E-newsletter of Investing for the Soul October 30, 2007
Ron Robins, Editor. E-mail /705-635-3034 Latest news at: www.investingforthesoul.com
Top ethical investing news stories for October 2007
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Links may only be valid a limited time. Commentaries by Ron Robins.
The Greenest Car
Companies. - [COMMENTARY] If, you are a
green or ethical investor looking for the best automobile stocks that are
good to invest in, see this review of what car companies are offering and
plan to offer in terms of green technologies.
Car makers – who’s the
greenest? October 3, 2007, ClimateChangeCorp.com,
UK.
Biofuels 'Emit More
Greenhouse Gases than Fossil Fuels'. - [COMMENTARY] A Nobel
prize-winning chemist and his team have found that biofuels may emit up to
70% more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels! Evidence continues to
mount that promoting biofuels at public expense was a bad, bad idea. Not
only are billions of tax payers dollars going to support its production,
but it is driving up food prices and ending-up causing more damage to the
environment than fossil fuels. One wonders why this report never made it
into mainstream American media.
Rethinking Renewables: Biofuels 'Emit
More Greenhouse Gases than Fossil Fuels', September 26, 2007,
Spiegel Online International, Germany.
Top Ten Canadian Cleantech Companies
According To Corporate Knights. -
[COMMENTARY] Well
done Corporate Knights for this outstanding report on Canada's cleantech
(green technology) companies. Well worth reading by anyone looking for
green stocks that are good to invest in. Please note though, that this is
not a financial report and does not make stock recommendations. However,
it does provide excellent material for you to have a valuable discussion
with your investment advisor concerning cleantech companies.
First Annual Corporate Knights Ranking of
Canadian Cleantech, 2007, Corporate Knights, Canada.
US Shareholders Overwhelmingly Say No To
Reductions In Shareholder Rights. - [COMMENTARY] The US Securities
& Exchange Commission's (SEC) proposal to reduce shareholder voting
privileges has been met by a massive outpouring of resistance by socially
responsible and religious shareholders.
Accountability Central: RECORD 22,500
INVESTORS SPEAK OUT AGAINST POTENTIAL SEC CURBS ON SHAREHOLDER
RESOLUTIONS, ROLE IN BOARD NOMINATIONS, October 16, 2007,
Social Investment Forum, USA.
Big Banks Ethical Lapses. -
[COMMENTARY]
The fact that the big three US banks - Citigroup, Bank of America and
JPMorgan Chase will create a special $75-100 billion fund to purchase
bonds and other instruments that are having difficulty finding buyers, is
in effect collusion to support certain asset prices. In any other
industry, such collusion could be the subject of massive fines! Yet here
it is sanctioned by the US government. What they are doing is trying to
avert massive write-downs in securities they own by artificially creating
a market with higher than market prices! Enron created webs of artificial
companies that traded energy products to each other at ever higher prices.
As each entity booked higher profits, Enron's profits shone. The same
thing seems to be going on among the banks. Ethically, it is
reprehensible. It covers-up banks' bad bets in a massive way, letting bank
executives' off-the-hook, and promotes what economists call, 'moral
hazard'--the latter meaning it will encourage market players to take on
even bigger out-sized bets with the knowledge that if anything goes wrong,
that they will be bailed out. Truly, ethics is at an all-time low in our
financial markets and in the US Treasury Department!
Banks to Start Fund to Protect Credit
Market, by Vikas Bajaj, October 15, 2007, The New York
Times, USA. (You may need to create a free New YorK Times
subscription account.)
Australian Study Supports
Sustainable Investing For Funds. - [COMMENTARY] The report by the
Russell Investment Group said that after reviewing over 40 empirical
studies that, "'There is no necessary performance penalty from pursuing
a sustainable approach; and there is unlikely to be a performance premium
from pursuing a sustainable investing approach when account is taken of
appropriate risk and style effects." Of course most of these studies
have been done in a period when the concern for global climate change,
green and ethical investing, was not as acute as it is now. With
much more investor attention now being paid to sustainable, ethical stocks
and bonds, I believe the returns on such assets have the potential to do
even better than what these prior studies indicated. Always get help with
investing from a professional advisor though.
No more sustainable investment
roadblocks: Russell, by Chris Nicholls, October 11, 2007,
Financial Standard, Australia.
Are Ethical Investors & Funds
Making The Same Mistake As In 2001? -
[COMMENTARY] This
commentary makes the argument that just as ethical investors and ethical
funds over-invested in tech stocks in the late 1990s, and then saw them
implode, the same over-investment has probably taken place by them
investing in financials! Now with many financial organizations taking
multi-billion dollar hits on bad financial plays, and with their stocks
under-performing many other sectors, ethical investors and funds could see
much poorer performance when compared to non-screened funds. Personally, I
suspect that as the mortgage crises deepens and derivative losses mount in
the USA and elsewhere, financial institutions are likely to suffer
extraordinary losses in the years ahead.
Ethical Corporation: Governance - Credit
crunch: US social investors repeat past mistakes, by Jon
Entine, October 5, 2007, Ethical Corporation, UK.
Mounting Extreme Climate Events & Losses Charted
By IPCC. - [COMMENTARY] Everyone is aware of
this report by the UN's International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
However, to visually see the growth of extreme climatic events and their
costs multiplying over the decades, and adjusted for price inflation, is
stunning! Go down about half-way on this page - following the link provide
here - to see the graph.
UN Chronicle | Financing the Response to
Climate Change, UN Chronicle, UN.
Innovest Breaks New Ground With Study Relating
Company's Carbon Beta And
Equity Performance. -
[COMMENTARY]
"The study evaluates the relationship among climate change, companies’
ability to manage the associated risks and opportunities, and their
financial performance....The 'Carbon Beta(c) premium' for leading
companies appears to be growing larger over time, as regulatory regimes
tighten around the world." This is a fascinating background study to
the whole issue of a company's carbon emissions, how they deal with them,
and relationship to financial performance. Congratulations to Matthew
Kiernan and his team at Innovest!
Carbon Beta & Equity Performance: An
Empirical Analysis, October 2007, Innovest Strategic Advisors,
Canada.
Note: Articles are linked to the original source. Some sites may require registration, and may, or may not, archive stories. All links were active at the time of publication.
Disclaimer: Neither The Soul Investor nor Ron Robins make investment recommendations. Nothing in this newsletter should be interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation to buy/sell any securities or investments. The Soul Investor is a source of general information and resources for spiritual investing, ethical investing, and socially responsible investing (SRI). Investors should consider their actions thoroughly and consult their professional advisers prior to taking any investment action. The Soul Investor does not necessarily agree with the opinions expressed in articles in its newsletter or offered on the web pages to which it might be linked. Such opinions are the responsibility of the writers themselves. Furthermore, The Soul Investor does not offer or provide any warranties, representations, guarantees, implied or otherwise, as to the accuracy, legality, copyright compliance, timeliness or usefulness of the information, materials or services in this e-newsletter, or other sites, to which it might be linked.
The Soul Investor is a publication of Investing for the Soul, a registered business name in Ontario, Canada. Copyright © 2007 Ron Robins. All rights reserved.