John Cordes

China's Solar Industry Outshines the U.S.

Very nice article. Central planning has it's benefits. However America's delusional hubris is truly getting in the way. "We have the best health care available in the world", "we are the most innovative country in the world", "reduce taxes and regulations and let business do what it does best". All self serving sentiments which by overuse become anachronistic continue to delude the public into believing in fairy tales. Sentiments which actually have morphed into a self serving propaganda ghost written by a lobbying firm paid to maintain the status quo and legislated advantages.

Like the car companies which preserved existing cafe standards to avoid real innovation costs through lobbying for the status quo to remain intact, the health insurance industry which fights harder for tort reform than ways to expand comprehensive covered health care, like pharmaceutical firms which fight harder to extend existing patents ad infinitum, as a means to preserve profits than on actual research, American firms have come to rely on the triumvirate of what passes for corporate innovation; lobbying, advertising and acquisition. It is not surprising then that the so called American financial innovation is to find ways to increase leverage beyond sanity by selling CDO's instead of financing it's country's own 21st century manufacturing.
Yes those pesky Chinese have all that foreign reserve and central planning, while all we have is greed and politicians, and what passes for innovation is off-shoring jobs and devising new tax loop holes, aided and abetted by the political class.

Sorry for the rant. Nice article though.

Four Risks to Las Vegas Sands' Shareholders

Very nice article. What's your opinion of MGM?

Equity Market Bears, Take Careful Note of the Chinese Stock Market

Well, Goldman, and UBS have just raised Chinese GDP estimates for both 2009 and 2010, (9.6% and 11.3%). It may be hard to understand a continuing building wedge if your context is dominated by the S & P and DOW where the US GDP finally found a positive quarter. The Chinese story is 1.3 billion people discovering the joys of consumerism and a government rotating it's managed economic goals from high export/cheap labor to domestic consumption. Combined with enormorous savings behavior, and a legitimate urban middle class larger than the entire population of the United States and you may begin to get what these charts are telling you.

Wall Street: Dumb as It Ever Was

"One world, one heart: let's get together and feel alright." Freaking funny. Good article. I swear, I think Larry Kudlow is auditioning daily to be the co-host of the O'Reilly factor.
I think in actuality it's not the psychological factor of crossing 10%, it's the analysts and traders looking for another intangible catalyst on which to swing the market, with help of course from CNBC. After all, not volatility, no profits, no fun.

There's No Bubble in China

I agree on your thesis regarding Chinese risk and valuation, however your style is somewhat needlessly abusive. The notion of a "battle of opinions" is a euphemism. Try sandwich positives instead of blowtorches.

Senator Schumer Misses the Full Picture on A-Power's Joint Texas Wind Farm

Evergreen Solar just announced their move to China lock stock and barrel. How many subsidies for the Devon Plant?

The Complete List of Chinese ADR Stocks

You missed quite a number including; FUQI, APWR, FEED, ABAT, CBAK, YONG, UTA, KONG, CGA to name a few. Should call the list, "the incomplete ADR list".

America Is Creating Green Energy Jobs...in China

As boorish as it may sound, the Bush administration and a Republican Congress wasted eight years, refusing to pass the significant green energy subsidies for wind and solar. Hardly surprising when you consider their fealty to big oil. China has been overtly promoting polysilicon production, wind turbine production and domestic consumption of both for quite some time. They have used tax abatement, eased financing and subsidized utility costs. The Repbulicans dithered on this until 2008 when an anemic bill was finally passed at the end of the year. No surprises then. I have owned APWR for a year.

Finding Opportunities in Wind Energy

apwr

The Sweet Smell of Solar Values

Nice concise artcle, easy to follow and straight forward.

Will Exide's Run Continue?

ABAT, Lithium Ion, Wuxi electric cycles, ZAPP collaboration, positive PE, little debt, core business in miners' lamp batteries and notebook batteries, and enjoys favorable tax treatment from the government. Slightly beat estimates but forcast a near doubling in next quarter revenue.

Cash for Clunkers May Cost Up to $45,354 Per Vehicle

Tax rebate or deduction fails to target the intended goal, get poor mileage, pollution spewing dangerous vehicles off the road and replace them with cleaner, fuel efficient cars while boosting car manufacturing and all the collateral service jobs that go with it. A tax deduction only works if you have enough taxable income to receive a deduction, ergo, only wealthier Americans would get the benefit, the ones who actually are most likely to buy a new car anyway and precisely the group less likely to be driving a piece of crap that needs to be taken off the road. The rebate simply makes the program a bit more democratic, insofar as anyone can take advantage of it.


On Aug 01 10:38 AM tonym wrote:

> "Finally, the real economic impact is actually a boon insofar as
> it leverages the purchase from the consumer four or five to one at
> minimum, produceing local sales tax, jobs, distribution, recycling,
> future warranty work etc. I think your article is politically motivated,
> untruthful, and flat out wrong. "
>
> Presenting valid numbers is not "political." This program might have
> benefits for our struggling economy. Incentives are a good idea.
> But the cost of this program is excessive like most government interference.
> Debt is going to destroy the government itself as it is doing in
> California. Those benefits could easily be duplicated by significant
> tax deductions for purchasing the new vehicles.

Why Lead-Carbon Batteries Will Deflate the Li-ion Bubble

John, since last we exchanged comments about XIDE, AXPW and ABAT, the entire space seems to be generating fresh interest from both investors and press. Most boats are rising incrementally. However most of the names remain in the enterprise column except for my fav. ABAT. I just wanted your take about the recent announcment of product combination with ZAP motors and your current take on ABAT's on going ramp up with Wuxi electric cycles and bikes?

They have also just completed tripling their battery production lines and are now seriously moving into the car and cycle market after successfully raising capital on a secondary offering with warrants. They maintain a very nice cash flow and positive earnings with their meat and potatoes business of being the primary supplier of miner's cap light batteries, and continueing sales in the cell phone and notebook battery market. They are obviously benefitting from tax abatement reductions from the government and loan guarantees, I'm trying to figure out any reason to have reervations about ABAT. In other words, what's not to like"? However everytime I arrive at this point with the fundementals of a company and I can see virtually no negatives, I begin to get nervous. Help me out? (Also I noticed a recent insider purchase of 1million shares, do you have any info on this?)

Cash for Clunkers May Cost Up to $45,354 Per Vehicle

Clever gymnastics, but it doesn't hold water and is calculated to be controversial without genuine veracity. The real cost is the subsidy amount. The argued economic impact supposedly robs future sales that have been deferred. Not true! Already many news stories have shown people making repairs just to get their clunkers in for the trade that would have otherwise sat on blocks or never left the shed or carport.

As any salesman will tell you, there is no sale and no propect of one until a client walks in the door. Can't make sales in an empty showroom. Dealers are reporting as high as one to one non rebated sales taking place as a result of the added traffic.

Finally, the real economic impact is actually a boon insofar as it leverages the purchase from the consumer four or five to one at minimum, produceing local sales tax, jobs, distribution, recycling, future warranty work etc. I think your article is politically motivated, untruthful, and flat out wrong. Other than that, good job.

Meritage Homes Does Face Plant on Earnings

This stock is currently pumped up over it's price for the last two years. Still not sure how contracting asset values, missed income, and continueing bleakness in foreclosures and employment put this stock up to pre-2007 August levels.