Matt Moscardi

5 Sustainable Investments Everyone Should Consider (Plus 1 Honorable Mention)

CGW also is another water play worth considering.

The Anti-S&P 500 Green Portfolio: Lower Correlation, Lower Volatility

Hi Enfant,
Finding "green" dividends can be a tall order, and not very reliable. That said, there are a small few that offer a bit of a dividend - IDA, WFMI, WTR - there are a few more, I'll do a post on my blog about it this week. There's also a green non traded REIT on the horizon, but they're finishing up SEC filings, so it could be a few months before they're live. And even then, no telling what/if the yield will be worth anything until they accrue some property.

If anyone else knows of any dividend producing green stocks, I'd be interested in hearing about them as well!

The Anti-S&P 500 Green Portfolio: Lower Correlation, Lower Volatility

Excellent catch! My mistake, I must have just hit the sum button in Excel for the chart, you are absolutely right. It was a late night, suffice to say!

Either way, the point still stands, despite my erroneous math. Thanks for the notice, I'll make note of it on my blog as well. Cheers!

Green Investing and Risk Management

True, there may be a "bubble" for renewable energy - but that's mostly mob mentality I think. The difference between internet stocks and renewable energy is the product. Internet stock had no real asset behind it, it was bound to crumble. In the same way Bernstein suggests when you make an assumption your house can only increase in value, the opposite is bound to happen at some point.

Renewable energy like wind and solar are bound to go up and down, and are even bound to become obsolete as technology changes, but the same argument can apply to traditional energy - oil and coal are bound to run out, become prohibitively expensive, and possibly destroy the ecosystem in the process. Personally, I prefer the risks of the former to the risks of the latter.

How Models Caused the Credit Crisis

I disagree with the premise that "models" were the smoking gun of the subprime crisis. The real issue is much more mundane - greedy people and corporations. IndyMac underwriting bogus mortgages to unqualified homeowners smacks of pure greed, not "the model said so." When the loans were repackaged, even then it wasn't "the model," it was a lack of oversight, foresight, and understanding by the eventual purchasers - institutional and retail investors alike - what it was they were buying. Whether by stretching the truth or just plain lying, the end purchaser was unaware of the process, because the middlemen, in this case the Street and the IndyMacs of the world, wanted the quick buck.

It's the same story all the time. In the end, it will take a massive ideological overhaul of the Street, one that promotes corporate accountability and sustainable business practice over short term gains, to fix it. So really, it will never happen. Every 10 or 20 years this will happen again (see the real estate bust in the 1980s).

(Here's where I take a moment for shameless self promotion) To that end, I say invest sustainable, green, and socially responsible (see my website). It's not a solution, but at least it's a start, and you can sleep a LITTLE better!

Green Commodities for a Complete Green Portfolio

Haha! Thanks for the advertisement, Stockaccumulator. According to my short term trading models, I would be short SOL as of June 13th, and would be up 30%+ (though it's not one of my top 20 positions, and I didn't trade it).

Keep the pump and dump kind of vibes on someone else's posts perhaps.

Green Commodities for a Complete Green Portfolio

Jgib, I agree - I talk about my criteria for holdings like EWZ on the blog. I use biocapacity and carbon metrics for macro holdings (like currency and index), but there is some soul swallowing that happens. It's inevitable in green investing. Even green holdings have questionable things. I definitely understand the underlying hypocrisy, but I do use a series of actual scientific studies to come up with the allocations. In my opinion, the overall idea is to promote green and not sacrifice returns, and a holding like EWZ fits that model.

A Beginner’s Guide to Green Investing

David,
I definitely agree - solar, while not entirely overpriced in my opinion, has been quickly inflated due to demand for green energy exposure. FAN is DEFINITELY worth watching, and even worth considering as a buy on the early boat. For my money, I'm patient for the most part - wind will be far more volatile in the short run I think. But I agree it's worth the watch (especially as it's already down 5% since it opened, buying opportunities could abound!).