Everyone is petrified of losing even more money than they have already lost. Yes, I mean even more, because I do not think that that there is anyone out there who has not lost something in this crazy whirlwind of stock market yo-yo-ing lately. And by anyone, I mean the average Joe out there…I am not referring to ex Lehman folks who have lost all of what they worked for these last several years, or the Morgan Stanley/Goldman Sachs folks who seem to be following in footsteps of their cousins at Lehman.
The good news is that according to Ron Lieber, NYTimes money guru, some investments might just be safe. “Banks like HSBC Direct and Capital One are offering online savings accounts paying more than 3 percent,” says Lieber. “These accounts have all the normal Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation protections of at least $100,000. Also, the Treasury Department is currently insuring investors who had holdings in money market mutual funds as of Sept. 19, as long as the fund company pays to participate.” (NYTimes.com: Your Money, September 29 2008)
The bad news is that when it comes to investing in stocks….or wondering which stocks are going to hold up…hmmm well don’t hold your breath on that one!
Now might just be the time to think greener when it comes to your investment strategy than you have before. The U.S. Senate just passed, at long last, extensions of crucial renewable energy investment tax credits and other goodies to goose green tech, such as a tax credit worth up to $7,500 for buyers of plug-in electric cars. Solar projects, for instance, would qualify for a 30% investment tax credit through 2016.
According to the New York Times, “supporters of the bailout proposal had argued that it was necessary to avoid a collapse of the economic system, a calamity that would drag down not just Wall Street investment houses but possibly the savings and portfolios of millions of Americans. Opponents said the bill was cobbled together in too much haste and might amount to throwing good money from taxpayers after bad investments from Wall Street gamblers.”
Ironically though most Californian democrats have been up in arms about the Fed bailing out the financial industry with taxpayer dollars, the vote to decline it has been purely republican! We are back to the essences of what the fiscal conservatives actually stand for. Even the bailout plan promised relief in the short term, its sustainability over the long term has been seriously questioned by many. As House Representative, Steny Hoyer says, “When it comes to America’s economy, none of us is an island.” The last thing we need is more of a domino effect on the economy.
Wachovia has just managed to save itself from the fiasco by selling tis assets to Citigroup. But as usual, the word on Wall Street is ‘Who’s next?” These last few days there has been speculation that Goldman Sachs would be severely impacted….negatively that is…if the bailout plan did not go through. Don’t you think it is interesting then ‘King Henry’ Paulsen was adamantly pushing the plan….after all he is Goldman Sachs alum!
As an Indian, I have to say that I have a big soft spot for fashion that is inspired by or connected to South Asia. One thing I definitely missed about living in India when my kids were younger, was the opportunity to shop for them in the bazaars of New Delhi and Calcutta like my mom did for me.
So, I was absolutely thrilled to receive an email the other day from Sonia Gupta, a mom entrepreneur in Massachusetts, who has recently launched My Little Pakora, a website with Organic Baby Clothing and information on green living.
Her motivation?
“As parents, we all want to raise our children in the healthiest way we can,” says Gupta. “By combining the traditions of no-Western cultures with the latest information about organic living, My Little Pakora gives parents unique ideas, education and practical support to help them live healthier for their own families and the larger environment.”
Gupta left a high powered career in startup technology companies around the Greater Boston area to form this online organic baby clothing retailer and multicultural resource center that blends the latest information about sustainable lifestyles with the cultural traditions of South Asia. I say more people should leave their autopilot careers to do interesting things like Gupta. We certainly have a need for it.
A pakora is an Indian snack, similar to a fritter. Like many other South Asian parents, Gupta has used the word as an endearing term for her child. Hence the name of her clothing line. Gupta’s collection is too cute to express in words. Alas…my kids are growing out of their too cute to express in words phase but I am sure that plenty of moms out there South Asian or not can benefit from Gupta’s unique organic baby line!
First the Indian government releases its new biofuels policy setting a target of 20% ethanol and 20% biodiesel blending by 2017. The policy is questionable because as we all know, India is already suffering an inflation in food prices. While the new policy requires fuel crops are to be grown only on “waste lands”, we all know that Indian farmers work in their own economic interest. If they get more money from oilseeds, then that’s what they will look to cultivate.
Companies Milk the Biofuels Policy
Then companies like Bharat Petroleum and the Khaitan Group decide to get in on the act. Although jatropha has been recognized as a ‘toxic’ plant for years, it is suddenly in vogue and every big renewable energy player wants to invest in jatropha plantations. Now you tell me…which way are those farmers going to turn?
Tata To Make Sweet Sorghum Ethanol
The Tata group is taking a different approach by investing in sweet sorghum for ethanol. According to International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), based in Hyderabad, said that sweet sorghum is ideal as a “food and fuel” crop for India, based on the plant providing 8 units of energy for every unit of fossil-fuel energy invested. Unlike jatropha which is grown on contentious wastelands, sorghum is grown in hilly and semi-arid areas where food crops have low yields that are not commercially viable.
Investing in biofuels is fast becoming a new fashion statement for renewable energy players? Who will come walking down the ramp next?
If there is one piece of animation that always puts a smile on my face, it’s Gorilla in the Greenhouse, a fun animation about Kijani, a wise green gorilla from the Congo basin and his four super eco San Francisco friends who get together to tackle environmental problems caused by the zany plans of Wormulus, a a power hungry worm.
The first episode known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is about the north pacific gyre, a swirling current in the Pacific ocean that macerates pieces of plastic down to sizes small enough to be swallowed by marine animals. Not to mention endanger their health. Recently an environmentalist duo, Marcus and Joel, from Southern California, decided to sail across the Pacific Ocean on a junk raft made from plastic bottles and recycled sailboat masts to raise awareness about plastics polluting our oceans.
What I love about Gorilla in the Greenhouse is not just its great environmental message but also its ‘Jack Johnson’ like music (the music director is actually a great guy called Vir McCoy from Marin). The songs are so entirely addictive that I have actually made one of them, Bag the Bag (The Gyre Song) my cell phone ring tone!
If you have kids, then definitely get them to check out www.greengorilla.com not just to see the show but also to take a look at the great kids’ activities on the site. And for teachers, this great website for kids even includes a lesson plan that you can use as a tool for environmental education in your classroom.
I have embedded the first episode The Great Pacific Garbage Patch here. Check it out!
Although we have been glued to the news these past few weeks, I am cognizant of the fact that the exact sequence of development with regard to the financial crisis is not a hundred percent clear to everyone.
In an effort to demystify the code, I recently put together a laypersons’ blogpost for Inspired Economist. Check it out to understand exactly how America went from mortgage to bailout:
I am not sure whether to laugh or to cry about the fact that with everything going on in the world, CNN has nothing better to do than report on Asif Ali Zardari’s flirtation with Sarah Palin.
The fact that both of them are grinning from ear to ear goes to show that obviously flirting with each other is more interesting to Palin and Zardari than the idea of flirting with political policy.
America…I agree that I would like to see a woman in office but if you are serious, how about I line up a bunch of soccer moms from the local school district?
As the world continues to be shaken up by horror stories on Wall Street, it might be worth taking a few steps back to consider your immediate quality of life.
SustainLane, a San Francisco based green media company has just announced its brand new U.S. city rankings. Starting in 2005, SustainLane went through an exorbitant examination of sustainability initiatives in U.S. cities looking at a variety of factors: average traffic commutes, affordable housing, waste diversion, green space, energy usage, green buildings, natural disaster risk, air quality, water quality, public transportation, local food sources, and government innovations. James Elsen, the founder of SustainLane explains it in his article What’s A Sustainable City, Anyway ?(more…)
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest bank, will inject 900 billion yen ($8.4 billion) into Morgan Stanley to help it transition to a bank holding company. Goldman Sach’s strategy is slightly different albeit with the same ultimate objective i.e. to become a commercial bank. According to Bloomberg, Goldman already has in excess of $20 billion in customer deposits in two subsidiaries and is creating a new one, GS Bank USA, that will have more than $150 billion of assets, making it one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S.
In view of the current Wall Street crisis, America’s credibility as a bastion of free markets has come under the radar. The Fed’s recent bailout of AIG, Fannie and Freddie are perceived by many as a free market detour.
The government’s latest bailout news involves a plan to make the biggest intervention in the financial markets since the 1930s. Central to this plan would be a mechanism to bad assets off the balance sheets of financial companies or instead perhaps to create a federal insurance for investors in the money market funds. Additionally, the Securities and Exchange Commission is getting ready to propose a temporary ban on short selling financial stocks.
In view of the current Wall Street crisis, America’s credibility as a bastion of free markets has come under the radar. The Fed’s recent bailout of