Green Infrastructure - Green Chip Stocks

Natural Gas Vehicles, Chinese Solar, and Smart Grid Growth

Welcome to the Green Chip Stocks' Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in everything renewable energy and cleantech, as well as links to our most-read Green Chip Stocks and sister publication articles.

Everything we've been telling you has been coming true.

Here are four major points we've been hammering home:

Chinese solar dominance amid European tariff reductions
An emerging market for natural gas vehicles
Strong push for smart grid and efficiency
Major consolidation as the industry grows

"It Could Completely Kill China's Solar Industry!"

It's the new, American-made solar window...

And it could put every Chinese solar manufacturer out of business in less than five years.

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And here's what we've seen just in the past week or so:

Chinese solar

Every Chinese solar company has met or exceeded earnings expectations.

Well, it's only been two... But the rest are coming up and will do just as well.

On Tuesday, Solarfun (NASDAQ: SOLF) reported earnings per share of $0.59. That was more than double analysts' expectations of $0.25 — and the stock surged as much as 15%.

The stock was quickly upgraded by multiple banks.

Then on Thursday, GT Solar (NASDAQ: SOLR) reported earnings of $0.11 per share — almost three times consensus of $0.04 per share. It also nearly doubled its profit forecast for the year.

That stock opened up 15% higher than its previous close.

These high earnings are being driven as a result of the end or reduction of subsidies in major European markets, including Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Czech Republic.

We beat that drum here, here, and here.

Natural gas vehicles

The ports of California have been cleaning up for years by converting the thousands of diesel trucks that operate there to run on natural gas.

The fuel is cheaper, burns cleaner, and offers the same power. Plus, it can be sourced domestically.

Win, win, win, big win. And politicians love it.

So it was no surprise to learn that even though a full energy bill has been shelved for the year — which means no renewable energy standard (RES) or carbon cap — Congress may still muster the bipartisan strength to pass a reduced version that would:

Establish a Nat Gas Vehicle and Infrastructure Development Program at the DoE;
Offer $4 billion in nat gas vehicle rebates and tax credits;
And allocate an additional $2.5 billion for grants for infrastructure and R&D.

Anticipated that here, here, and here.

The smart grid arrives

I may have hit this theme the hardest over the past few weeks.

It all boils down to the fact that the cheapest energy to produce is the energy you don't have to consume.

Economics heavily favor reducing demand over increasing supply. Thus, we're seeing a major shift toward these types of projects — and nice returns from the companies providing the technology.

And the evidence keeps piling up...

Just this week we learned that:

Needham & Company upgraded Comverge (NASDAQ: COMV) to Buy with a price target of $14 because it's “strategically well aligned with many utility preferences to take ownership of [smart grid] assets.”

Wells Fargo upgraded EnerNoc (NASDAQ: ENOC), which is also in the demand response business, to Outperform.

PowerSecure (NASDAQ: POWR) earned $10 million in new business to install distributed generation and smart grid systems at a number of retailers, hospitals, data centers, and municipal buildings. And then beat earnings estimates on Thursday.

Echelon (NASDAQ: ELON) beat earnings estimates.

EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC) beat earnings estimates and raised sales guidance.

Esco (NYSE: ESE) jumped 20% when it was selected by Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) as the vendor for a $400 million advanced meter project.

A bit of foreshadowing here, here, and here.

Major consolidation

I gave about two dozen examples here. But there have been even more announcements in the last week, some of which could be placed in other categories above.

GT Solar announced it was getting into the LED business when it acquired Crystal Systems, a maker of sapphire substrates that are used to make the lights.

Hanwha Chem said it was buying a 50% stake in Solarfun for $370 million, which is a premium to the current share price.

And I've been telling you the majors were looking to enter the cleantech business in a big way by highlighting recent acquisitions from Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), GE (NYSE: GE), and others.

But here's the best example of all that cleantech is the future and the big boys are looking to play ball...

The newest rumor on the Street, floated by Briefing.com, is that Siemens (NYSE: SI) is going to make a bid for First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR).

Chew on that.

And then chew on ways to profit from these happenings below.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Molycorp, Inc. Rare Earth IPO: Did this Rare Earth IPO Even Have a Chance?
Green Chip Editor Jeff Siegel discusses a new rare earth minerals play.

What Mainstream Media is Keeping to Themselves: A Secret Meeting Backed by $54mil in Gov't Cash
By now, most of us who keep up with the news are aware that Obama tripled the amount of loan guarantees for nuclear power to $54 billion in his budget request. But what isn't yet common knowledge is that there have already been numerous under-the-table nuclear energy agreements taking place for months. We'll tell you about the secret meeting that could make early investors 18,000% gains from a game-changing energy play.

A Breakthrough in Nuclear Waste Cleanup: Secretive Startup Offers Nuclear Waste Solution
Editor Nick Hodge discusses new nuclear solutions being developed by under-the-radar companies.

Why are Blue Chips So Cheap?: Quality Stocks are Still Cheap
Wealth Daily Analyst Adam Sharp points out the difference — and the importance — between value stocks and value traps.

The Bullish Case for Energy Storage: 4 Reasons to Invest in Energy Storage
Energy & Capital Editor Nick Hodge serves up the 4 biggest reasons to be bullish on energy storage.

A $51 Billion Oil Blunder: Why You Should Buy this $2 Oil Stock NOW
A world-changing Cold War blunder has left $51 billion worth of forgotten Soviet oil in the hands of a single $2/share company. On July 15th, the company confirmed it had struck oil in its first drill attempts. Watch our latest video footage to get all the information you need to get in on the oil play of a lifetime — and even bank 180 times your investment.

Where Soros and Pickens are Putting their Money: The 'Future Fuel' Company Everybody's Talking About
It costs $1.50 per gallon... is over 50% cheaper than diesel... and it's many times safer, cleaner, and more environmentally friendly... The latest report from Green Chip details how YOU could ride along with the likes of Soros and Pickens for an easy 1,925% gains on the $1.50-per-gallon transportation technology that's going to power the 21st century.

Why You Should Buy Gold Before China Does: How to Front-Run the Chinese, Legally - Part 2
Wealth Daily Publisher Brian Hicks brings readers Part 2 of his strategy for front-running the Chinese legally, this time by investing in gold.

Global Warming Predictions: Are Faulty Global Warming Predictions Dictating Government Policy?
Green Chip Editor Jeff Siegel discusses peak coal and a flaw in climate change predictions.

A Breakthrough in Nuclear Waste Cleanup

Glass has been on the minds of many lately.

For a while yesterday, “Gorilla Glass” was the most popular search trend on Google, after Corning (NYSE: GLW) began touting the shelved 1962 invention.

Until now, there's been no market for the super-strong glass that's hard to break, dent, or scratch, and that's three times stronger than chemically strengthened soda-lime glass when half as thick.

Analysts say the product is about to undergo a multi-billion dollar bonanza as electronics companies buy tons of it to make frameless TVs thinner than a dime.

And that's not even the most exciting glass story hitting the wire...

Secretive startup turns nuclear waste into glass

Bill Gates has said we need “energy miracles.” And he's poured millions into developing a nuclear reactor that can run on depleted uranium for up to 100 years without fueling.

As Gates works on the reactor side, another company is taking on the waste.

Kurion, widely described as a secretive startup, has developed a way to store nuclear waste in glass or ceramics through a process called vitrification.

The technology could bring the United States into the 21^st century regarding nuclear waste. (We've been doing it the same way — with the same worries — for over half a century.)

And the company has street cred: CEO John Raymont spent 25 years at a nuclear waste management company that was acquired by EnergySolutions (NYSE: ES) in 2007, and VP of technology is Gaetan Bonhomme, formerly of glass behemoth Saint-Gobain.

The advisory board counts both Patrick Moore — founder of Greenpeace — and former Governor Christine Todd Whitman as members.

In a very real and profitable way, nuclear energy is entering a new era. If Obama's $58 billion in loan guarantees to build new plants didn't give it away, the presence of names like Gates, Whitman, and Moore should.

And while you can't get a piece of Gates' venture, TerraPower, or Kurion just yet, I've found an equally exciting opportunity that everyone can get a piece of — but that's being suppressed by major news outlets.

"This one company will put China out of business in less than 3 years!"

China's control of the world's supply of rare earth metals is officially over.

And you can thank this company for making it happen.

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Nuclear's next big name

Only a few companies are unequivocally associated with nuclear power: Areva and Westinghouse, to name two.

The next company that'll reach this status trades for just $0.65, and only a handful of well-informed investors are paying attention to it.

But the three things I'm about to tell you will soon give it a very high profile; a Bloom-Energy-on-60-Minutes type profile.

First, it's signed on with a well-known nuclear company to manufacture and distribute portable nuclear reactors. They can be taken almost anywhere on a flatbed truck to create large amounts of power in remote or grid isolated locations.

Second, it's signed an exclusive deal with a Chinese nuclear corporation to sell nuclear desalination reactors on a global scale, and has already received interest from dozens of countries.

Third, the company will soon be listed on a major U.S. exchange, like the NASDAQ or NYSE.

But the biggest catalyst of all — the one that could send this stock from penny oblivion to a household name — is the one that no news source is fully reporting.

And that's why I've penned a full investor briefing on the company.

I want you to learn about changes coming to the nuclear industry. I want you to learn about what the media isn't telling the public.

But most importantly, I want you to learn more about this company before the story is blown wide open.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Molycorp, Inc. Rare Earth IPO

Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP) — the much anticipated rare earth IPO — debuted last week to a chorus of crickets.

Priced below its planned offering on its first day, the stock sputtered at the starting gate. And of course, it didn't take long for the sharks to circle.

So what happened?

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After all, given the fact that China controls nearly all of the world's production of rare earth minerals, certainly a rare earth play operating outside of China would garner a lot of positive attention.

I found last year, while attending a modern minerals conference in Toronto, most of the presenting companies were quick to boast that they were not operating in China.

And with rare earths absolutely crucial to the development of our clean energy economy — especially for electric vehicles — the potential of a domestic rare earth operation alone would seem quite promising.

But here's the problem...

Molycorp's been losing a lot of money.

And in this market, you better at least have something to parade around if you're not profitable.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is the perfect example.

I love the company, and I wish nothing but success for this group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who had the audacity to show the world that a tiny tech company could build and sell something the major automakers wouldn't.

But despite my love for Tesla, it still went public while losing money.

Of course, showing off those electric wheels to a ravenous media definitely helped the stock shoot north when it went public.

It sure as hell wasn't the numbers!

But Molycorp doesn't have a superstar electric car to flaunt all over the media. It does have a pile of losses that no one — especially in this market — is going to ignore. And from what I've been told, the soonest anyone can expect profits will be in 2013.

Of course, this is a mining project, so no one should really be expecting any kind of instant gratification here.

A different kettle of fish

While rare earths are used in things like electric cars and wind turbines, they're also used for military applications, like tank navigation systems, radar, and missiles.

And although some in Washington can't see the urgency of our clean energy transition (it's hard to see over those huge piles of campaign contributions from the oil and coal industries), when it comes to the military... well, that's a whole different kettle of fish.

Earlier this year, Republican Mike Coffman called for the creation of a national security stockpile and for government loan guarantees for companies that want to mine and process rare earth elements in the United States.

And the Congressional Accountability Office released a report in April that took a look at the national security risks associated with our dependence on rare earth materials.

Here are a few key points from that report:

While rare earth ore deposits are geographically diverse, current capabilities to process rare earth metals into finished materials are limited mostly to Chinese sources.
The United States previously performed all stages of the rare earth material supply chain, but now most rare earth materials processing is performed in China, giving it a dominant position that could affect worldwide supply and prices.
Based on industry estimates, rebuilding a U.S. rare earth supply chain may take up to 15 years and is dependent on several factors, including securing capital investments in processing infrastructure, developing new technologies, and acquiring patents, which are currently held by international companies.
Government and industry officials have identified a wide variety of defense systems and components that are dependent on rare earth materials for functionality and are provided by lower-tier subcontractors in the supply chain.
Defense systems will likely continue to depend on rare earth materials, based on their life cycles and lack of effective substitutes.
Some DOD components, other federal agencies and companies are taking initial steps to limit their reliance on rare earth materials or expand the existing supplier base.

Whether it's “green” energy applications or military applications, there's no doubt in my mind that domestic rare earth operations have a real shot going forward.

But Molycorp definitely has a ton of work to do if it wants a piece of this action.

The ball is in their court, and I think it would be naïve to suggest that they can't pull it off.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see this one become an unexpected blockbuster by the end of the year. We shall see.

To a new way of life, and a new generation of wealth...

Jeff

Mining Will Never Be the Same

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Get the whole story right here.

German Solar, U.S. Wind, and the Grecian Formula

Welcome to the Green Chip Review Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in everything alternative and cleantech, as well as links to our most-read Green Chip Review and sister publication articles.

