China Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development Report: February 2008

China Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development Report: February 2008

As China's appetite for energy continues to grow, so too does its implementation of renewable energy. The country's wind, biomass and solar industries are moving at an impressive pace -- officials are planning to generate roughly 120,000 megawatts (MW) from renewable resources by 2020.

The monthly China Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development Report (below) from China Strategies, LLC covers the latest political, financial and technological developments in China's rapidly growing renewable energy industries. The report examines the month's activities for policy makers, non-governmental organizations, companies doing business in China, and other interested parties.

In the February edition of the China Report, author Lou Schwartz writes about China's State Electricity Regulatory Commission releasing documents the extent of disruption that the weather disaster of January and February 2008 caused as well as a look at the status of the various renewable energy industries in the country.

Lou Schwartz, president of China Strategies, LLC, and publisher of China Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development Report, earned degrees in East Asian Studies from the University of Michigan and Harvard University where he studied Chinese language and literature, economics and law, among other disciplines. Lou also earned a J.D. from George Washington University Law School. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Lou has worked on various matters involving China's legal system, economic development, trade and investment while with a large U.S. law firm and currently as President of China Strategies, LLC.

Document

A Tale of Two Metals

A Tale of Two Metals
by Sean Brodrick



"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," Charles Dickens famously wrote. That certainly describes markets nowadays, doesn't it?

Heck, Ben Bernanke chopped both the fed funds rate and the discount rate by 75 basis points yesterday — another indication of just how bad things have really gotten.

In the "worst of times" column:

The dollar, which is on the Slip n' Slide of doom! It hit new lows against the euro and multi-decade lows against the yen this week.

Stocks, which get shellacked, snap back, and then get shellacked again.

The housing market, which remains in freefall.

The credit crisis, which continues to spread.

And real inflation that continues to rocket higher!

Where are the best of times, you ask? In commodities investments! We've recently seen $111-a-barrel oil, $1,000-an-ounce gold and $21-an-ounce silver. This is no great surprise: As anxiety and panic reign on Wall Street, commodities (i.e. "real assets") move higher as investors rush to safety. While commodities have pulled back from their highs, it's probably a pullback you can buy.

However, not all metals are created equal. There are some, one in particular, that I definitely like right now, and at least one that I wouldn't touch.

So sit back, lend an ear, and let me tell you a tale of two metals ...

The Best of Metals: Gold

My top pick among not just metals, but all commodities, is gold. Reason: I firmly believe it's in a powerful up-trend.

And sure enough, gold showed the most strength on Monday when traders were selling EVERYTHING else — stocks because financials are going up in smoke, and commodities to cover their losses in financials.

Plus, there are the bullish long-term forces driving gold higher as well. Forces including ...

Bullish Long-Term Force #1:
The Supply-Demand Gap

Global spending for the exploration of nonferrous metals (mostly gold and silver) hit $9.99 billion in 2007 — up 33% from the previous year and way, way up from the $1.9 billion spent in 2002. Despite that, AND soaring prices, gold production actually dropped to a 10-year low.

Why is production falling while spending and prices are rising? Because for decades, there was under-investment in exploration, and it can take seven to 10 years to bring a new mine on line. The dearth of spending for so many years has opened a large gap in exploration and development.

Gold production may go up a little this year, if everything goes right. The problem with mining is that things often go wrong.

And demand isn't going to wait ...

Bullish Long-Term Force #2:
Gold ETFs are buying big-time!

The streetTRACKS Gold Shares ETF now holds 653 metric tonnes of gold. This puts it far ahead of many Central banks, including those of the Netherlands, China, Russia, as well as the European Central Bank.

Add in gold demand from other ETFs around the world and ETFs are quite a force. And they're going to get bigger. The World Gold Trust, the sponsor of the world's largest gold ETF, forecasts a 30% increase in their gold ETF products this year.

According to data from the World Gold Council, jewelry demand is rising as well, despite higher gold prices. And demand from the Middle East and Asia is just starting to hit its stride.

Bullish Long-Term Force #3:
The Swooning U.S. Dollar

I take no joy in saying this — I have greenbacks in my wallet, too — but the U.S. dollar is being beaten so badly that one of these mornings I expect to turn on the TV and find out that Treasury secretary Hank Paulson has taken Ol' Greenback out behind the shed to shoot it and put it out of its misery.

Since the Bush administration took office, the U.S. Dollar Index has tumbled 36%. It's down more than 6% just this month! Recession fears are driving the greenback lower as jobs disappear, home prices fall, consumer confidence plummets, and big financial institutions go belly-up.

And this latest fiasco with Bear Sterns is an indicator that the dollar could go downhill in a hurry. The Fed is putting itself on the hook for all the "toxic waste" debt that the big investment banks are sitting on; accepting this paper as collateral for loans to prevent the banks from becoming insolvent.

How can they do that? By cranking the printing presses into overdrive!

You can gnash your teeth about the Good-Time Charlies in Washington spending your money so freely, or you can just do the smart thing and buy gold.

