Checking In

Well, well, well, it has been a long time since I have posted to this particular blog. Please, I apologize... I know, I know... the masses have been anxiously awaiting my next big post. My three readers - me, myself and I - are pumped for this new post. I'm glad nobody views this blog because he/she could probably see I was pretty much dead wrong about green stocks catching fire with the inception of the Obama administration. Since then most green sectors have gone nowhere! The real estate & bank meltdowns did not help matters. Investors ran to commodities such as silver, gold and oil, and not to solar, wind, geothermal, etc. The focus became bailing out big investment banks, and they certainly took their money and ran. What else is new - big banks, big business, big interests sticking it to the little guy. I can go on and on about what the majority is feeling about the BBBig BBBank BBBailout. It probably had to be done to keep the entire global banking system from shutting down. The sad thing is, they gobbled up the bailout money, turned around and basically said, "Screw you, we're not loaning anything back out to the little guy." Thanks, thanks for sharing.

Anyway, I might not have called the entire green sector right but, in checking back on the performance of the companies I highlighted back on April 30, 2009, my intuition proved to pan out some decent total returns thus far, with the exception of SunEdison (who never went public). Their parent company, MEMC, who acquired them 11/23/09, has struggled within the Semiconductor - Integrated circuits industry:

Duke Energy Corp -$13.96 to $18.64 = +33%
MEMC (obtained SunEdison 11/23/09) - $12.58 to $9.09 = -29%*
American Elec power - $26.94 to $37.13 = +38%
Xcel Energy - $18.39 to $24.24 = +32%

Total returns as of May 1, 2009-June 15, 2011
*as of Dec 1, 2009-June 15,2011

SMART GRID

As a follow-up to my previous post on fixing the grid, I thought it might be worth mentioning the term "smart grid", which... if you already know what it is, you must be up to date on your reading. So, what does it mean? The term is basically referring to the digital technology component that will help better manage energy flows, making energy delivery more efficient - increasing reliability, reducing usage & cost. I think of it as the supply & demand technology assisting utilities and consumers (including metering & user software + hardware). They are the networking routers, the gatekeepers of the ebb & flow of usage on the grid, masters of the yin and yang of energy consumption. Hopefully this helps.

Put in a Bid on Fixing the Grid

I read an interesting feature article entitled “Power to the People” in WIRED magazine’s April issue. It’s worth a quick read.

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-04/gp_intro?currentPage=1

What I pulled from this article was not only smart ideas that have been mapped out on how to fix the current state of America’s inefficient grid system but also the investment opportunities in regards to the pioneering companies helping to improve our archaic electrical power system. Follow the money - the Obama administration is ramping up to fund this movement in a huge way, setting aside $40 billion to contribute towards the effort. The key is unveiling which companies are going to be the big players in fixing the grid. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for those companies that score government grants & contracts. Not forgetting about those outfits that manufacture the hardware, develop the networking software, perform maintenance and installation, There were some companies mentioned in the article that might be worth keeping tabs on, such as:

SunEdison - builds and maintains solar plants on the rooftops
American Elec Power – banks solar & wind energy using NaS batteries
Xcel Energy - building a system that lets customers manage home electricity use through the web
Duke Energy – facilitating speedy two-way communication with customer meters and networking

Bye bye to the crusty old grid and hello to investing in a cleaner more efficient one. Good luck on your company research and all the power to ya!

GREEN SELLS and I'm Buying!

I know... I know... people are starting to cringe with the word "green" anymore. The word is getting batted around with immense frequency these days. Is it a fad? Is it the Al Gore education? Is it a paranoid delusion? Whatever it is, I'm all over the wagon. Why? Well, that's easy, I love the basic principle behind the word, which is - take it easy on the environment. Maybe The Little River Band was really singing about the environment with Take it Easy on Me? "It's all up to you, but whatever you do, take it easy on me..." Maybe not, but it's a classic nonetheless.

It's bittersweet times for a lot of old time conservationists. It's like loving a band that nobody has ever heard of before and all of sudden they become popular overnight. I was upset when the mainstream found Wilco. Or was it the other way around? Either way, I was a Tweedy fan way back with the origination of Uncle Tupelo. Hey, I'm happy for Jeff Tweedy's success as the lead singer for Wilco but annoyed that I have to share him with the rest of world (which took so long to appreciate him).

When Jerry Garcia received some criticism from old Deadheads for the Touch of Grey being a pop hit sell out, Jerry commented to the affect of, "Hey, I've been trying to sell out for 22 years now." Well, it looks like GREEN is finally selling... and it's figgering on biggering and biggering with this administration. This is a win/win all around for people looking to invest with a conscience AND.... AND.... AND.... actually make some green in the process.