Steven Thorpe

“This makes sense. The underwriters of the IPO, led by Goldman Sachs, could only support the shares for so long before market forces took over. And the market, in turn, has shown intense skepticism for cleantech stocks over the past five years.

It’s a pattern most visible with IPOs of solar companies. In 2004 and 2005, there was a golden age of growth for solar companies, with big venture capital investments. In 2006, there was a strong wave of such IPOs, and their stock prices fizzled within six months. This year, again, solar company Solyndra had to pull its IPO. The problem then, as now, was always the same: high costs and low profits. Clean technology is expensive, and it doesn’t have the benefit of the extensive government subsidies that go to fossil fuels like oil.”

A short but great article on Forbes.com regarding IPOs of cleantech companies – http://wallstreet.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/07/07/tesla-motors-not-so-different-after-all/?source=yahoo_quote

NEW YORK (AFP) – Wall Street prepares to close out 2009 on an upbeat note with the market holding hefty gains from a stunning comeback following a disastrous start to the year.

The stock market enters the final week of trading at its highs for the year on the heels of a stunning nine-month rally that lifted the main indexes from their lowest levels in over a decade.

The final four trading days of the year in the upcoming holiday-shortened week are expected to see light activity and a favorable mood, with the market enjoying a so-called Santa Claus rally.

In the holiday week ending Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.85 percent to 10,520.10, its best level in nearly 15 months.

The tech-rich Nasdaq composite meanwhile rallied 3.35 percent to 2285.69 and the broad Standard & Poor’s 500 index advanced 2.18 percent to 1,126.48.

Fred Dickson, market strategist at DA Davidson & Co., said the mood on Wall Street should remain positive through the coming week.

“Trading activity should pick up next week as investors make last minute portfolio changes like tax-loss sales and portfolio rebalancing,” he said.

“We still expect to see the minor Santa Claus rally continue through New Year’s Eve.”

Continue reading – http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091225/bs_afp/stocksusweekly_20091225174912

PARIS (AFP) – France will follow Britain and slap a 50 percent tax on bankers’ bonuses above 27,500 euros (40,000 dollars), Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Wednesday.

Lagarde told reporters after a cabinet meeting that a bill detailing the new tax would be presented to parliament in January.

“The banks will see their bonuses of more than 27,500 euros taxed in 2010 and it will be a 50 percent tax,” she said.

Britain announced the new tax last Wednesday, arguing that it would help recoup cash spent rescuing the financial sector after the 2008 financial meltdown.

The British move came amid public fury over a decision by 70 percent government-owned Royal Bank of Scotland to award some 1.5 billion pounds in bonuses for senior staff.

Continue reading - http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091216/ts_afp/francebritainfinancebankingregulate_20091216121119

It’s generally known that men are hard-wired to be bigger risk takers than women (due to all that extra testosterone they have sloshing around). Interestingly, though, in a profession that is all about risk — hedge fund manager — testosterone may not be such a good thing. A new study by Hedge Fund Research found that, from January 2000 through May 31, 2009, hedge funds run by women delivered nearly double the investment performance of those managed by men. Female managers produced average annual returns of 9%, versus 5.82% for men. Not only that, in 2008, when financial markets were cratering, funds run by women were down 9.6%, compared to a 19% decline for men.

Continue reading – http://www.businessweek.com/careers/workingparents/blog/archives/2009/12/its_generally_k.html

US bank Goldman Sachs has said that its 30 top executives will not receive any cash bonuses in 2009.

All bonuses will be in the form of restricted shares, which cannot be sold for five years.

The new policy is aimed at discouraging excessive risk-taking in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Goldman said it believed its compensation policy “incentivises behaviour that is in the public’s and our shareholders’ best interests”.

Shareholders will be able to vote on the policy at the bank’s annual meeting next year.

“By subjecting our compensation principles and executive compensation to a shareholder advisory vote, we are further strengthening our dialogue with shareholders on the important issue of compensation,” said Goldman chief executive Lloyd Blankfein.

The company will also be able to recapture the shares if employees engage in improper risk-taking.

Goldman has come under criticism for setting aside nearly $17bn (£10.5bn) in the first three quarters of 2009 to cover pay and bonuses, despite receiving a $10bn US government bail-out.

The bank has since repaid the government loan.

Goldman shares were down 81 cents at $165.63 in midday trade in New York.

The UK government said that bankers in the UK who receive bonuses over £25,000 this year would be taxed at 50% “regardless of if they are in cash, shares, or any other form”.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8406860.stm

Former Federal Reserve Chief Paul Volcker isn’t afraid to speak his mind. At The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Finance Initiative he tossed a few broadsides at a group of financial executives and policy makers.

The group had gathered to come up with suggested reforms that would help prevent a future financial calamity. Mr. Volcker’s verdict: “Your response I can only say, is inadequate. You have not come anywhere close.”

Mr. Volcker, who also chairs President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, had a few other choice comments. Among them:

“I wish somebody would give me some shred of evidence linking financial innovation with a benefit to the economy.”

Mr. Volcker’s favorite financial innovation of the past 25 years? The ATM. “It really helps people, it’s useful.”

In addition, he railed against financial system compensation plans and said it had grown too large.

His idea of reform? A return of something like Glass-Steagall. Commercial banks should be tightly regulated as well as protected. Trading, speculation and financial innovation should live outside those companies so that if they fail, they fail.

While many resist this idea, Mr. Volcker had few doubts. “I’m not alone in this and I think I’m probably going to win in the end.”

Mario Draghi, governor of the Bank of Italy and Chairman of the Financial Stability Board, followed Mr. Volcker. His opening comment: “I have to say I agree with [Mr.] Volcker.”

BEIJING (Reuters) – China on Tuesday executed a former securities trader for embezzlement, the first person in the industry to be put to death, but millions of yuan are still missing, a state newspaper said.

Yang Yanming was sentenced to death in late 2005 and took the secret of the whereabouts of 65 million yuan ($9.52 million) of the misappropriated funds to his grave, the Beijing Evening News said.

The report added that Yang was the first person working in China’s securities sector to be executed.

“Preserve your moral integrity and don’t set too much store by business results,” Yang told the newspaper before the sentence was carried out.

He was the general manager of the Beijing securities trading department of the China Great Wall Trust and Investment Corp., which became Galaxy Securities, from 1997 to 2003.

Conscious that the growing gap between rich and poor could generate resentment, China is battling corruption and stock trading abuses. It has used the death penalty as a deterrent in serious cases.

Source – http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5B71VC20091208

A look at nuclear energy production and policies in selected countries around the world, as the UK government announces its long-term nuclear energy plans -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7179189.stm

“It’s no longer “Sir” Allen Stanford. The panel that approves candidates for knighthood in the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda has voted to rescind the honor granted to Texas financier R. Allen Stanford in 2006.

The chairwoman of the National Honors Committee says the panel voted unanimously to revoke Stanford’s title. Jacqui Quinn-Leandro said today the panel took the action because of the embarrassment Stanford caused the country with the alleged Ponzi scheme he ran from his Antigua-based offshore bank.”

via DealBreaker.com

“So be Patriotic. Go out there and get rich.  Get so obnoxiously rich that when that tax bill comes, your first thought will be to choke on how big a check you have to write.  Your 2nd thought will be “what a great problem to have”, and your 3rd should be a recognition that in paying your taxes you are helping to support millions of Americans that are not as fortunate as you.”

- Mark Cuban