With so much happening in the cleantech world this week, I thought I'd simplify the format with a simple cheers and jeers.

Here's my take on what went down during this busy week...

Cheers

To Morocco, for opening up the bidding process for the first phase of its $9 billion solar project. Pre-qualification bids are being invited to construct one or more solar thermal units with a capacity of 125 MW or more. When finished, the Ouarzazata complex will have a capacity of 500 MW, just part of the country's plan to get about 40% of its power from solar by 2020.

Will it be the company with the most experience in the region, Abengoa? The well-established Acciona? Or will it be a new kid on the block like eSolar, or Areva's newly purchased Ausra?

We'll have to wait and see.

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Cheers

To Germany, which has successfully created the largest solar market in the world despite having the solar resources of Portland. In anticipation of cuts to its feed-in tariff, it added a record 3.4 GW of solar capacity in the first half — equivalent to three nuclear plants. Officials say they'll easily pass the full year record of 3.8 GW, and could install as many as 8 GW before the year is over.

Germany accounts for about 50% of the world's solar installations. And China makes about 50% of the world's solar products. That's why Renesola (NYSE: SOL), Solarfun (NASDAQ: SOLF), JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO), and others have been on fire — up something like 70% for the year.

I told you so, told you so, told you so, told you so.

Jeers

To U.S. wind installations in the first half, which were down 71% compared to last year. New wind capacity fell behind new coal capacity for the first time in five years, and we've now fallen behind new wind development in Europe and China.

All this a result of failed action in Congress, which has failed to enact both a national renewable energy standard (RES) and a price on carbon. Even worse, if crucial Treasury grants aren't extended by the end of the year, the industry risks dying on the vine.

Cheers

To Greece, which said this week it will invest $15.59 billion in energy and environmental projects over five years to “boost its ailing economy and create new jobs.” The projects — ranging from solar and wind to new subways — are expected to attract another $41 billion in private investment and create 192,000 jobs.

Cheers

To the earnings results of American Superconductor (NASDAQ: AMSC), Digi International (NASDAQ: DGII), Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI), Power-One (NASDAQ: PWER), Tenneco (NYSE: TEN), Veeco (NASDAQ: VECO), and Tetra Tech (NASDAQ: TTEK).

Jeers

To earnings from Comverge (NASDAQ: COMV), MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR), and First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR).

Ideas on how to profit from all these happenings below.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Korean Nuclear Reactors in the U.S.: No Mushroom Cloud, Just Exploding Profits
Green Chip Editor Nick Hodge discusses Korea's APR-1400 nuclear reactor and one tiny company's plan to import it.

Herpes, The Jersey Shore, and Trading Secrets 11-20: Snooki Rings the NYSE Bell
Wealth Daily Editor Christian DeHaemer connects the Jersey Shore with herpes and, as promised, brings readers #11-20 of his trading rules.

Reading the News isn't the Same as Getting the Story: What Fox News Didn't Tell You
Fox News published a story about the re-zoning of land in Idaho for nuclear reactors to be built — how many jobs will be created, when construction could begin, and how much land will be required, even the name of the company that's the major player in all of this. But what they didn't tell you could make you more than $32k in the coming months.

Energy Bill Opportunities: How to Profit from Cowards and Thieves
Green Chip's Jeff Siegel discusses opportunities stemming from the latest energy bill.

Apple Hits Peak Profitability: Little Upside Left in AAPL
Wealth Daily Analyst Adam Sharp explores the possibility that Apple has reached peak profitability, with higher costs and competition looming.

Energy Efficiency Stocks: Why a New Law Guarantees this Outfit Will Make you Big Money
A little firm from Ohio is about to save homeowners, businesses, and state departments billions of dollars — every single year! This firm's technology is so cutting-edge, so universally useful that Forbes predicts it "… has the capability to radically alter the entire energy landscape.” And the best part? A new government law guarantees you make profits in energy efficiency stocks.

The End of the Bush Tax Cuts: The Hammer is About to Fall
Wealth Daily Editor Steve Christ examines the end of the Bush tax cuts and explains why it won't be painless.

Green Options - Twice the Money in Half the Time: A Unique Investment Vehicle for Green Investments
Editor Nick Hodge discusses a lucrative yet often misunderstood way to invest in everything green: green options trading.

Canada Puts the Kibosh on Oil and Coal: BC Parliament Cracks Down on Fossil Fuels
The biggest abuse of government power since before the American Revolution is going on just over the border… but there is a profit opportunity here as British Columbia cracks down on oil and coal, and smart investors can play this conspiracy story for gains of over 170%.

Clean Energy Mergers & Acquisitions: When Cleantech Came of Age
Green Chip Editor Nick Hodge discusses cleantech mergers and acquisitions in 2010 and lists a ton of clean energy stock tickers.

Green Options: Twice the Money in Half the Time

Green stocks are great.

But unless you're a beginning investor, there are much more efficient ways to invest your money.

While we can pick the cutting-edge companies that bring investors the best returns in the industry, even we can’t control the stock market.

But that doesn’t mean you have to sit back and let the market slap you around... You see, there’s a way to play the green industry that’s safer and more profitable than just trading regular old stocks.

I’m talking about that often talked about and misunderstood world of options trading.

The beauty of options lies in their flexibility — because you’re selling a derivative and not the actual stock, you can make money in both bull and bear markets, when stocks are both booming and busting.

My colleague and options expert Ian Cooper has done just that.

He’s turned all sorts of green stocks into big gains.

Like 113% on a JA Solar run and another 167% on oil spill cleaner Thermo Fisher.

And when the stocks of Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI), Energy Conversion Devices (NASDAQ: ENER), and First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) took a dive, Ian managed to pull in 32%, 38%, and 96% gains.

And I’m not talking long-term gains either… These options were held for an average of eight days before Ian closed them out.

In fact Ian’s put together an options trading guide that will help you learn the ins and outs of how to trade these little known investment strategies…

Not just green stocks — but everything from commodities to the housing market and even comic book options.

Adding green option plays to your portfolio is an excellent way to maximize your gains and minimize your losses, no matter what the rest of the market is doing.

I’ve attached the link to Ian’s guide here.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

"It Could Completely Kill China's Solar Industry!"

It's the new, American-made solar window...

And it could put every Chinese solar manufacturer out of business in less than five years.

Don't believe it? Check out this American ingenuity for yourself!

Click here.

Clean Energy Mergers & Acquisitions

The days of discussing cleantech viability are over.

At this point, we need to start looking at how the industry will mature and grow. The industry is moving so quickly that if we don't start now, we risk getting behind the curve.

And no one makes money behind the curve.

As cleantech costs continue to fall, capacities expand, and the grid gets smarter, an interesting future is emerging — an interesting energy future, yes... but an interesting cleantech business future as well.

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Buying a seat at the table

Did you really think the industrial conglomerates of this world were going to stand by and let clean business billions pass them by?

Companies like that — the GEs (NYSE: GE), the Siemens (NYSE: SI), the Ciscos (NASDAQ: CSCO), the Dows (NYSE: DOW), the Honeywells (NYSE: HON), the big utilities — haven't gotten where they are by resting on their laurels.

They see how profitable the cleantech future is. And you can be sure they'll get their piece.

The seeds of their plans were planted long ago.

GE launched Ecomagination in 2005. IBM has spent millions over the past few years telling us they're at the forefront of building smart cities.

That was the in-house stage. As new technologies are developed and new, successful companies emerge, we're about to see the acquisition stage.

And it won't be just big fish swallowing little fish.

With financing and credit still extremely tight, the imminent commoditization of solar, and the maturation of the industry in general, the number of strategic mergers is also on the rise.

If you can't beat 'em...

Just this year...

Cisco made an undisclosed equity investment in Grid Net, a company seeking to build broadband networks to connect utilities and their customers. GE and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) have also invested.

Siemens took a 49% stake in A2SEA, an offshore wind farm developer, worth $142.5 million. It also took a 17% stake in Archimede Solar, which makes solar thermal receivers that use molten salt as the transfer fluid.

Honeywell bought demand response company Akuacom in order to compete with the likes of Comverge (NASDAQ: COMV) and EnerNoc (NASDAQ: ENOC). And it furthered its smart grid reach by buying E-Mon, a smart energy submeter provider, from Branford Castle.

(When I signed up for BGE's Peak Rewards program, I was issued a Honeywell-branded cycling switch for my A/C.)

Dow Chemical made an equity investment in CIGS solar manufacturer Nuvosun.

This list of blue chips buying green chips has countless entries, but there's only one main point: They see the future and, if they can't get a piece of it on their own, they'll buy it.

Strength in numbers

Even though blue chip conglomerates are in the middle of a green feeding frenzy, some of the biggest deals are coming from companies you've probably never heard of.

In an $8.5 billion deal, FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE) merged with Allegheny Power to create an energy company with 2.2 GW of renewable energy capacity and 20,000 miles of high voltage transmission.

Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR) paid $920.8 million for 45.7% of Acucar Guarani to expand its ethanol business. (Didn't some other big oil company just make an ethanol purchase?)

And ABB (NYSE: ABB) created a single unit for energy management when it paid more than $1 billion for Ventyx.

But those are just the near-billion dollar deals that have gone down this year...

So far, there have been nearly 200 M&A deals in 2010 valued at over $15 billion.

Wind's seen 41 deals totaling $9.8 billion, with lots of action from big European utilities and Asian firms. Gamesa (MCE: GAM), Enel, EDP, Schneider, Dong, and Iberdrola Renovables (MCE: IBR) all made purchases.

In the solar industry, there have been 48 deals with a disclosed value of $1.62 billion. Advanced Energy Industries (NASDAQ: AEIS) bought PV Powered. First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) bought NextLight. MEMC (NYSE: WFR) bought Solaicx. China Sungergy (NASDAQ: CSUN) bought two units of the China Electric Equipment Group. SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWRA) bought SunRay. GCL-Poly (HK: 3800) bought Konca Solar Cell. Brush Engineered (NYSE: BW) bough Academy.

And that's without mentioning the Siemens and Dow deals from above...

And do you remember when Areva — the nuclear giant Areva — bought the much-hyped Ausra?

The most exciting sector for M&A — because it's currently the most lucrative — has been energy storage, efficiency, infrastructure, and communication, otherwise known as the smart grid, with 53 deals amounting to almost $2 billion.

And what's most exciting is who's trying to play the smart grid game. You've got the Honeywell and ABB deals from above. But NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) — this is a utility, people — also joined the fray when it bought HVAC efficiency specialist Northwind Phoenix.

Energy magnate Dominion Resources (NYSE: D) completely validated the smart grid when it took a stake in Power Tagging Technologies. Dominion said its new friend has “the technology that will play a key role in transforming infrastructure into a truly smart grid.”

This is where we are.

On the one hand, coal-dependent utilities, Fortune 500 tech firms, global industrial powerhouses, and stalwart chemical companies are all embracing the cleantech future; staking their financial future on it, in fact.

And on the other hand, we have sector-specific consolidation; strategic mergers aimed at improving technology and reducing costs to fuel the next stage of growth.

The alternative future isn't alternative at all. It hasn't been for a while now.

Peabody's (NYSE: BTU) taking part, for crying out loud. One of the world's largest coal companies just paid $15 million for Calera, a company that turns carbon dioxide into green building products.

After you let the hypocrisy of that sink in, take a moment to think about what this massive switch means for your energy portfolio.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

P.S. And then take a moment to read this prospectus on a tiny energy firm with several things going for it. It's contracted with the Chinese to sell nuclear powered desalination units and has sales interests from dozens of parched countries. But more importantly, it's on the verge of a very lucrative deal with the Koreans to import a new type of reactor. Is it a buyout candidate? Maybe. But the shares are headed higher either way.

Korean Nuclear Reactors in the U.S.

It's the stuff you never hear about that makes the most money. Or at least the stuff you don't hear about until it's too late.

Big acquisitions. Clandestine loopholes in new legislation. Surprise upside earnings.

Here's an investment story that's way ahead of the curve for a change. The story actually begins in the U.S., but we'll pick it up with recent news from Korea and work backwards.

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The $20 billion affirmation

South Korea has been perfecting a new type of nuclear reactor for the past 10 years.

The reactor, called the Advanced Power Reactor-1400 (APR-1400), has already gained international recognition, with Nuclear Street reporting it “includes safety features not found in conventional reactors,” like “a missile shield to defend against both an internal and external missile attack... seismic restraints and improved materials that would prevent damage to the reactor in the event of an earthquake.”

Right now, four of these reactors are under construction in Korea, with the first scheduled to come online next fall.

Here's how far ahead this reactor is...

Last year, the United Arab Emirates awarded a $20 billion contract to a Korean consortium to build four reactors. While that's impressive, it's even more so when you know Korea beat out nuclear stalwarts like Areva (Paris: CEI), Total (NYSE: TOT), GE (NYSE: GE), and Hitachi (NYSE: HIT) to get that deal.

