Blog 8: "China steams ahead on clean energy"

China steams ahead on clean energy

For my last blog I want to write something about renewable energy. So I have been searching an article on the internet about this subject because I want to make my blogging complete by writing about one of the most important investments of the moment.

The reason why I want to write something about this, is because in my opinion we need to close all the nuclear plants in the world as soon as possible. The nuclear plants are destroying a lot of lives. With wind turbine for example you can also make energy without too much bad emission. This way, there won’t a second calamity as happened in Tsjernobyl.

When we build more wind turbine plants in the ocean there won’t be the problem as in Doel(nuclear plant) anymore, where the whole city(country) is afraid that there will be a calamity. Our planet also has a huge amount of oceans and seas, where we can put our wind turbines, so this can’t be a problem anymore.

Another solution is solar energy, which has given us a solution to make our own energy. For me, this is another very good option. This product can also produce energy when there is only light, so you have a whole year of energy for a cheaper price, than when you use energy from a nuclear plant.

There are so many solutions to supply the world with renewable energy. For companies there is also a new social aim: not only do they make profit, they also think about the environment.

Now something about the article that I have found. The article shows the countries which invest the most money in clean energy. The top two investors in clean energy are of course the biggest countries of the world. The first is the fastest growing country of the world in the last ten years by my opinion, China, where they can develop a lot of energy. In China, they can build a lot of new wind turbines and I think that they have a lot of money to build clean energy plants. The second country, USA, has surprised me because I always thought that USA was the biggest CO² emission country in the world. I’m happy that this country invests in projects like this because this way we can make the world a healthier place. China invested for $34.6 billion euro in clean energy in 2009. When we compare the two, USA invested less than China, but they are still good for an amount of $18.6 billion euro.

One of the important reasons, as a country, to invest in renewable energy is of course: "They know that investing in clean energy can renew manufacturing bases, and create export opportunities, jobs and businesses."

On the other hand when we look at the fast growers, we see that South Korea has scored fantastic. They have grown for more than 249% whereas China grows 79%. I think maybe when countries make a deal to give an award to the country who invests the most money in this business maybe they will invest more than they do now.

So if a little bit of support can save the world, I hope that countries do an initiative as this. I do hope that companies invest as fast as possible to less their CO² emission and in cars who have less CO² emission. Just because our children will not be the victim of our ample desires.

Ressource: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8587319.stm

Blog 7; Bono’s out of tune with world of investment

Bono’s out of tune with world of investment


This week, I have found a sort of consequence on my last blog. Someone who maybe was jealous at the most famous and best investor: Warren Buffet.

Bono, the singer of one of the most famous groups in the world(U2), tries to help a lot of people, by supporting some initiatives as Live Aid, RED,…. On the other hand he tried to be the founder of an investment company. Bono was a founding investor in the company Elevation Partners.

In this article, they wrote that according financial blog 247wallst.com, Elevation Partners is the worst-run institutional fund in the United States. They invest in a lot of bad companies who lose fights with their competitors.

The first company in which they took a 25% stake was Palm. Palm was the company which was the subject of my previous blog, because they didn’t have made their expectations with their investments in the smartphone. This company was at a level of $17 when Elevation Partners bought it. By now it is on a level of $ 4, so the investment can’t be called a hotshot.

In addition Elevation Partners make more bad and stupid bets. They invest in companies as Yelp, move.com,…. Despite the most of the bets of Elevation Partners go wrong.

My vision on this article is that Bono better stops investing himself and ask professional investors and go singing again.. Now he loses a lot of money because he doesn’t know what he is doing. A perfect example is his investment in the company Palm. He could have known that it was a bad investment, if he had just asked some other people. I didn’t say that Palm is a bad company but they have a lot of good concurrence who has better and more recognizable products. When you want to play with your money and you don’t know this branch, you’d better ask some advice. Maybe it’s a good idea to make a new cd…

Resource: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article7079038.ece

Palm hit by disappointing smartphone sales

Blog 6: Palm hit by disappointing smartphone sales

This week, I found an article about a fast developing branch. A branch where companies invest a lot in new products to sell enough. The electronic branch, in especially the phone industry, with a lot of big concurrence.

In our country you have Nokia, Samsung, Apple,… who want to have the biggest sales. When you come in a shop as fnac, belcompany,… you will find a lot of brands, this way, you have a lot of competition. When Nokia invests in a new phone with camera then Samsung will invest in the same kind of phone, one month later. They need to see opportunities before the concurrence or they will face some financial problems.

When we look at the Iphone, you see that it is difficult to improve this so it looks difficult for other companies to sell enough and catch or hold up. “Fortunately” for the other companies is the cost for the Iphone so high that people need enough money and they can still rely on other, cheaper products.

In my article of this week we see: “Palm hit by disappointing smartphone sales “. So we see that the smartphone from Palm didn’t have the sales that Palm expects. This is probably because of Google, investing in the “Google's Nexus One”. Moreover there is the Blackberry, iPhone, Samsung,…. It’s difficult for a company as Palm for realize their expectations(target).

Possibly there is a solution for Palm, in the article we can read that there is maybe a takeover coming from Palm by a major companies. So they hope that this investment can help them to make the Palm Pre better.

I understand this problem, there are so many choices in the phone industry. I never heard about the Palm Pre… so it could be a solution making an advertisement in Belgium or Europe to have a bigger range.

Ressource:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8575903.stm

"Good investments for 2010"

Blog 5: "Good investments for 2010"



In this essay, an (amateur) economist tries to predict us what products we could invest in in 2010 without any loss. The first question is, can we know what is going to rise and what is going to decrease in one year? I expect when someone follows the economic news daily, he could predict this.

Last year this economist had predicted that gold and oil were going to rise. In a year with a lot of problems gold and oil rose. So he made two good predictions but I do remain with some doubts left. He also thought that the price of the UK houses would fall in this year but this has not happened. Now he says, the UK house price is going to rise in the long run/term. I find this an easy prediction because the immobile prices are rising every year with the purchasing power. People earn more money so the price is rising to a higher level. Otherwise last year many people would have been surprised that the UK house price had fallen.

Now he easily foretells that there will be coming a recovery of the stock market after the financial crisis. This could be a good point for all the people who have lost a lot of their money last year in business. For 2010 he predicts that an investment in oil, Chinese Yuan or gold can be an good investment.

In 2009, oil had risen from $60 to just under $80. He thinks it can rise more because before the recession, oil had a price nearly $150.
The Chinese Yuan is another difficult prediction because we don’t know the Chinese currency very well. It is one of the countries who has grown a lot in the last dozen years. A problem why we couldn’t predict easily this currency is because “They have been resisting an appreciation for many years”.
Finally Gold had risen from $800 to $1150 last year but we all know that gold is a good investment. For this reason a lot of investors will invest and have invested in gold.

He fears that an investment in the US dollar and in treasury bonds could be a bad investment. He is also a little uncertain about an investment in the stock market because you never know what happens in the world.

I’m also a little bit afraid sometimes to invest in the stock market because in this competitive world all the companies try to make better products than others. Sometimes they make so much publicity that they lose their profit. When they lose their profit they are searching for money in other products and they raise the price of product. In this world it is not easy to predict if a share is going well or not. Nobody had thought there was to become a financial crisis. So many people in Belgium have lost their money because of Fortis but so many other shares were decreasing.

So we can conclude when you want to invest your money “safely” maybe it can be an good option to invest in oil. Oil is a scarce good that we all need in life. Gold is a little bit the same as oil so when I got the opportunity(and I have enough money) to invest this year I’d maybe venture in this business.

On the other hand, it is always a good idea to follow the economic news and then to invest in a company. When you were following a company as Google ten years ago, and you had invested immediately, you had received a nice profit. First of all you need to have a look at the annual report and then you can make a safe investment.

