the featureless remainder at either end of the process of production. Either it’s exploitable stuff, or value-added stuff. Whatever: it’s basically featureless, abstract, gray. It has nothing to do with nematode worms and orangutans, organic chemicals in comets and rock strata. You can scour the Earth from mountaintop to Marianas Trench. You will never find Nature. That’s why I put it in capitals. I want the reader to see that it’s an empty category looking for something to fill it. Gray goo.<br /><br />Capitalism did away with feudal and pre-feudal myths such as the divine hierarchy between classes of people. In so doing, however, it substituted one heck of a giant myth of its own: Nature. Nature is precisely the lump that preexists the capitalist labor process. Martin Heidegger has the best term for it: standing reserve, Bestand.<br /><br />Bestand means “stuff,” as in the old ad from the 1990s, “Drink Pepsi: Get Stuff.” There is an ontology implicit in capitalist production, then, that is strictly materialism as defined by Aristotle. Funnily enough, however, this materialism is not fascinated with material objects in all their manifold specificity. It’s just stuff. This viewpoint is the basis of Aristotle’s problem with materialism. Have you ever seen or handled matter? Have you ever held a piece of “stuff”? Sure, I’ve seen lots of objects: Santa Claus in a department store, snowflakes and photographs of atoms. But have I ever seen matter or stuff as such? Aristotle says it’s a bit like searching through a zoo to find the “animal” rather than the various species such as monkeys and mynah birds. Marx says exactly the same thing regarding capital. “The ‘expanded’ form [of the commodity] passes into the ‘general’ form when some commodity is excluded, exempted from the collection of commodities, and thus appears as the general equivalent of all commodities, as the immediate embodiment of Commodity as such, as if, by the side of all real animals, there existed the Animal, the individual incarnation of the entire animal kingdom – or as if, to use an example from commercial capitalism, by the side of all real spices, there existed the Spice.” As Nature goes, so goes matter. The two most progressive physical theories of our age, ecology and quantum theory, need have nothing to do with it.<br /><br />What is bestand? Bestand is stockpiling. Gallon after gallon of oil waiting to be tapped. Row upon row of big box houses waiting to be inhabited. Terabyte after terabyte of memory waiting to be filled. Stockpiling is the art of the zeugma – the yoking of things you hear in phrases such as “wave upon wave” or “bumper to bumper.” Stockpiling is the dominant mode of social existence. Giant parking lots empty of cars, huge tables in restaurants across which you can’t hold hands, vast empty lawns. Nature is stockpiling. Range upon range of mountains, receding into the distance. The Rocky Flats nuclear bomb trigger factory was sited precisely to evoke this kind of mountainous stockpile. The eerie strangeness of this fact confronts us with the ways in which we still believe that Nature is “over there” – that it exists apart from technology, apart from history. Far from it. Nature is the stockpile of stockpiles.<br /><br />So again, I ask, what exactly are we sustaining when we talk about sustainability? An intrinsically out of control system that sucks in gray goo at one end and pushes out gray value at the other. It’s Natural goo, Natural value. Result? Mountain ranges of inertia, piling higher every year, while humans boil away in the agony of uncertainty. Just take a look at Manufactured Landscapes: the ocean of telephone dials, dials as far as the eye can see, somewhere in China. A real ocean – it lies there at this very moment.<br /><br />Societies embody philosophies. Actually, what we have in modernity is much, much worse than just instrumentality. Here we must depart from Heidegger. What’s worse is the location of essence in some beyond, away from any specific existence. To this extent, capitalism is itself Heideggerian! Whether we call it scientism, deconstruction, relationism or just good old-fashioned Platonic forms, there is no essence in what exists. Either the beyond is itself nonexistent (deconstruction, nihilism), or it’s some kind of real away from “here.” The problem, then, is not essentialism but this very notion of a beyond. Think of what Tony Hayward said. He said that the Gulf of Mexico was a huge ocean, and that the spill was tiny by comparison. Nature would absorb the industrial accident. I don’t want to quibble about the relative size of ocean and spill, as if an even larger spill would somehow have gotten it into Hayward’s thick head that it was bad news. I simply want to point out the metaphysics involved in Hayward’s assertion, which we could call capitalist essentialism. The essence of reality is capital and Nature. Both exist in an ethereal beyond. Over here, where we live, is an oil spill. But don’t worry. The beyond will take care of it.<br /><br />Meanwhile, despite Nature, despite gray goo, real things writhe and smack into one another. Some leap out because industry malfunctions, or functions only too well. Oil bursts out of its ancient sinkhole and floods the Gulf of Mexico. Gamma rays shoot out of plutonium for 24,000 years. Hurricanes congeal out of massive storm systems, fed by the heat from the burning of fossil fuels. The ocean of telephone dials grows ever larger. Paradoxically, capitalism has unleashed myriad objects upon us, in their manifold horror and sparkling splendor. Two hundred years of idealism, two hundred years of seeing humans at the center of existence, and now the objects take revenge, terrifyingly huge, ancient, long-lived, threateningly minute, invading every cell in our body.<br /><br />Modern life presents us with a choice:<br /><br />1) The essence of things is elsewhere (in the deep structure of capital, the unconscious, Being).<br /><br />2) There is no essence. (At present I believe that the restriction of rightness and coolness to this choice is one reason why planet Earth is in big trouble right now. And I believe that the choice resembles a choice between grayish brown and brownish gray). That’s why I believe in a third choice:<br /><br />3) There is an essence, and it’s right here, in the object resplendent with its sensual qualities yet withdrawn.<br /><br />And that’s why I believe we are entering a new era of academic work, where the point will not be to one-up each other by appealing to the trace of the givenness of the openness of the clearing of the lighting of the being of the pencil. Thinking past “meta mode” will at least bring us up to speed with the weirdness of things, a weirdness that evolution, ecology, relativity and quantum theory all speak about. This weirdness resides on the side of objects themselves, not our interpretation of them.<br /><br />When we flush the toilet, we imagine that the U-bend takes the waste away into some ontologically alien realm. Ecology is now beginning to tell us of something very different: a flattened world without ontological U-bends. A world in which there is no “away.” Marx was partly wrong, then, when in The Communist Manifesto he claimed that in capitalism all that is solid melts into air. He didn’t see how a kind of hypersolidity oozes back into the emptied out space of capitalism, a hypersolidity I call here hyperobjects. This oozing real comes back and can no longer be ignored, so that even when the spill is supposedly “gone and forgotten,” there, look! There it is, mile upon mile of strands of oil just below the surface, square mile upon square mile of ooze floating at the bottom of the ocean. The cosmic U-bend is no more. It can’t be gone and forgotten – even ABC News knows that now.<br /><br />When I hear the word “sustainability” I reach for my sunscreen.<br /><br />The End of the World<br />When Neo touches a mirror in The Matrix it adheres to his hand, instantly changing from reflective surface to viscous substance. The very thing that we use to reflect becomes an object in its own right, liquid and dark like oil in the dim light of the room in which Neo has taken the red pill. The usual reading of this scene is that Neo’s reality is dissolving. If we stay on the level of the sticky, oily mirror, however, we obtain an equally powerful reading. It’s not reality that dissolves, but the subject, the very capacity to “mirror” things, to be separate from the world like someone looking at a reflection in a mirror – removed from it by an ontological sheet of reflective glass. The sticky mirror demonstrates the truth of what phenomenology calls ingenuousness or sincerity (I’m thinking here of the work of Ortega y Gasset, Levinas and Graham Harman). Objects are what they are, in the sense that no matter what we are aware of, or how, there it is, impossible to shake off. In the midst of irony, there you are, being ironic. Even mirrors are what they are, no matter what they reflect. In its ingenuous sincerity, reality envelops us like a film of oil. The mirror becomes a substance, an object. Hyperobjects push the reset button on sincerity, just as Neo discovers that the mirror no longer distances his image from him in a nice, aesthetically manageable way, but sticks to him.<br /><br />The beautiful reversibility of the oily, melting mirror speaks to something that is happening in a global warming age, precisely because of hyperobjects: the simultaneous dissolution of reality and the overwhelming presence of hyperobjects, which stick to us, which are us. The Greeks called it miasma, the way blood-guilt sticks to you.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/98/peak-nature.html"target="_blank">Ecological thoughts for deep thinkers</a>Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-46552628989539665572011-10-25T11:58:00.000-07:002011-10-25T12:05:18.149-07:00Germany building Electro-Hydrogen economy of the future<span style="font-style:italic;">The distributed Internet communication revolution is converging with distributed renewable energies, giving birth to a powerful Third Industrial Revolution that is going to fundamentally change German society. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Beyond the Financial Crisis: Germany's Plan to Regrow the Global Economy </span><br /><br />by Jeremy Rifkin, HuffingtonPost.com<br /><br />At the moment, Germany is embroiled in a fierce debate over how to save the Eurozone and, with it, the future of the European Union. Although stringent austerity programs will have to be enacted in the member countries to reduce government debt, and new regulatory mechanisms put in place to oversee European financial institutions and markets, there is a dawning realization that these measures alone will be insufficient to assure the future of Europe and its member states. What's required, above all else, is a new sustainable economic growth plan that can take Europe into the future. That's beginning to happen.<br /><br />While the rest of the world is in a near panic over the prospect of a second collapse of the global economy, a fresh new economic wind is blowing across Germany. In discussions with German business leaders over the past several months, and in recent conversations with Chancellor Angela Merkel and key political leaders in Berlin, it has become clear that Germany is embarking on a journey into a new economic era. The German plan is based on the historical understanding that the great economic paradigm shifts in history occur when new communications revolutions converge and merge with new energy regimes. New energy revolutions make possible more expansive and integrated trade. Accompanying communication revolutions manage the speed and complexity of commercial activity made possible by the new flow of energy. Today, the distributed Internet communication revolution is converging with distributed renewable energies, giving birth to a powerful Third Industrial Revolution that is going to fundamentally change German society.