Steel Stalls

The massive and historic floods in Australia have driven coal prices up. This is particularly important for steel since Australia exports 2/3 of the world’s coal used for making steel (coking coal). Steelmakers have already been struggling with increasing input costs, so the Australian floods are sure to pinch profits further. At the close of … Read more

Earnings Recap for GT Solar As Wunderlich Heaps Praise

NOW I better understand Wunderlich Securities’s bullish case for GT Solar (SOLR). When I wrote December 1 about how diversification into sapphire crystallization systems (used in the manufacture of LED products) is paying dividends for SOLR, I noted my confusion over Wunderlich’s reiteration of a buy rating on SOLR. That reiteration came at the same … Read more

Reuters Exposes More Details On Allegations Weighing On Lender Processing Services

Once again, negative news flow caught up with Lender Processing Services (LPS) – this time it was a Reuters report titled “Special report: Legal woes mount for a foreclosure kingpin” that provided additional sordid and scandalous details on now well-known allegations that have weighed on LPS for at least a year. Reuters essentially claims that … Read more

J.P. Morgan Expands Its Investment In Solar Energy

Today I learned for the first time that J.P. Morgan (JPM) has a sizeable portfolio of alternative energy investments. Through J.P. Morgan’s Energy Investments group the company has grown a 6 gigawatt portfolio over the last 7 years. This multi-billion dollar portfolio is co-owned with 13 energy firms and is mainly focused on wind energy. … Read more

Wunderlich Coverage on Ener1 Ignores Key Partnerships

Last week, Wunderlich Securities initiated coverage on Ener1, Inc. (HEV) with a hold rating. HEV designs, develops, and manufactures rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and battery systems for energy storage (from Yahoo! Finance profile). These batteries are used in electric vehicles. Eric Savtiz’s Tech Trader Daily covered the coverage. Wunderlich’s main points are: HEV is a very … Read more