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Top Fifteen Listed/Tradeable Holdings as of November 2007 month end. Prices as of December 5, 2007. I've done a lot of trading this November. I haven't been disclosing all of my trades but hopefully some of the changes in my top holdings will give you an idea. 1. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/A – $147,500) (up from…
Photo:Grooble, Creative Commons, Flickr If you are predicting an Armageddon-style collapse of the once glorious U.S. dollar, it may be time for a reality check. The most recent Economist points out: The dollar's place as a reserve currency always seems to be questioned when it falls. Weakness in 1977-79, 1985-88 and 1993-95 was each time…
OPEC production: Where is it headed?
Is algae oil the next big biofuel investment?
As we have reported in the past, the ethanol industry is undergoing some extended hardships and ethanol players' margins will be squeezed as the sector works through these trying times. Since summer, we have seen oversupply plague the industry and the price of corn continues to rise. If ethanol was indeed going to replace gasoline…
Photo:lyonzy, Creative Commons, Flickr In my early days as a stockbroker, I worked for a small investment banking firm that participated in underwriting small speculative growth companies that mainly traded as pink sheet stocks. Nine out of ten companies in this arena never make it, but I was fortunate enough to embrace one that turned…
Photo:Manuel Van De Weijer, Creative Commons, Flickr After a brutally volatile year in financial markets, U.S. stocks are now back to levels from the start of the year. Wall Street's dreary performance in 2007 will inevitably lead to a lot of soul searching among investors, and a lot of questions remain unanswered. Now that the…
The stock market is enjoying a rally right now as the news of oil dollars coming to the rescue for Citigroup (C) lifts the entire financial sector. And with oil prices down after a dramatic drop yesterday, Big Oil stocks from Chevron (CVX) to Exxon (XOM) to Statoil (STO) are on the rise in the…
Lawmakers will be doing their x-mas shopping last minute this year as they scramble to tie up all the year's legislative loose ends in three weeks. Top of the list are '08s spending bills, which Dems look like they'll bundle into a massive omnibus bill (leaving out the already passed Defense bill). Given the president's…
Biodiesels offer an interesting conundrum for ethical investors.
Photo:raysto, Creative Commons, Flickr Palm oil is raising environmentally-friendly investing questions.
I'm starting to know what New York Times blogger, James Kanter means when he says that real solutions for carbon reduction are far off in the future. A carbon tax remains the most simple solution and, priced right, would allow business and consumers to decide whether carbon sequestration, reduced consumption or alternative energy sources make…
The Times' Style section yesterday discussed the newest addition to the Christmas holidays: the green Grinch. This is the environmentally obsessed family member who is "bent on eradicating the wasteful materialism of the holidays." Focusing on the usual Grinch-like grievances of excessive consumption, this person puts an environmental spin on the most negative aspects of the Christmas…
The Holiday season looks like it might be rough for retailers, given that the average American family will probably be spending a week's paycheck just on gas to get to Wal-Mart. So what will Santa Claus be busy lugging on his carbon emission-free sled? One of the CNET editor's top holiday gift picks, the Nintendo…
As we push further into the 21st century, the corporate world continues to evolve in front of us. Themes such as sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) gain traction as we witness first-hand how the business world is (or is not) embracing new ways of thinking. In her book, The High Purpose Company, Christine Arena defines this…
Good ol' Jay Leno once said that "politics is just show business for ugly people". And thanks to the politicians the sexy solar sector just got ugly. Solar investors have been driving up valuations as if solar was going to take over the world tomorrow, and these investors have now been forced to wake up…
Throughout the mania of the expansion of the moneyed class in China, I've watched the gambling stocks with the frustration of "I should have seen this coming" as Las Vegas Sands (LVS – $118.76) made its meteoric rise. But for much of this year I've been thinking that the gambling stocks were overvalued, and didn't want…
On Wednesday, I was positive on John Thain as the new CEO at Merrill Lynch (MER – $56.11). I was also a buyer – so I bought a little. But now I'm holding off a bit. I still think the fact that John Thain got to look at the firm's books and still wanted the…
Will Greenpeace cripple the palm oil industry?
As the calls for ending the war become louder, I can't help but think what the consequences could be for some of America's largest defense contractors. As much as I don't want to see any potential cutbacks in defense spending put our troops at a disadvantage, it seems abundantly clear that some big cutbacks are…
On Friday afternoon, May 17, 2002, a butcher named Edwin Lopez was alone in his downtown Los Angeles butchery. He was about to close shop for the weekend when he accidentally locked himself in a walk in freezer. He spent hours yelling and banging on the door, but to no avail. There was no way…
Well it turns out Joe Capone is wrong after predicting to me months ago that John Thain would run Citigroup after Prince was fired. But he's not that wrong because after watching Thain's interview on CNBC I'm sure he was offered the job and chose Merrill instead. Knowning that Thain worked in Mortgage Backed Securities…
Will the energy bill help renewable energy investing?
The last two days have all the markings of a bear market short-covering rally. The sectors that have the most negativity have rallied the most: Retail and Financials. If this were a real transition from a negative selling market to a rally, the sectors that have been leading would continue to lead: Technology and Materials. …