I checked a book out from the library a few weeks ago called “Green Investing” by Jack Uldrich. When checking out this book I was hoping to find some ideas on companies that were in the business of producing environmentally friendly products and services. This book was full of good information on that subject.
The book was divided into nine different chapters. Each chapter discussed different companies within a certain part of the “green industries.” To better make my point, the following is a list of chapters in the book:
- Green Investing: A Long-Term Trend
- Due Diligence: Do Your Homework
- The Big Dogs: The Fortune 500 Companies
- Biofuels: Fuel of the Future?
- Solar: Heating up or Flaming Out?
- Wind Power: The Sky is the Limit
- “Alternative” Alternative Energies: Geothermal, Fuel Cells, Wave Power, & Clean Coal
- The Cleanest form of Energy: Energy Conservation
- Tracking Cleantech and Building Your Own Cleantech Mutual Fund.
In each of the main chapters, Uldrich gives an extensive list of the companies that are poised to excel in this field. He gives the trading symbol and market (if applicable) for each company. He also gives a website as well. Each company also receives a short description, reasons to be bullish, reasons to be bearish, what to watch for, and a conclusion.
It is nice that Uldrich has done all the hard work for you. He has weeded out the bad companies so that you can focus more of your time on the good ones. This book was published in 2008, so it is very up to date.
One thing that I did not like about the book was that there were a decent amount of companies that were either private companies, or could only be traded in foreign markets. To me, it would be hard to invest in either a private company or one that only traded on a foreign market. I guess if you have the money to invest you can probably find a way though.
In conclusion, I think this book is an excellent primer to the world of green investing. Uldrich has done most of the hard work for you. Now, the investor only needs to find a company that they like and decide if it is worth investing in.
Personal Finance, Reviews, Stocks
green investing, investing, Stocks, trading
Living in a state that borders Canada, it is not uncommon to see many Canadian license plates as you drive around. Lately though, it seems like I have seen an increasing amount of Canadian license plates. Last week I was shopping at a local outlet mall and I noticed that about every other car had a Canadian license plate.
There are a couple of factors that contribute to the increase in Canadian visitors to our state.
- Their dollar has reached parity with ours, and we sell many things for cheaper prices than they would find in their homeland.
- Our state has much lower sales taxes, thus lowering the purchase price.
- Not all American brands are sold in Canada.
I am not the only person who has noticed this. In a recent article in the Bellingham Herald by Dave Gallagher (Bellingham is about 20 miles from the Canadian border), they state that “we have the Canadians to thank for strong retail sales numbers during the holiday shopping season.” In college I worked at a restaurant that was near the mall (2004-2007), and observed each weekend the large number of Canadians that would come in to eat after they were done shopping for the day. In December of 2006, the exchange rate hovered around $1.15 CAD per $1 USD. Back then there were a lot of Canadian shoppers. Today the two currencies are as close to equal as you could possibly get. Today’s prices are about a 13% decrease from what they were a year and a half ago for them.
The closer a town is to the border, the greater the increase in total sales were. “While the state average increase (in sales) was just 2.7 percent, Bellingham was up 7.4 percent. The border towns of Blaine (up 12 percent), Lynden (up 12.8 percent) and Sumas (up 18.2 percent) saw a big boost in sales during the holiday season.” For those not familiar with the area of Northwest Washington, the towns of Blaine, Lynden and Sumas are not very large at all, and are definitely not considered “shopping destinations.” I feel that a major reason that sales in those towns rose so much was because Canadians were driving across the border to fill up on the cheaper gas. According to the article, “The price of gas in Canada is around $1.19 a liter, or $4.50 a gallon.” While Whatcom county typically has the highest gas prices in the state, these prices are at least $.50/gallon cheaper than our neighbors to the north pay.
Any theories on how low the dollar will go against the Canadian dollar this year? My guess is $1 USD = $.85 CAD. This is not based on any intense calculation of any sort. This is just a hunch.
Here is a thumbnail of what Whatcom county looks like so that you can see the relationship between these border towns and Canada. This image was obtained from dickmartin.com.
Currency, Random
, canadian dollar, Currency, exchange rate, us dollar
As an employee of a financial institution I have the ability to view prospective member’s credit reports. It is amazing how many people are in collections from the library. Did you know that not repaying that nominal library charge for turning in your books is actually hurting your credit scores? What do you think lenders think when they see that you have been in collections with the library for the past two years over an $80 fee? If you can’t repay the library (who lets you read their books for free), why would you repay your normal debts at an institution?
Before you decide to not pay your library fee out of principle, remember that potential creditors have the ability to see this and it will hurt your credit score. Lower credit scores equate to higher rates on your loans. You will easily pay over $80 in additional interest with a higher rate loan. Do the smart thing, pay off your library fees because they may come back to haunt you.
Credit, Personal Finance
collections, Credit, credit report, fee, interest rate, library
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