Posts Tagged: green

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27
Jul 10

Hungry Traders: Greater Appetite for Financial Risk



Recent study found people are more prone to take financial chances when they’re hungry and less willing to take risk after they’ve eaten.

…or one hour after a 2,000-calorie same meal.The study found risk aversion to be at its highest immediately after consuming the big meal, though the results varied depending on hormonal changes and body types.One market pro found parallels between the real world of trading and the study on appetite and risk-taking.Nicholas Colas, chief strategist at BNY ConvergEx Group in New York, said such behavioral economics do help to explain behavior in the financial markets.”When I worked at a large (Connecticut)-based hedge fund a few years ago, I always wondered why the company kitchen was so well stocked with chips, sodas and other snacks. At my next trading gig, the company founder insisted on having lunch, as a group, every day at exactly noon,” Colas wrote Monday in an analysis. “Whether they knew it or not, both fund managers knew that staying well fed is actually a risk management tool, at least if the BPS study is any guide. Hungry traders are, well, riskier traders.”The nascent discipline has its limits,…

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Hungry Traders: Greater Appetite for Financial Risk

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15
Jul 10

US Government to Ask 600K Suppliers for Greenhouse Gas Data

The U.S. government is going to ask its suppliers to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions.

…leading GSA s efforts under Executive Orders 13423 and 13514 to fulfill GSA s responsibilities and opportunities under those EOs as well as assisting GSA s Federal agency customers with solutions to help them integrate sustainability throughout their agencies and achieve their sustainability goals.

His job of greening GSA s supply chain is complicated by the fact that

The procurement of goods and services by the U.S. Government is a unique activity that is governed by a web of specialized rules, regulations, statutes, and policies outside of the realm of commercial contract law. These rules arise out of the nature of the Government as a contracting party and the distinctive forms and procedures used in the procurement process. The rules governing this process are contained in statutes, regulations, and decisions, many of which are designed to protect the public s interest and assure fair treatment of companies that enter contracts with the Government. Most of these rules apply to all agencies, but some are…

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US Government to Ask 600K Suppliers for Greenhouse Gas Data

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14
Jul 10

"Socially Responsible" Funds Invested Big in BP

If you are a shareholder in a so-called socially responsible or sustainable mutual fund, you may also be an owner of BP, the company responsible for the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.

…If you are a shareholder in a so-called socially responsible or sustainable mutual fund, you may also be an owner of BP, the company responsible for the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.

When BP’s oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded on April 20, the company was a major holding of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which calls itself an index of “the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide.”

BP was also held by Pax World Funds (”sustainable investing is a better, smarter way to invest”), by the MMA International Fund, which is part of a fund group that is “guided by Christian values,” and by the Legg Mason Social Awareness Fund, which, as of March 31, had BP as its single biggest holding.

These are not anomalies. When Cary Krosinsky, an editor of a book called “Sustainable Investing: The Art of Long Term Performance,” tallied up the holdings of about 350 socially responsible investment (SRI) funds from around the world, he found that at the end of 2008, BP was the second…

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"Socially Responsible" Funds Invested Big in BP

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7
Jul 10

Investors Search for the Netscape of Cleantech

Investors will get excited about start-up companies across a range of so-called clean technologies — solar, wind, biofuels, energy efficiency, green chemistry, lighting — when one of them has an attention-grabbing initial public offering like Netscape’s in 1995 which, by some accounts, set off the Internet investing craze.

…John Doerr, the brilliant and hard-charging venture capitalist (pictured left), has told me several times that cleantech is still awaiting its “Netscape moment.”

What he means, I think, is that investors will get excited about start-up companies across a range of so-called clean technologies — solar, wind, biofuels, energy efficiency, green chemistry, lighting — when one of them has an attention-grabbing initial public offering like Netscape’s in 1995 which, by some accounts, set off the Internet investing craze.

I don’t see a “Netscape moment” on the immediate horizon for cleantech but, of course, no one knew that the Internet browser company would take off before its IPO. But if we are to get the clean-energy transformation we need, enormous amounts of capital will be required. So any evidence that investors are warming to cleantech companies is welcome. I’ve seen several encouraging signs lately.

The first, of course, was Tesla’s electrifying IPO. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) The stock, priced at $14 to…

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Investors Search for the Netscape of Cleantech

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7
Jul 10

Keeping Workers at Home Naked Saves Bosses Big $

Businesses that let 100 employees work half of their time from home can save more than $1 million a year (that’s $10K per naked employee) according to a new study of telework programs and their benefits.

…SAN DIEGO, CA Businesses that let 100 employees work half of their time from home can save more than $1 million a year according to Telework Research Network’s (TRN) latest study of telework programs and their benefits.
TRN looked at more than 250 case studies, research papers and other documents on telework (also called telecommuting and workshifting), and combined that with interviews with companies, researchers and more to figure out how telecommuting benefits employers, employees, the environment and communities.
In “Workshifting Benefits: The Bottom Line,” TRN says that letting one employee work half of their time out of the office saves their company about $10,000 per year and the employee up to $6,800 per year.
While 80 percent of workers want to telecommute and 30 percent would take a pay cut in order to telecommute, less than 2 percent of employees work from home the majority of their time and at least 40 percent have jobs that are compatible with telecommuting.
About half of the $1.1 million that a…

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Keeping Workers at Home Naked Saves Bosses Big $

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5
Jul 10

Retailers Launch Their Own Stimulus Packages

Tired of waiting for spending to rebound on its own, retailers are taking matters into their own hands. Stores like Sam’s Club, Target, Toys “R” Us, Staples and Office Depot are offering unconventional promotions meant not only to attract visitors to stores, but also to get them feeling profligate.

