Obama Plans to Add Energy Credits to Stimulus:
Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, said Summers showed a willingness to double tax credits in the bill for renewable energy to more than $20 billion... Cantwell said senators are discussing allowing unprofitable solar and wind energy producers to cash in tax credits they otherwise wouldn’t be able to use until they become taxpayers. Senators are also considering whether to make the credits tradable, she said. bloomberg.com
(It impresses me, that they are still interested in alternatives, even as oil slides below $40. Placed orders to buy FAN at 12, 11, 10, 9. This is the first pure-play alternative-energy investment I've ever made, although I've been following the technological developments for years. GE, AMAT should also benefit. First bought GE at 23 (too early); thinking about adding to it, at 15 and 14. At $14/share, the dividend yield is 8.9% (but will they cut the dividend, as so many companies are doing?))
...big name ethanol producers are continuing to batten the hatches. In recent days, Pacific Ethanol temporarily suspended production at a California plant, bankrupt VeraSun shut down three other plants, and Aventine Renewable Holdings pushed back construction on a new plant. That followed other plant closures last month...the ethanol sector hasn’t struggled for a lack of federal support. On the contrary, ethanol has gobbled up 75% of the alternative-energy budget. Ethanol’s problems are goofy economics, as it tries to match government-mandated production with market-mandated prices. blogs.wsj.com
(Ethanol from corn is a cautionary tale for alt-energy investors, a sector that has never made money for anyone who put money into it. Ethanol from sugar cane, and cellulose in the future, could be good investments.)
...U.S. retailers are expected to begin a wave of post-holiday bankruptcy filings... online.wsj.com
TIPS “can benefit if and when the government’s efforts to reflate begin to take hold,” Gross, head of Newport Beach, California-based Pimco’s $128.4 billion Total Return Fund, wrote in a note to clients on Jan. 8. While break-even rates suggest consumer prices will fall an average of 1 percent a year for 10 years, that’s “possible, but not likely,” Gross said. bloomberg.com
The Libor-OIS spread, the difference between the three- month London interbank offered rate, or Libor, for dollars and the overnight indexed swap rate, dropped to 98 basis points. The last time it closed below 100 basis points was Sept. 12, the final working day before Lehman filed for bankruptcy... bloomberg.com
A wave of protectionism is swelling around the world that could further damage struggling economies...the World Bank forecasts that global trade will shrink by 2.1% this year, the first decline since 1982... online.wsj.com
Another major American industry is asking for assistance as the global financial crisis continues: Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis said Wednesday they will request that Congress allocate $5 billion for a bailout of the adult entertainment industry.
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