A Look at the Global Wind Power Industry

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Denmark is the one of the world leaders in producing electricity from wind. About 20% of the electricity produced in Denmark comes from wind power.Since the 1980s the Danish government provided various incentives for the growth of this industry with the goal of reducing fossil fuel imports. As a results of these efforts, today Denmark is not only a world leader in wind power generation but also is a major exporter of wind power technology and expertise to other countries.

In recent years, India and China have embarked on a mission to reduce their  fossil fuel imports and encourage the production of electricity form renewable energy sources. Today India has the fifth-largest installed wind capacity in the world with more than three-times the installed capacity of Denmark. However China is much ahead of India in this industry as well as shown in the chart below:

china-india-wind-power.jpg

China started installing wind power capacity in 2005. Now it is the largest domestic wind market achieving three times the installed capacity of India or ten times the capacity of Denmark in just five years.As in Denmark and India, China created strong incentives and supporting policies for private investment leading to the strong growth of this industry. The 12th Five‐Year Plan envisions a further increase of the 2020 target of wind power capacity to above 100 GW.

Source: Clean Energy Progress Report, IEA

Ten large global wind power companies are listed below:

1.Company:Vestas(VWDRY)
Country: Denmark
Current Stock Price: $12.93

2.Company:GE Energy (GE)
Country: USA
Current Stock Price: $20.19

3.Company:Gamesa (GCTAY)
Country: Spain
Current Stock Price: $2.10

4.Company: Enercon
Country: Germany
Current Stock Price: N/A

5.Company:Suzlon
Country: India
Current Stock Price: N/A

6.Company:Siemens (SI)
Country: Germany
Current Stock Price: $138.50

7.Company:Acciona
Country: Spain
Current Stock Price: N/A

8.Company:Goldwind
Country: China
Current Stock Price: N/A

9.Company:Nordex (NRDXF)
Country: Germany
Current Stock Price: $11.65

10.Company:Sinovel
Country: China
Current Stock Price: N/A

Disclosure: No positions

Two Charts Show Global Economy Is Recovering

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While there are many factors to evaluate global economic growth, one factor that is the most important to look at is world trade. According to the latest data on trade, the global economy is in recovery mode. The following two charts confirm that economic growth is back on track after the terrifying fall during the credit crisis.

1. Global container shipping achieved an impressive turnaround in 2010 growing by 11% and is projected to grow about 7-8% per year thru 2015 according to a report by Deutsche Bank Research. Freight and charter rates have recovered from the depth of the crisis levels as well.

container-shipping-growth.png

2. According to a OECD Economic Assessment report, world trade is picking up again based on the global manufacturing new export orders index. Excluding Japan, the GDP of G7 countries are projected to grow by 3.2% in Q1 and 2.9% in Q2 of this year.

world-trade.png

Source: OECD, Deutsche Bank Research

The World’s Top 20 Container Ports

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Asian ports dominate the list of the world’s 20 largest container ports based on container throughput data for 2009. Singapore tops the ranking followed by Shanghai and Hong Kong. The only ports from the western hemisphere are Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Los Angeles and Long Beach. Within Asia the majority of the ports in this list are located in China.

Worlds-Top-20-Ports

Source: Deutsche Bank Research

Note: TEU stands for Twenty Foot Equivalanet  Unit which is the standard container size. container throughput is the total of all containers handled by a port, either as imports, exports or transshipment.

Social Security To Run Out Of Money By 2041

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The U.S. social security system is the largest government-run social benefit program in the world. As most employers have eliminated or reduced pensions in the past few decades millions of Americans depend more on social security after retirement. In fact, social security payments help keep a significant number of retired persons out of poverty. This program is funded by a deduction in the payroll of all workers and equal contributions by employers. Just like so many other government programs, the social security program is also based on a flawed design. According to current cost estimates, the social security trust fund trust funds that holds the assets for this program may run out of funds by 2014 as shown in the graphic below:

social-security.png

Source: Pensions & Investments

10 Foreign Bank Stocks to Consider

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Most foreign banks have rebounded strongly since the depth of the credit crisis. Some of them have written off all of the losses and have shored up their balance sheets. Investors who avoided bank stocks in the past few months many want to consider adding some of the stronger banks at current levels. Another round of fresh stress tests planned for European banks in June should further raise confidence in this sector.

Ten foreign banks for review are listed below together with their current price and dividend yields.

1.Bank: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A (BBVA)
Current Price: $12.65
Current Dividend Yield: 6.64%
Country: Spain

2.Bank: BNP Paribas SA (BNPQY)
Current Price: $39.42
Current Dividend Yield: 2.36%
Country: France

3.Bank:Westpac Banking Corp (WBK)
Current Price: $128.43
Current Dividend Yield: 5.77%
Country: Australia

4.Bank: National Australia Bank Ltd (NABZY)
Current Price: $27.72
Current Dividend Yield: 5.65%
Country: Australia

5.Bank: Bbva French Bank (BFR)
Current Price: $11.63
Current Dividend Yield: 5.87%
Country: Spain

6.Bank: Nordea Bank AB (NRBAY)
Current Price: $11.67
Current Dividend Yield: 2.92%
Country: Norway

7.Bank: Nedbank Group Ltd (NDBKY)
Current Price: $22.25
Current Dividend Yield: 3.44%
Country: South Africa

8.Bank: HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC)
Current Price: $54.35
Current Dividend Yield: 4.40%
Country: UK

9.Bank: Commerzbank (CRZBY)
Current Price: $7.68
Current Dividend Yield: N/A
Country: Germany

10.Bank: Credicorp Ltd (BAP)
Current Price: $103.60
Current Dividend Yield: 1.89%
Country: Peru

Note: Stock price and dividend data noted above are as of April 8, 2011

Disclosure: Long CRZBY,BBVA