…MoreCurrent DateTime: 04:25:47 05 Jul 2010LinksList Documentid: 24355697Highest Grossing Wall Street MoviesHollywood has captured Wall Street’s essence in so many ways — through the depiction of greed, sex and sacrifice.The Most Expensive Places To LiveA study compares the cost of more than 200 items in each location including housing, transportation, food, entertainment and more.The World’s Coolest Jobs… EverYou think of drinking whiskey as something you do in your leisure time. But some people actually get paid to do these things.SPECIAL REPORTSMoreCurrent DateTime: 04:25:47 05 Jul 2010LinksList Documentid: 24890560The Housing FixThe housing crisis has forced everyone to consider major changes in the way homes are bought and sold.E3 Expo 2010At the video game industry’s annual gathering, deals get done and companies make news.Marijuana & MoneyLegalization would generate billions in tax revenue and relieve the criminal justice system. But is it the right thing to do?FEATURED QUIZZESMoreCurrent DateTime:…

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Retailers Launch Their Own Stimulus Packages

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3
Jul 10

10 Complete Bullshit Green Job Titles

In some cutting-edge firms, where pushing boundaries and thinking about and doing business in different ways is the name of the game, job titles can reflect a company’s maverick sensibilities. But don’t expect everyone to bow in respect when they see “Green Enabling Officer” or “Sustainability Ambassador” on your business card.

…In the world of traditional business, a job title — like its placement in the company org chart — is as important as the size, location and furnishings of one’s office. It telegraphs the job holder’s function and hierarchy in a few carefully selected words.
But in some cutting-edge firms, where pushing boundaries and thinking about and doing business in different ways is the name of the game, job titles can reflect a company’s maverick sensibilities. And for high-ranking employees with roles in sustainability or corporate social responsibility, their titles may also serve as value statements in brief.
Here are 10 job titles that caught our eye at GreenBiz.com. While they are the exceptions rather than the norm, we thought they deserved mention for their wit, audacity or the sheer scope of the job holder’s responsibilities — and three are for positions created in the past six months.

Chief Inspired Protagonist Jeffrey Hollender of Seventh Generation is also the executive chairperson of the eco-friendly…

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10 Complete Bullshit Green Job Titles

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2
Jul 10

No Bullshit: Why VCs are Bullish on BioFuels

VCs are placing large bets on a growing number of biofuels startups that are working to move the U.S.

…What should we do with corn?
Shove it into cows that become fatty, high-cholesterol meat that contributes to heart disease? Turn it into cheap sugars that make people fat or sick?
Or use it to produce biofuels that will help reduce the U.S.’s dependence on Middle East oil, improve our balance of payments and create jobs instead of funding terrorists?
That’s a loaded question, of course, but that’s the way that James Woolsey, the former head of the CIA who is now a venture capitalist, put it to a friendly audience of biotech executives.
The biofuels industry has been subject to “propaganda” and “false narratives,” he said
Putting a new twist on the food-vs.-fuel debate, Woolsey argued that there’s plenty of acreage to grow corn and, in any event, that corn is better used as a biofuel to replace oil than it is to make “cheap junk food” so that the “grocery manufacturers association can make more money making our children obese.”
“We need to go on the attack,” he declared.
No wonder he’s been called a “green…

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No Bullshit: Why VCs are Bullish on BioFuels

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2
Jul 10

June Job Losses at 125,000 But Jobless Rate Falls to 9.5%

The US economy lost 125,000 jobs in June, more than expected, as as thousands of temporary census jobs ended and private hiring grew less than expected.

…Obama, who has has called job creation his No. 1 priority, has tried to put the blame on policies of the previous administration. Getty ImagesWith voters in an anti-Washington, anti-incumbent mood, failure to make headway in putting back to work the more than 8 million Americans who lost jobs during the recession could cost the Democratic Party dearly in the November mid-term elections. Payrolls in the dominant services sector rose 91,000 last month after increasing 20,000 in May. Temporary help employment rose 20,500, while retail hiring fell 6,600. In the goods-producing sector, payrolls fell 8,000 in June, pulled down by declines in construction as home building dropped sharply following the end of a government tax credit. Manufacturing employment rose 9,000 after a 32,000 gain in May. With unemployment stubbornly high, household spending has turned sluggish in recent months, threatening to create a vicious cycle that stock market investors and some analysts worry could tip the economy back into…

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June Job Losses at 125,000 But Jobless Rate Falls to 9.5%

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27
Jun 10

Israel’s Kibbutzim Shift From Red to Green

As they drift away from socialism, the collectives remain eco-friendly.

…stake in Arava Power, a company affiliated with the kibbutz that hopes to start generating solar power this year. “The partnership works well for both sides,” says Eliezer Tokman, chief of Siemens Israel. “The guys at Arava are the entrepreneurs. They initiate projects and deal with regulation, and we design, build, and maintain the projects.”

Like Ketura, many kibbutzim are moving into environmental businesses. Since the 1980s, when soaring interest rates and skyrocketing inflation brought many of the agrarian collectives close to bankruptcy, they have branched out from farming. As they morph into a more pragmatic form of egalitarianism, they typically maintain a keen awareness of the environment. “Tapping the sun’s energy is only natural given our geographical location and the general inclination of the kibbutz’s members for ecological pursuits,” says Yosef I. Abramowitz, a student activist turned green entrepreneur who in 2006 founded Arava with Ketura members.

On June 22, Arava announced contracts…

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Israel’s Kibbutzim Shift From Red to Green

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