<br /><br />The Merkel administration has launched an ambitious effort to transition the West's leading exporting power into a Third Industrial Revolution (TIR). The federal government has teamed up with six regions across Germany to test the introduction of an "energy Internet" that will allow tens of thousands of German businesses and millions of home owners to collect renewable energies onsite, store them in the form of hydrogen, and share green electricity across Germany in a smart utility network, just like we now share information online. Entire communities are in the process of transforming their commercial and residential buildings into green micro-power plants, and companies like Siemens and Bosch are creating sophisticated new IT software, hardware, and appliances that will merge distributed Internet communications with distributed energy to create the smart buildings, infrastructure, and cities of the future.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Third Industrial Revolution gaining momentum</span><br /><br />The transition into the new Industrial Revolution is quickly picking up momentum. In May, the government announced that the country's 17 nuclear power plants would be shut down by 2022. Then, in late summer, the German Association of Energy and Water Companies reported for the first time that renewable energy sources now account for nearly 20% of the country's electricity, putting Germany ahead of schedule in its goal of producing 35% of its electricity from green energy by 2022. On September 12th, Dr. Dieter Zetsche, the Chairman of Daimler, unveiled the company's hydrogen fuel-cell car at the opening of the Frankfurt International Auto Show. The company that launched the Second Industrial Revolution 125 years ago with the invention of the gasoline-powered automobile has joined with seven industrial partners -- EnBW, Linde, OMV, Shell, Total, Vattenfall, and the National Organization of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology -- in a partnership to establish hydrogen fueling stations across Germany in preparation for the mass production of zero-emission fuel cell vehicles in 2015, signaling the beginning of the post-carbon auto era and a Third Industrial Revolution.<br /><br />The creation of a renewable energy regime, loaded by buildings, partially stored in the form of hydrogen, distributed via an energy internet, and connected to plug-in zero-emission transport, establishes the essential 5-Pillars of a Third Industrial Revolution. The forty year build out will create thousands of businesses and millions of sustainable jobs and position Germany as the leader in the next industrial revolution.<br /><br />Germany's ability to export the new model throughout the European Union and in its partnership regions in the Mediterranean, North Africa, and beyond, will set the framework for the next great stage of European integration, and ultimately determine whether the European political experiment and the European Dream succeeds or fails.<br /><br />The opportunity is clear. The European Union has 500 million consumers and an additional 500 million potential consumers in its partnership regions, giving it the prospect of becoming the largest and wealthiest internal commercial market in the world. The key is creating a seamless green energy infrastructure, electricity grid, and communication and transport network that will allow one billion people to engage in "sustainable" commerce and trade across the European continent and its periphery. This represents the next stage of European integration as a political union.<br /><br />In May 2007, the European Parliament issued a formal written declaration endorsing the Third Industrial Revolution (TIR) vision as the long-term economic road map for the European Union. The Third Industrial Revolution is currently being implemented by the various agencies within the European Commission as well as in the member states.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Can Germany be a sustainable lighthouse for the world?</span><br /><br />Now, Germany, the economic engine of the European Union, has set out on a course to quickly transform its economy into the new economic paradigm and serve as a lighthouse for moving the Third Industrial Revolution infrastructure across the European space. To the extent that Germany can effectively create a sustainable and prosperous post-carbon Europe and transform the continent into the largest integrated market space in the world, Germany will prosper, and the European Union will come of age. Other continental markets and continental unions in Asia, Africa, and the Americas will likely follow suit.<br /><br />The world community will be watching the German experiment closely to see whether this new economic model can serve as a template for ushering in a new economic era. Germany's future, as well as Europe's and the world, depends on its success.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jeremy Rifkin</span> is the author of The <span style="font-weight:bold;">Third Industrial Revolution: How lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and World.<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span>Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-57192390963880561422011-10-04T12:50:00.000-07:002011-10-04T12:58:28.057-07:00Green activists may lead Wall Street protesters350.org US Campaign Director Phil Aroneanu believes ecologists and environmentalists have a big role to play in the Occupy Wall Street protest, which will be joined tomorrow by support from thousands of NYC union members.<br /><br />Here's a piece Phil published today on HuffingtonPost.com:<br /><br /><h3>Why Environmental Activists Should Occupy Wall Street</h3><br />by <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/phil-aroneanu"target="_blank">Phil Aroneanu</a><br /><br /><br />"Go Paul!"<br /><br />That's what a top State Department official wrote in an email to the top lobbyist for TransCanada, a top tar sands oil producer, upon hearing that he had garnered support for the Keystone KL pipeline from a US Senator. That shouldn't be too surprising, since the lobbyist was one of Hilary Clinton's campaign aides during her presidential run. The cozy relationship between corporate lobbyists and decisionmakers isn't anything new, but it's just as despicable as ever. And with the Keystone XL pipeline issue, corporate America's fingerprints are turning up all over the place.<br /><br />That's why over 1200 ordinary people from around the country took the extraordinarily courageous step of sitting-in and getting arrested at the White House in late August -- to show President Obama and leaders on Capitol Hill that real people can be just as powerful as corporate interests. Will President Obama, who campaigned saying "I don't take a dime of their [lobbyist] money, and when I am president, they won't find a job in my White House," be willing to push back against TransCanada, its Wall St. financiers, and the stranglehold these corporations have on our government, or will he be complicit in destroying our democracy, our land and our atmosphere?<br /><br />Later on this year, when President Obama makes a decision whether to go forward with the tar sands pipeline, we'll know where he stands. But the Occupy Wall Street protesters aren't going to wait that long. The amount of energy that the Occupy Wall Street movement has generated so far is incredible. Over the course of two weeks, their numbers have ballooned from a few hundred to thousands, and Occupy movements have started up in dozens of other cities around the country and the world. Why? Because Americans are sick and tired of top officials cozying up to lobbyists, of political cronyism and petty corruption at the highest levels of government.<br /><br />While from an outside perspective the Occupy Wall Street protests might seem disorganized, their message is clear: If Wall Street is occupying the State Department and the halls of Congress, its time for the people to occupy Wall Street. In the case of the Keystone pipeline, the paper trail shows that Big Oil and Wall Wt. certainly walk the halls of the State Department with impunity. Now, it's time for climate activists to join hands with the Wall Street protestors, and occupy together.<br /><br />Here's a quick video of some Occupy Wall Street folks talking about the connection between climate change and the occupation:<br /><br /><iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XaSc4vwZ7MY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-68745312917861975162011-09-13T17:51:00.000-07:002011-09-13T18:14:43.446-07:00Morose in markets, lack of news means buy time?<h3>Green funds are likely to gap up in late Q4 and early Q1</h3><br />Historically the 3rd year in a US Presidency is the worst for North American capital markets, particularly equities, and as Q4 approaches we have to examine whether this year offers the usual cyclical investment opportunity. The cycle makes sense because the honeymoon for the US President is long over, and the 3rd year is a bit early to pump the economy for the election. 2012 will be a different story, inflation will be the fear, and equities will be back in vogue.<br /><br />While searching for news on "green mutual fund" it seems there isn't too much going on right now.<br /><br />175 results but that's just Google trying hard... when I take the quotes off there are 2 results. I'd say that right there is an indication that things are a bit too quiet, and green funds are likely to gap up in late Q4 and early Q1. <br /><br />Joe Trainor, CIM<br />September 13, 2011Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-69287903483503172072011-08-31T09:21:00.000-07:002011-08-31T09:35:47.831-07:00Investing in Green Mutual Funds and ETFs<h3>Buying cleantech investment funds safer than individual stocks</h3>
<br />by Gavin Adamson, <a href="http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/partners/free/investingingreen/etf.html"target="_blank">TheGlobeandMail.com</a>
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<br />As with hybrid autos and organic food, consumer demand is driving the growth of green investment choices, and new options come available every week.
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<br />“People are asking about green and socially responsible investments, and certainly more institutions and pension funds are paying more attention to the area,” says Adrian Mastracci, president of <a href="http://www.kcmwealth.com/"target="_blank">KCM Wealth Management in Vancouver</a>. But for many investors, putting money into specific stocks of fledgling green companies can feel too risky, says Mr. Mastracci. To diversify, investors can turn to a handful of mutual funds and exchange trade funds (ETFs) that provide broad environmental criteria among their investment screens, along with “pure-play” green portfolios that hone in on specific industries in solar, wind and other alternative energy industries.
