R&D
August 27, 2012
The whole solar panel industry has been in a tailspin as the massive solar glut takes toll of the whole industry. The industry downturn which started […]
July 22, 2012
BYD When companies are facing trouble in their core markets, they tend to hive off unrelated assets to focus their energy on regaining their mojo in […]
July 11, 2012
Solar Products in India I have repeated numerous times that the Indian solar industry represents one of the biggest investing opportunities in the 21st century. However […]
June 22, 2012
However India's biggest capital good equipment company BHEL owned by the government is plannning a $500 million investment to build a solar cell factory in at Sakoli which is part Union heavy industries minister Praful Patel's constituency Bhandara.Talk about how dumb you can get. BHEL hardly has too much expertise in the solar panel industry and with solar cells in massive oversupply,it is almost sure to lose money. However that is how things work with Indian government companies where investment is made at the whims of ministers rather than rationality and business sense.BHEL is currently trading at one of the lowest valuations in its 10 year history and its not a big wonder why. The company has benefited in the past as did other machinery and engineering companies from an infrastructure invesment boom. However those glory days are over for the company as it faces competition from the Chinese companies and decreasing orders flow. Praful Patel the minister has already spent a few years in the airline ministry presiding over the conversion of the state owned carrier Air India ino a basket case. Now its the turn of BHEL to be turned into a basket case as well.
January 10, 2012
Philips and Siemens ,2 of the largest European conglomerates with big Green divisions as well have warned of Dire Macroeconomic problems in Europe.While the stock markets continue to go higher, both companies have cut/ warned profit forecasts on European economic headwinds. Siemens is the largest green company in the world while Philips is one of the biggest Lighting Companies .
July 10, 2011
Nuclear Power has come under assault in the aftermath of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident with Nuclear becoming a four letter word.However Nuclear Energy cannot be ignored because its nuclear energy uses are unique in some applications and cannot be substituted by any other means.Nuclear Energy is responsible for generating almost 1/6th of the global production of electricity with Developed Countries like Japan,Europe and USA having 20% or more of their electricity being generated by Nuclear Fission.Currently 31 countries in the world have nuclear reactors producing electricity.The total installed nuclear generating capacity in the world is around 375 GW (WNA) with another 170 GW in planning g state and another 170 GW being proposed.Despite the massive opposition that nuclear power has run into,nuclear companies and nuclear power stocks are not going away soon.This is because of the massive installed base and the nuclear plans of emerging countries.For example Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia,UAE are going ahead with their nuclear power plans as are countries like India and Vietnam.
April 12, 2011
Type of Renewable Energy have been increasing with development in Technology and the imperative of using Alternative Energy as Fossil Fuels deplete and increase in costs.Besides Global Warming has made the benefits of Renewable Energy seem more attractive with each passing year.Note though there are many niches Renewable Energy types,the Three Major Forms of Renewable Energy are Solar Energy,Wind Energy and Biomass Energy (Biofuels).Nuclear and Hydro Energy are not considered as Renewable Energy according to the strict definition of Renewable Energy.However Hydro and Nuclear Energy both are responsible for more than 15% of global electricity production each.The clean energy industry saw a 30% increase in investments to $243 billion in 2010 which was another record year for Renewable Energy Capacity addition.Around 18 GW of Solar Energy and 38 GW of Wind Energy were installed with Solar Energy Capacity increasing by a whopping 150% from 2009.\wind power continued to lead at $95 billion. The solar sector is experiencing significant growth, with investments growing at 53% to $79 billion (source Pew).
April 5, 2011
Nuclear Power has come under assualt in the aftermath of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident with Nuclear becoming a four letter word.However Nuclear Energy cannot be ignored becauses its benefits are unique in some applications and cannot be substituted by any other means.Nuclear Power also cannot be replaced in the short term from its most widely used application of generating Electricity.Note Nuclear Power accounts for almost 15% of the Global Electricity and in some countries is the major source of energy.For example France which has 80% of its power coming from Nuclear Fission,its impossible to think of shutting down nuclear plants like Germany which gets around 20%.Note even for USA which has the largest installed base of nuclear reactors shutting down almost 200 GW of Nuclear Capacity is quite unthinkable.Besides Nuclear Energy has massive uses in medical and other applications.This cannot be substituted by other means at all.For example its possible to replace Nuclear Electricity by other means like Solar,Wind even Coal and Gas though its costs will be astounding.But you can't replace Nuclear Energy in Medical Applications like Scanning and X-Rays.Here is a list of the main uses of Nuclear Energy.