That's how good this reactor is.

It's led the Korea Herald to declare “The nuclear power industry is Korea’s new growth engine, targeting the rising market for nuclear reactor construction worldwide. Local players aim to construct about 80 nuclear reactors by 2030 in global markets.”

Keep that in mind as we head back to the States.

The writing on the wall

Here in the U.S. — in Idaho, to be exact — a small company has been cutting through red tape for years in order to build the first investor-owned utility in decades.

It's already gained community support and, earlier this year, began to make rapid progress in the regulatory realm.

After numerous rallies, hearings, closed-door meetings, and committee sessions, the company now has two sites approved for construction of a nuclear reactor.

I'm sure you can guess which reactor it's trying to use...

You can bet this company is well aware of Korea's new world-leading reactor. And early this year, I began to hear rumors that the CEO was making frequent trips to meet with Korean higher-ups.

This is a story hardly anyone else is reporting. And even when I see it in the news, they never cover the entire story.

They just don't get it.

It's the other story, stupid

Whenever I see this story mentioned, the focus is always the same as any other nuclear story.

They talk about the company's plan, where the nukes are going to be built, and then focus on the standard nuclear issues: NIMBYism, potential catastrophes, proliferation, and other what-ifs.

What they're missing is the pure profit potential at hand here.

The company about to import these reactors is trading for less than $1.00. That's the real news here.

Because any deal they sign to use Korea's reactor will likely come with exclusive North American distribution rights.

And that means this tiny company could get a cut of every imported reactor.

Remember that line from above: 80 nuclear reactors by 2030 in global markets.

And also remember that the UAE paid $20 billion for four of them.

Those are the kinds of numbers we're dealing with here. And again, no one else seems to get it.

That's why I've authored this detailed prospectus to spread the word.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

No Energy Bill in 2010

Welcome to the Green Chip Stocks Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in everything alternative and cleantech, as well as links to our most-read Green Chip Stocks and sister publication articles.

We don't need an energy bill to profit.

There. I said it.

While it certainly would be helpful, considering the bill being debated in Congress calls for both a cap on carbon and a 15% renewable energy standard, we've simply reached a point where our investments can no longer be held hostage by delayed legislation.

Complaining about it doesn't make money.

Spreading the green gospel and participating in petty political posturing doesn't make money.

Only making smart investment decisions based on market and legislative conditions makes money.

Mining Will Never Be the Same

Nobody ever thought these rare earths and precious metals would see the light of day.

But that's about to change, thanks to one tiny explorer's game-changing technology.

In fact, it's already made select investors 500% richer.

And it could make you 744xs your money.

Get the whole story right here.

The bill's been killed

I've conveyed to you several times that I didn't think an energy bill would be passed this year.

And my concerns were proven correct this week when, as the New York Times reported, “Senate Democrats abandoned their summer efforts to pass a broad energy and climate bill, essentially declaring it dead for the year.”

Though it's a far-reaching and complex bill, we're basically talking about a failure to do two things:

Put limits on greenhouse emissions, and
Establish a national renewable energy standard

Now let's be clear...

This is a blow to the renewable energy industry.

Without a limit or price on emissions, utilities have no reason to reduce them and financiers find it difficult to lend to clean energy projects.

Same goes for the RES — without a mandate on the amount of electricity to be derived from renewable resources, utilities, financiers, and developers will be even slower to act.

As it stands, if a utility needs to build a new power plant, they'll choose natural gas every time. And I can't blame them.

But ranting about this injustice, real or perceived, doesn't pay the mortgage.

If that's what you want to do or that's what you're after, stop right now. Close this window and mouse over to some non-profit environmentalist website.

We're here to make money no matter the legislative hand we're dealt.

Still profits in the cards...

No energy bill means a rough road ahead for developing technologies still dependent on government support.

If the Treasury Grant Program is allowed to expire at the end of the year "the level of capital that is available to finance renewable energy is anticipated to decline by more than 50%," according to the American Council on Renewable Energy.

Wind and rooftop solar would be hit the hardest.

And those are the two best-known cleantech sectors, so you'll have to be well-versed in the industry to succeed.

Smart grid looks good because efficiency is the cheapest energy there is. I've profiled why here, here and here..

Natural gas is also looking good — not just for electricity, but for transportation. And tax credits for its use could sneak through Congress in legislation being pushed in response to the BP disaster.

You'll want to read this report before that happens.

Finally, you'll also want to take a look at Chinese solar companies ahead of earnings in August.

You can find that article, and plenty of others, in the rest of this week's Green Chip coverage below.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Natural Capital Investing: Are We Liquidating $4.5 Trillion In Natural Capital Every Year?
Contributing editor Sam Hopkins reviews a new platform that will be used to address the challenge of measuring and monetizing the most uncommon natural resources.

Canada Puts the Kibosh on Oil and Coal: BC Parliament Cracks Down on Fossil Fuels
The biggest abuse of government power since before the American Revolution is going on just over the border… but there is a profit opportunity here as British Columbia cracks down on oil and coal. Read the latest report from Green Chip Stocks to find out how you can turn this conspiracy into gains of over 170%.

Electric Vehicle Investing Opportunities: What this New Electric Car Bill Means for You
Green Chip Editor Jeff Siegel discusses a new electric car bill that aims to speed up the integration of electric vehicles.

Approaching Solar Earnings Season: Big Banks Bullish on Solar Stocks
Green Chip Editor Nick Hodge talks about big banks warming up to the solar sector and how you can turn a quick profit as earnings season approaches.

Ecosystem Investing: A $2 Trillion Discovery that May Piss You Off
Editor Jeff Siegel reviews the annual liquidation of $2 trillion, and how it affects the true value of conventional fossil fuel-based energy.

Smart Grid Reaching Critical Mass: Smart Grid Saves Energy, Makes Money
Energy & Capital's Nick Hodge discusses the coming-of-age of the smart grid via a Kohl's case study.

$30 Thousand Details: The Missing Piece of this Nuclear Outfit’s Puzzle
Fox News covered the story of this up-and-coming nuclear outfit back in March… but the folks at Fox left out some very important details. And the missing piece of this puzzle could bank you $36,950 by July 20^th next year. Read our latest report to find out how.

Obesity Drug Stocks: The Fat of the Land
Wealth Daily Editor Ian Cooper examines how one weight-loss drug could fatten your wallet in the next 60 days.

Tiny Nuclear Company Leads American Resurgence: The Nuclear Energy Story Fox News Isn't Telling You
Energy and Capital Editor Nick Hodge shares with readers details on a little-known nuclear company that's set to explode on certain hidden news...

China Leads U.S. in High Speed Rail: Faster Than a Speeding Panda
Green Chip Stocks Editor Jeff Siegel comments on China's latest green innovation and why the U.S. needs to catch up.

Ecosystem Investing

Over the weekend, I did an interview on a radio talk show.

Unfortunately, you'll never hear it.

It's my own fault though. I dropped the "f bomb" a few too many times.

That's right — and I have no plans to stop using it, either...

Free Market!

I bet you thought I was going to say something else, didn't you?

Either way, "free market" must have been just as offensive as the other "f" word, because every time I started talking about how a real free market would validate the economic advantages of many energy alternatives, I was cut off.

You see, the guy who was interviewing me essentially just wanted to debate. And I was fine with that.

Happy to do it, actually...

The only problem is that he (and so many like him) don't really want to hear the truth about energy.

They're completely satisfied buying into the cheap energy illusion — feeding into the hype that alternatives can only survive with government support, never once acknowledging the massive subsidies that oil and coal receive every single year.

Truth be told, I'd be happy to do away with subsidies altogether. That means both alternatives and fossil fuels never see a single taxpayer dime ever again.

If you truly value a free market, then certainly such a suggestion shouldn't be a problem.

Now we've discussed the subsidy issue in these pages before, so I won't rehash it here.

(Though if you'd like to see how fossil fuels landed $72 billion in subsidies during the same time renewables received $29 billion between 2002 and 2008, you can see the analysis here.)

Of course, $72 billion is nothing compared to an additional...

$2 Trillion unaccounted for — every single year!

I've been in the investment publishing game for 16 years now.

In that time, I've made a lot of friends (investors who made a ton of dough in alternative energy), and I've pissed off a lot people (folks who use my analysis of alternative energy as an excuse to spout off about liberals, socialism, and those pesky treehuggers).

If you're the latter, you may want to stop reading now.

Last week, U.N. States proposed the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a new body that seeks to advise on valuing nature and conservation targets.

Now before you roll your eyes and write this off as some environmental rant, consider that the biodiversity and ecosystem services (what we define as natural capital) that are being discussed have more than just an aesthetic value.

This stuff has real economic value. According to U.N. reports, the world's natural capital is valued at $2 trillion-$4.5 trillion a year. And yet these are figures that are not being included in economic measurements or GDP.

If the liquidation of natural capital was figured into the equation when measuring performance (as it should be), how cheap would oil and coal really be?

The European Commission issued its Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity report (TEEB) last week in an effort to find a way to properly measure the value of natural capital.

Here's what Angela Cropper, Deputy Executive Director of the U.N. Environment Programme had to say at press conference for the launch of the TEEB:

Biodiversity is disappearing at up to 1,000 times the natural rate, and ecosystems are functioning less and less effectively.

About 60 per cent of ecosystems have been degraded or used unsustainably, including provisioning (food and fibre) and regulating services (climate, flood, water purification).

Around 50 countries face moderate or severe water stress.

By 2030, it is thought that water scarcity could cut agricultural harvests by 30 per cent.

If numbers or statistics we've heard today, either about biodiversity loss or the value of ecosystems seem at first too abstract or too distant, there can be no denying that we are already feeling the effects of biodiversity loss: rising food prices, a lack of once commonly available fish, some of the worst droughts in a decade affecting exports basic foods and in the worst cases, causing severe food shortages and widespread hunger.

Of course, we don't need a press release to tell us something that we're seeing in our own backyard right now...

The ONLY Metal More Precious Than Gold

Most investors obsessing over gold's luster are in for a major shock.

We recently uncovered another metal — now being fought over across the entire planet — that's far more precious, valuable, and profitable to investors than gold will ever be.

This rare video exposes the entire eye-popping story.

Thanks for the case study, BP!

According to economist Pavan Sukhdev, the BP debacle underscores the need for a change in how natural capital is measured and valued. He argues that had a holistic economic assessment been required before drilling was allowed, the potential liability might have motivated BP to take more stringent safety measures.

Sukhdev also notes the $20 billion ponied up by BP for compensation and cleanup, but asks the question, "... what about the cost to the economy of lost utility — eco-tourism loss, fisheries stocks that represent future losses to industry, the inability to fish in the area?"

The economic loss caused from this single disaster will dwarf $20 billion.

From the death of mangroves which serve as nurseries for commercial marine species and protect against hurricane damage... To the health effects that will come to fruition as we are forced to remember that it's a long and nasty fall when you're at the top of the food chain... The grand total from this disaster will not be a small one.

Of course, it'll take decades before we'll really be able to get an honest assessment. So I can't even imagine how one could put a valid price tag on it now.

Hell, we still don't even know how this whole thing's going to play out. That whole area out there in the Gulf seems like a ticking time bomb.

We got confirmation this morning that a seep has been found near the well, and anomalies have been noticed at the well-head. Scientists also remained concerned about large amounts of methane escaping through cracks in the sea floor.

This is far from over, my friends.

So lets drop the partisan rhetoric, and consider, honestly... Is there an economic advantage to using alternatives to oil?

You better "f-ing" believe it!

To a new way of life, and a new generation of wealth...

Jeff

Global Energy Transition Underway

When discussing energy, most people focus only on the here and now.

And I have to hand it to them. That's a great way to discount renewables.

But it's also a great way to miss out on what's shaping up to be the biggest investment theme of the first half of this century.

You know the arguments I'm talking about...

"Wind and solar only account for a fraction of energy production, and will never amount to anything... "

"Renewables are way too expensive compared to coal and natural gas... "

"Switching to renewables will hurt our economy, raise utility bills, and cost American jobs... "

Or any of the other talking points you hear that are rarely backed up with any real data.

How Much Will this Rock Be Worth for You?

This rock is one of millions of gold-bearing pieces that are scattered across a small part of Canada...

Two companies sit on 150,000 acres of this land — and one gold analyst is expecting just one of them to hand investors an easy 127% gain within the next year.

It's all detailed in a free video seminar, which you can view here.

I actually love people that believe that kind of stuff.

Not only will it be fun to watch them eat crow in a few years; it's also good to know that they'll be missing out on a monumental shift in energy wealth.

They can spout off today about the fallacy of global warming, not wanting to trade in their uber-consumerism for a green lifestyle, and how switching to cleantech would put an unecessary burden on the middle class — all classic unfounded naysayer rhetoric — while we focus on making money from trends they're just too narrow-minded to see.