We recently saw crude oil get back to its inflation-adjusted high from the 1970s oil crisis. Do you know how high gold would have to go to get back to its inflation-adjusted high? $2,271.59! I think gold has a bit longer to run!

One way to play it is through the big daddy of the gold exchange traded funds, the GLD. And since the current financial crisis will likely get worse before it gets better, this might be one of the times when you want to own gold bullion.

Gold isn't your only choice, of course. While the yellow metal is up 19.3% so far this year (through Monday's close), copper is up 22.4% ... nickel is up 23.4% ... and silver is up 36.3%. Most metals are GREAT investments, and should remain so for the rest of the year.

The Worst of Metals: — Platinum

It was just a month ago that I wrote about how hot platinum was.


South Africa produces 80% of world's platinum. Power shortages in that country cut platinum production by 16% in January. No wonder platinum surged 36% this year through the end of last week.

But the wheel turns, and now the white-hot metal is cooling off big-time. Going forward, it could be in for a precipitous drop.

The demand picture for platinum hasn't changed much since I wrote about it back in February. What is changing is supply and speculator sentiment.

The South African power utility, ESKOM, says it is coming to grips with the power shortage. What's more, South Africa is so concerned about the hard times for miners that it may drop plans to impose a royalty tax on mining companies. And lower taxes may encourage higher metal production.

This doesn't affect the short-term outlook on platinum, of course. But it is enough to send skittish hedge funds piling OUT of platinum the same way they piled in just a couple months ago.

And technically speaking, platinum's chart is sounding a big "sell" warning. It broke through support, which then turned into overhead resistance. It has weakness down to about $1,650, and perhaps lower.

Of course, this is only a short-term outlook. Next month, the lights might go off in South Africa again and the government there could decide platinum miners need to pay MORE taxes. And then we can ride the metal higher again.

Because that's the thing about metals — nowadays, even the worst of them is better than the best financial stock!

Mortgage applications fell 2.9% last week: MBA

Mortgage applications fell 2.9% last week: MBA

By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
March 19, 2008
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Applications filed for mortgages fell a seasonally adjusted 2.9% last week even as interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages declined, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

Fed delivers 3/4 point cut

Fed delivers 3/4 point cut

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday slashed U.S. interest rates by a hefty three-quarters of a percentage point, giving a lift to a Wall Street already jubilant over stronger-than-expected investment bank earnings.

National Poison Prevention Week

National Poison Prevention Week
Poison Control Basics


National Poison Prevention Week is observed during the third week of March each year. According to the Poison Prevention Week Council, National Poison Prevention Week is a good time to "highlight the dangers of poisonings and how to prevent them."
This year's date for National Poison Prevention Week is March 16-22, 2008. It is a good time to think about how to protect your children from poisoning, a common cause of preventable injury to a child.

The basic theme of National Poison Prevention Week is "Children Act Fast...So Do Poisons!"

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, things that you can do to decrease the chance of your children being poisoned include:

Keep all chemicals and medicines locked up and out of sight.
Use child-resistant packaging properly by closing the container securely after each use or choosing child-resistant blister cards, which do not need to be re-secured.
Call 1 (800) 222-1222 immediately in case of poisoning. Keep in mind that the AAP no longer recommends that you keep a bottle of ipecac syrup at home to induce vomiting.
Be careful of look-alikes, including household cleaners that look like Gatorade and other drinks and could be ingested if not secured away from your children.
When products are in use, never let young children out of your sight, even if you must take them along when answering the phone or doorbell.
Keep items in original containers.
Leave the original labels on all products, and read the label before using.
Do not put decorative lamps and candles that contain lamp oil where children can reach them. Lamp oil can be very toxic if ingested by young children.
Always leave the light on when giving or taking medicine. Check the dosage every time.
Avoid taking medicine in front of children. Refer to medicine as "medicine," not "candy."
Clean out the medicine cabinet periodically and safely dispose of unneeded and outdated medicines.
Many parents are careful about childproofing the inside of their home, but what about your garage or storage shed? Many things in your garage, such as charcoal lighter, paint thinner and remover, gasoline, antifreeze and turpentine, are very poisonous and can cause serious injury or death to children. It is important to keep these things secure and out of reach of children. Also be sure to store them in their original containers.
Other household products that can injure children if ingested, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, include 'moth balls, furniture polish, drain cleaners, weed killers, insect or rat poisons, lye, paint thinners, and dishwasher detergent'.

Even if you don't have young children living in your home, if there is any chance that young children may visit or spend time in your home, then it would be a good idea to keep your home childproofed. Also make sure that any home you visit with your children is child and poison proofed.

Are Your Bank Deposits Now at Risk?

Are Your Bank Deposits Now at Risk?
By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud

Investment bank Bear Stearns vaporized yesterday... On Friday, it was worth $20 billion. As of yesterday, it's basically worthless.

Bear Stearns has 14,000 employees, and many loyal, long-time workers saw their kids' college funds vaporize in a day.