March 19, 2011
India's Economy is being hampered in its growth trajectory by lack of infrastructure which is leading to supply side problems.India suffers woefully from a lack of roads,electricity,ports etc. and almost a trillion dollars is going to be spent in the next few years as demand outstrips supply.India's Machinery and Capital Goods Industry is set to capitalize on this strong growth and is already seeing massive orders which are 2-3 years worth of their annual revenue.While the stock valuations of the capital goods equipment manufacturers has come down a bit from the heavy days of 2008,they are still quite high reflecting the strong growth potential.India's Engineering Industry is also composed of a number of smaller manufacturers that export light engineering equipment worth several billion dollars mostly to developing countries.India's Machinery Sector is composed of a mix of government owned and private companies as well as the giant capital goods MCN conglomerates like Areva and others.Here is a list of the major Indian equipment manufacturers.
February 28, 2011
Indian Stock Markets are full of stock market manipulators and operators trying perennially to loot the small investor with the regulator SEBI mostly turning a blind eye.Pump and Dump IPO issues,circular stock rigging in small caps,corporate governance issues in even large companies are quite endemic.Investing in the Indian markets is a very hazardous activity for the small investor.Its not only the Indian companies but also large reputed MNCs who also keep pulling fast ones on the minority shareholders.The Cairn-Vedanta deal is a recent example where the promoters are rewarded at a higher premium in takeovers through legal shenanigans by large corporate groups.
February 28, 2011
South Korea is one of the biggest shipbuilders with major companies like Daewoo,Hyundai Heavy and Samsung.However its being beaten down by the low cost Chinese companies which are using cheaper capital and lower labor costs to press their advantage.South Korean Shipbuilders have been trying to diversify into offshore wind energy in order to safeguard their revenues.However they face tough competition in this renewable energy sector as well from incumbent wind turbine compaeis as well as Chinese WTG companies like Sinovel,Goldwind and others.Now the South Korean government is helping them with a 300 billion won research fund.This fund will be used to do R&D into building of "Green Ships" which are becoming the new growth segment.
November 13, 2010
Siemens has planned to increase its Environmental Revenues to Euro 40 Billions by 2014 which is quite a big jump considering the large base.GE is its biggest competitor which is also rapidly increasing investment and research into Renewable Energy.Areva,ABB,Samsung,LG,Hyundai,Toshiba,Sharp,Panasonic,Mitsubishi are other industrial giants looking to rapidly increase revenue from Clean Technology.Siemens has a definite technological and incumbent advantages however the competition is quite formidable.Siemens has made important wins recently in the field of high speed railways,new generation high voltage DC electricity transmission,offshore wind etc.But it lacks size and scale in the fields of nuclear and solar energy and has little presence in the area of Energy Storage as well.While Siemens has bought Soliel in the Solar Thermal field,it lacks a Solar PV product portfolio.Siemens however remains a good long term safe green investment in a volatile cleantech sector.
September 18, 2010
Nokia's Stock Price has fallen by more than 50% in the last 2 years and have stayed at the same level despite a huge 40% Global Mobile Marketshare.Despite a Tech Resurgence,Nokia's stock has wallowed in its all time lows.Repeated Restructuring,Losing out to competition in India,Failure to keep up with Apple has made this a "pity stock".However its recent deal with Intel to launch Meego,a new CEO and N8 had given hopes to Nokia Faithful.However teething problems like the exit of the Smartphone Chief and delays in N8 has made those hopes recede.Also Nokia has unresolved Software issues as it tries to balance between 2 competing platforms of Symbian and Meego.It has decide on 1 platform and put all its effort there.Customers are cagey about buying phones with Operating Systems without a large Developer Support and Apps.The Ovi Store with just 13k apps is no match to iPhone's 250k apps.Its time for Nokia to put renewed efforts in order to resurrect its declining fortunes.
July 21, 2010
Google’s paltry $39mm investment in a Wind Farm was puzzling as it really seemed to meet no goals.The investment would not lead to any significant advancement […]
May 22, 2010
The United States could fall behind China and other countries in clean energy technology unless Congress passes energy legislation, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said on […]