TerraCycle Should Escape Scott-Free Written By: Mark Bershatsky 2007-06-19 09:34:28 So Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG), the stodgy, 139-year old lawn chemicals company that has annual revenues of $2.7 billion and an approximate 59% share in the plant food market, has decided it needs to place a lawsuit against TerraCycle, a three-year old, $1.5-million start-up that is not even profitable. Cited reasons include that TerraCycle's packaging is too similar and that TerraCycle is falsely claiming that its products are superior to its competitors, including Scotts.
I continue to buy overweight financials, especially the big ones like Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs (GS) and Lehman Brothers (LEH). I'm even short some puts on the Financials ETF (XLF). In the short term, financials have to go higher as hedge funds cover shorts and, more importantly, mutual fund managers buy to correct the underexposure to the financial sector. Most Fed easing cycles imply very good returns if you buy just as they begin. The exceptions? The last one. I'm hold financials for the short run but I'm going to lighten up on these as this rally progresses. Why? The recipe is in place for some stagflation.
Stagflation is a period of inflation and low or no growth in the economy. The last time this existed was back in the 1970's in Britain and the US.
Market players are facing plenty of reasons to exit positions and avoid any near term selloff in the coming weeks. Geo-political instability in the oil markets and rising interest rates are putting pressure on stocks, and the lack of a strong follow through on the recent retracement has given traders a clear signal to avoid long positions while taking a breather. With earnings season around the corner, it is going to take some very strong results or hints of lower interest rates to come before this market finds its way to new highs.
TSL: A Great Momentum Play as Markets Reassess Subprime Fiasco Written By: Eben Esterhuizen 2007-06-26 00:45:21 Another day, another note on a Chinese solar stock. With the exception of SolarFun (SOLF - Last trade $9.69), I still feel that the market hasn't separated the winners from the losers in the Chinese solar crowd. Is Trina Solar (TSL - Last trade $47.12) a winner? Today's trading was very interesting, with TSL suddenly moving north and approaching its 50-day moving average.
U.S. Solar vs. Chinese Solar Written By: Eben Esterhuizen 2007-09-14 01:54:08 Yesterday, the World Bank said that China has the capacity to absorb the impact of the recent international financial market turmoil if it spreads to its robust economy. "Even if the financial crisis brings about a global economic slowdown, it will help China to adjust its pace of economic development," said Louis Kuijs, senior economist for World Bank's China office. Will Chinese solar stocks benefit from this momentum?
