Blue Chips go turquoise, seek green hue and $$$

Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) unveiled its solar roof shingles, saying they'll generate $1 billion in revenue by 2015.


BP (NYSE: BP) announced it will invest $800 million to build the largest wind farm in Kansas.


GE (NYSE: GE) said it would build the largest solar factory in the United States. Larger than 11 football fields, the Colorado facility will make cadmium telluride thin-film solar cells, similar to those made by First Solar (NYSE: FSLR).

Margaret Atwood publishes book made from straw

New paper source designed to protect forests

From TheSpec.com:

Atwood special-edition book printed on straw

Author Margaret Atwood has partnered with an environmental advocacy non-profit to release a limited special edition of her new collection of essays on a pioneering form of paper.

The 300 copies of In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination that went on sale Tuesday are published on Second Harvest Paper, designed by Vancouver-based Canopy specifically for Atwood. It’s the first book in North America printed on straw.

“These pages were produced without any harmful impact on forests and their fragile ecosystems,” writes Atwood in the introduction. “Human beings need oxygen, and forests produce it; printed books require paper, but paper need not be made from virgin forests. This is an elegant solution to a pressing problem.”

Made from a combination of recycled material and the straw left over from harvesting grain, the innovative material gives the Atwood’s book half the ecological footprint of conventional paper.

“For us she was a logical person to approach to be the champion,” Canopy’s executive director, Nicole Rycroft, said of the organization’s collaboration with Atwood on the pilot project.

“We know and love her for being willing to dive out of the box and to try the unknown and to stand up for us and for our planet … . I just find it startling that in 2011 we still cut down, in Canada, 400- and 800-year-old trees to make Jackie Collins novels and bank statements, when this book proves that using straw to make paper is a viable alternative to using endangered forest.

“Using straw to make paper helps diversify the fibre basket and helps keep up to 830 million trees standing each and every year in our carbon-rich forests. At this juncture, that is really critical in terms of our keeping our climate stable.”

Although Canada is one of the world’s largest wheat-growing regions, it lacks the infrastructure to turn wheat straw into pulp, so the byproduct utilized for Atwood’s books was imported from China.

“That’s where we need government and paper industry leadership to really follow this demonstration of product viability,” explained Rycroft.

Although the digital age is upon us, the “mythical paperless office” may still be decades away, so Second Harvest Paper could have widespread uses from annual reports to toilet paper, she added.

The unique autographed copies of In Other Worlds are available at www.canopyplanet.org. With proceeds going to Canopy, the $100 price tag reflects its limited availability, said Rycroft.

“Straw paper should in fact cost no more than conventional paper,” she said

Market Timing: Is Autumn 2011 a good time to invest?

Stock markets often bottom in 3rd year of USA Presidency

Historically the best day to invest is the first Tuesday morning in December, as that allows you to avoid the fall swoon, and buy in at the end of tax loss selling, but still be in place for year end rally and January, which is usually an up month due to New year optimism.

Also historically, the 3rd year in a US Presidency is the worst year for equity markets, as the honeymoon is over, and it is too early to pump the economy for the next year's election.

So yes, an awesome time to invest in stocks is here, or close.

I'd suggest putting about 20% of your stocks allocation in now, another 30% by mid-November and be fully invested by 1st week of December.

Water and Agriculture stocks to watch

If a global water shortage and potential food supply disruptions have you concerned, why not invest in water conservation and efficient food production? A wide range of water stocks are profiled over at WaterIntell.com, and here's a new one worth looking into:


Lindsay Corp. (NYSE: LNN) manufactures efficient irrigation equipment to assist farmers in increasing productivity per acre, utilizing a minimal amount of water.

Bunge (NYSE: BG) is dedicated to improving the global agribusiness and food production chain, via four divisions: agribusiness, sugar and bioenergy, food and ingredients and fertilizer. To be honest, I'm not sure how "green" this company is, however I do believe they will benefit from their bioenergy division.

Agriculture equipment companies like Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) and Deere (NYSE: DE) are also sure to be in demand in the years and decades ahead.

FSLR worth accumulating before 2012

I have had this post on my "to-do" list for about 3 or 4 days now, ever since First Solar announced higher efficiency thin film solar cells. Still, even though the stock has gone from 59 to 73 in the past 24 hours, FSLR is a long term play that should do well in 2012.

If you have powder dry and are itching to get in, you may wanna start accumulating First Solar in the coming days and weeks, with the goal of having your full position in place by last week of November or first week of December.




Target is $120 Q1 or $140 Q2 2012.

Green Stocks to WATCH; Solar, Thorium, Clean Water

Here are a few green stocks worth keeping an eye on, and perhaps accumulating on any Autumn general market weakness (notes from company websites and Nick Hodge of Energy & Capital):


Amtech Systems (NASDAQ: ASYS), maker of the furnaces, cell transfer systems, and vapor deposition products necessary to produce today's solar panels. They win no matter which solar company wins: GE, First Solar, Sharp — it doesn't matter... They all need solar panel production equipment.


IBC Advanced Alloys (IB), is a leading manufacturer and developer of advanced alloys for the global market with a focus on specialty copper alloys and high performance beryllium aluminum castings. IBC’s engineered solutions are essential for many high technology products used in a broad range of market sectors including nuclear power, automotive, oil and gas, electronics and aerospace. Complementing the Company’s manufacturing operations are R&D programs and natural resource initiatives focused on enhancing and supporting IBC growing US manufacturing base.