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<br />Passively invested ETFs automatically put money into a basket of funds defined by an index. The companies that market these ETFs charge management fees at a fraction of the cost of the mutual funds, whose stocks are selected by professional money managers. The management expenses are subtracted from the return of the investment.
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<br />“ETFs are just cheaper,” says Larry Berman, chief investment officer at ETF Capital Management, who owns a couple of green-focused ETFs in his portfolio. “They give you the index and you don’t have to worry about volatility in individual stocks.”
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<br />The tradeoff is that an actively managed mutual fund may outperform the markets or reduce volatility in a portfolio in the long run, whereas an ETF will track only an index. And Mr. Berman notes that green ETFs tend to be a little more expensive than those that mimic broader indexes because they are more expensive to run.
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<br />Generally, more focused investments should make up a smaller part of your portfolio, says Dan Hallett, president of his Windsor-based research firm, Dan Hallett & Associates, Inc. “The more narrowly you zoom in on the market, the more volatility you are likely to experience,” he notes, but if you’re prepared for long-term investing, volatility isn’t inherently bad.
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<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">SOLAR ENERGY</span>
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<br />ETFs focusing on solar power are especially hot. In April, New York-based asset manager VanEck Global Investors, which sells several green ETFs, launched the Market Vectors Ardour-Solar Energy ETF, with a management expense ratio (MER) capped at 1.09 per cent. It follows the Ardour Solar Energy Index, tracking companies that earn at least two thirds of their revenue from solar technology products. The companies must also have a market capitalization of at least $100-million, a limit that will include many small cap names.
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<br />The index favours bigger companies. Its largest constituent is Renewable Energy Corp. AS, a Norwegian company involved in the production of the wafers used in photovoltaic technology, most commonly in solar panels. First Solar Inc., a small-cap U.S. company that builds solar energy products, is weighted at more than 10 per cent in the ETF as well. The ETF holds a total of 34 names it trades on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) with the memorable ticket, KWT.
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<br />VanEck’s ETF competes with the Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy ETF, which tracks 25 international companies. Its mandate allows for companies that are less focused on the solar industry, however, but the top two holdings are the same. It’s MER is 0.65 per cent.
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<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">WIND POWER</span>
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<br />Similarly, an ETF with the ticker FAN trades on the New York Stock Exchange. The First Trust ISE Global Wind Energy ETF invests purely in international wind-energy related technology companies. Vestas Wind Systems AS, a large-cap Danish wind turbine company takes a top spot in the portfolio of 52 publicly traded businesses with market capitalization of at least $100 million. Larger companies take a greater position in the portfolio.
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<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">CLEAN TECH AND ENERGY</span>
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<br />In the United States, iShares offers the S&P Global Clean Energy Index ETF, based on a basket of international clean-energy related businesses tracked by Standard & Poors. The index of 30 stocks favours those with greater exposure to clean energy, which can include solar, wind, thermal and others. Again, Vestas Wind Systems is among the top holdings, along with First Solar, noted above. The ETF trades on the AMEX, and operates with an MER of less than 0.5 per cent.
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<br />The PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio, trading on the AMEX, casts a wider net. It invests in an index of 75 companies with market capitalization of between US$200 million and $1 billion. The businesses must report at least 50 per cent of revenues in clean energy technology. Siemens AG., the German industrial company that includes electrical energy generation as a business line, is the top holding. The fund reports an MER of 1.32 per cent.
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<br />Trading on the Nasdaq exchange is the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Index ETF, with an MER capped at 0.6 per cent. It tracks the same industries, but narrows its investments to the United States.
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<br />Mr. Berman says he’s bullish on all these sectors, but they do have their risks. He says the investment theme isn’t new, and some of the stocks are already trading at relatively higher price to earnings multiples compared to the rest of the market.
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<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">GREEN MUTUAL FUNDS</span>
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<br />Last month the <a href="http://www.assetmanagement.hsbc.com/uk/advisers/funds-in-focus/climate_change_fund.html"target="_blank">HSBC Global Climate Change Fund</a> entered a small field of mutual funds in the Canadian market that mix some of the riskier technology companies described above with well-known large-cap companies. The fund’s top 10 holdings include E.ON AG, the gas and electrical utility, and among the largest German companies.
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<br /><a href="http://quote.morningstar.ca/quicktakes/fund/f_ca.aspx?t=F0CAN05MUL®ion=can&culture=en-CA"target="_blank">Acuity Clean Environment Fund</a> is similarly diversified, investing in the Canadian microcap solar-power tech company, 5N Plus Inc., along with a large-cap oil and gas miner and distributor SunCor Energy Inc.
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<br /><a href="http://www.criterioninvestments.com/"target="_blank">Toronto-based investment company Criterion Investments</a> sells two global mutual funds, the <a href="http://quote.morningstar.ca/quicktakes/fund/f_ca.aspx?t=F0CAN071QF®ion=can&culture=en-CA"target="_blank">Criterion Global Clean Energy Fund</a> and the <a href="http://quote.morningstar.ca/quicktakes/fund/f_ca.aspx?t=F0CAN06ZTG®ion=can&culture=en-CA"target="_blank">Criterion Water Infrastructure Fund</a>, which invests in a broader theme of water infrastructure, filtration and distribution. For example, the French consumer products company, Nestle SA is a major holding in the water portfolio owing to its bottled water sales. Each is managed by Swiss-based Pictet Asset Management.
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<br />“These large funds can go out and buy these multinational companies, most of which are relatively clean tech,” says Duncan Stewart, a portfolio manager who runs Duncan Stewart Asset Management Inc. in Toronto.
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<br />The funds are available for a minimum investment of $500, with MERs that range from 2.0 per cent and upwards if you buy them from advisers, who may charge one-time sales commissions as well. Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-73276282635906153742011-06-30T13:10:00.000-07:002011-06-30T13:17:50.926-07:00Germany's Bioenergy Villages point way to distributed energyWhen Thomas Edison invented electricity, he envisioned a system whereby electricity would be generated wherever it was to be consumed. In the USA, State-wide energy monopolies ended all that, as businessman accepted price controls (eg guaranteed profits) in exchange for becoming a monopoly power provider.<br /><br />Germany is spinning the wheel and pointing to a decentralized, distributed energy future. this Wall Street Journal article has lessons for many small towns and villages across North America and the main one is: Work Together!<br /><br /><h3>In Germany's Biofuel Villages, Power to the People rules</h3><br />By MARY M. LANE, WSJ<br /><br />OBERROSPHE, Germany—On Friday nights, villagers here pile into the town's only bar to play "Nail and Wood," a beer-fueled quest to pound a nail into an upright log with the most speed and accuracy. Later, they return home to warm cottages, fully heated by a wood-chip plant they built in 2008.<br /><br />"We don't need fancy bar games, we've got wood," says 51-year-old Hans-Jochen Henkel, a spokesman for the 850-person town in western Germany and a member of the committee that helped raise funding for the plant. "And we don't need energy from large corporations. We've also got wood for that."<br /><br />Long before the German government announced plans to phase out atomic power in the wake of the recent nuclear meltdown in Japan, dozens of villages across Germany, distrustful of mainstream energy sources, began generating their own heat and electricity from biofuels. Their goal was to free themselves from potential nuclear disaster and dependence on foreign oil, while uniting their communities through a greater sense of purpose.<br /><br />"We don't want to be getting 3,050 liters of oil off some ship from Saudi Arabia," says Hans Bertram, a 72-year-old retiree living in Oberrosphe. This way, "the money stays here in the community."<br /><br />Indeed, a desire to stimulate local economies, coupled with the security that comes from steady energy prices, are the main economic factors behind the movement, says Uwe Fritsche, a researcher at the Öko Institut, an ecology research center in Darmstadt.<br /><br />The first of Germany's so-called bioenergy villages, the 750-person town of Jühnde in the central part of the country began as a large-scale experiment by scientists from the nearby University of Göttingen. The village started producing heat and electricity from liquid manure and locally grown energy crops in 2005.