So pay attention. Here are five green swans they're not considering.

Five green swans

1. The developing world

1.6 billion people still lack basic access to electricity. That's more than five times the U.S. population and represents about a quarter of the global population.

Countries where those people are located don't have a grid. They don't have coal plants. And they likely never will.

As I've detailed here, these countries are developing green from the start.

By 2025 there will be about two dozen cities with populations over 10 million. The U.S. will only have two of them. Most of the rest are being built now — and they're being built green.

Of the $95 billion expected to be invested in cleantech outside the United States and Europe this year, $40 billion will go to developing countries, not including China.

2. Technology development

We've only dipped our toes in the clean technology pool.

The entire sector is undergoing a rapid technological transformation. Fossil fuels have had more than a century to innovate, but the focus has only shifted to cleantech in the past decade or so.

Cleantech is now one of the top three sectors getting venture capital, along with Internet technology and health care.

And the government has created ARPA-E — energy's equivalent of DARPA, which is credited with inventing the Internet.

It's busy developing, among other things, next-generation batteries for electric cars, megawatt-scale storage systems for wind and hydro, soft-magnetics and chips that can reduce the power consumption of electronics, and even microorganisms that harness chemical and electrical energy to convert carbon dioxide into fuels.

It even helped pioneer the new light bulbs we've been telling you about.

If you think there can't be rapid transition in an industry so big, I have two words for you: Smith Corona.

3. Cost

This isn't two years ago. Cost is quickly fading as an argument against clean energy.

Here's where we stand now:

Hydro, geothermal, landfill gas, biomass, and wind are already at or well below current grid prices for coal.

Also, note where efficiency stands. That's a major catalyst for the smart grid.

Solar will be the next technology to reach parity, with installed costs of $0.12/kWh expected by most companies and analysts by 2012.

So the cost argument is just about out the window.

4. Utilities

These fiscally conservative, slow-to-change, highly-regulated giants are quickly starting to warm up to cleantech after a long and calculated wait time.

These guys are penny pinchers, so there's no way they were going to adopt clean energy until it was competitive...

But guess what? The time has come.

Utilities used to have to be forced to purchase clean energy through laws. Now they are seeking it out — and in some cases, not signing power purchase agreements with developers, but rather taking ownership of the assets themselves.

This is especially true of solar, which is about to reach parity, and avoids many challenges associated with transmission, interconnection, and permitting. And also of the smart grid, for which 25% of U.S. utilities have already made a firm commitment.

When the utilities like it, you know it's a viable product.

5. China

China's 2009 cleantech investment: $33.8 billion.

The U.S.? Just $17.9 billion.

China now has three of the top 10 wind companies in the world, and has become the largest domestic wind market in the world after passing the U.S. last year.

They have six of the top ten solar companies, and they produce more than 50% of the world's solar energy products.

And they're just getting started.

Bottom line

In a recent report, the International Energy Agency said that “a revolution in energy technology is occurring, spearheaded by substantial increases in renewables generation, particularly wind and solar power.”

And even with all the progress, these are only the “first small, fragmented steps on a long journey towards transforming the way we supply and use energy.”

It has concluded that renewables could provide 50% of the world's power by mid-century.

Put your money in cleantech. Put your money in the future.

Some more ideas on how to do that below.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Green Parking Lots: Will these Two Companies Green Your Parking Lot and Fatten Your Wallet?
Green Chip Editor Jeff Siegel discusses two publicly-traded companies greening up the nation's parking lots and garages.

Stimulus Funds Array of Smart Grid Technologies: The Smart Grid Deconstructed
Editor Nick Hodge discusses smart grid stimulus projects, and why we're in the early stages of a complete grid overhaul.

Peter Lynch's Stock Market Investment Advice: Finding the Elusive 10-Bagger
Wealth Daily's Steve Christ breaks down Peter Lynch's best investment advice on the trail of a 10-bagger.

Don't Sell Your Junior Gold Stocks Just Yet: Why You Can Expect Long-term Rewards Despite Short-term Hiccups
Editor Greg McCoach discusses why selling shares of junior gold stocks might not be the best idea right now, despite a downturn in the market.

Investing in Green Stocks: 7 Green Stocks to Buy on the Next Market Slide
Green Chip's Jeff Siegel reveals his top seven green stocks to buy the next time the market slides.

The Ten Commandments of Trading: Ten Rules for Profitable Trading
Wealth Daily Editor Christian DeHaemer tells readers about the ten rules of trading and explains why his favorite stock of the year is up 441%.

A $297Billion-a-Year Market: Smart Profits from the Smart Grid
As America's electric infrastructure is on the verge of collapse, there are literally billions of dollars out there for those who are developing and investing in Smart Grid technology right now. This new report from Green Chip reveals the pure profit plays you need to know about to get in on what GE is calling "the biggest investment of the next 50 years."

Energy Efficiency Stocks: Out with the Old, In with the New, and Straight to the Bank
Forbes recently said of this company "it … has the capability to radically alter the entire energy landscape.” A little-known engineering firm in Ohio is changing the energy efficiency sector in a big way, and this new report gives investors an inside look at what they need to know to get in before they can no longer afford this outfit's now $1.20 share price.

A Beginner's Guide to Fundamental Analysis: A Heavyweight's Handbook to True Wealth
Editor Steve Christ takes a look at fundamental analysis and explains how the heavyweights have used it earn a fortune.

Stimulus Funds Array of Smart Grid Technologies

My heart sank three weeks ago when I read that Maryland's Public Service Commission (PSC) rejected the state utility's proposal to adopt the smart grid.

Baltimore Gas & Electric — a unit of Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) — submitted an $835 million plan to install 1.36 million smart electric meters and over 700,000 advanced gas meters in the state.

At stake was a $200 million federal stimulus grant, the adoption of the smart grid in my home state, and a near-$1 billion kick-off party to the kind of smart grid investment about to sweep the nation and world.

But the PSC said two points in the plan — mandatory real-time pricing and a surcharge to reduce some of the cost — were asking ratepayers “to take significant financial and technological risks and adapt to categorical changes in rate designs, all in exchange for savings that are largely indirect, highly contingent, and a long way off.”

BGE said the project “appears dead.” The DoE said the grant program was oversubscribed anyway, and they'd be glad to give the $200 million to another state.

But $200 million is a lot of coin for a state to let slip away, especially when dealing with federal funds that would put it on the forefront of grid modernization.

Forget Everything You Know About the Bakken

Most estimates for the sweet light crude reserves in North Dakota's Bakken Oil Pool are in the 4-6 billion barrel range.

But the CEO of the biggest Bakken oil company says there's as much as 24 billion barrels.

That means your Bakken oil stock profits are about to get a LOT bigger.

You can watch the incredible video footage HERE.

The biggest piece of pie

$200 million is the absolute maximum a state can be awarded from the stimulus for smart grid development.

And even though $4.5 billion has been allocated for the sector, only six projects were awarded the full amount.

Here are the others:

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE: CNP), Houston, TX
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), Charlotte, NC
NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) (formally Florida Power& Light, note the implication of the new name), Miami, FL
Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN), Raleigh, NC
PECO (an Exelon (NYSE: EXC) company), Philadelphia, PA

Point is, this was a monumental opportunity, and BGE wasn't going to have it taken away from them.

So this week, a new plan was submitted to the PSC, fixing the sticking points from the previous version.

Instead of adding a surcharge to cover all costs not paid by the grant, the new plan calls for it to cover just 25% of the cost with the rest offset by rate-increases over time. And real-time pricing will be optional rather than mandatory.

The bottom line here, before we get into how this will make us all money, is that the project is expected to cost $835 million.

But the 15-year return would be $2.6 billion.

The average annual expense works out to only $3.60 per customer, with a return of nearly $100 per customer per year.

Unless you hate saving money and energy, this project is a no-brainer.

So is investing in the smart grid

Compared to solar, wind, and geothermal, deploying smart grid technology has much lower capital costs. That makes smart grid projects more attractive not only to utilities and consumers, but to governments and lenders as well.

The Maryland project described above would pay for itself three times over in the next 15 years.

And according to the Energy Information Administration, an upfront $520 billion smart grid investment in the United States would translate to $1.2 trillion in gross energy savings by 2020.

Investing in the smart grid now means utilities — and by default, you — won't have to spend even more money building new power plants later.

That's why utilities (even southern-based, coal country utilities) are quickly adopting the smart grid and other efficiency practices. And it's why they acted even faster to secure stimulus funds to help them do it.

How can we profit? Let me count the ways...

There are six categories of the smart grid being funded by the stimulus. Below you'll find them listed along with a brief definition. A more thorough guide can be found here.

Advanced Metering Infrastructure - the installation of smart meters that can measure, store, send and receive real-time energy data
Customer Systems - energy management systems for buildings, facilities, appliances, and equipment
Electric Distribution Systems - devices, equipment, and/or software applications including substations, transformer banks, feeder lines, pole top transformers, and customer interconnection and communications systems
Electric Transmission Systems - devices, equipment, and/or software applications such as phasor measurement units, phasor data concentrators, and visualization tools that use phasor or other data in bulk power markets
Equipment Manufacturing - the manufacturing of all these smart grid components
Integrated and Crosscutting Systems - projects that cover two or more of the above categories

And as I said, utilities of all stripes were jumping at the chance to execute these projects.

In total, $4.5 billion will be doled out. You can see the full list of awardees here, but to show the range and scope of these projects, here are the biggest grants in each category, in the same order as above:

Advanced Metering Infrastructure - $200 million for Baltimore Gas & Electric to install nearly 2 million smart meters
Customer Systems - $11.4 million for Honeywell International (NYSE: HON) to provide automated peak pricing response to 700 commercial and industrial customers
Electric Distribution Systems - $136.1 million for Consolidated Edison (NYSE: ED) to deploy automation, monitoring, and two-way communication systems to enable the introduction of more renewable resources in New York
Electric Transmission Systems - $53.9 million for the Western Electricity Coordinating Council to install 250 phasor measurement units across the Western Interconnection in 14 states
Equipment Manufacturing - $19.3 million for the Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) to manufacture smart appliances and accelerate their commercialization
Integrated and Crosscutting Systems - these are the $200 million projects listed above; $200 million each for Duke Energy, NextEra Energy, Progress Energy, and PECO Energy

It's not hard to see why I love the smart grid.

It's the future unfolding right before our eyes and it's a pure economic win. So it doesn't get as tangled in the nonsense associated with clean energy sources.

It helps that the CEO of GE (NYSE: GE) has called in the biggest investment of the next 50 years. And that Cisco says it'll be “100 to 1,000 times bigger than the Internet.”

A Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) analyst recently told me they expect 80-140 million meters to be installed in the next 10 years. And they expect total smart grid investment of $215 billion in the next four to five years.

Needless to say, this is going to be huge.

But we're still way ahead of the curve...

So far, only 25% of the utilities in the U.S. have made a smart grid vendor decision. And according to a recent survey, 70% of Americans haven't even heard of the smart grid.

The time to invest is now.

Just yesterday, GE announced a new $200 million push into the sector. But you'll want to invest in pure plays to profit.

Echelon (NASDAQ: ELON) is looking ever more attractive as it makes strategic partnerships, taking a soup-to-nuts approach to smart metering and energy management. And on the utility side, MasTec (NYSE: MTZ) is looking like a good play on the transmission and distribution build-out.

Of course, being so early in this transition, you could buy the newly introduced NASDAQ Clean Edge Smart Grid ETF (NASDAQ: GRID) as a long-term bet.

And for even more information about the smart grid, its development, and other investment ideas, you can check out the whitepaper located here.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

P.S. In addition to smart meters and transmission systems, efficiency is going to be a huge part of the smart grid. Banning incandescent lights and replacing them with LEDs is an immediate, cost-effective way to drive down energy demand. And Jeff has found a $1.20 company with LED technology so exciting Forbes says it “has the capability to radically alter the entire energy landscape.”

The U.S. Navy, McDonald's, and Wal-Mart have already signed on to use it. You'll want to read about this company before the next big contract is announced.

Investing in Green Stocks

I was fortunate that one of my earliest investments was a bust.

I'm serious.

It was 1993, and I didn't have a lot of money.

I was working a night shift at a credit reporting facility in Atlanta, running around a tape library for 12 hours a night, fetching and monitoring credit reports.

It was insanely boring, but the night shift paid more — allowing me to have just a few extra dollars to invest every month.

Admittedly, it was an exciting time. The promise of doubling and tripling my money got my juices flowing.

But my inexperience and unrestrained enthusiasm also led to some bad investment decisions.

Buy this Stock Now for $0.22!

Meet the company that just saved the nuclear industry...

Click here now!

