Might I state the obvious this morning – this shutdown thing bothers me. Okay, so it is obvious to me because I am sitting here in my skin, and you are not, although you might have known this from my writing over the last three days.
- Asian stocks were pegged back on Friday, with Japanese shares hitting a near four-week low and the dollar languishing around an eight-month trough as the U.S. budget standoff dragged on.
“Dragged on” is appropriate. I have an image in my head of the first bipedal humans dragging their knuckles along the ground behind them.
- House Speaker John Boehner has reportedly told Republicans that he won’t allow the U.S. to default, and if necessary, will use GOP and Democratic votes to increase the debt ceiling. Boehner is also looking to negotiate a combined deal for passing budget legislation and raising the cap.
Given the state of the media today, one finds the above hopeful at best, but wouldn’t it be nice if it were true that the US Speaker of the House actually acted like a statesman and ended the stupidity? Well, one can hope, yes?
- Samsung Electronics Co Ltd estimated its July-September earnings rose 25 percent to a record $9.4 billion.
My word! Samsung has really taken the world by storm. The juggernaut that is Samsung is rolling right through the marketplace and taking no prisoners. Aside from that, the company is a bellwether of sorts, given that its huge sales suggest the technology sector is doing just fine, along with US auto, housing, construction, retail sales, and, manufacturing.
Oh! And speaking of the financial crisis, and one of the first cities in the US to fall into disrepute regarding its finances and, arguably, the first city to send the hilltop screamers to the highest peaks to announce our doom …
- Stockton, California’s city council approved a plan on Thursday for the city to adjust its debt to exit from bankruptcy after reaching a deal with bond insurer Assured Guaranty to restructure more than $150 million of outstanding debt.
- The deal marks the end of a long and often bitter fight between Stockton and its biggest bond insurers since the city filed for bankruptcy last year and stunned the U.S. municipal debt market with threats of forcing losses on bondholders while leaving pension payments intact.
The above is more good news and it is support for my consistent argument that the market is headed for a long uphill trek, once the knuckle draggers In Washington D.C. see the light and relent. Remember Meredith Whitney?
Now, on to another good news story …
It fits into my recent writing about the fracking boom and how there is money to be made in them thar equipment makers for fracking companies. It appears there is an offshoot to that idea.
- When Connie Jones arrives home from her job as an information technology manager in Chandler, Arizona, she parks her car in her garage and fills it up with natural gas. It is a convenience that relatively few Americans can enjoy.
Yup, that is the bad news of the moment. Filling your car up with natural gas in your garage overnight for a cost of about $1.40 per gallon is expensive.
- “Affordable home refueling is the missing link to public adoption of natural gas vehicles in far greater numbers,” said Curtis Martin, program director of the government-funded Clean Cities Coalition in Antelope Valley, California.
I need to add to the above, “at the moment.”
- That may soon change. As the U.S. natural gas drilling boom pushes output to record highs and promises sustained lower prices, General Electric Co, Whirlpool Corp, Eaton Corp and others are developing more affordable home refueling systems. For about a tenth of the price of current models, plus installation, they aim to sell the new units to the millions of homes across America already hooked up to natural gas supplies.
Get ready America, the 21st century energy wave is looming large and soon it will break upon the shore with a crash. Imagistic writing aside, the fact is that America is beginning to lead the world in stepping away from oil and utilizing cleaner energy to power everything. Natural gas is one huge step in that direction.
GE and Eaton are big boys, so start looking at the structural components of their empires to find opportunity. It is out there, so while the Neanderthals are swinging their clubs, you need to go searching for the bounty.
Man-oh-man, I just can’t help myself.
Trade in the day; Invest in your life …
