Archive for July, 2008
More bad news for the anti-ethanol crowd
USDA_DOE_biofuels_letter_61208.pdf (application/pdf Object).
The link above is the Dept. of Energy’s response to several questions concerning biofuels impact on food and energy prices. The questions are from Senator Jeff Bingaman, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The 16 page report is in question-and-answer form and here are some selected quotes:
First, the effect [...]
Big charge offs at City Bank
City Bank (CTBK: 5.50 -0.09 -1.61%) of Lynnwood, WA released their 2nd quarter earnings today, and they were not pretty. They took a large charge off and a significant portion of their loan portfolio is nonperforming. Here are a few of the pertinent figures compared to the 2nd quarter of 2007.
Net earnings of $5.3 million [...]
Gloating about SKF
I hate to do this but I feel a bit good about the fact that the Ultrashort Financials ProShares (SKF: 105.84 +3.79 +3.71%) has dropped by 35% since Tuesday. This ETF is designed to give twice the gain as the loss of the Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF: 12.45 -0.21 -1.66%). Also, double the losses [...]
Steady income in a volatile sector
What would you think of a stock that had the following characteristics:
Current yield: 7.7%
No dividend quirks: Not a LP, MLP or foreign stock with withholding rules.
Steady dividend growth: 2004: $1.55 per share, 2005: $2.00 per share, 2006: $2.09 per share, 2007: $2.20 per share and a minimum of $2.27 for 2008.
The quarterly dividend has never [...]
Majority of Americans prefer ethanol
Renewable Fuels Association poll results
The Renewable Fuels Association contracted a pair of polling firms to survey voters beliefs on ethanol as a renewable fuel. Two firms were selected to get both Democratic and Republican opinion. The opening paragraph of the report, linked above, gives the results:
The on-going campaign to force the nation to revisit [...]
