| Watching the Transports Index Closely While I'm not a Dow Theorist who gives much relevance to the confirming action in the Dow Transports in relation to the Dow Jones Industrials, I could not help but be struck with the high-volume selling in the Transport group on Friday. Known for being an early indicator of economic strength and weakness, could the Transports high-volume break back below its 50 day moving average be one of the first indicators of an impending double dip in the economy?After nearly doubling from its February lows of 2146 to its most recent highs of 4045, the Transports seem to have become very toppy in here and should bear watching to see if recent multi-month support in the 3600-3700 range will hold. Conversely, any move through recent highs above 4045 would suggest that another up-leg is set to begin for the group.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
General Dynamics Tests G650, Wins Defense Contracts Zacks.com submits: Gulfstream Aerospace, a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Dynamics Corp. (GD), announced the completion of the first series flight tests of the ultra-large-cabin, ultra-long-range Gulfstream G650. During the test, G650 project pilot and senior experimental, along with flight engineer, tested the aircraft's handling qualities, engine operability and flap operation. Additionally, the crew evaluated the aircraft's pilot-static systems, avionics, hydraulic systems, electrical power generation and distribution, flight controls, and cabin environmental and pressurization controls.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Why Not to Bet on Energy Stocks Saj Karsan submits:Isn't it crazy to avoid investing in energy stocks? After all, don't we all know that energy prices are going up in the long term? After all, as large, developing countries continue to grow, demand for oil is sure to sky-rocket. Furthermore, as a non-renewable resource, the world's oil supplies reduce every single day. Unfortunately, these stories don't tell the whole tale, and the reasons for value investors to stay away from investing in commodities like energy have never been stronger.Energy prices are volatile, and the direction of price changes is hard to predict. While the factors described above (emerging economies, non-renewable resource) will play an important role in the future price of energy, they are over-emphasized by the media and those who are bullish on the price of oil. Under-emphasized, however, is the market reaction to the high (even relative to recent history) prices.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Peak Oil Investments I'm Putting My Money On: Part X, Improving Vehicle Efficiency Tom Konrad (AltEnergyStocks) submits: Dr. Daniel Sperling knows about as much as anyone about what policymakers can do to reduce the use of oil. He is the Director of the Institute of Transport studies as the University of California Davis, and a long time member of the California Air Resources Board [CARB], so he understands transportation from both the academic and policy perspectives. He also recently co-authored a book Two Billion Cars: Driving Towards Sustainability, so he understands the magnitude of the problem as well. I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Sperling speak at the Yale Climate and Energy Institute's first annual conference: Overcoming Barriers to A New Energy System on April 24th. In his talk (you can download the PowerPoint here[13MB],) he provided an illuminating analogy: Transforming transportation is like a three-legged stool. The first leg is improving vehicle efficiency, which is easiest because we have both the technology and the regulatory tools to do it. The second leg is transitioning to alternative fuels, which is harder because in most cases the technology or the infrastructure are not quite there yet (The first eight parts of this series looked into various alternative fuels, and reached a similar conclusion.) The third leg, labeled "VMT" for Vehicle Miles Traveled is the transformation of the transportation system, reducing car usage by providing alternatives and giving people better incentives to use the most effective alternative. From a policy perspective, VMT is the most difficult leg. Reducing VMT requires the policy maker to persuade people to change their habits. This is difficult in a democracy, were citizens and businesses typically oppose policies that require change. Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Wait! Car Dealers Say They Really Need More Inventory Gad Allon submits: by Marty Lariviere Last week I questioned whether auto dealers really needed more inventory on their lots. Now Automotive News reports on an “informal” survey in which car dealers pretty uniformly say, “Honest! We need more cars!” (Dealers: We want more cars!, Aug 23)Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |