Clean Energy Jobs, Tax Credits & Investing

January 10th, 2010 by andum | Posted in Economy, Investing, Stock Market, Wealth Creation

The US Map above graphically illustrates the 43 states whose companies received tax credits to support clean energy projects . If you are an investor, consider researching some of the companies that received the grants in order to see if these grants could materially benefit these companies and thus the share price. I looked at a few companies on the list (see the bottom of this page for an excel spreadsheet) and found that each one of the company’s share price increased after the announcement.

Google Foreclosed Home Search

November 1st, 2009 by andum | Posted in Economy, Opportunities, Wealth Creation, Wealth Preservation

Notice all of the red dots on the US map – these represent homes that are currently under foreclosure. But, since this is a map of the US, the red dots actually represent clusters of foreclosed homes.  If you want to see foreclosed homes by address, start with this link to Google real estate search.  Once you have entered an address, if you check off the box next to Foreclosure, the search will return foreclosed homes by street, neighborhood, etc.

I read recently that the number of homes currently for sale is equal to the number of the shadow home inventory – homes representing distressed mortgages that have not yet been listed for sale.   It will be difficult for home prices to improve in communities with a high number of foreclosed homes for sale and a large shadow inventory of homes that will eventually be listed for sale.

Wall St. Bank Stock Recommendations

October 27th, 2009 by andum | Posted in Economy, Investing, Make Money, Stock Market, Wealth Creation, Wealth Preservation

Are you thinking about investing in the major US banks? Zero Hedge put together the above graphic to show the cozy relationship between the major US banks.   Each of the green arrows shows one bank recommending the stock of another bank.   Most of the red arrows come from an analyst at a European bank.   Go to Zero Hedge to read the post and see the graphic in more detail.  What I want to know is how much of each of these bank’s assets include stock in the banks that they are recommending.  I also want to know if they were buyers or sellers after their recommendations came out.  Buying stock solely on the basis of a recommendation is a loser’s strategy.  You should have a basis for the investment (fundamental and/or technical) that you understand and a target price or plan to sell.  This is not a time to buy and hold. Stock downgrades typically come out too late and/or after the institutional stock owners have sold.

10 Year Treasury Note Predicting Stock Market Drop?

August 30th, 2009 by andum | Posted in Make Money, Manage Money, Stock Market, Wealth Creation, Wealth Preservation

Andy Dufresne at Zero Hedge just posted the above chart from StockCharts.com of the 10 Year Treasury Note and S&P index (see his post here). Please note on the chart how the 10 Year (in red) peaks before the market peaks and bottoms before the market bottoms, with a lag of 3 to 4 months. If the 10 Year is now rolling over and the same correlation holds true as the chart shows, the market should bottom in the Fall. The good news is that mortgage rates will drop, since rates are tied to the 10 Year Note.