Lightbridge Corp. (NASDAQ: LTBR), formerly known as Thorium Power Corp., researching thorium powered reactors, and possibly in the future, cars. According to the website txchnologist.com, owned by GE:

A 250-kilowatt unit (equivalent to about 335 horsepower) weighing about 500 pounds would be small and light enough to put under the hood of a car, Stevens claims. And because a gram of thorium has the equivalent potential energy content of 7,500 gallons of gasoline, LPS calculates that using just 8 grams of thorium in the unit could power an average car for 5,000 hours, or about 300,000 miles of normal driving.



Urban Barns (OTCBB: URBF) is the next generation of agriculture. We use advanced farming methods to grow fruits and vegetables in a controlled indoor environment, and our crop yields are much greater than a traditional greenhouse. We plan to put an Urban Barn in every major urban centre, so that our food can be on the shelf within 48 hours of being picked, for an unprecedented level of freshness and quality.


Seawater Greenhouse is a UK company not yet public, that builds greenhouses that use seawater and sunshine and produce vegetables and fresh water. A 2,000-square-meter version has already been completed in South Australia. It cost $2 million to build and will produce over 220,000 pounds of tomatoes per year. It needs no fossil fuels or pesticides, so its costs are up to 25% less than traditional greenhouses. Abu Dhabi, Oman, Jordan, and other arid countries by the sea are all in line to get them.

3 Green Microcaps for speculative investors

CAUTION: Individual equity securities are for higher-risk, longterm investors, and speculative penny stocks are extremely high risk and should only be considered for gambling money or less then 3% of an investment portfolio.

ALCL, SAVW and XPWR: Three Green Tech Stocks in the News

ALCL announced a “green” acquisition, SAVW announced that their LED lighting solutions will appear at the IFA trade show and XPWR gets itself ready for stock promotions.

By John Udovich, SmallCapNetwork.com


Atlas Capital Holdings (OTC: ALCL), SavWatt USA (OTC: SAVW) and Xzeres Corp. (OTC: XPWR) are three small cap green or clean tech stocks that recently issued press releases or had other updates to report to investors. Specifically, ALCL announced the acquisition of a maker of "green" synthetic ground cover, SAVW announced that their LED lighting solutions will appear at the IFA trade show in Berlin and XPWR will present at the Ardour Capital 9th Annual Energy Technology Conference (and gear up for promotions). Of course, there is nothing wrong with small cap green or clean tech stocks issuing press releases or updates to investors about their activities. However, its also important to remember that just one well placed or well written press release or update from a small cap green or clean tech stock like ALCL, SAVW or XPWR can send shares soaring (and likewise, cause them to sink). Hence, here is a closer look at all three to help you decide whether their recent press releases or updates warrant further due diligence:


Atlas Capital Holdings (OTC: ALCL) Acquires a “Green” Synthetic Ground Cover Maker

Atlas Capital Holdings, formerly known as Micro Mammoth Solutions, is a development stage company. On Tuesday, Atlas Capital Holdings announced a letter of intent to acquire Textraw, Inc. a Florida corporation that makes and distributes an environmentally-friendly "green" synthetic ground cover that is made from recycled materials coming from common landfill items. The COO of Atlas Capital Holdings also added that the company plans to announce additional acquisitions of providers of alternative green products and services over the next few weeks. Nevertheless, Atlas Capital Holdings fell 43.83% to $0.132 (ALCL has a 52 week trading range of $0.05 to $10.50 a share) but it appears that the stock is soaring in after hours trading. Investors should also note that on Monday, Atlas Capital Holdings also announced the hiring of an “award winning green expert” as their new COO while earlier in August, the company announced a name change to GreenTech Holdings, Inc. However and on the financial front, Atlas Capital Holdings has been fairly inactive up until the end of the 1Q2011. Hence, ALCL should be considered a very speculative green stock at this point in time.



SavWatt USA (OTC: SAVW) Announces That Their LED Lighting Solutions Will Appear at the IFA Trade Show But…

SavWatt USA focuses on developing energy-efficient and cost-effective LED lighting solutions. On Tuesday, SavWatt USA announced that their water resistant LED lights will be displayed at IFA - the world's largest trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances which will take place from September 2 to 7, 2011 in Berlin. The product itself will be available to commercial customers during the first quarter of 2012. Nevertheless, SavWatt USA fell 5% to $0.0019 on 2.5 times its normal trading volume. However, investors should note that SavWatt USA was late filing their latest 10-Q for the 2Q2011. Moreover and for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, SavWatt USA reported only $4k in revenue; net losses of $1,323k, $2,056k, $249k and $130k for the previous four quarters respectively; and $27k in cash to cover $2,029k in current liabilities – not the most exciting financial picture.



Xzeres Corp. (OTC: XPWR) Will Present at the Ardour Capital 9th Annual Energy Technology Conference (And Gears Up for Promotions)

Xzeres is a renewable energy and clean energy technology company focused on designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing distributed generation and, wind power systems for the small wind power market. On Tuesday, Xzeres announced that it will present at the Ardour Capital 9th Annual Energy Technology Conference to be held on September 16th, 2011. Xzeres’ Chairman and CEO also noted that the appearance will be the beginning of an active investment community visibility program moving forward. In other words, XPWR is gearing up to actively promote itself to investors. Nevertheless, Xzeres closed at $0.750 (XPWR has a 52 week trading range of $0.50 to $3 a share). Investors should note that for the first fiscal quarter 0f 2011, revenue rose 57% over the previous fiscal quarter to $1,017,217. However, Xzeres also has net losses of $1,999k, $1,861k, $1,272k and $1,324k for each of the last four quarters and $324k in cash to cover $1,059k in current liabilities.


The Bottom Line: As with most green or clean tech stocks, ALCL, SAVW and XPWR remain speculative investments that have the potential for big gains or losses for investors.