Source: http://www.economicshelp.org/2009/11/good-investments-for-2010.html

Blog 4: Microfinance: business women investing in women in the developing world

Microfinance: business women investing in women in the developing world

When I saw this article, I thought it fitted perfectly in the theme of investing and investment. In this article, they describe people who think about other people, what is good for them. This kind of investment creates new money for the poorer ones in the society. Microfinance is a nice initiative that helps a lot of people in third world countries. This project will help a lot of people, with definitely the poor women in Africa.

With these initiatives they give a lot of the less fortunate people the opportunity to unfold themselves. This way, the people in third world countries can learn to lead a company or another project. They too can make some goods/product. Microfinance helps them to make people in Africa self-employed and learn how to work with money. When Africa and its countries grow, it will have a great response that’s fantastic for the whole world because it needs to fight as one team against topics such as the environment.

I think it is a great idea, business women invest in poor women to make their life better. A direct result is that they can give their children a better education. It’s also a better way to learn things than when they receive money without having to pay it back. Now they learn to work with money and it gives them responsibility.

On the other hand, I think that the government of poor countries needs to invest more money in education. That way the developed countries are able to grow more rapidly. Unfortunately the children with competence, who are living in these countries, don't have the opportunity to grow.

Maybe in the future it's possible that women give their knowledge to their own children so the third world gets better infrastructure, better housing, ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/03/2009_09_fri.shtml

Opel to invest 11 billion euro's in new cars

Blog 3: Opel to invest 11 billion euro's in new cars

In this time of crises, a lot of companies cut jobs, to stay profitable. Is it possible that a company that cuts 8300 jobs across Europe is still able to invest? Of course it is, I found an article about a company that wants to invest in new cars after reducing jobs.

Opel is the one I am talking about. Opel is a unit of General motors’ that will invest 11 billion euro’s in “a new product offensive" over the next five years. The investment is part of a plan to break even within two years. The company hopes that the European governments will give some financial support to realize this project. When the governments will give their support, they’ll invest in Opel and give them the opportunity to grow again and to come to the final goal: breaking even.

How does Opel get back in business?
First, Opel will be launching eight new models this year, and another four in 2011. Moreover, the carmaker wants to be a leader “in alternative propulsion in Europe". In addition, Opel also has some plans for its electric car, the “Ampera”. Finally, they will begin to export towards the Middle East and Asia Pacific, where it is economic still viable.

I think, the people in Belgium who were working at Opel and were fired, have a bad feeling when they are reading this news. Countries like Germany provide more jobs than other countries and new jobs are sooner available and in larger quantities. This news gives a mixed feeling. The people who are getting a new job are lucky, it's good for the economic situation worldwide because of the economical crisis.

It’s good that they will introduce new models so they can improve their cars, they can attract a larger audience, earn more money,... They are also looking for an electric car which is very good for our environment and for the future of our children.

blog 2: AC Milan signs £52m Emirates deal

AC Milan signs £52m Emirates deal

For my second blog, I have found an article about investing in a football team. I like this sport, so as many other people in the world. That’s the reason why companies are investing in football teams.

In this article, you can read that Dubai-owned airline Emirates has announced a sponsorship deal with the Italian team AC Milan. It’s a contract for four years that will start in July. The amount of money they are going to invest, is being measured at about 52 million dollar. The publicity for the company will be seen on the shirt of the club. Before, Emirates was sponsoring Arsenal for 100 million dollar, this was the biggest sponsorship deal in English football history.

When I was the owner of a successful company and I’d be selling products all over the world, then I suppose I would sponsor a football or cycling team because there are a lot of people who like sports and they will be attracted to the company that sponsors their favorite team. When you sponsor a team like AC Milan then people associate the company with the team. Nowadays, AC Milan has some players like Ronaldinho, David Beckham,…these are players who impress a lot of children and men. People see this team on television when they are watching the Champions league and other people buy shirts of this team, wear them throughout the world, and this way, you can reach a lot of people.

I think it’s a fantastic financial deal for both “companies” because AC Milan has a bigger budget to find and buy new players. On the other hand, Emirates makes new and good publicity, plus their investments are coming into a new country, so they reach another, new, public.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8513100.stm