Like many young investors, I got emotional. I wanted to invest in companies that I believed in. Companies that were doing things that I understood and could support.

I was so religious about it that I allowed my emotional connection with these companies to trump basic logic.

The result was an investment that nearly wiped out my small but growing portfolio.

It was an environmental remediation company that I bought on a dip. And in all fairness, management had some serious green credibility. But the stock was a dog.

I won't get into the dozen or so reasons this stock never had a chance... But I will tell you that this company simply had a business that could not possibly succeed — no matter how exciting its technology was.

After about a year or so, I sold it for an 87% loss.

Brutal!

But a very valuable lesson was learned. And it's one that I have never repeated.

Admittedly, I still only invest in companies I understand and support. But coupled with aggressive due diligence, this has allowed me to make a lot of money — and help thousands of others make a lot of money — in alternative energy and organic and natural food stocks.

And that's why I'm writing this article today.

Given the continued uncertainty of the broader market, I know a lot of folks are either losing money, or they're simply too shell shocked to jump back in.

The latter decision is not something I can completely disagree with, either.

That being said, there are still opportunities out there for Green Chip investors. And if you're willing to get a little more aggressive during these tough times, you can actually come out of this continued economic downturn with a few bucks in your pocket.

"If a business does well, the stock eventually follows... "

While we remain bullish on the long-term potential of alternative energy (if you need a reason, look no further than this), there is no doubt that the remainder of 2010 will be a tough one.

And the bottom line is that the most money being made right now in alternative energy is being made by those who are loading up after those big dips, and cashing out when they spike.

The question is, How do you know which of these alternative energy stocks to play this way?

After all, not all of these dips are followed up by quick pops..

As Warren Buffett once said: “If a business does well, the stock eventually follows.”

It seems like every few weeks now, we have another opportunity to scoop up cheap shares of any number of green chip stocks. Solar, wind, geothermal — you name it.

But only those companies that are doing well — or that are on the verge of doing well, and have the data to back up that claim — are the ones that always come through for us.

So here's a list of our top seven green stocks to pick up the next time they slide with the rest of the broader market...

Trina Solar (NYSE:TSL)
JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO)
First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR)
Ormat Technologies (NYSE: ORA)
EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC)
Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI)
Hain Celestial (NASDAQ: HAIN)

These are all pretty solid plays that don't typically have a problem bouncing back after major market slides.

In other words, these are the business that are doing well.

As an added bonus (if this is important to you), all of these companies are helping to enable a cleaner and more sustainable energy economy.

Not a bad deal.

To a new way of life, and a new generation of wealth...

Jeff

King Saud's Oil... Stolen

As much as 70 billion barrels of Saudi Oil have gone missing.

And you'll never imagine who the culprit behind this $7 trillion heist is...

In the next year, a brand-new oil dynasty will emerge in the unlikeliest of places.

Don't miss out. Get the full story — right here, right now.

Energy Themes for the Next Decade

Much of the editorial I produced this week were musings from Euromoney's Renewable Energy Finance Forum - Wall Street, which I attended last week.

You can find those pieces below, or by clicking here, here, here or here.

The gathering is a proverbial who's who of the energy finance world, and includes talks from senior investment bank officials, cleantech CEOs, venture capitalists, and policymakers.

It costs over two grand to attend, but the information presented is worth much more than that. So be sure to check out the coverage I've already presented as well as the continued coverage I'll deliver next week.

If You Thought the Oil Sands was Big News...

Get ready, because this could be bigger — much bigger.

Like the tar sands, it's also in Alberta...but doesn't have anything to do with oil.

Yet it could make you 744xs your money.

Find out more right here.

Today, for some light weekend reading, I'd like to show you one of the final PowerPoint slides delivered by Michael Liebreich, the CEO of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which is a clearing house for all cleantech financial data, and a man I've seen give countless presentations.

The slide was entitled...

“Magnificent” Seven Decadal Themes (from here to 2020)

And all it said was the following:

Cost-competitive clean energy
Pervasive data
Transformation of transportation
Cities go green
Nuclear power on the march
Developing world leapfrogs
Technology (and other) black swans

Here's what it means...

Cost-competitive with pervasive data

It means sources of clean energy, while still marginally expensive, are undergoing rapid cost reductions. What the naysayers don't seem to realize is that renewables will soon be the cheap form of energy.

Coal and oil have had well over a century to get costs as low as possible... Renewables are only now reaching scale.

And pervasive data is allowing us to realize the full benefits of clean energy and its superiority over traditional fuels. (New Energy Finance is doing a great job of harnessing and synthesizing this data for me and you.)

So, for example, we know where the best renewable resources are in almost every country of the world; we know which companies are making the most economic and effective solar panels and wind turbines; we know which companies and governments are investing how much and where; we're starting to realize and document that coal and oil have a higher cost than the sticker price; and we're starting to know more and more everyday in real time.

We can flash to detailed charts showing the rapid cost reduction in solar on a whim:

Transforming transportation

Whether it's natural gas for big rig trucks, hybrid and electric vehicles, high-speed rail, or improved metro transit... the way we move goods and ourselves is changing.

It's sometimes hard to see the impact of all the small steps being taken, but dozens of cities and ports have converted their taxi and diesel truck fleets to natural gas. Every city I've been to recently has either clean diesel, hybrid, electric, or natural gas buses.

The use of high-speed rail is exploding in Europe and Asia, and is making its way to the U.S. And increasing fuel economy standards mean plenty of models are getting 40 miles per gallon or better.

The Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt are already the talk of the town, with demand expected to well outpace initial supply.

This is 2010. Only a neophyte would fail to see where we'll be in ten years — and fail to invest accordingly.

Just take a cue from Buffett, who has already purchased a major U.S. railroad and took a multi-billion-dollar stake in an up-and-coming Chinese battery maker.

Cities go green as the developing world leapfrogs

I covered this theme last week.

But the gist of it is that the population in the developing world is booming; in the next decade, cities like Mumbai, Manila, Jakarta, Delhi, and Sao Paulo will each soon be bigger than any U.S. city.

And as they develop, they don't have entrenched fossil fuel industries to fight. They are developing cleanly.

What this means is that U.S. cities will soon be smaller and seemingly outdated compared to cities we once considered "the Third World."

And the investment potential in green building products and clean infrastructure will be huge.

Nuclear power on the march

There are 439 operating reactors in the world... 59 are being built; 149 are on order or planned; 344 have been proposed.

These are the plants expected to be completed by 2016, per the World Nuclear Association.

Power reactors under construction, or almost so

Start Operation*		REACTOR	TYPE	MWe (net)
2010	India, NPCIL	Kaiga 4	PHWR	202
2010	India, NPCIL	Rawatbhata 6	PHWR	202
2010	Iran, AEOI	Bushehr 1	PWR	950
2010	Russia, Energoatom	Rostov 2	PWR	950
2010	India, NPCIL	Kudankulam 1	PWR	950
2010	Canada, Bruce Power	Bruce A1	PHWR	769
2010	Canada, Bruce Power	Bruce A2	PHWR	769
2010	Korea, KHNP	Shin Kori 1	PWR	1000
2010	China, CGNPC	Lingao II-2	PWR	1080
2010	Argentina, CNEA	Atucha 2	PHWR	692

2011	India, NPCIL	Kudankulam 2	PWR	950
2011	India, NPCIL	Kalpakkam	FBR	470
2011	Taiwan Power	Lungmen 1	ABWR	1300
2011	Russia, Energoatom	Kalinin 4	PWR	950
2011	Korea, KHNP	Shin Kori 2	PWR	1000
2011	China, CNNC	Qinshan 4-1	PWR	650
2011	China, CGNPC	Lingao 2-1	PWR	1080
2011	Pakistan, PAEC	Chashma 2	PWR	300
2011	Japan, Chugoku	Shimane 3	ABWR	1375

2012	Finland, TVO	Olkiluoto 3	PWR	1600
2012	China, CNNC	Qinshan 4-2	PWR	650
2012	Taiwan Power	Lungmen 2	ABWR	1300
2012	Korea, KHNP	Shin Wolsong 1	PWR	1000
2012	France, EdF	Flamanville 3	PWR	1630
2012	Russia, Energoatom	Vilyuchinsk	PWRx2	70
2012	Russia, Energoatom	Novovoronezh II-1	PWR	1070
2012	Slovakia, SE	Mochovce 3	PWR	440
2012	China, CGNPC	Hongyanhe 1	PWR	1080
2012	China, CGNPC	Ningde 1	PWR	1080

2013	China, CNNC	Sanmen 1	PWR	1100
2013	China, CGNPC	Ningde 2	PWR	1080
2013	Korea, KHNP	Shin Wolsong 2	PWR	1000
2013	USA, TVA	Watts Bar 2	PWR	1180
2013	Russia, Energoatom	Leningrad II-1	PWR	1070
2013	Korea, KHNP	Shin Kori 3	PWR	1350
2013	China, CGNPC	Yangjiang 1	PWR	1080
2013	China, CGNPC	Taishan 1	PWR	1700
2013	China, CNNC	Fangjiashan 1	PWR	1000
2013	China, CNNC	Fuqing 1	PWR	1000
2013	China , CGNPC	Hongyanhe 2	PWR	1080
2013	Slovakia, SE	Mochovce 4	PWR	440

2014	China , CNNC	Sanmen 2	PWR	1100
2014	China , CPI	Haiyang 1	PWR	1100
2014	China , CGNPC	Ningde 3	PWR	1080
2014	China , CGNPC	Hongyanhe 3	PWR	1080
2014	China, CNNC	Fangjiashan 2	PWR	1000
2014	China, CNNC	Fuqing 2	PWR	1000
2014	China, China Huaneng	Shidaowan	HTR	200
2014	Korea, KHNP	Shin-Kori 4	PWR	1350
2014	Japan, Tepco	Fukishima I-7	ABWR	1350
2014	Japan, EPDC/J Power	Ohma	ABWR	1350
2014	Bulgaria, NEK	Belene 1	PWR	1000
2014	Russia, Energoatom	Rostov 3	PWR	1070
2014	Russia, Energoatom	Beloyarsk 4	FNR	750

2015	Japan , Tepco	Fukishima I-8	ABWR	1080
2015	China , CGNPC	Yangjiang 2	PWR	1080
2015	China , CGNPC	Taishan 2	PWR	1700
2015	China , CPI	Haiyang 2	PWR	1100
2015	Korea, KHNP	Shin-Ulchin 1	PWR	1350
2015	Russia, Energoatom	Novovoronezh II-2	PWR	1070
2015	Japan , Tepco	Higashidori 1	ABWR	1385
2015	Japan, Chugoku	Kaminoseki 1	ABWR	1373

2016	Romania, SNN	Cernavoda 3	PHWR	655
2016	Russia, Energoatom	Leningrad II-2	PWR	1200
2016	Russia, Energoatom	Rostov 4	PWR	1200
2016	Russia, Energoatom	Baltic 1	PWR	1200
2016	Russia, Energoatom	Seversk 1	PWR	1200

* Latest announced year of proposed commercial operation.

Need I say more?

Technology (and other) black swans

Like I said, we're only a few steps into the energy race.

We started lighting our streets with coal in the 1810s. Drake found oil in Pennsylvania in 1859. Edison built the first coal plant in 1882.

You think there's much more innovation to be had in those industries? We can't even stop a leaking pipe in the Gulf.

But when did we seriously start applying technology to clean energy? Ten years ago?

The biggest breakthroughs haven't even come yet.

But we'll make sure you're ready to profit from them when they do.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

P.S. You can get caught up on the week's top-read articles from Green Chip Stocks and our sister publications Energy and Capital and Wealth Daily below.

New Law Guarantees this LED Company Shines: Uncle Sam Just Put Money in Your Pocket
Publisher Brian Hicks explains how a new government law guarantees you make profits in energy efficiency stocks.

Asia Establishes Cleantech Dominance: China is Best in Breed
Energy & Capital Editor Nick Hodge profiles clean energy process in Asia, and offers a few ways to profit from their energy hunger.

Electric Vehicle Investing: Something Every Investor Needs to Know about Electric Vehicles
Green Chip's Jeff Siegel discusses the realities of electric vehicle market penetration and mentions a stock investors can consider.

4 Reasons to Own Google (NASDAQ: GOOG): The Bullish Case for Google
Wealth Daily Analyst Adam Sharp makes the bullish case for Google (GOOG) shares

Energy Efficiency Emerges as Strongest Cleantech Sector: My Chat with the Street's Most Powerful Investment Bankers
Editor Nick Hodge goes over data presented by Wall Street bankers at a recent energy conference, and concludes that efficiency is the best investment right now.

Carbon Emissions Investing: 5 Stocks to Own Before Washington Puts a Price on Carbon
Green Chip Editor Jeff Siegel discusses the coming energy bill and the opportunities it could offer for investors.

