Batteries
There was a great article on the state of battery technology in Wired back in November. While it was focused on batteries for laptops and other electronic gadgets, it serves as a good primer for anyone who's interested in electric cars. The same principles apply.
Those of you who have The History Channel will be able to catch a peek at Hybrid Technologies Lithium ion battery in use for NASA vehicles. May 16th at 10PM on the show "Modern Marvels".
Full Disclosure: I own 26 shares of Hybrid Technologies.
And in other news, Uranium is now being traded as a commodity on the NYMEX. Jim has told us about uranium's rise in value and suggested that it would be a good investment to make. This article talks about the uranium market. I don't know if this is a good thing for the common man as the price of uranium has skyrocketed, which in turn has inspired nuclear power plant owners to push up rates to cover higher fuel costs. Of course, in regulated markets, utilities will have to eat the costs while petitioning state regulators to let them raise rates. In deregulated states, like Connecticut where we're paying 16.8 cents/kW-hr, we're eating it. Makes me yearn for the day when I can afford to generate my own electricity.
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DED
Those of you who have The History Channel will be able to catch a peek at Hybrid Technologies Lithium ion battery in use for NASA vehicles. May 16th at 10PM on the show "Modern Marvels".
Filmed at Hybrid's development facility in Mooresville, North Carolina, the episode focuses on success stories relating to NASA's highly prestigious Space Act Program. Hybrid signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA in 2006 for the development of zero-emission vehicles including the lithium-powered Smart Car, the lithium-powered PT Cruiser and the lithium-powered assault and surveillance ATV.
Full Disclosure: I own 26 shares of Hybrid Technologies.
And in other news, Uranium is now being traded as a commodity on the NYMEX. Jim has told us about uranium's rise in value and suggested that it would be a good investment to make. This article talks about the uranium market. I don't know if this is a good thing for the common man as the price of uranium has skyrocketed, which in turn has inspired nuclear power plant owners to push up rates to cover higher fuel costs. Of course, in regulated markets, utilities will have to eat the costs while petitioning state regulators to let them raise rates. In deregulated states, like Connecticut where we're paying 16.8 cents/kW-hr, we're eating it. Makes me yearn for the day when I can afford to generate my own electricity.
\_/
DED
Labels: energy, investing, technology
posted by DED at 2:18 PM
11 Comments:
nanograss kicks a$$.
That nanograss is some good $hit. Dr. Evil: Your stock is rising, Number One.
Ok, since I got called out on Uranium, here is an article I read earlier today. Hope the link works.
http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070508/34875_id.html?.v=1
Like the author, I am long DNN, among others.
http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070508/34875_id.html?.v=1
The Uranium Bull Market Is Far From Over - Two Stocks To Watch
Tuesday May 8, 9:23 am ET
David Urban submits: The Uranium bull market has been going on now for 4 or 5 years and some people think that it may be long in the tooth. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
During the 1990's, uranium and mining in general was in a global bear market. Low spot prices made mining an unprofitable activity. If you were a large cap mining company you hedged production in order to lock in revenues and kept a close eye on expenses. Breaking even was the name of the game and Greenfield exploration was out of the question. But the awakening of China and India changed everything. Industrialization and manufacturing created needs for commodities across the board and with that prices have soared. Large-cap mining companies, hesitant to remove hedges and explore new Greenfield properties, have largely missed the boat. But who can blame them? After decades of fluctuating prices they had good reason to be cautious.
Filling the gap were new, startup mining companies. Taking a different view of the global economy they went about surveying land, acquiring property, and drilling holes. Property was bought from companies who surveyed and drilled areas decades ago with the hopes of using state of the art technology to better understand the potential mineral resources lying under the surface.
Using current technology, junior mining companies were able to look deeper underground and reassess drill cores to come up with a more accurate indication of a properties value. Computers and software allowed companies to create 3D scaled maps of a resource and better understand the appropriate type of mining.
Junior resource companies raised capital through stock issuance on foreign exchanges and investors rolled the dice hoping that the company would literally and figuratively, strike gold. Gains of 500-5000% are not out of the question. The hope was that if a company struck a major deposit they could either sell the company to a major or bring the mine into production. Junior companies have also merged and created many mid-tier mining companies with the hopes of becoming a new major or a more attractive acquisition candidate.
So where does that leave us with respect to Uranium? Well, many of the junior companies were listed on the Canadian stock exchange which shares a dual listing benefit with the US. Canadian companies are granted Pink Sheet or OTC listings in the US. When people think of the Pink Sheets and OTC companies images of penny stock scams come to mind. But some of the mining companies in Canada have market caps upwards of $500 million and a billion dollars with managements who have over 50 years combined experience in the mining industry.
Being on the Pink Sheets or OTC is off the radar screen from Wall Street so coverage by the major firms is non-existent, but that is changing. Canadian mining companies are shifting their listings to the American Stock Exchange. Two recent companies are Denison Mines (AMEX: DNN - News) and Crosshair Exploration (CDNX: CXX.V - News) with more expected to follow suit.
Uranium futures started trading yesterday on the NYMEX. Later this year, Wall Street is expected to start covering the Uranium sector when enough companies have listed to make it worth the time. Ahead of this coverage, if you are looking to invest in Uranium mining companies, you might favor companies who have applications filed with any of the major US exchanges. Watch your technical charts for buying and arbitrage opportunities ahead of the listing date as brokers accumulate stock to push to clients.
Mort: I thought that you'd appreciate the battery stuff. :) I'm looking forward to the Modern Marvels episode to see the Li-ion in action. Well, actually it will just sit there....
Jim: I had to give credit where credit was due. This may be my blog but you're the one who advised me (and my readers) to look at uranium for investing. And I agree that the market is good (if not great) for investors, I just have to look at from the perspective of Joe Homeowner too. Thanks for posting the article.
I took a quick look at DNN. Not too much insider activity but the market cap looks good. They're still negative on their EPS but not by much and with uranium prices double what they were 6 months ago I'd imagine that profitability should be just around the corner. I'm going to watch this for a little bit but I'm probably going to add this to the spec portfolio.
Thanks Jim!
Ded: I'll try not to bogart your blog with Uranium...not too much anyway :) It has certainly been a hot (or should I say glowing) topic in the news more and more these days. I won't claim to be a stock prognosticator but there are others out there if your speculative portfolio can stand the volitility and you can do your own DD. And BTW, DNN is up about 8% so far today! How much did you buy anyway?
Heh, haven't bought into it yet. I just wanted to watch it. But if it's up 8% today, then maybe I'll wait for some profit taking before I jump in.
The spec portfolio doesn't have much cash in it right now. With the wife bugging me for a new car (the Honda has 120k), I really can't add much money into it. I was hoping to pick up 20 shares as that seems to be all I can swing without nixing other investments that haven't come to fruition yet.
DNN is up almost 20% in the last 3 trading days - mostly on speculation on a possible buyout, although no specific suitors that I know of. Some of the bigger boys are rumored to be "in talks" such as BHP and Rio Tinto RTP. I was no boyscout, but sometimes where there is smoke, there is fire.
Wired [link]
One more [link]
Mort: Thanks for the links. The first one looked a bit small but, as gas is $3.16/gal for regular unleaded here in CT (and we haven't even hit the summer driving season yet), there's probably a market for it.
Jim: I hear you, but I've jumped on bandwagons before and been burned. I'd hate to do it again. I'll keep an eye on it.
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