Ever try carving a pumpkin with one hand? That was my task at my son’s preschool class yesterday, after crashing my bike to avoid an errant pedestrian last weekend. It’s also a pretty good metaphor for investing in this emotionally driven and still extremely volatile market. The good news is the positive trends in the credit markets I noted last week seem to be getting stronger. Thanks to the continued massive effort by the world’s governments and central banks, the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, is now noticeably rolling back toward levels that bear some semblance of normality. Volume in the US commercial paper market, which had almost completely evaporated a couple weeks ago, is surging. And borrowing rates are coming down, at least for stronger corporations. Read More

Ever try carving a pumpkin with one hand? That was my task at my son’s preschool class yesterday, after crashing my bike to avoid an errant pedestrian last weekend. It’s also a pretty good metaphor for investing in this emotionally driven and still extremely volatile market. The good news is the positive trends in the credit markets I noted last week seem to be getting stronger. Thanks to the continued massive effort by the world’s governments and central banks, the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, is now noticeably rolling back toward levels that bear some semblance of normality. Volume in the US commercial paper market, which had almost completely evaporated a couple weeks ago, is surging. And borrowing rates are coming down, at least for stronger corporations. Read More

Vital resource stocks have been pounded during the financial crisis. Some of the losses have come from the liquidation of positions investors piled into—including hedge funds—on the way up. Some have been due to the historic surge in the US dollar, which--in turn--has been due in part to the so-called flight to quality and unwinding of the “carry trade” by large institutions. And some of the losses have been due simply to worries that the liquidity crisis would trigger a steep global recession. Read More

Canada’s tighter regulatory system and more cautious approach to banking distinguish it from the US and the rest of the Anglo-Saxon financial system, but that doesn’t mean the crisis gripping the global economy won’t have a serious impact on its domestic economy. It’s important to understand that Canada entered this volatile period from a stronger position than other developed nations and that steps taken by its responsible authorities have been focused on mitigating the impact of external problems and maintaining competitive advantages its long-term conservative practices have made possible. Read More

Building negawatts requires no siting or permitting. It by nature reduces environmental risk of any kind including carbon emissions because it eliminates the need to build generation of any sort. And provided plans are approved by regulators, the investment is immediately recovered in rates. That adds to earnings by boosting sales and helping control costs. According to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), energy efficiency improvements through negawatt spending could cut projected energy use by 7 to 11 percent over the next two decades. EPRI, which is itself sponsored by the power industry, notes achieving 11 percent is only possible with sufficient technology innovation, as well as consumer adoption of more efficient building codes and appliance standards. Read More

Building negawatts requires no siting or permitting. It by nature reduces environmental risk of any kind including carbon emissions because it eliminates the need to build generation of any sort. And provided plans are approved by regulators, the investment is immediately recovered in rates. That adds to earnings by boosting sales and helping control costs. According to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), energy efficiency improvements through negawatt spending could cut projected energy use by 7 to 11 percent over the next two decades. EPRI, which is itself sponsored by the power industry, notes achieving 11 percent is only possible with sufficient technology innovation, as well as consumer adoption of more efficient building codes and appliance standards. Read More

What we have today is basically a bifurcated marketplace. In Group A, we have what investors run to when they’re deathly worried about the health of the global economy. That’s basically been the US dollar and investors’ preferred way to own it, US government-backed Treasury bonds. In Group B, on the other hand, there’s pretty much everything else, from US stocks of all stripes to emerging markets, energy and other commodities and bonds not issued by the US Treasury. Right now, fear rules and group A has the upper hand. Group B in contrast is the best buyer’s market since at least late 2002. There is danger, but there’s also staggering opportunity, and it’s selling for a song. By far, the world’s biggest and surest opportunity for outsized growth over the next decade is the need to build a new 21st century infrastructure. The opportunities are myriad, ranging from builders and operators to resource players and innovators of all manner of technology. And the players are a varied lot as well, ranging from super strong global giants to relatively small innovators. Read More

What we have today is basically a bifurcated marketplace. In Group A, we have what investors run to when they’re deathly worried about the health of the global economy. That’s basically been the US dollar and investors’ preferred way to own it, US government-backed Treasury bonds. In Group B, on the other hand, there’s pretty much everything else, from US stocks of all stripes to emerging markets, energy and other commodities and bonds not issued by the US Treasury. Right now, fear rules and group A has the upper hand. Group B in contrast is the best buyer’s market since at least late 2002. There is danger, but there’s also staggering opportunity, and it’s selling for a song. By far, the world’s biggest and surest opportunity for outsized growth over the next decade is the need to build a new 21st century infrastructure. The opportunities are myriad, ranging from builders and operators to resource players and innovators of all manner of technology. And the players are a varied lot as well, ranging from super strong global giants to relatively small innovators. Read More

Bear markets aren’t the best time to expect immediate blockbuster gains. But they are the best possible time to build a high-quality portfolio of positions for outsized future returns. Doing just that is our primary goal for the New World 3.0 Portfolio here in its second month of operation. To date we’ve purchased nine stocks of companies tapped into what’s shaping up as the biggest investment opportunity of our lifetime: The need to construct the infrastructure needed to run a global 21st century economy. Read More