The Fuel of the Future: Why Soros and Pickens Are Investing Early in this Transportation Technology
This brand-new report from Green Chip details how you could ride along for an easy 1,925% gains on the $1.50-per-gallon transportation technology that's going to power the 21st century.

Energy Efficiency Stocks: Out with the Old, In with the New, and Straight to the Bank
In a world with ever-shrinking budgets and skyrocketing energy costs, this little firm from Ohio is about to save homeowners, businesses, and state departments billions of dollars — every single year! Today, what it created is so cutting-edge, so universally useful that Forbes predicts it "… has the capability to radically alter the entire energy landscape.” This new report from Green Chip gives you all you need to know about this booming $1.20 engineering firm.

Why Silver will Always Beat Gold: The Magic Ratio
Wealth Daily Editor Luke Burgess explains to readers why silver investments always beat gold in uncertain markets, thanks to the "magic ratio".

New Law Guarantees this LED Company Shines

It’s not often that new government rules and regulations actually help everyday Americans...

Or money-hungry investors.

But back in 2007, amazingly, the boys on Capitol Hill did just that when they passed the Energy Independence and Security Act.

Granted, the 317-page bill — small by today’s standards — is filled with more legal jargon than Tiger Woods’ divorce papers...

In other words, if you didn’t spend several years buried in the libraries at Yale Law School, you most likely wouldn’t understand most of it.

But to the trained eye, what starts on page 82 could be the easiest moneymaker you’ll see this decade.

In short, to save energy, the government declared war on the incandescent light bulb.

It will be completely phased out, starting in 2012 for American households.

The initial shock that we'll have to rid our homes of one of the country's earliest and longstanding appliances is infuriating...

That is, until you realize that the bulbs replacing the incandescent light bulb — LEDs — are more than 80% more efficient.

And depending on how often you use your lights... that means electricity bills are going to plummet.

But that’s not even the best part...

This early in the game — with the government forcing LEDs onto the market — finding the right LED companies to hold in your portfolio could be the easiest moneymaker you’ll encounter.

In fact the LED market as a whole is expected to increase 35% year over year through 2012.

Take a look:

And the right companies — the ones landing the BIG contracts right now — are already being shoved into the spotlight.

One of my favorite players in this sector for some years now has been Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE).

And while I love Cree, at $65 a share, it isn’t my first choice when looking for an LED company that is really set to take off...

That award goes to a relatively new up-and-comer in the LED business.

One that recently unleashed some of the most cutting-edge LED technology on the planet.

This company is so far ahead of the game that multi-billion dollar corporations and government agencies are already lining up at its door, waiting to sign contracts.

One of the biggest contracts is coming from the United States Navy; they've hired this outfit to retrofit every ship in its fleet with this company’s signature LED lights.

And it’s the only company in the world that has the technology that the Department of Defense deems well enough for the job.

Right now, shares trade for just $1.20.

But the company’s currently so tiny that with every new contract — no matter the size — the share price skyrockets.

And with 285 more ships in the fleet to go, it could be the easiest way for you to make money over the coming years.

To find out more about this company — and, more importantly, how you could take advantage of it before the next contract pushes their share price even higher — just follow this link.

Profitably yours,

Brian Hicks
Publisher, Green Chip Stocks

Energy Efficiency Emerges as Strongest Cleantech Sector

Let's face it...

The overall performance of renewable energy stocks has been terrible.

At the Euromoney Renewable Energy Finance Forum - Wall Street last week, I sat and listened to a group of investment bankers quantify the difficulty, and point out where the best future investments will be.

Ray Wood of Credit Suisse showed just how bad it's been for our sector over the past two years and so far in 2010:

As you can see, clean equities have lost anywhere from 40% to 72% of their value over the past 24 months.

And market performance like that jams up the entire system.

Morgan Stanley's Kevin Genieser noted the private companies looking to pay off their early investors (private equity, venture capital, etc.) with initial public offering (IPO) proceeds have been met with stiff resistance:

Recent big ticket IPOs from A123 Systems (NASDAQ: AONE), Codexis (NASDAQ: CDXS), and Jinko Solar (NYSE: JKS) have all disappointed.

And that dismal performance sends ripples all the way down the chain.

If VCs and private equity fund managers don't see a profitable exit, they aren't going to lend money in the early rounds.

Throw in the utter lack of policy guidance in the United States (lack of a national Renewable Energy Standard (RES); no price on carbon) and you get what you've got now: everyone with much-needed capital refusing to play the game either 1) because everyone that has played recently has lost; or 2) because the rules aren't clear enough.

As the rest of the world races ahead, here are what the big banks say they're doing until the U.S. gets its act together...

Forget about supply

With the massive finds of shale gas in this country, every banker on the stage said they expect nat gas to remain well below $8.00/Mcf for the foreseeable future.

Gas that cheap translates into electricity at $0.05/kWh. That makes it tough for wind and solar to compete, even with subsidies.

And again, without an RES or a price on carbon, banks are really hesitant to lend to new clean energy supply projects; there are simply too many uncertainties.

But the one sector that has a proven payoff is efficiency. It doesn't matter how cheap natural gas goes... If you consume less electricity, you save more money.

Same goes for grid investments. Reducing grid congestion and inefficiencies can be profitable no matter the going cost of electricity, and it's a fundamental pillar for the introduction of more renewable capacity in the future.

Here's a chart Parker Weil of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch shows to illustrate our grid's shortcomings:

During the session, Parker went on to say that:

Power transmissions have life spans of ~40 years that have already expired. Since the industry was deregulated, the grid new build maintenance expenditures have been reduced
The North American power grid caters to 335 million customers
- The pillars of this complex network are just three independent systems (WECC, ERCOT, Eastern Interconnection)
- Any disruption in the 200,000-mile-long voltage lines can escalate through the system, resulting in massive power outage
- 50% – 60% of the electricity is lost in transmission due to faulty lines and obsolete infrastructure
- The current system does not identify exact location of power outages, so the authorities take calculated guesses
Electricity production accounts for 40% of emissions in the U.S. and is the largest contributor to pollution
There is pressure from power generated by renewable sources for which the grid has limited provisions

Given that world electricity demand has risen to 18.8 trillion kWh from 14.6 trillion kWh in 2000, and is expected to reach 35.2 trillion kWh by 2035... Bank of America believes the best investments it can make are in the area of efficiency.

It believes efficiency has the potential to reduce annual energy consumption 23% by 2020. And given all the current market variables, efficiency is the easiest to finance right now because it has the lowest up-front capital costs and the fastest payback:

This is why Bank of America — and several of the other panelists — see efficiency as the best short-term clean investment, and see investment in the sector hitting $216 billion in the next few years.

And they see a three-pronged approach to easy profits...

First, reduce demand by retrofitting homes, offices, and factories with efficient lighting, appliances, and HVAC systems.

Second, upgrade the distribution infrastructure.

Third, deploy smart meters to create a networked smart grid and advanced metering infrastructure.

I'll have more on steps two and three in coming weeks, but for now you need to focus more on the most immediate profit opportunity: reducing demand.

That's what the world's most profitable companies are doing to ensure their increased profitability. From McDonald's and Starbucks to Disney and Marriott... the goal is to reduce operating costs through efficiency.

They're optimizing their supply chains, using less cardboard and paper, doing less laundry, and — most important for us — swapping out all their old lighting systems.

Nothing saves energy — and money — like switching out the millions of lights these companies use.

Lucky for us, one company has been selected to do this for all the companies mentioned above — and many more.

It's a small engineering firm with a big lighting solution. The share price has already doubled as word gets out about its success but, as the Bank of America suggests, we're only in the early rounds of efficiency's dominance.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

The Ultimate Safe Haven

Gold has become the world's go-to investment.

But it's often misunderstood...

That's why we partnered with one of the world's foremost gold experts to answer all your questions.

To participate, sign up for the free seminar here.

The Status of Renewable Energy in the United States

Instead of reviewing the market's activity this week (I think we all know that most equities are struggling right now), I'm going to give a summary of the opening speech from a conference I attended this week in New York.

It's called the Euromoney Renewable Energy Finance Forum - Wall Street, and though I've mentioned it twice already (here and here), the content was so good that I'll be bringing you snippets of what I learned over the next few weeks.

A Massive Solar Glut Destroyed Solar Stocks in 2011

Well, except for one...

It's a tiny little engineering firm in D.C. that developed a new technology that's
300% more powerful than regular solar panels... can be sprayed onto any surface... and it doesn't even need direct sunlight to work.

— Here's how it works —

The opening speech was delivered by Michael Eckhart, President of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), which has hosted the conference for the past seven years.

ACORE has more than 600 members comprised of all the key players in the U.S. renewable energy market. From trade associations and labor unions to cleantech companies, utilities, banks, and law firms, ACORE has emerged as the strongest renewable energy lobbyist, policy activist, and industry organizer in the world.

His talk centered on the available resources in the United States — the status of the nation's development and what policy is necessary to bring our cleantech progress up to snuff with the rest of the world.

U.S. renewable energy resources

I don't need many words here; his slides can do the talking...

U.S. Wind Resources

U.S. Solar Resources

U.S. Biomass Resources

U.S. Renewable Energy Resources

Despite our vast resources, you can see why it's so difficult for the Senate to pass a uniform renewable energy standard... Our states have very different resources available to them, and every Senator wants to ensure the best deal for their constituents.

Status of U.S. renewable energy markets

Wind Power

Note: The yellow and green represent best- and worst-case scenarios.

Key issues for wind:

Slowdown of development
Financial constraints
End of certain stimulus provisions
Utter lack of adequate transmission

Solar Photovoltaics

Note: The green is an overly optimistic estimate of utility scale projects.

Key issues for solar PV:

Costs are falling rapidly
Need more U.S. production
12 GW utility potential

Concentrating Solar Power

No charts for this one, but the opportunity is huge.

We have only 418 MW operating right now, but there are numerous pilot projects underway and utilities have already contracted 5,000 MW to be built, with another 10,000 MW planned.

The technology and costs are great, with siting and transmission emerging as the main concerns.

Geothermal

Right now there are 3,153 MW in operation with 456 MW added in 2009.

Currently 6,443 MW are in development made up of 144 projects in 13 states, though 50% of total capacity will be in California and Nevada.

In the west, geothermal has the potential to eventually replace coal because of its baseload nature.

The stimulus gives a 30% investment tax credit and $400 million for research, development, and deployment.

Biomass

Biomass is a sleeping giant in the U.S., and once the South gets on board, the industry could explode.

We have 196 biomass plants already cranking out 115,459 MW, mostly in the pulp-and-paper industry.

Twenty new plants of have been proposed, including — note: this is an important detail hinting at the future — 8 from a Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) / Areva (SYMBOL) partnership called ADAGE.

The stimulus provides a 30% investment tax credit and $800 million for research, development, and deployment.

There's potential to add another 100,000 MW by 2025 that would break down like this:

Industrial Combined Heat and Power (CHP): 57,000 MW
Utility Projects: 37,000 MW
Solid Waste: 10,000 MW

U.S. technology solution set

Here's what Eckhart thinks we need to for the cleantech industry to have the greatest benefit to the nation:

And finally...

U.S. cleantech policy priorities

I'll give it to you verbatim:

Stimulus extensions:

Section 1603 Cash Grants in lieu of tax credits
Section 48C manufacturing tax credits
Loan guarantees — extension and funding

New Legislation:

Energy: National RES, financing, transmission
Climate: cap and trade or other climate path

• Scale-up RE Project Financing to $32 billion/year

Renewable Energy Standard Offer (RESO) Contracts
Make opening for utility ownership
Bring U.S. lenders into the market
Resolve Long-term government role

Now, this information came just from the opening talk...

In the following weeks, I'll get into the finance and investment side, including numerous ideas on how properly position yourself for this coming renewable energy transition.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

P.S. The best of the week's investment ideas — from Green Chip Stocks and our sister publications, Energy and Capital and Wealth Daily — can be found below.

Car Sharing and the ZipCar IPO: Will this IPO Pay Off Better than the Tesla IPO?
Green Chip Editor Jeff Siegel explains car sharing and questions whether or not the ZipCar IPO will perform better than the Tesla IPO.

Goldman Sachs Says Go Long Solar Stocks: Goldman Upgrades Solar Sector
Editor Nick Hodge reviews a recent note Goldman Sachs sent to clients about solar stocks.

LED Technology Boom: The Little Lighting Outfit Cornering a $100bil Market
Still in its infancy, the Financial Times recently reported that this breaking technology “promises to shake up the global market.” This tiny, $1.20 engineering firm is literally cornering a market that the DoE estimates will be worth over $100 billion by 2020. Read our latest report now on the how the future of lighting could pad your pockets for years to come.

Regenerative Medicine Investing: A Look into the Future: Building a Better Tomorrow, One Body Part at a Time
Wealth Daily Editor Steve Christ discusses regenerative medicine investing and explains why today's breakthroughs will usher in a new era in medicine.