<br /><br />Since then, about 70 other towns in Germany have become full-fledged "biovillages," meaning they use fuel derived from substances such as wood chips, crops and manure to heat their homes and generate electricity that they then sell to the local power grid. Some 14 other towns and villages are in the process of converting to other renewable-energy sources, such as wind and solar power, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.<br /><br />Although these communities account for a small fraction of Germany's overall energy demand, and larger cities remain hesitant to convert fully to biofuels, the green villages "remain inspirational forerunners," says Mr. Fritsche.<br /><br />Shaped like a thin rectangle with timber-framed houses built along a lush, sloping valley, Oberrosphe had to install more than 7,000 meters, or about 4½ miles, of heating pipes in order to convert to biofuel heat. The village voted that residents would pay a flat rate of €6,000, or about $8,650, to link to the new heating grid, regardless of their proximity to the wood-chip plant.<br /><br />"We didn't want one family bearing a higher cost burden just because of where in the village they lived," says local resident Otto Krebs.<br /><br />Oberrosphe built a wood-chip burner to produce heat for the 55% of households that initially joined the network and installed solar panels on top of the plant to generate power to sell to the local electric utility. The village plans to install a biogas plant in November to ensure it can meet the energy needs of all of its households. Many families hesitant about joining the co-op three years ago are in the process of joining now, despite having to pay €2,000 in back fees, says Mr. Henkel, the spokesman.<br /><br />While the German government provides some funding for these projects—Oberrosphe received €1 million in government subsidies toward the €4.2 million in total capital it needed—the bulk of the financing falls to the local communities themselves.<br /><br />Many residents say the investment has been well worth it.<br /><br />Villagers in Oberrosphe estimate they save around €400-€500 annually on heating costs and even more when savings in maintenance costs to oil heaters are factored in. Jühnde residents, meanwhile, save as much as €900 per year in heating and maintenance costs, and the town makes about €1.1 million annually from selling electricity into the local power grid, says Eckhard Fangmeier, a town spokesman.<br /><br />By contrast, German heating prices have gone up an average of 19% for gas and 94% for oil nationwide since January 2005, according to March statistics from Verivox.<br /><br />Mr. Fritsche, the researcher, sees a revival of Germany's rural spirit in the proliferation of renewable-energy villages. "One of the drivers has been and continues to be involvement of the local people. It gives them a new identity and a new social interaction," he says.Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-11385842732327775592011-06-20T19:48:00.000-07:002011-06-20T19:58:39.050-07:00Dollar-cost averaging can protect against inflationYoung couples in the USA should look at buying a first home, or moving up if the pricing in your area allows greater quality and size. In Canada most areas have more fully-valued real estate, however stock markets on both sides of the border tend to experience weakness during the 3rd year of a US Presidency, and 2011 is proving the rule. It is usually too early to pump the economy for the new election, and too late for the honeymoon effect to linger, so the third year is traditionally soft.<br /><br />Staring a dollar-cost averaging program to accumulate green equity and other socially responsible investment funds is a prudent strategy. Even if you can only invest 50 dollars per month, or 100 or 200 dollars, over time this will become substantial through compound growth. And, if inflation returns in future years, you'll have bought a lot of shares at today's deflated, depressed prices.<br /><br />Turtles can not only beat the hare in certain races, they can also outlive them ten or even a hundred times.Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-61059518736412128632011-05-09T10:49:00.000-07:002011-05-09T11:02:44.736-07:00BUY USA residential real estate NOW!!!<h3>Naples FL and Las Vegas NV both positioned for strong price growth</h3><br />Young people and investors wondering when would be a good time to get back into the USA residential real estate market may want to ponder this one word for a few seconds: NOW!!! Canadian snowbirds looking for that ideal retirement shack need to take a peek at Naples in Florida and Las Vegas in Nevada, for these hotspots currently provide tremendous value for the longterm real estate investor.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Las_Vegas-Nevada/market-trends/"target="_blank">Las Vegas homes are now selling for median price of $118,000</a>, down from $314,000 just four years ago. It may be awhile before the 2007/2008 prices are eclipsed, yet if homes make it halfway back to previous highs, today's buyers will experience a 100% jump in value and even bigger rise in equity (assuming a mortgage covers part of the purchase).<br /><br />When reviewing <a href="http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Naples-Florida/market-trends/"target="_blank">residential real estate price trends in Naples, Florida</a>, a similar pattern emerges. The median house in Naples now sells for $141,000, yet this same property sold for $391,000 just over four years ago. Naples has a lot of mansion-like homes on or close to waterways, so the 140k actually buys you a lot of house. The other factor is relative strength, as historically Naples real estate sold for more than the Florida and national averages, and that hasn't been the case the past couple of years. Look for Naples to become a semi-Canadian city as thousands of Ontario buyers snap up these great deals! <br /><br />3 main reasons to BUY USA real estate NOW:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">One, bottoming prices!<br /><br />Two, attractive interest rates!<br /><br />Three; inflation will return, driving up home prices yet again.<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br /><br />Yes Virginia, it is time to believe in the USA, take the plunge and buy a home for the longterm.Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-76198964457884810432011-05-05T12:42:00.000-07:002011-05-05T12:51:01.521-07:00Is electric vehicle infrastructure provider Ecotality a takeover candidate?<h3>Will ECTY be taken out by an oil company?</h3><br />In light of Total Pete's $1.4 billion investment in SunPower (SPWRA), companies that provide infrastructure for the electric car market may find themselves sought after by oil companies.<br /><br />Think about it, for even though you may be able to charge your car at home and at work, there are many stretches of highway that will require fast-charging stations, and ECTY makes these and related electric vehicle support products.<br /><br />After peaking around $4 per share in early May, <a href="http://www.google.ca/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:ECTY"target="_blank">ECTY has traded down to the $3.65 level the past 2 days</a>. Support seems to be around the $2.80 to $3 level, so now would be a good time to research this baby and see if she has the potential to grow into a significant and profitable company.Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-50207292745120161202011-04-05T10:49:00.000-07:002011-04-05T10:57:29.636-07:00PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio ETF (NYSE: PZD) #1 in 2010<span style="font-weight:bold;">PZD beats 35 other green energy and clean technology funds</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i7TgKILRFRs/TZtXQ1GAJQI/AAAAAAAAA-E/PCvMy_6vyBY/s1600/CleanTech%2BFund%2BPZD%2BETF%2BPowerShares%2BCleantech%2Bmutual%2Bfund.PNG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 340px; height: 153px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i7TgKILRFRs/TZtXQ1GAJQI/AAAAAAAAA-E/PCvMy_6vyBY/s400/CleanTech%2BFund%2BPZD%2BETF%2BPowerShares%2BCleantech%2Bmutual%2Bfund.PNG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592159308952380674" /></a><br /><br /><br />According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance research, PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio ETF (NYSE: PZD) finished first of 36 public equity funds focused on clean energy and/or clean technology.<br /><br />Of the 36 mutual and exchange traded funds worldwide that Bloomberg NEF tracked, the average fund fell 6.6% in 2010. In contrast, PZD, which tracks The Cleantech Index TM (AMEX: CTIUS) rose 7.5% in 2010 and rose 11.6% in Q1 2011.<br /><br />Rafael Coven, Cleantech Indices' Managing Director and Index Advisor noted that the poor performance of most renewable energy stocks in 2011 was a major reason why Cleantech Index-based funds significantly outperformed their peers. "Since the Cleantech Index is diversified across many industries, it had less exposure to the volatile renewable energy sector. In addition, the Index includes only the best companies in each sector which tend to fare better than their sectors as a whole. I expect this strategy will result in continued long-term outperformance of peer funds and indices, but I certainly don't expect that CTIUS-linked funds will finish first in a given year. That's short-term stuff. We track a long-term trend.”<br /><br />Added Cleantech Group's Managing Director for Europe & Asia, Richard Youngman, "The Index doesn't track an industry or a region, but rather a global megatrend that cuts across a wide range of industries and geographies. Narrow industry sectors will rise and fall dramatically, but we believe the growth in demand for clean technology will continue to accelerate across many industries for decades. The Index's four-year performance relative to the S&P underlines that.”<br /><br />Other funds tracking the Cleantech Index had similar performance: they include the recently listed PowerShares Cleantech ETF in Mexico (ticker: PZD.MX) and the KSM Cleantech Index ETF (Bloomberg ticker: KSMCLNT) in Israel.<br /><br />As part of its quarterly rebalancing, the Cleantech Index has added Switzerland's SGS S.A. (SGSN.VX) and Mistras Group (MG: NYSE) effective March 31, 2011.