jrtaylorinflag

Why Israeli Banks Look Better than U.S. Banks

Don't suppose the fact that Israel is the number one recipiant of U.S. foriegn aid to the tune of billions of dollars/year and totaling over 100 billion would have anything to do with that.

How Low Can the S&P 500 Go?

Funny, I was just looking at the same levels and evidence of significant volume declines last night. Although my thinking is not as sophisticated, one thing I have noted is the marked increase in trading volumes in just the past few years. I was musing that maybe the thing to be watching for a clue to a possible bottom is a marked fall off in volume that rather than a decline to a specific level. My thinking goes something like this.
Right now trading volume although off, is still by- historical levels- at unprecedentedly high. Volume is still up probably because someone is still making money, probably a lot. Maybe investors are on the sideline but traders must see money to be made, and they aren't going to stop trading until they conclude that all they are doing is trading each others money back and forth.

At some point I suspect they will throw in the towel and start sidelining their money too. I would expect to see a steady and marked fall in the trading volumes when that happens. I'm thinkin a volume half of present volumes.

What level the market will be at when that happens is anybody's guess but I can't see how we could have a real bottom with as much trading going on as there is now. Looking at other markets outside the U.S. (Europe, Asia) I was struck by the the fall off in trading volumes when markets bottomed. I have not seen that here yet.

Well that's my idea. I'm sure I'm not the first. At least It can't be any further off than the professional pundits.

John

Commodities Prices: Speculation Exposed

I got one question; 1.1 billion barrels is a lot of oil, so where are they hiding it? No reports they are filling their swimming pools with it. John

Trina Solar: Best Value in the Solar Space

As someone who lives off-the-grid and gets all my electricity from may solar panels, this discussion is very close to home. (like right out my back door.)
As a user and buyer of solar componets I have noted a few key points that you might not aware of, yet will significantly affect the prospects of the above mention companies going forward.
1. The purchase of a solar system is a Huge investment on any scale. It is a major capital investment. A home size system of $20,000 would be a modest size system, and not an expense you want want to incure again in 5-10 years. This basic issue is ultimately what drives the decision process for I or a ulilty company investing in solar power.
The primary factors that go into the final decision of what panels I or anyone else will by are...
1. duribility and construction quality.
2.efficiency.
3. amt of watts /per dollar
4. reputation and support of the manufacturer.
5. Installation considerations

In the end, the panels themselves are only about a 1/3 of the cost of the system. so the the importance of a price difference between different panel manufacturers is less important. In fact, when one is expecting at least a 20 year life expectancy out of the panels initial price differences becomes even less significant. I have some panels that are 25yrs old and endure frequent spring wind storms of 50-60mph.

The point of all of this is there are certainly going to be a lot of players jumping into the game but they are selling to tough and knowledgeable costumer, meaning that some of these compaies are going to fail. This is not a semiconductor business where you can crank out a bunch of cheap chips and expect to sell them by the buck full. at least not for home or community size installations which is where the money is.
A point of information; the present major players and the ones with brand recognition in the solar panel buisness are not on your list Regards, John

Tax Burdens Around the World: U.S. Near the Middle

Mr. Perry's chart is incomplete in regards to the total tax burden for the U.S citizen or any other citizen in the world for that matter. In the U.S, the Fed. income tax and FICA hardly even begins to account for the average persons tax burden, to say nothing of mandatory fees charged by local, state, and fed. agencies to subsidize operations.
The average American can rifle off a laundry list of taxes and fees that they pay in addition to their income taxes/ FICA which in total may well accede the latter.
The problem with charts like Mr. Perry's is that we have no way of knowing if it is actually comparing apples & apples. How do we know what percentage the income tax is of the total revenue burden for a given country?
It is reasonable to assume there is a significant variability from nation to nation as to how inclusive their income tax is as a percentage of the total per capita cost of government operations. My hunch is that the supposed " high income tax countries" listed on the chart would be shown to have income taxes that represent a much higher percent of the total per capita revenue burden then say the U.S. that collects a large portion of its needed revenue from fines, fees, sales taxes, etc. etc.
I would be very interested in seeing a study that actually compared total per capita burdens of different countries. That could be a very revealing study in showing how other countries go about raising revenue to fund government operations.
An interesting follow on study would be to evaluate which country gets the most bang-for-the-buck (or Euro) for revenue spent. My suspicion is the US will not be near the top of the list.