What Soros and Pickens Already Know: Introducing the “Champagne of Fuels”
Our latest report from Green Chip details how you could ride along for an easy 1,925% gains on the $1.50-per-gallon transportation technology that's going to power the 21st century.

Clean Energy in the Emerging Markets: Third World to U.S: See Ya Later, Suckers
GC's Nick Hodge discusses the growth of clean energy in the developing world, and why the U.S. is about to lose out.

Where BP Went Wrong: What'd They Do to Deserve This? Well, Let's See...
Wealth Daily Analyst Adam Sharp examines and responds to CEO Tony Hayward's remarks to BP executives following the Macando well explosion.

Ben Graham's Winning Investment Advice: Learning the Ropes from Buffett's Greatest Mentor
Editor Steve Christ takes a look at Benjamin Graham and reveals the legendary investor's winning investment advice.

New Mortgage Broker Hires Point to End of the Credit Crunch: Four Reasons that Suggest We're in the 3rd Stage of the Housing Bear Market
Energy and Capital Editor Christian DeHaemer gives four reasons for the end of the housing bust and the start of a new cycle.

Renewables Sputter, Efficiency & Nat Gas Prevail

Welcome to the Green Chip Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in everything alternative and cleantech, as well as links to our most-read Green Chip and sister publication articles.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it...

Clean energy profits in the market have been hard to come by.

In fact there are only a handful of green stocks that are in the black for the year.

This snippet from Reuters about an HSBC report reveals why:

"Regulatory risk is on the rise again and regulatory uncertainty has led to very poor wind and solar share price performance year to date," said the report, "Carbon default — real or imagined?."

Many low-carbon, renewable sources of electricity require government support to be competitive with fossil fuels, incentives now at risk especially where funded by public treasury rather than passed to consumers.

The BP oil spill may drive support for a U.S. clean energy bill, but the shape of that was unsure and time "rapidly running out" for passage before November mid-term elections.

The competitiveness of U.S. renewable energy faced an additional threat from low gas prices as a result of shale finds.

"Aggressive targets for clean energy are not being set, or where set, are not consistently being supported with effective planning and financing mechanisms," the report said.

In the U.S., tens of billions were allocated to cleantech via the stimulus. Only a fraction of that money has been allocated and distributed.

In the UK, the government last year penned ambitious plans for offshore wind expansion. But this week, the new coalition government announced plans to reign in the country's budget deficit, and now there's a funding gap of about $150 billion for those wind projects.

In the broader cleantech community, deal completion has all but come to a standstill. Projects that aren't purely profitable — without tax credits, subsidies, etc. — are having trouble getting off the ground.

And that's made it extremely difficult to turn a profit in the equity markets.

114-year-old Gold Secret Finally Exposed

After more than a century of lying dormant, gold is being discovered in the Yukon once again...

We're talking upwards of $160 billion in one of the largest finds in the world!

The thing is, the mining process is just beginning — meaning an easy 127% gain as drilling starts to take off.

To learn more about becoming an early investor, simply click here.

Cost is all that matters now

Last week, the senate failed to extend jobless benefits because it would've added to the deficit.

That pretty much sums up the current sentiment of the entire world: decrease spending.

I mean, we're willing — some are even demanding — that we resume drilling in the Gulf even as oil continues to spew. We're that desperate for cheap energy. And clean energy isn't cheap yet.

As a caveat, I'll note that clean energy will eventually be cheaper — or would be now, if we figure in environmental and war costs.

But we invest in the present, not the future. Anyone can buy TAN and FAN and wait.

So that means investing in currently viable alternatives — like efficient lighting — which are competitive and have proven return on investment without subsidies.

While solar and wind have offered lackluster returns this year, finding the right LED name has been an easy way to make cleaner profits.

Easy as 1, 2, 3...

It's unfortunate that global economic woes surface at the very moment we needed a serious energy transition.

The freezing of capital and credit took the wind out of an otherwise robust clean energy market. And the recovery has certainly left much to be desired.

But that doesn't mean we're packing up shop. It means we're working harder than ever to find winning picks for our members.

Gone are the days of loading up on whatever Chinese solar company was next into the earnings' gate.

Here's what I believe to be the way forward for the global energy industry in three profitable steps:

A move toward efficiency: Less capital intensive projects — lighting, smart grid, green building — that help us do more with less energy.
An increase in the use of natural gas: New shale finds have greatly increased reserve numbers, it's cheaper, and the New York Times reports its use could double in the next few decades.
A resumption of cleantech deployment: Once we can agree on a price for carbon and peel back fossil subsidies (both of which could be done in a comprehensive energy bill, which was delayed again this week), capital will once again start flowing to clean energy and electric transportation initiatives.

Each will have a profit angle. And, as always, we'll do our best to get you in front of it.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

P.S. The efficiency part of that trident is already under way. And the nat gas boom is just about to get started... Make sure to read this report on how we think that will play out — and how you can profit. Then, be sure to catch up on the rest of this week's coverage, below.

Tesla Motors IPO Set for June 29: What Investors Need to Know about this Electric Car IPO
Green Chip Editor Jeff Siegel discusses what may be in store for a new electric car IPO.

Urgent Alert: Learn about this Game-changing Energy Play Before the Rest of the World Does
Alternative energy guru Nick Hodge has already been right about this company twice in the past… And as this game-changing nuclear outfit gets ready to change the energy game, only 81 spots remain for investors to take advantage of the information Nick has on file. You don’t want to miss out on this opportunity.

The Transocean (NYSE: RIG) Selloff: Overreaction in RIG Shares?
Wealth Daily Editor Ian Cooper explores Transocean's troubles and explains why it may be a buy as news gets out.

Once-a-Year Profit Window: What You Need to Know Before it Closes
For the last 15 years, one hardly-heard-of meeting has taken place once a year. And for the last 15 years, this obscure annual occurrence has handed only those energy investors who know about it — and what repercussions its outcome has on the energy sector — gains of up to 27,811%. Read our report so you can be among those who know just how important this annual soirée is to the world of energy — and to your portfolio.

Thank You, George W: How a 2007 Energy Law could Score You 18 Times Your Investment
On December 19, 2007, then-President Bush signed into law an energy bill that would soon transform the landscape of America – and guarantee this tiny engineering firm’s success. This new report from Green Chip Stocks has all the details.

Imperial Sugar (NASDAQ: IPSU): One Sweet Sugar Stock
Wealth Daily's Steve Christ takes a look at the dangers of high fructose corn syrup and identifies one of the winners as real sugar makes a comeback.

Gasland Raises Natural Gas Concerns for Investors: Have You Seen this Documentary on Natural Gas?
Green Chip Editor Jeff Siegel discusses a new documentary that's causing some investors to question the environmental sustainability of natural gas in the Marcellus region.

Mayors at Annual U.S. Conference Jump on Natural Gas Vehicle Bandwagon: America's Mayors Urging Congress to Pass NATGAS Act
Green Chip reports on a surprising new voice for natural gas transportation and its effects on natural gas investments.

Is Natural Gas the Future of Energy?: The Future of Transport is Here (and it's Not Electric)
Energy & Capital Editor Nick Hodge takes a look at the zero-sum oil game in the U.S. and reports that natural gas is about to be ushered in as the new fuel of choice.

Gasland Raises Natural Gas Concerns for Investors

I'm a huge fan of documentaries.

Doesn't matter what it is, either... I'll watch anything from an in-depth biography of eccentric and legendary jazz musician Sun Ra (see Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise) to a fascinating perspective on life in modern China (see Up The Yangtze).

Even my Netflix queue is heavily weighted in documentaries, which tends to drive my wife crazy.

And being in the position I'm in as the managing editor of Green Chip Stocks — which boasts a readership of about 150,000 — I also have the privilege of being included on early updates of new documentaries in production, specifically “green” docs.

One that I've actually been aware of for quite some time is called Gasland.

Gasland is a movie that investigates the natural gas drilling boom in the Marcellus Shale region, certainly a topic we can relate to, as we've devoted a decent amount of coverage to the integration of natural gas trucks and buses.

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This is a market that will continue to grow by leaps and bounds in the coming years.

That being said, natural gas — like all forms of energy — is not environmentally benign.

And in Gasland, we get to see some proof of this as director Josh Fox provides a long list of some pretty troubling issues surrounding the production of natural gas.

Here are just a few that he discusses in the movie:

the 80,000 pounds of chemicals that are injected into the earth's crust to frack each well
a loophole in the '05 Energy Bill that exempts gas drillers from EPA guidelines like the Clean Water Act
fracking fluid calls for two million gallons of water transported by up to 100 water-haulers

We know what all this means for the environment... But what does it mean for Green Chip investors?

Perception versus profits

I've known about this movie for a while now — even before it was released.

But to be completely honest, I never thought it would've had such a profound impact on folks that got to see it for the first time this past Monday night, when HBO featured it.

The press surrounding this doc has been amazing. Go ahead and do an Internet search on “Gasland,” and you'll see for yourself just how much coverage this documentary is getting. It's really quite impressive, and it's definitely causing a stir.

In fact over the past two days alone, I've received 28 emails from folks who wanted to know why we would cover natural gas-related stocks if we claim to support clean energy.

It is true that our intention is to focus primarily on green stocks. We've always been strong advocates of solar, geothermal, wind, energy efficiency, mass transit, electric vehicles, and organic food markets...

But admittedly, natural gas has always been a slippery slope for us.

As I said, no form of energy is environmentally benign. Some of us here at Green Chip maintain that natural gas is a cleaner substitute for diesel; it is certainly much cleaner than coal-fired power for utility-scale generation.

Others believe that there are a number of issues with natural gas that make it impossible to be considered “green” — at least when compared to things like solar and wind.

Certainly this is a personal perspective, and it is not our intention to dictate to you what can be considered “green” and what can't.

We're simply here to provide you with the facts and the data you need to help you profit from the transition of our energy economy.

So for those of you who are investing in natural gas — or looking to invest in natural gas-related stocks, take a look at what my colleague Nick Hodge had to say about natural gas last weekend:

... right now, when it looks like renewables and oil will be playing political seesaw for some time to come, it means investing in natural gas.

You see, natural gas is on political common ground.

It's fossil fuel that burns cleaner than coal and oil; and it's cheap and abundant right here in the States.

So while other energy technologies are penalized because of political doubletalk and uncertain future, natural gas has established a bottom and started to rally.

Right now, natural gas has the most certain future of any energy source out there — not just for electricity generation, but — as I've been reporting (see here and here) — for transportation as well.

There will once again be opportunities elsewhere once the spill is stopped, the cleanup is completed, and we start focusing on a clean energy future.

But until then, I'm long on natural gas.

Is there money to be made in natural gas? Of course. And we will leave it up to the discretion of the individual editor as to whether or not he or she will cover natural gas-related stocks.

But if environmental issues do dictate your investment decisions, and you want to see Gasland for yourself, the doc appears throughout the rest of this month and into the next on HBO. It's actually a pretty fascinating movie.

Here's the trailer if you'd like to get an early preview.

And let us know your thoughts...

Is natural gas a "clean" energy solution?

Is this a sector where you expect to profit?

Does the natural gas industry need better regulation?

We welcome your comments, but as always, please keep them civil.

To a new way of life, and a new generation of wealth...

Jeff

One Metal, Infinite Solutions

The U.S. Army wants it to build drones...

NASA's already used it to mount telescopes...

Computer companies think it's the key to faster processing...

And it's all controlled by a tiny, 20-cent mining and manufacturing firm.

Natural Gas: The Politically Agnostic Fuel

Welcome to the Green Chip Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in everything alternative and cleantech, as well as links to our most-read Green Chip and sister publication articles.

Because of all the doubletalk, only extremely informed investors are profiting in this market.

Just this week, BP suspended its time-honored dividend; was forced to create an initial $20 billion compensation fund; and its chief executive was subjected to a Congressional grilling.

And as all that happened, we saw headlines like these:

BP agrees to $20 billion spill fund, cuts dividend
Scenario: BP faces tough future after oil spill
Gulf spill damages may hit $100 billion: Louisiana treasurer
BP chief evades questions at Capitol Hill grilling
Lawmakers accuse BP chief of evasion over oil spill

Did you see that $100 billion estimate in there?

That's six year's worth of BP profits.

All the negative press, the monstrous cleanup and compensation estimates, and the 2.5 million gallon per day leak hasn't been stemmed... and BP (NYSE: BP) has gained nearly $3.00 per share since Wednesday.

If You Thought the Oil Sands was Big News...

Get ready, because this could be bigger — much bigger.

Like the tar sands, it's also in Alberta...but doesn't have anything to do with oil.

Yet it could make you 744xs your money.

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Irrational actions, irrational market

The BP example is only one of conundrums I've seen this week...