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.investorideas.com/news/2011/renewable-energy/04051.asp"target="_blank">Full online article on Investor Ideas about PowerShares CleanTech Portfolio</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.invescopowershares.com/products/overview.aspx?ticker=PZD"target="_blank">PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio, official website</a>Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-54805751848155347312011-03-29T10:19:00.000-07:002011-03-29T10:25:43.877-07:00Online Guide to Sustainable Green Mutual FundsI came across this excellent profile of ethical and sustainable green investment funds on the website The-Eco-Market.com and would love to share it with my readers:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Guide to Green Mutual Funds, Sustainable Investment Funds</span><br /><br />There are a large number of green mutual funds in the marketplace which are a convenient way for the average investor to invest in the green sector. Green mutual funds could have investments in a number of green industries or it could be focused exclusively on one industry sector such as renewable energy or water. A true green mutual fund should employ socially responsible investment principles.<br /><br />The purpose of this section is to provide readers with a cursory overview of eco friendly mutual funds and to provide the resources to allow the reader to conduct their own due diligence. The information provided here should not be considered professional investment advice. Always consult with a professional advisor before making any investment decisions.<br /><br />Below is a summary overview of some of the largest green mutual funds available in the marketplace. Please note the “as of date” with the summary of each fund as the specific holdings and values in the fund will fluctuate over time.<br /><br /><br />Green Mutual Fund Directory:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: Appleseed Fund</span> <br />www.appleseedfund.com <br />Symbol: APPLX<br />Investment Objective: “look to invest in sustainable companies that balance the generation of profits with an awareness of their impact on the environment and society. We seek out responsible managers who operate their businesses with the goal of creating long-term, enduring value.”<br />Top Holdings: (as of 9/30/2010)<br /><br />Pfizer 10.9%<br />SPDR Gold Shares 6.3%<br />John B. Sanflippo & Son 6.0%<br />Novartis 5.1%<br />Johnson & Johnson 5.0%<br />Value of Fund: $126 million (as of 09/30/2010)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: Integrity Growth and Income Fund </span><br />www.integrityvikingfunds.com <br />Symbol: IGIAX<br />Investment Objective: “Competitive Total Returns; Disciplined Risk Management; Ethical Investment Standards ”<br />Top Holdings: (as of 9/30/2010)<br />Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. 4.81%<br />NewMarket Corporation 4.33%<br />Emerson Electric Co. 4.01%<br />Snap-on Inc. 3.55%<br />Genuine Parts 3.40%<br />Value of Fund: $28.6 million (as of 01/31/2010)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: Wells Fargo Advantage Social Sustainability Fund</span><br />www.wellsfargoadvantagefunds.com <br />Symbol: WSSAX; WSRCX<br />Investment Objective: "The Fund avoids investing in companies that we determine are significantly involved in:<br /><br />manufacturing tobacco products;<br />manufacturing alcoholic beverages;<br />gambling operations; or <br />manufacturing weapons <br /><br />The Fund will also avoid companies we determine to have weak corporate social responsibility and/or sustainability records. In assessing a company's corporate social responsibility and/or sustainability record, we consider the full integration of environmental, social and governance related factors into our analysis. The Fund seeks to invest in companies that we determine meet some of the following environmental, social and governance criteria:<br /><br />Have sound corporate governance and business ethics policies and practices, including independent and diverse boards, independent auditors, respect for shareholder rights, and solid legal and regulatory compliance records;<br /><br />Have good environmental compliance and performance records, develop and market innovative products and services, and embrace and advance sustainable development;<br /><br />Provide safe and healthy work environments; negotiate fairly with their workers; <br />treat their employees with dignity and respect; and provide opportunities for women, minorities, and other categories of individuals who have been discriminated against or denied equal opportunities;<br /><br />Contribute to the quality of life in the communities where they operate, such as through corporate philanthropy and employee volunteerism”<br /><br />Top Holdings: (as of 9/30/2010)<br />Google Incorporated- Cl A 3.60%<br />Emerson Electric Co. 3.50%<br />Johnson & Johnson 3.27%<br />General Mills Incorporated 3.10%<br />Microsoft Corporation 3.04%<br />Value of Fund: $6.2 million (as of 11/30/2010)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: Dreyfus Global Sustainability Fund </span><br />www.dreyfus.com <br />Symbol: DGYAX; DGYCX; DGYIX<br />Investment Objective: “To pursue its goal, the fund normally invests primarily in the stocks of companies that have sustainable operating practices and/or produce sustainable products or services and that meet certain fundamental investment criteria as described below. Companies that maintain sustainable operating practices are those, for example, that use best industry practices in their operations, provide leadership in an industry, offer the highest levels of transparency of operations and/or demand accountability of vendors, suppliers and customers. Companies that produce sustainable products or services are those, for example, that provide services to improve energy efficiency, produce products to meet the highest levels of efficiency and/or provide technologies to improve environmental performance.”<br />Top Holdings: (as of 10/31/2010)<br /><br />International Business Machines 3.71%<br />Johnson & Johnson 3.45%<br />Rio Tinto (Britian) 2.81%<br />Intel 2.78%<br />Roche Holding AG- Genuss 2.63%<br />Value of Fund: $8.14 million (as of 12/23/2010)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: Pax World Global Fund </span><br />Pax Global Green Fund <br />Symbol: PGRNX<br />Investment Objective: “The Global Green Fund’s investment objective is to seek long term growth of capital by investing in companies whose businesses and technologies focus on mitigating the environmental impacts of commerce.<br /><br />The Global Green Fund seeks to invest in forward-thinking companies with sustainable business models that meet positive environmental, social and governance standards, with a particular emphasis on environmental markets. The Global Green Fund avoids investing in companies that its investment adviser determines are significantly involved in the manufacture of weapons or weapons related products, manufacture tobacco products or engage in unethical business practices.<br /><br />The Global Green Fund seeks to invest in companies with positive overall environmental performance and whose products or services help other companies and societies improve their environmental performance. In this regard, the Fund invests in companies whose businesses and technologies focus on goods and services that mitigate the environmental impacts of commerce, including such areas as alternative energy and energy efficiency; water treatment and pollution control; and waste technology and resource management. The Fund avoids investing in companies with significant environmental problems or worsening environmental profiles, and applies avoidance criteria on environmental issues identical to those of the other Pax World Funds.”<br /><br /><br />Top Holdings: (as of 11/30/2010)<br /><br />GEA Group AG 3.3%<br />Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 3.3%<br />Pall Corp(Britian) 3.2%<br />California Water Service Group 3.2%<br />ENN Energy Holdings Ltd. 3.1%<br />Value of Fund: $27.8 million (as of 11/30/2010)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: Firsthand Alternative Energy Fund</span><br />Firsthand Alternative Energy Fund <br />Symbol: ALTEX<br />Investment Objective: “The Fund invests in alternative energy and energy technology companies, both U.S. and international. Alternative energy includes solar, hydrogen, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, tidal, biofuel, and biomass. Because there are no market capitalization restrictions on the Fund's investments, the Fund may purchase stocks of any capitalization.” <br />Top Holdings: (as of 9/30/2010)<br /><br />JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd --<br />GT Solar International Inc. --<br />Meyer Burger Technology AG --<br />Trina Solar Limited- Spon ADR --<br />Yingli Green Energy Holding Company- ADR --<br />Value of Fund: $6.3 million (as of 9/30/2010)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name:Investors Summa SRI Fund</span><br />Investors Summa SRI Fund <br />Symbol: IGI288<br />Investment Objective: “Will invest primarily in Canadian companies that have adopted progressive standards and practices toward the environment, human rights, and other social issues<br /><br />Will not invest in companies whose revenues are primarily derived from alcohol, tobacco, gambling, pornography or critical weapon systems.” <br />Top Holdings: (as of 8/31/2010)<br /><br />Consolidate Thompson Iron Mines --<br />Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan --<br />Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. --<br />Pacific Rubiales Energy --<br />Power Financial Corp. --<br />Value of Fund: $1.121 billion (as of 9/30/2010)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: Investors Summa Global SRI Fund</span><br />Investors Summa Global SRI Fund <br />Symbol: IGI589<br />Investment Objective: "Will invest primarily in companies from around the world that have adopted progressive standards and practices toward the environment, human rights, and other social issues.<br />Will not invest in companies whose revenues are primarily derived from alcohol, tobacco, gambling, pornography, or critical weapon systems."