Bittersweet Returns

I watched the value of my stock holdings increase at a satisfactory rate over the last couple of days. So I am jumping for joy, right?

No, not really.

But there was an upward correction, and all is right in the stock market again, isn't it?

No, not really.

But confidence is starting to rise again, isn't it?

No, not really.

But President Bush threw his weight behind government assistance for the country's mortgage issue, didn't he?

THAT'S IT!!!

That's exactly why I am not satisfied with the general uptick in the market.

Where the stock market was somewhat based on principled fundamentals and commitment to long-term investment, and driven by market forces, it is now driven by...by...by...emotion.

Good grief!

Yes, it has been driven by emotion for some time. Welcome to our "modern" world after all, where feelings are more important than objectivity. Where immediate returns are better than long-term prosperity. Where uncalculated risk-taking is better boring old saving and "buy and hold" investing.

We sure could use a little good news today, right?

I don't believe the last two days' gains for the Dow are good news. Not from the societal perspective, regardless of how good the gains look financially.

The Dow improved because the government communicated a proposed "amnesty" (my word) for the public relative to their mortgage woes.

Since when is it a good personal business decision to acquire a mortgage that you can't afford?

Since when is it a good corporate business decision to lend money to those who aren't a half-way decent credit risk?

Since when is it a good national business decision to prop up a consumer economy, when the propping will only make things worse in the future (higher taxes to maintain the amnesty or a steeper fall of the stock market)?

Good news? No, not really.

Green Investments

In July, I wrote this post, asking about investment opportunities in climate change industries. I have since done a little bit more of the due diligence that I expected to do. I was primarily motivated by this article that I saw on the Drudge Report. It talked about the "new millionaires" by way of environmentally friendly companies. I chose to investigate the three companies mentioned in the article to see what investment options they had for me, a U.S. investor.

Here's what I found:

• EcoSecurities: based in Britian, sold only on one of the British stock exchanges, not registered for sale in the U.S.
• Novera Energy: based in Australia or Britian, sold only on one of the British stock exchanges, not registered for sale in the U.S., Australia, Japan or South Africa.
• Solar Integrated Technologies: Incorporated in Delaware, based in Los Angeles. Looks good, eh? Nope. Stocks are listed on one of the British stock exchanges, not registered for sale in the U.S.

What does this mean, "not registered for sale in the U.S."? It means that a U.S. citizen or someone in the U.S. can buy, sell, broker or trade these shares. Now I was getting confused. Why would a U.S. company, Solar Integrated Technologies, not make its shares available to U.S. citizens? I e-mailed the company:

Original request for info:

From: Rick ***
Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2007 9:00 AM
To: Dona ***
Subject: US investor question

Hello,

I was curious why your company, which I learned about from the internet,
does not permit investment to U.S. citizens, even though you are
incorporated in Delaware and based in Los Angeles. Can you please
provide more information so I can understand?

Thank you,
Rick ***

Round 2: Dona's response

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dona ***"
To: Rick ***
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 11:35 AM
Subject: FW: US investor question


Thank you for your interest in Solar Integrated. SIT shares are not
registered for sale in the US.

If I can be of further assistance please let me know.

Thank you,
Dona ***

My next question:

----- Original Message -----

From: "Rick ***"

To: "Dona ***"

Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 9:30 PM

Subject: Re: US investor question

> Hi Dona,
>
> Thank you for responding. I was already aware that SIT shares were not
> registered for sale in the US. I would like to know why they were not
> registered, especially since the company is a legal entity of the United
> States.
>
> Thank you,
> Rick ***

Dona's next response: {crickets chirping}


Yep, no next response. First response only took them nine days to give a non-response. When I asked for more specifics, I received no response.

Why is it that they can't be forthright? Do I need to take this up a level - to the SEC - to find out what this company doesn't want U.S. investors to know? I mean, the company deals in industrial solar panels, not some freakish, space-cadet type of product. Why not let the U.S. investor - you know, the one whose government(s) allow them operate as a business in the first place - invest in your company and your product?

I am deciding what to do next. Any ideas besides going to the SEC? Has anyone else seen or experienced the same thing?

The Constitutionality of Income Tax

Found this on the Constitution Party website. Interesting.

Investor Sanity Check

For those of you that have stuck with me for the past year or so, you know that I can get pretty snarky. I get sarcastic, play with satire, conduct "tests", and so forth. Based on the content of this post, I am compelled to issue the following:

SINCERITY ALERT!

As you read this, you may think I am conducting a test. Or that the other shoe will drop. Or that there is a "right" answer to be presented at a later date.

The reason for this post is for you to answer the question: Am I missing something?

Let me explain.

Regarding global warming, I give up. Not that I believe in global warming, not at all. Having a business sense, however, I can watch trends and sense where businesses and political organizations are heading. I'm not ready to say that the "green" industry is a hit, but the number of people and organizations jumping on the bandwagon have led me to look into investment opportunities.

Based on what I've either casually or intentionally read over the past year, I've realized that there could be some positive gains on my hard-earned money for my family. Not that I want to get in on the ground floor; I am not wealthy, so I don't have the capital to risk by being a wholesale investor (not that I'm actually qualified to be one). You won't see me invest in IPOs or subsequent stock issuances. Bonds, maybe, but my preferred investments are of the retail variety: stocks and mutual funds. In other words, I won't help a company get started, but I'll trade on the exchanges.

Thus, my growing interest in green industries. I've monitored fuel cell companies for over a year. Recently, I started looking at the carbon credit exchange programs mentioned by Al Gore to learn more about them. If the gravy train is moving on, I figured that folks that have some money to invest ought to have a way to do so.

Here's where I am stuck. I haven't found that way. A number of Google searches have educated me on what "carbon credit investing" is, but it doesn't seem to present a market, per se. It looks to be an inter-company and inter-country exchange, brokered by well-meaning, well-placed individuals. But I can't find how or where average Joe can get involved.

Hence, my request. Is something right under my nose that I'm missing, or am I reading this right, that the average Joe has no play in this game? Please send links that answer the question in either direction.

Thanks.