I also saw Texas Republican Representative Joe Barton apologize to Hayward during Congressional questioning, calling the harsh government criticism and creation of $20 billion compensation fund “equivalent to a shakedown.”

Yes, that makes Joe Barton a douchebag... But it also highlights just how far this nation's ideological pendulum swings.

Elected officials from both parties have even introduced legislation to lift the drilling ban now in place for the Gulf.

I know it's an election year, but those lost jobs mean squat in the face of the worst environmental disaster ever on U.S. soil.

But there were even more head-scratching moments this week...

On Wednesday, Obama told the nation:

... Oil is a finite resource. We consume more than 20% of the world's oil, but have less than 2% of the world's oil reserves. And that's part of the reason oil companies are drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean because we're running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water.

For decades, we have known the days of cheap and easily accessible oil were numbered. For decades, we have talked and talked about the need to end America's century-long addiction to fossil fuels. And for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires. Time and again, the path forward has been blocked not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candor.

He then called on the Senate to pass a version of the Energy Bill passed by the house last year, saying “the one approach I will not accept is inaction.”

Yet Reuters reported on Thursday that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid emerged from a meeting with fellow Democrats refusing to embrace energy and environment legislation.

The article went on to say that — in an election year — “Some lawmakers are hoping to avoid casting votes on climate legislation that could raise energy and other consumer prices.”

Obama better get ready to accept inaction.

And it should piss you off that 1) lawmakers consistently trade passing needed legislation for reelection; and 2) artificially low energy prices are part of the cause of the BP disaster.

I guess our Senators are part of the vast majority unable to comprehend Obama's tenth-grade-level speech...

Noise-canceling profits

A market depends on conflicting opinions — bulls and bears, buyer and sellers.. all trying to make a buck.

The same can be said of Congress and the nation as a whole.

And at this moment, with polarization as prevalent as it is, you can't get caught up betting on a contentious issue.

You can't invest in oil drillers when some support a moratorium and others are trying to lift it...

You can't bet on cap-and-trade (or a carbon tax) with the Senate majority leader refusing to take up the bill...

What you have to do is hunker down and put your money in technologies and solutions that aren't a part of ideological debates or that are simply too economic to fail.

In the United States, that means limiting broad exposure to solar and wind until a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) is passed.

It means staying on the sidelines of the carbon game until a clear strategy is established.

It means canceling out the noise — no matter how difficult — and making good buys in energy sectors that are politically agnostic.

And right now, when it looks like renewables and oil will be playing political seesaw for some to come, it means investing in natural gas.

You see, natural gas is on political common ground...

It's fossil fuel that burns cleaner than coal and oil; it's cheap and abundant right here in the States.

So while other energy technologies are penalized because of political doubletalk and uncertain future, natural gas has established a bottom and started to rally:

Right now, natural gas has the most certain future of any energy source out there — not just for electricity generation, but — as I've been reporting (see here and here) — for transportation, as well.

There will once again be opportunities elsewhere once the spill is stopped, the cleanup is completed, and we start focusing on a clean energy future.

But until then, I'm long natural gas.

Call it like you see it,

Nick

Obama to Address Nation on Gulf Oil Spill: What You Need to Know before 8:00 Tomorrow
Green Chip Publisher Jeff Siegel explores how alternative energy stocks will react after President Obama's speech tomorrow night.

What Soros and Pickens Already Know: Introducing the “Champagne of Fuels”
Our latest report from Green Chip details how you could ride along for an easy 1,925% gains on the $1.50-per-gallon transportation technology that's going to power the 21st century.

BP Spill to Spur Clean Energy Transition: Seven Days That Will Change the Energy Industry Forever
Editor Nick Hodge puts forth seven days that will change the energy industry forever, and how you can profit as the transition ensues.

Behavioral Economics and Investing: How Emotions Can Lead to Investment Losses
Wealth Daily Editor Steve Christ examines behavioral economics and investing and reveals how emotions can lead to losses.

Natural Gas as a Transportation Fuel: Introducing the "Champagne of Fuels"
Green Chip Editor Nick Hodge discusses real-world energy solutions and highlights one such option: natural gas as a transportation fuel.

Molybdenum: The Metal that Could have Saved 9/11: The Twin Towers' Fatal Flaw
Publisher Brian Hicks brings readers an important investment story heard at a summertime BBQ about the metal that could have changed 9/11 — and will most certainly impact the future.

The End of Offshore Drilling?: The Oil Spill's Silver Lining
Energy & Capital's Nick Hodge explains why the BP oil spill is forcing profitable changes in the domestic fossil fuel industry.

Global Market Shake Up: The Tiny Engineering Firm Cornering a $100bil Market
Still in its infancy, the Financial Times recently reported that this breaking technology “promises to shake up the global market.” This tiny, $1.20 engineering firm is literally cornering a market that the DoE estimates will be worth over $100 billion by 2020. Read our latest report now on the how the future of lighting could pad your pockets for years to come.

Molybdenum: The Metal that Could have Saved 9/11

There are many things I love about the summertime.

Warm weather, light clothing, trips to the beach, more time with the kids, back yard cookouts...

The list goes on and on. But there's one thing it doesn't include, and that's drunken 50-something women making spectacles of themselves in front of my family.

Jenny McDermott was a friend of my wife's cousin.

She had summer house a couple miles down the road in Fenwick Island; when she showed up at my Bethany Beach home 2 weekends ago, she seemed charming enough.

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I had her all sized up in the first 5 seconds...

She was one of those older, free-spirited women you just know was extremely popular and fun to be around during the carefree seventies.

Unfortunately, the 70s ended 30 years ago... and Jenny still hadn't gotten the memo.

Fifteen minutes after arriving, she was barefoot and halfway through her second glass of sangria. An hour later, at just barely past noon, she'd had moved up to vodka shooters.

By 1:30 she was nagging somebody to drive her to the nearest convenience store to get some cigarettes.

And in between those milestones, she did everything from lovingly groping my children, to breathing her liquor breath directly into my ear as she uttered incoherent yet unmistakably suggestive phrases right in front of my wife.

Jenny was a world-class train-wreck...

But for one big reason, I'm glad she came along that Saturday.

You see Jenny brought along her boyfriend William, a Syracuse attorney with almost 30 years of experience in the field of construction litigation.

He was tall — at least 6'4'' — and a former basketball and lacrosse player for the Orangemen. He also looked remarkably good for a man pushing 60, and in stark contrast to Jenny, he was soft spoken and sharp as a tack.

So the time I wasn't spending watching Jenny to make sure she didn't jump in my pool, or take her sundress off in front of everyone, I spent talking with William...

Actually, to be fair, I did most of the listening... Because when he started to tell me, in frightening detail, about what might become the most controversial industrial litigation case to come around in decades, I knew it was time to shut my mouth and open my ears.

It all started innocently enough...

We were drinking beers beside my outdoor wood-burning oven — indulging in the aroma of the 20-pound leg of lamb cooking inside it — when I casually mentioned an investment angle we'd been looking into for the last couple of weeks.

If you recall, a little while back I wrote about molybdenum (moly for short) — a key component in a wide variety modern high-strength, heat-resistant steel alloys.

Now, if it wasn't for my investment background, heat-resistant alloys would have been only of interest to me because the custom-built stove we were using to cook the lamb had nearly caught fire couple times before we switched to a special metal to line its interior.

To a vast majority of people the topic was of little interest.

When I mentioned molybdenum to William, however, his facial expression — which up to that point had been the standard impassive look I usually get from people listening to me ramble on about my work — lit up with interest.

“My firm's spent the last five years building a wrongful-death case against the designers and builders of the World Trade Center. The whole theory of the case hinges on molybdenum,” he said, sipping his Corona.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up. “What do you mean?”

“Pretty simple really... Tishman Realty and Construction — the company that erected the WTC in the early 70s — used ASTM A36 steel, a non-molybdenum carbon steel, for the towers' framework.”

It didn't take a specialist in the field to figure out the implications... “That would have affected the metal's breaking point, right?”

“It sure would've.” William nodded. “When engineers talk about breaking points, they're talking about 'tensile strength'. It's how much strain something can take before failing. A36 has a tensile strength of about 60,000 pounds per square inch and melts at around 2500 degrees Fahrenheit. Raw Molybdenum has a tensile strength of 120,000 pounds per square inch and melts at 4700 degrees Fahrenheit.”

“I've been reading that molybdenum is primarily used for alloys usually, though... ”

“Right, of course; and the some of the alloys that use Molybdenum are twice as strong as pure molybdenum itself. TZM is a prime example. It's used for things like rocket engine nozzles.”

“So that would make it,” I did the math in my head, “what, about 4 times as strong as non-molybdenum steel?

“In very special forms, yes... But more a more realistic example is kind of molybdenum alloy called type1 316 LM. It's commonly used in construction, and it's got a minimum tensile strength of 75,000 pounds per square inch, and a melt point about 300 degrees higher than a36.”

I thought about the temperature in the wood-burning oven, which could go as high as 800 degrees... “300 degrees doesn't seem like much a difference when it comes to thousands of gallons of jet burning jet fuel, though.”

“Well, it doesn't seem like a lot, but there's more to it than just melt points. The really important factor in the World Trade Center was thermal expansion - which is a measure much density a metal looses under heat... Less density makes things softer. Molybdenum alloys are much better at resisting heat even before they start to liquefy.”

“I remember the forensics saying that The World Trade Center's metal framework failed a couple hundred degrees below the steel's melting point.”

“Exactly. The beams just got hot and bent. And the thermal expansion of a moly-based metal like type 316 would have been about half that of the stuff they used in the towers.”

"Which means the moly metal would have been twice as good at retaining tensile strength at high temperatures?"

"Twice as good," he replied with a sigh.

“That would have given the people more time to escape,” I muttered.

He nodded sadly. “It could have saved September 11^th...”

The chills tingled up and down my spine like a procession of marching cockroaches. Somewhere in the background, the sound of Jenny's bellowing laughter pulled me back to reality.

“Funny thing is," he added, "with most new construction today, this is a dead issue... The super high rises like the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the Patronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur are all built out of molybdenum-alloy reinforced concrete — not steel.”

“You think they learned from our mistakes?”

William just looked at me for a moment and shrugged. “Given the way things are in the world today, I'd be amazed if any Muslim nation took a chance with a non-molybdenum highrise. Frankly, I can't believe we still do it here today.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, finishing off my beer.

Having heard everything William had to say, I was more than ready to join Jenny for a couple vodka shooters.

“World's a much different place when you start opening your eyes,” he said softly as he finished his beer.

Later that night, after we'd finally reclaimed our house from the horde of guests — and recovered emotionally from Jenny's onslaught — I sat at my desk and surfed the web, doing some more research.

It didn't take long to reconfirm what I'd already knew.

Even if William's multimillion dollar law suit never sees the light of day, molybdenum is far and away the most important alloy metal there is on the market today.

Not only is it pretty much essential to things like car engines, air frames and oil pipelines; but with modern construction pushing the boundaries of possibility every day, demand is set to rise for decades to come.

In fact, even the major economic downturn of 2008 hardly did anything to stem molybdenum demand globally.

These years of consumption did, however, take a major bite out of global supply...

Of course, the problem that guys like William don't worry about — and guys like me do — is who will benefit from this growing demand.

The answer to this, as it so often is these days, is the Chinese.

I have to admit... With foresight like the kind they showed in buying up all the world's major Molybdenum producers for the last 15 years, they deserve the success that's coming their way.

In 2009, they had close to 97% of the active molybdenum producing mines under their control.

Predictably, as they'd done before with rare earth metals and lithium, as they closed in on a monopoly, they started to cut exports in an attempt to control prices.

Now to most people, this situation looks like basic extortion.

One nation can't monopolize something as crucial as molybdenum just to control prices, can it?

The answer, unfortunately, appears to be yes, they can... or at least they can try...

Because even with the Chinese undergoing a relentless molybdenum shopping spree, they missed perhaps the most important molybdenum reserve ever discovered.

And this is the part that should make you happy. It made me ecstatic.

This reserve is located in Idaho, and once the site is mined, this one deposit will be big enough to supply global demand — all by itself — for an entire decade.

In all, there's about $70 billion in molybdenum (at current prices) in the ground, and all of it is owned by a single North American company.

The real irony here is that as hard as the Chinese tried to control the market, all they really did was set this tiny mining exploration company up to multiply its market cap by a factor of hundreds, maybe thousands.

It's the sort of investment that's got 'early retirement' practically stenciled on it.

For a full report on this company, and the record-setting profits they're about to make spoiling China's carefully constructed plan to control the world molybdenum market, click here.

And Jenny, if you're out there somewhere, it was a pleasure meeting you. When you realize that you left your license and cell phone at my house, just give me a call.

William's got my number.

To your wealth,

Brian Hicks