<br /><br /><br />Top Holdings: (as of 8/31/2010)<br /><br />Rio Tinto --<br />BHP Billiton Limited --<br />Man Group PLC --<br />Noble Group Ltd. --<br />LG Electronics Inc. --<br />Value of Fund: $6.4 million (as of 1/14/2011)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: Investors Summa Global Environmental Fund</span><br />Investors Summa Global Environmental Fund <br />Symbol: IGI593<br />Investment Objective: "Will invest primarily in companies from around the world that are creating innovative or emerging solutions to environmental issues, and/or have environmental practices that set a standard within environmentally sensitive industries." <br />Top Holdings: (as of 8/31/2010)<br /><br />United Natural Foods --<br />Pure Technologies Ltd --<br />SMA Solar Technology AG --<br />Pennon Group --<br />IBM --<br />Value of Fund: $9.9 million (as of 1/14/2011)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: RBC Jantzi Balanced Fund</span><br />RBC Jantzi Balanced Fund <br />Symbol: RBF303<br />Investment Objective: "To provide long-term capital growth, with a secondary focus on modest income by investing primarily in Canadian, U.S. and international equities and fixedincome securities. The fund follows a socially responsible approach to investing." <br />Top Holdings: (as of 11/30/2010)<br /><br />US Treasury Note 3.125% 15-05-2019 1.5%<br />Ontario Prov Cda 3.25% 08-09-2014 1.5%<br />Barrick Gold Corporation 1.4%<br />Deutsche Bundesrepublik 4.0% 04-01-2018 1.4%<br />Royal Bank of Canada 1.3%<br />Value of Fund: $32.1 million (as of 12/14/2010)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: RBC Jantzi Canadian Equity Fund </span><br />RBC Jantzi Canadian Equity Fund <br />Symbol: RBF302<br />Investment Objective: "To provide long-term capital growth by investing primarily in equity securities of Canadian companies. The fund follows a socially responsible approach to investing." <br />Top Holdings: (as of 11/30/2010)<br /><br />Royal Bank of Canada 5.1%<br />Barrick Gold Corporation 4.8%<br />Toronto-Dominion Bank 4.4%<br />Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc. 3.8%<br />Bank of Nova Scotia 3.5%<br />Value of Fund: $31.0 million (as of 12/14/2010)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: RBC Jantzi Global Equity Fund</span><br />RBC Jantzi Global Equity Fund <br />Symbol: RBF304<br />Investment Objective: "To provide long-term capital growth. The fund invests primarily in equity securities of companies throughout the world and follows a socially responsible approach to investing." <br />Top Holdings: (as of 11/30/2010)<br /><br />Consolidated Edison Inc 1.7%<br />Apple, Inc. 1.5%<br />Schindler Holding AG 1.3%<br />Compass Group PLC 1.2%<br />BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd. 1.2%<br />Value of Fund: $9.8 million (as of 12/14/2010)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: PH&N (Philips, Hager & North) Community Values Bond Fund </span><br />PH&N Community Values Bond Fund <br />Symbol: PHN610<br />Investment Objective: "To provide relatively high yields and stability of capital by investing primarily in a well-diversified portfolio of fixed income securities issued by Canadian governments and corporations that conduct themselves in a socially responsible manner. " <br />Top Holdings: (as of 11/30/2010)<br /><br />Ontario (Prov Of) 7.6% 02-06-2027 12.8%<br />Ontario Prov Cda 4.4% 02-06-2019 7.4%<br />Canada Hsg Tr No 1 4.1% 15-12-2018 4.1%<br />Toronto Dominion Bank Cds FRN 01-11-2017 3.2%<br />Bank Of MontrealFRN 21-06-2017 2.9%<br />Value of Fund: $129.5 million (as of 12/14/2010)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: PH&N (Philips, Hager & North) Community Values Balanced Fund</span><br />PH&N Community Values Balanced Fund <br />Symbol: PHN640<br />Investment Objective: "To provide long-term capital growth and income primarily through exposure to a well diversified, balanced portfolio of common stocks, bonds and money market securities of companies that conduct themselves in a socially responsible manner. To achieve these objectives, the fund will invest in securities of other Phillips, Hager & North investment funds. " <br />Top Holdings: (as of 11/30/2010)<br /><br />PH & N Community Values Canadian Eq Sr O 36.1%<br />PH & N Community Values Bond Series O 34.8%<br />PH&N Community Values Global Eq B 26.9%<br />Value of Fund: $15.4 million (as of 12/14/2010)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: PH&N (Philips, Hager & North) Community Values Canadian Equity Fund</span><br />PH&N Community Values Canadian Equity Fund <br />Symbol: PHN620<br />Investment Objective: "To provide significant long-term capital growth by investing primarily in a well-diversified portfolio of Canadian common stocks of companies that conduct themselves in a socially responsible manner. " <br />Top Holdings: (as of 11/30/2010)<br /><br />Royal Bank of Canada 7.8%<br />Toronto-Dominion Bank 7.2%<br />Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce 6.1%<br />Suncor Energy, Inc. 4.9%<br />Canadian National Railway Company 3.7%<br />Value of Fund: $60.4 million (as of 12/14/2010)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name PH&N (Philips, Hager & North) Community Values Gobal Equity Fund </span><br />PH&N Community Values Gobal Equity Fund <br />Symbol: PHN630<br />Investment Objective: "To achieve long-term capital growth by investing primarily in a well-diversified portfolio of common stocks in companies in the world's largest industrialized countries outside Canada, including the United States, and countries in Europe and the Far East, including Japan and Australia, that conduct themselves in a socially responsible manner. " <br />Top Holdings: (as of 11/30/2010)<br /><br />Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC 3.7%<br />Royal Dutch Shell PLC ADR A 2.7%<br />Sysco Corporation 2.7%<br />Progressive Corporation 2.4%<br />Illinois Tool Works, Inc. 2.1%<br />Value of Fund: $58.9 million (as of 12/14/2010)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Fund Name: TD Global Sustainability</span><br />TD Global Sustainability <br />Symbol: TDB483<br />Investment Objective: "The fundamental investment objective is to seek to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities of companies around the globe, that are viewed as contributing to the world’s future sustainability."<br />Top Holdings: (as of 12/31/2010)<br /><br />Rio Tinto PLC- Common 3.0%<br />NIKE Inc- Common 3.0%<br />BHP Billiton Ltd- ADR 2.6%<br />BG Group PLC- ADR 2.4%<br />Praxair Inc- Common 2.4%<br />Value of Fund: $11.09 million (as of 12/31/2010)Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-3253169146535594612011-03-19T13:24:00.000-07:002011-03-19T13:43:49.546-07:00Should longterm investors begin accumulating green mutual funds?While it is true that anytime is fine for starting a dollar-cost-averaging (DCA) mutual funds investment program, it is also a fact that there are specific times that provide more profitable entry points, and these are obviously the months after extreme declines. Also, the maxim "never try to catch a falling knife" does not apply to DCA, as that is precisely what would provide the biggest gains. Imagine going fully invested after a 15% drop and then seeing the market fall a further 28%; that's obviously a big negative. Now imagine instituting a $100 (or $500 etc) per month automatic investment plan after that first drop; your 2nd, 3rd and 4th purchases are likely to be at tremendous prices, positioning you for solid longer term growth.<br /><br />Let's address the question in the title of this post: <span style="font-style:italic;">Should longterm investors begin accumulating green mutual funds?</span><br /><br />My advice would be yes, especially if you do not have positions currently. The 3rd year in the USA presidential election cycle is usually a down year, as the honeymoon is long over and it's too soon to really pump and prime the economy for an election. This means that between now and early December the overall direction could be down, meaning more and more shares will be accumulated at lower and lower average prices. Based on historical charts, there would then be profitable selling opportunities three to seven years later, meaning that investors with time horizons of ten to fifteen years can safely start building equity via DCA programs.<br /><br />The greed and corruption of the Bush years created a decade of stagnation in USA stock market values, whereas the visionary leadership of Barack Obama is likely to kick off a lucrative bull market in the twenty-teenies.Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-12597756716450143112011-03-10T19:23:00.000-08:002011-03-10T20:30:09.774-08:00Green Mutual Funds for 2011/2012 and LongtermTom Konrad is a widely read green energy stocks sleuth, and this week he turned his attention once again to selecting the good Clean Energy Mutual Funds and ETFs. During the past few months, Tom has written an extended series of articles looking at clean energy mutual funds and clean energy exchange traded funds (ETFs). <br /><br />Mutual funds and ETFs he considers <em>invest in environmental services/waste management, recycling, water, and natural gas utilities. Waste management, recycling, and water each fit rather well into the clean energy context: Municipal solid waste is an excellent source of renewable biomass, recycling saves energy and so can be seen as an energy conservation measure, and water is inextricably linked to energy in many ways.