Pork-barrel spending: Greasing the "Dawn of the Solar Age"
By J. Christoph Amberger
Taipan Group's Dynamic Market Alert
Pork-barrel spending: Greasing the "Dawn of the Solar Age"
by J. Christoph Amberger
Lobbying groups, popular wisdom has it, are bad. Evil. Criminal even. Nefarious shysters pushing shady deals out of sheer self-interest on corrupt politicians who will squander the taxpayers’ hard-earned money on lining the pockets of a few fat cats with filthy lucre.
By and large, I believe this description to be accurate... and the outrage at the practice as futile as it is staged. Because, let's face it, squandering your money on Bridges into Nowhere, endowments of experimental theater, and grants for the scientific exploration of flatulence in mice are what government is all about -- independent of what party wields the majority whip.
Fueled by billions in government money, politics creates economic realities. Alternative energy technologies, for example, still wouldn't be able to exist on a rational, commercially viable level, if they were not greased with liberal applications of pork-barrel spending, a fact that is not lost on anyone involved in the industry.
What most people don’t realize is that solar energy in particular owes a large part of its viability as an investment to the efforts of a high-powered lobbying group. Silicon Valley’s lobby group, TechNet, pushes for new laws that encourage solar energy. Quite successfully, if you look at the recent spate of "renewable energy" legislation rolling out of Sacramento... and even Washington.
TechNet executives -- including Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers -- just recently made the rounds in Washington for closed-door meetings with cabinet-level lawmakers. Their message: double spending on energy research. For Silicon Valley, solar energy has “tipped” from a cottage industry into a global market that will reach $40 billion in three years. Celebrities from politics, finance and entertainments are investing hundreds of millions of dollars into solar technologies, whose cost side will be buffered and absorbed by direct and indirect government subsidies:
State and federal subsidies helped push the U.S. solar-energy market up 33% in 2006 over the previous year, says market researcher Solarbuzz.
President Bush created solar-energy subsidies of up to $2,000 for homeowners, with even more in store for businesses.
In New Jersey, incentives make it more affordable than ever to own a solar energy system. The rebates can cover more than 50% of the cost. The program proved so popular that New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program is currently oversubscribed.
And as part of its Million Solar Roofs program, California intends to create 3,000 megawatts of new solar-produced electricity by 2017. That equals the peak output of six modern natural-gas-fired power plants.
With this kind of setup, is it any wonder that Peter Lynch, who managed the enormous Magellan Fund to 29% average annual returns, called 2005 “The Dawn of the Solar Age"?
My colleague Sara Nunnally, of Material Profits Wildcatter, has identified one micro-cap stock in particular that will profit from the government money-fueled boom in solar technologies. Her latest free TFN report will provide you with the background, opportunity and potential returns so you can make your own decision on whether or not her Stealth Solar Pick is for you. She says, "After reading the report, you must be 100% convinced that Stealth Solar can make you at least 503.2% by year-end -- or potentially an even higher 936.5%. That’s when its current market cap of $122.9 million will triple in value in the coming months. Even better, at current levels, its shares trade at a discount of least 80% compared to First Solar, SunPower and Trina Solar.”
Simply follow this link to her Special Research Report.
Quote of the Day
“In New York City, the mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has left the Republican Party. He’s now an independent. He used to be a Democrat, then he was a Republican, now he’s an independent. This guy’s gonna run for president, because who’s going to accuse him of flip-flopping? Who?”
- Colin Ferguson, June 20, 2007
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