The question is, are you and I at risk here? If Bear Stearns can vaporize in a day, then can your bank too? Can Bank of America, for example, end up the same way Bear Stearns did? Are our bank deposits now at risk? And is there anything we should do to protect ourselves?

I posed these questions to two top executives from different banks yesterday.

These questions would have seemed crazy just a year ago. But financial institutions do fail, actually... The savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s cost taxpayers $125 billion in government money. More than 1,000 institutions went under, and federal deposit guarantees kicked in to save investors' deposits.

Both bank executives I talked to yesterday were quick to emphasize that "regular banks" are quite different from "investment banks." In other words, Bank of America can't vaporize like Bear Stearns did.

Regular banks (like Bank of America) are heavily monitored by many levels of banking regulators. Investment banks (like Bear Stearns) are not regulated by bankers... They're not officially banks. Importantly, regular banks can easily tap additional resources by going directly to the Federal Reserve.

So Bank of America won't disappear overnight. But still, you can give yourself some extra protection...

You probably know that your bank deposits are protected up to $100,000 by the government. But what exactly does this mean? For example, if you have a $100,000 checking account and a $100,000 CD at the same bank, does that mean you're protected up to $200,000? The answer is no, actually – it's $100,000 for you, PER BANK.

That "per bank" part is the important part. Frank Trotter, founder of EverBank, said to me yesterday, "It's never a bad idea to spread your deposit assets around."

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) guarantees you $100,000 worth of deposits per bank. But what if you have more money... substantially more? To be as close to 100% protected as possible, you could put up to $100,000 in different banks.

Frank Trotter had one suggestion: "Put your first $100,000 in the bank you do business with. Then, if you're worried, and you don't want to open a bunch of different accounts, you could do something like our Insured Advantage CDs."

Now this is a nifty idea... You can put millions into an Insured Advantage CD and have it all FDIC insured. What EverBank does is spread your money around to several community banks... In essence, if you invested a million dollars in an Insured Advantage CD, you'd have an account at 10 different banks, with each $100,000 insured by the FDIC. You'd get one statement from EverBank.

Of course, this CD pays a bit less interest. But it does provide some peace of mind... It's an interesting idea, at the very least.

But please don't jump to any "Chicken Little" conclusions here... I'm not predicting a string of bank failures... or the potential loss of your deposits above $100,000. I just wanted to get to the bottom of what the logical extreme looked like, and what to do about it.

As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The ounce of prevention is simply spreading your banking deposits around a bit to have them 100% FDIC insured. While chances are good you'll never need the prevention, it's not hard to do.

Isn't it worth it, to have all your bank deposits government guaranteed?

Good investing,

Steve

Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies
Ron Paul: Making a Recession Great
Great reading from a post in the Free the Market Man on March 17th, 2008, one of our "Favorite Links". Free the Market Man



By Dr. Ron Paul,

House Democrats recently adopted a budget with massive tax hikes, many of which are directed at those Americans who can least afford them. By allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010, this budget will raise income taxes not only on those in the highest income brackets, but raises the lowest bracket from 10% to 15% as well. Estates would again be taxed at 55%. The child tax credit would drop from $1000 to $500. Senior citizens relying on investment income would be hurt by increases in dividend and capital gains taxes. It’s not just that the Democrats want to raises taxes on the rich. They want to raises taxes on everybody.

The problem is, policing the world is expensive, and if elected officials insist upon continuing to fund our current foreign policy, the money has to come from somewhere. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have already cost us over $1 trillion. The Democrats’ budget gives the President all the funding he needs for his foreign policy, so one wonders how serious they ever were about ending the war. While Democrats propose to tax and spend, many Republicans aim to borrow and spend, which hurts the taxpayer just as much in the long run.

Supporting a welfare state is expensive as well. Over half of our budget goes to mandatory entitlements. The total cost of government now eats up over half of our national income, as calculated by Americans for Tax Reform, and government is growing at an unprecedented rate. Our current financial situation is completely untenable, and the worst part is, as government is becoming more and more voracious, the economy is shrinking.

The bottom line is that Washington has a serious spending addiction. While both parties debate how to raise the revenue, both parties seem happy to spend over $3 trillion of your money in various ways. While some in Washington criticize the war in Iraq, very few are criticizing the interventionist mindset that got us into the war in the first place. Many so-called “Iraq War critics,” criticize this administration rather than truly opposing the decades old policies that led to war. They claim they will eventually get the troops out of Iraq, but the danger is that they simply plan to move them around to other countries, not bring them home. The American people want peace. Minding our own business is the best way to achieve it. Not only is it also a whole lot cheaper, but free trade and friendship with other countries benefits all involved.

This spending spree is exactly the wrong policy for an economy on the brink of recession. History has shown that all empires eventually crumble under a worthless currency and with an exhausted military. Since too many of our nation’s leaders haven’t taken the time to learn from history, we are seeing mistakes repeated through recently enacted policies such as the new House budget