</em><br /><br />Some topics Tom Konrad has recently written on:<br /><br />Costs of Clean Energy Mutual Funds<br />Sector Breakdown of Clean Energy Mutual Funds<br />Past Performance of Clean Energy Mutual Funds<br />Stock Picks from Clean Energy Mutual Funds<br />The Effectiveness of Active Management in Clean Energy<br />Interview with the Manager of the Top Performing Clean Energy Mutual Fund<br />Clean Energy ETFs in Depth<br />Clean Energy Mutual Fund and ETF Tax Efficiency<br /><br /><br />Read <a href="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/03/choosing-the-right-clean-energy-mutual-fund-or-etf"target="_blank">Tom Kontrad's Online Guide to Choosing Green Mutual Funds and ETFs</a>Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-62468241584766341752011-03-01T12:26:00.000-08:002011-03-01T12:44:03.520-08:002011 Money: Ten Green Funds for conscious investors<h3>Green Mutual Funds for Ethical, Sustainable Investing</h3><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Ten New Green Funds, by Ted Ketcham, editor of the <a href="http://www.greenmoneyjournal.com"target="_blank">GreenMoney Journal</a></span><br /><br />1) Appleseed Fund <br /><br />Although GreenMoney does not rank its ten new funds here, The Appleseed Fund deserves first position, given that both Lipper and Morningstar ranked it as 2008's top performing midcap value fund and SRI fund, respectively. <br /><br />Investment Objective: The Fund, launched in Dec. 2006, is managed by value investors who seek to generate long-term market-beating returns by investing in quality, undervalued companies screened for social and environmental responsibility. <br /><br />Investment Strategies: The Fund invests in quality companies that are undervalued by the market. Typically they seek out companies with strong competitive positions, solid financials, and capable, shareholder-friendly management teams. Profits are balanced with social and environmental impacts. <br /><br />Top Ten Holdings: John B. Sanfilippo & Son (15.3%), Pfizer (8.3%), Chimera Investment Mgmt (6.4%), Schering-Plough (5.3%), Nokia (4.8%), SPDR Gold Shares (4.8%), Avon Products (4.5%), ICT Group (4.3%), Invacare (3.6%), Teradata (3.5%) <br /><br />For more information go to <a href="http://www.appleseedfund.com"target="_blank">Appleseed Fund</a> <br /><br /><br /><br />2) Integrity Growth & Income Fund <br /><br />Although Integrity Growth & Income Fund has as its inception date January 3, 1995, in February of 2008 Fund Manager Robert Loest published an important White Paper, entitled "Ethical Investing (EI): Invest With The Values You Use In Raising Your Children," which placed the Fund and its new direction more squarely on our radar for important SRI mutual fund options. Also it's rating was recently upgraded to 4 Hearts by Natural Investments (see chart on page 11). <br /><br />Investment Objective: The Fund seeks to take advantage of fossil fuel scarcity and its solutions, and the development of the middle class in emerging economies, while remaining loyal to human progress issues, social justice, environmental responsibilities, and animal rights. <br /><br />Investment Strategies: Integrity's three-step methodology, outlined in the White Paper, has been an important tool in meeting the needs of ethical investors to realize positive returns consistent with ESG criteria: 1) Integrity screens for companies with high levels of cash flow and high returns on investment capital. 2) Integrity investigates relevant ethical factors. 3) Upon acceptance, Integrity conducts a full analysis of ESG, Animal Rights, and financial factors. <br /><br />Top Ten Holdings: H.J. Heinz (5.0%), Agnico-Eagle Mines (4.6%), Ormat Technologies (4.3%), 3M Co. (4.1%), Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (4.1%), Beckman Coulter (3.9%), Linear Technology (3.5%), Vestas Wind Systems A/S ADR (3.5%), Genuine Parts Co. (3.4%), ABB, Ltd. ADR (3.4%) <br /><br />For more information go to <a href="http://www.integrityfunds.com"target="_blank">Integrity Mutual Funds website</a> <br /><br /><br /><br />3) Wells Fargo Advantage Social Sustainability Fund <br /><br />Launched in October 2008, the Wells Fargo Advantage Social Sustainability Fund seeks companies with positive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) characteristics, while employing some SRI screens. <br /><br />Investment Objective: The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in securities that meet the Fund's investment and social sustainability criteria. <br /><br />Investment Strategies: The Fund will employ a two-pronged approach to its investment strategy: The Fund's managers will use an inclusive screening process to invest in companies that have positive traits related to ESG factors, in addition to avoiding stocks-such as alcohol, tobacco, gambling, or weapons manufacturing companies-based on traditional SRI screens. <br /><br />Top Ten Holdings: BP PLC (4.9%), Procter & Gamble (4.6%), Novartis AG ADR (4.2%), Emerson Electric (3.5%), Johnson & Johnson (3.5%), PepsiCo (3.3%), Nike - Class B (2.9%), Microsoft (2.8%), U.S. Bancorp (2.7%), 3M Co. (2.7%) <br /><br />For more information go to <a href="http://www.wellsfargoadvantagefunds.com"target="_blank">Wells Fargo Advantage Funds</a> <br /><br /><br /><br />4) Dreyfus Global Sustainability Fund <br /><br />Launched in December 2008, the Dreyfus Global Sustainability Fund is managed by John O'Toole, and is among the newest of Dreyfus mutual fund products. <br /><br />Investment Objective: The Fund, designed for long-term investors, seeks capital growth primarily by investing in the stocks of companies that have sustainable operating practices and/or produce sustainable products or services and that meet certain fundamental investment criteria. <br /><br />Investment Strategies: The Fund's investments are focused among the major developed markets, such as the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong and Western Europe. The Fund, however, may invest up to 20 percent of its assets in emerging markets, but will not invest more than 10 percent of its assets in any one emerging market country. <br /><br />Top Ten Country Allocations: US (22.4%), UK (21.5%), Germany (10.9%), Switzerland (6.2%), Japan (6.2%), Spain (6.0%), France (5.2%), Australia (5.1%), Netherlands (4.9%), Canada (4.3%) <br /><br />Top Ten Holdings: General Electric (3.3%), Glaxosmithkline (3.2%), IBM (2.5%), Royal Dutch Shell (2.4%), Unitedhealth Group (2.1%), Kraft Foods (2.0%), Muenchener Rueckver Ag (1.9%), Axa (1.8%), Hewlett-Packard (1.7%), McDonald's (1.7%) <br /><br />For more information go to <a href="http://www.dreyfus.com"target="_blank">Dreyfus Mutual Funds Group</a> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">CALVERT FUNDS</span> <br /><br />5) Calvert Large Cap Value Fund <br /><br />With Calvert's new SAGE (Sustainability Achieved through Greater Engagement) approach, Calvert announces "enhanced engagement" with a select group of companies whose investment performance Calvert believes can benefit from a sharper focus on ESG-related risk or opportunity. The Calvert Large Cap Value Fund is the first fund within the SAGE Strategies. <br /><br />Investment Objective: The Fund, re-launched last December with the SAGE Strategies, was formerly known as Summit Everest Fund, seeks long-term growth of capital by investing in large cap companies. <br /><br />Investment Strategies: The Fund offers opportunities for long-term growth of capital through large-cap company equity securities that the portfolio manager believes are undervalued. Under normal circumstances, the Fund seeks to have a weighted average market capitalization of at least $10 billion. <br /><br />Top Ten Holdings: BP PLC (3.1%), AT+T (2.8%), Pfizer (2.8%), Wellpoint (2.7%), Anadarko Pete (2.7%), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (2.7%), ConocoPhillips (2.5%), Marathon Oil (2.5%), Cisco Systems (2.4%), Unilever NV (2.4%) <br /><br /><br /><br />6) Calvert Global Water Fund <br /><br />Last September, Calvert launched its latest SRI mutual fund, part of a series of investment portfolios known as Calvert Solution Strategies. Their Global Water Fund, which is driven by declining world supplies and increasing demands for fresh water, seeks to invest in fresh water solutions that include conservation, recovery, and advancing technology. <br /><br />Investment Objective: The Fund seeks growth of capital through investment in companies active in the water-related resource sector, using the Fund's corporate responsibility standards and strategies. <br /><br />Investment Strategies: The Fund seeks to invest at least 80 percent of its net assets in equity securities of U.S. and non-U.S. companies whose main business is in the water sector or are significantly involved in water related services or technology. <br /><br />Top Ten Country Allocations: US (27.9%), Spain (16.4%), UK (10.0%), Germany (7.1%), Portugal (6.9%) Denmark (4.8%), Japan (3.9%), Norway (3.8%), France (3.4%), Belgium (3.2%) <br /><br />Top Ten Holdings: Veolia Environnement (5.3%), Suez Environnement (5.2%), Roper Inds (4.1%), Pentair (3.6%), Agilent Technologies (3.3%), Severn Trent (3.1%), Layne Christensen (2.8%), Geberit (2.7%), United Utilities G (2.6%), Mueller WTR Products (2.4%) <br /><br />For more info go to <a href="http://www.calvert.com"target="_blank">Calvert Mutual Funds Group website</a> <br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">PAX WORLD FUNDS </span><br /><br />7) Pax World Global Green Fund <br /><br />Environmental challenges of the 21st century can mean both threat and opportunity. The Pax World Global Green Fund responds to the widespread environmental degradation on our planet. <br /><br />Investment Objective: The Fund, launched in March 2008, is seeking long-term growth of capital by investing in companies whose businesses and technologies focus on mitigating the environmental impact of commerce. <br /><br />Investment Strategies: The Fund will invest primarily in equity securities of companies located around the world, including at least 40 percent of its net assets in securities of non-U.S. issuers. The Fund seeks environmental markets - companies whose businesses and technologies include alternative energy and energy efficiency; pollution prevention and control; and waste technology and resource management. <br /><br />Top Ten Country Allocations: US (34.7%), Japan (12.1%), UK (7.4%), Spain (6.0%), France (5.6%), Denmark (4.1%), Italy (2.4%), Canada (2.2%), Finland (2.4%), Hong Kong (2.0%) <br /><br />Top Ten Holdings: Thermo Fisher Scientific (2.5%), Praxair (2.5%), Pentair (2.4%), Novozymes A/S (2.4%), Veolia Environnement (2.4%), Hera SpA (2.3%), Gamesa Corp. Tecnologica (2.3%), EDP Renovaveis SA (2.2%), Pennon Group PLC (2.2%), California Water Service Group (2.1%) <br /><br /><br /><br />8) Pax World International Fund <br /><br />For investors seeking to diversify by investing in foreign equities, Pax World launched their International Fund in March 2008. <br /><br />Investment Objective: This International Fund's investment objective is to seek long-term growth of capital. <br /><br />Investment Strategies: The Fund invests primarily in equity securities of non-U.S. issuers, and is not limited to any investment style or capitalization range. The Fund may invest in both growth and value stocks. Additionally, investments may be diversified across multiple sectors and industries, or may be focused on a limited number of sectors and industries and also may be diversified across multiple countries or geographic regions, or may be focused on a select geographic region. <br /><br />Top Ten Country Allocations: Japan (21.2%), UK (11.0%), France (8.0%), Germany (6.8%), Norway (5.7%), Switzerland (5.7%), Netherlands (3.6%), Australia (3.1%), Turkey (2.5%), Greece (2.7%) <br /><br />Top Ten Holdings: Currency Shares Japanese Yen Trust (4.8%), StatoilHydro ASA ADR (4.0%), Kao Corp. (2.9%), Roche Holding AG (2.6%), Eisai Co., Ltd. (2.4%), Vodafone Group PLC ADR (2.2%), HSBC Holdings PLC ADR (2.2%), Nippon Building Fund REIT (2.1%), Central Japan Railway Co. (2.1%), Veolia Environnement ADR (2.0%) <br /><br /><br /><br />9) Pax World Small Cap Fund <br /><br />Pax World also launched the Small Cap Fund in March 2008, which invests in innovative and motivated small but growing companies. <br /><br />Investment Objective: The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital and invests in smaller companies that offer products, services or business strategies with clear opportunities for sustainable growth and have strong management. <br /><br />Investment Strategies: The Fund invests at least 80 percent of its net assets in companies with capitalizations within the range of the Russell 2000 Index as measured by market capitalization. The Small Cap Fund may invest up to 45% of its assets in securities of non-U.S. issuers, including ADRs. <br /><br />Top Ten Holdings: Pharmaceutical Product Development (3.1%), American Physicians Capital (3.0%), Burger King (2.9%), VCA Antech (2.8%), Syniverse (2.8%), Continental Airlines-Class B (2.7%), Hologic (2.5%), Capital Southwest (2.4%), optionsXpress (2.3%), Pool Corp (2.3%) <br /><br />For more info go to <a href="http://www.paxworld.com"target="_blank">Pax World Mutual funds official website</a> <br /><br /><br /><br />10) Firsthand Alternative Energy Fund <br /><br />Launched in October 2007, the Alternative Energy Fund is the most recent edition to Firsthand Funds, which was started in 1994. <br /><br />Investment Objective: The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in alternative energy companies that are expected to benefit from a transition from traditional hydrocarbon-based energy systems to renewable generation and energy efficiency technologies. <br /><br />Investment Strategies: The Fund invests in alternative energy and energy technology companies, both U.S. and international. Alternative energy includes solar, hydrogen, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, tidal, biofuel, and biomass. The Fund may purchase stocks of any capitalization. <br /><br />Top Ten Holdings: 1) Silicon Genesis Corp., 2) SunPower Corp. - Class B, 3) Honeywell International, 4) Echelon Corp., 5) Suntech Power Holdings - ADR, 6) 3M Company, 7) Energy Recovery, 8) Aixtron AG - ADR, 9) Orion Energy Systems, 10) Power Integrations. <br /><br />The Top 10 holdings represent 37.5% of net assets. <br /><br /><br />For more info, please visit <a href="http://www.firsthandfunds.com"target="_blank">First Hand Funds mutual funds website</a> <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">More Ethical Green Investing links:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://pvintell.blogspot.com"target="_blank">PV Intell solar energy investing website</a><br /><br /><a href="http://windpowerstockstowatch.blogspot.com"target="_blank">Wind Energy Stocks to Watch penny stocks blog</a><br /><br /><a href="http://greenmutualfund.blogspot.com/2009/10/complete-list-of-green-mutual-funds-and.html"target="_blank">Online Guide to Green Mutual Funds</a>Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-36407608162451418612011-02-18T21:02:00.000-08:002011-02-18T21:15:14.356-08:00Sad but true investing axiom: "Invest when there's blood in the streets"In a previous incarnation I gave investment advice to some of Canada's wealthiest families, and I learned much from working with the top minds at Altamira in the early to mid-1990s. A solid strategy for investing in emerging markets revolved around the philosophy of investing when there is "blood in the streets."<br /><br />This doesn't mean that investors hoped for chaos, it is merely another variation on the Buy Low, Sell High axiom. In other words, when a country has been through a painful transition and its stock market has been hammered because of the violence in the streets, you have to figure that a lot of the bad news is priced in and there could be better years ahead. When a country is doing really well and always in the news with positive stories, that would be a sell signal under this approach.<br /><br />Keeping all this in mind, it may be a good time to begin looking at Egypt, so does anybody know of any Middle East and North Africa investment funds? ETFs? Mutual funds?<br /><br />Please post suggestions in the Comments area below, and I'll post an update after gathering more info.Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-51945026137969255792011-02-08T08:40:00.000-08:002011-02-08T10:03:48.204-08:00Are Green Energy Mutual Funds a BUY for 2011?As most solar energy and windpower stocks declined in 2010, many small investors are wondering whether now may be a good time to add a clean energy fund to a diversified portfolio of cash, bonds, stocks and mutuals funds.<br /><br />Here are some recent news articles and blog posts concerning performance and opportunity with green mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs):<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ftadviser.com/FinancialAdviser/Investments/Sector/EthicalAndSRI/News/article/20110203/4bf1ffbc-2a1d-11e0-8862-00144f2af8e8/Green-fund-focuses-on-carboncutting-firms.jsp"target="_blank">IFSL Carbon Footprint UK Equity Index Tracker fund invests in carbon-cutting companies</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/green-shoots-for-green-energy-stocks-and-funds-2011-02-01"target="_blank">Rising oil price a hopeful sign for green energy funds</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.boston.com/business/personalfinance/articles/2011/02/06/green_energy_funds_are_testing_investors_patience/"target="_blank">Causes of underperformance in green power funds and ETFs</a><br /><br /><br />Related green energy investing links:<br /><br /><a href="http://windpowerstockstowatch.blogspot.com"target="_blank">Wind Energy Stocks to Watch</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/green-driving/news-and-notes/canadas-wasted-fuel-potential/article1893314/"target="_blank">Biofuels are a huge opportunity for Canada</a><br /><br /><a href="http://bestgreenstocks.blogspot.com"target="_blank">Best Green Stocks ethical investing blog</a><br /><br /><a href="http://geotherma.blogspot.com"target="_blank">Geothermal Power Stocks company website links</a><br /><br /><a href="http://waterintell.blogspot.com"target="_blank">WaterIntell Tidal Power, Wave Energy blog</a>Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-81285048775514790762011-02-03T09:53:00.000-08:002011-02-03T10:06:53.433-08:00Ethical Investing News and Views Feb 2011Here are some recent news stories, web articles and blog posts about ethical investing strategies, green mutual funds news and socially responsible investments.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Green Sustainable Investments News</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2011/02/solar-etfs-flying-high-analysts-boost/"target="_blank">Solar Funds and ETFs rise on Goldman Sachs "Buy" rating for FSLR</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/green-shoots-for-green-energy-stocks-and-funds-2011-02-01"target="_blank">Stage set for revival of green energy stocks and mutual funds</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/doing-good-while-doing-well-will-companies-and-organizations-step-up-challenge-new-green-economy6738"target="_blank">The challenge presented by the Emerging Green Bubble</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/april-rudin/impact-investinga-place-w_b_808527.html"target="_blank">Huffington Post green investing guide</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/bus/2011/02/01-51/Planning-Ahead-Socially-responsible-investing-strategies.html"target="_blank">Socially responsible investment strategies</a>Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-41939823142097485552011-01-21T18:22:00.000-08:002011-01-21T18:56:04.551-08:00Socially responsible, sustainable investing newsJanuary 2011 News on Green Sustainable Mutual Funds:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.smartmoney.com/investing/mutual-funds/what-you-need-to-know-about-socially-responsible-mutual-funds-1294427152167/"target="_blank">SmartMoney.com socially responsible Funds Guide</a><br /><br /><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703583404576079930461685812.html"target="_blank">Ethical investing in emerging markets</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.onearth.org/blog/how-ethical-are-canadas-ethical-funds"target="_blank">How green are Canada's Ethical Investment funds</a><br /><br /><a href="http://rabble.ca/columnists/2011/01/social-innovation-through-impact-investing"target="_blank">Progressive social innovation through impact investments</a>Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438880270328332779.post-50319828185658407492011-01-14T16:00:00.000-08:002011-01-14T16:03:45.359-08:00Search Engine for Green Mutual Funds / ETFs, Clean Technology StocksFind green power stocks, ethical investment funds:<br /><br /><style type="text/css"><br />@import url(http://www.google.com/cse/api/branding.css);<br /></style><br /><div class="cse-branding-bottom" style="background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#000000"><br /> <div class="cse-branding-form"><br /> <form action="http://www.google.com/cse" id="cse-search-box" target="_blank"><br /> <div><br /> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="partner-pub-8404219493473214:j39oy3m0r6h" /><br /> <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1" /><br /> <input type="text" name="q" size="37" /><br /> <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" /><br /> </div><br /> </form><br /> </div><br /> <div class="cse-branding-logo"><br /> <img src="http://www.google.com/images/poweredby_transparent/poweredby_FFFFFF.gif" alt="Google" /><br /> </div><br /> <div class="cse-branding-text"><br /> Custom Green Energy Investments Search<br /> </div><br /></div><br /><br />Use this search engine to find ethical investments, clean technology companies, green mutual funds and alternative energy stocks. Many Happy Returns!!!Joe Trainorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03963030295031426970noreply@blogger.com0