Sunday, March 28, 2010

Next Crisis around the Corner?

Nothing was done after 1998 LTCM crisis - we know what happened next, the crisis of 2008.
If nothing is done again except printing money to paper things over, the next crisis will be even more devastating.
Financial reform is a necessity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/magazine/28Reform-t.html?ref=us

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Vinod Kholsa Strikes Again

This time in Clean Tech.
http://www.khoslaventures.com/resources.html
Op-Ed Columnist
Dreaming the Possible Dream
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: March 6, 2010
The thing I love most about America is that there’s always somebody who doesn’t get the word — somebody who doesn’t understand that in a Great Recession you’re supposed to hunker down, downsize and just hold on for dear life. I have a couple of friends who fit that bill, who think a recession is a dandy time to try to discover better and cheaper ways to do things. They both happen to be Indian-Americans — one a son of the Himalayas, who came to America on a scholarship and went to work for NASA to try to find a way to Mars; the other a son of New Delhi, who came here and found the Sun, Sun Microsystems. Both are serial innovators. Both are now shepherding clean-tech start-ups that have the potential to be disruptive game changers. They don’t know from hunkering down. They just didn’t get the word.
As a result, one has produced a fuel cell that can turn natural gas or natural grass into electricity; the other has a technology that might make coal the cleanest, cheapest energy source by turning its carbon-dioxide emissions into bricks to build your next house. Though our country may be flagging, it’s because of innovators like these that you should never — ever — write us off.
Let me introduce Vinod Khosla and K.R. Sridhar. Khosla, the co-founder of Sun, set out several years ago to fund energy start-ups. His favorite baby right now is a company called Calera, which was begun with the Stanford Professor Brent Constantz, who was studying how corals use CO2 to produce their calcium carbonate bones.
If you combine CO2 with seawater, or any kind of briny water, you produce CaCO3, calcium carbonate. That is not only the stuff of corals. It is also the same white, pasty goop that appears on your shower head from hard (calcium-rich) water. At its demonstration plant near Santa Cruz, Calif., Calera has developed a process that takes CO2 emissions from a coal- or gas-fired power plant and sprays seawater into it and naturally converts most of the CO2 into calcium carbonate, which is then spray-dried into cement or shaped into little pellets that can be used as concrete aggregates for building walls or highways — instead of letting the CO2 emissions go into the atmosphere and produce climate change.
If this can scale, it would eliminate the need for expensive carbon-sequestration facilities planned to be built alongside coal-fired power plants — and it might actually make the heretofore specious notion of “clean coal” a possibility.
In announcing in December an alliance to build more Calera plants, Ian Copeland, president of Bechtel Renewables and New Technology — a tough-minded engineering company — said: “The fundamental chemistry and physics of the Calera process are based on sound scientific principles and its core technology and equipment can be integrated with base power plants very effectively.”
A source says the huge Peabody coal company will announce an investment in Calera next week. “If this works,” said Khosla, “coal-fired power would become more than 100 percent clean. Not only would it not emit any CO2, but by producing clean water and cement as a byproduct it would also be taking all of the CO2 that goes into making those products out of the atmosphere.”
John Doerr, the legendary venture capitalist who financed Sun, once said of Khosla: “The best way to get Vinod to do something is to tell him it is impossible.”
Sridhar’s company, Bloom Energy, was featured last week on CBS’s “60 Minutes.” Several months ago, though, Sridhar took me into the parking lot behind Google’s Silicon Valley headquarters and showed me the inside of one of his Bloom Boxes, the size of a small shipping container. Inside were stacks of solid oxide fuel cells, stored in cylinders, and all kinds of whiz-bang parts that I did not understand.
What I did understand, though, was that Google was already getting part of its clean-energy from these fuel cells — and Wal-Mart, eBay, FedEx and Coca-Cola just announced that they are doing the same. Sridhar, Bloom’s co-founder and C.E.O., said his fuel cells, which can run on natural gas or biogas, can generate electricity at 8 to 10 cents a kilowatt hour, with today’s subsidies. “We know we can bring the price down further,” he said, “so Bloom power will be affordable in every energy-poor country” — Sridhar’s real dream.
Attention: These technologies still have to prove that they are reliable, durable and scalable — and if you Google both, you will find studies saying they are and studies that are skeptical. All I know is this: If we put a simple price on carbon, these new technologies would have a chance to blossom and thousands more would come out of innovators’ garages. America still has the best innovation culture in the world. But we need better policies to nurture it, better infrastructure to enable it and more open doors to bring others here to try it.
Our politics has gotten so impossible lately, too many Americans have stopped dreaming. Not these two. They just never got the word. As Sridhar says: “We came to America for the American dream — to do good and to make good.”

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

It is good to be a survivor

Financial Crisis? What financial crisis?
Larry Fink is a 12Tillion dollar man!
http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/04/fink-201004
15 Years Ago, the Combined Assets of the 6 Biggest Banks Totaled 17% of GDP... By 2006, 55% ... Now, 63%
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/15-years-ago-combined-assets-6-biggest-banks-totaled-17-gdp-2006-55-now-63

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Course of the Empire

Thomas Cole's "Course of the Empire" series
http://www.isu.edu/~wattron/OLCole2c.html
Cole chose something from Byron to help describe this work:
There is the moral of all human tales;
'This but the same reheasal of the past
First Freedom, and then Glory: when that fails
Wealth, vice, corruption
Niall Ferguson just wrote " Complexity and Collapse", using Cole's painting to muse about the fate of American Empire.
http://laudyms.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/niall-ferguson-complexity-and-collapse/

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Steve Job's "Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish"

Overcome youself, reinvent yourself. stay hungry. stay foolish.
http://www.hrmbusiness.com/2009/03/stay-hungry-stay-foolish-steve-jobs.html
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.htm
Steve Jobs on Living a Purposeful Life
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Steve Jobs on Resiliency in Joblessness and Loving What You Do
“I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

1937, 1974, 2002


Which path is this market going to follow? Is history any guide? Check out the graphs:


Monday, February 15, 2010

New Year Reading List

I. Miat42: 重复一下我对未来预测
http://web.wenxuecity.com/BBSView.php?SubID=tzlc&MsgID=208519
1)我一年前预测的欧元危机已经出现了,和我知道的美国对欧元的计划完全吻合。下一步哪?欧元在1到2年,或3年内彻底瓦解只是个时间问题。本来想出欧元概念就可以看出它必然灭亡的解决,因为欧洲国家经济文化差别太大,互相间无真正信任感,富国如德国法国等无法长期为希腊,西班牙,以及原苏联共和国的贫穷买单。也许短期内德国可能挽救希腊,长期只有一条路,分家。欧洲经过这次危机后,将确立地进入了长期分离的通道,这就是美国20年来梦寐以求的,当然现在不是梦了。
2)当时华盛顿邮报撰文分析为什么布什总统在面临自己的政治生涯和民意跌倒历史最低谷的时候,也就是自己可能被认为是美国有史以来最差总统的最后几个月,对外对内都表现出极其自信安详的不可思议的心理状态,让人们不可理解,在世间人们对他的诋毁声中,他几乎想圣者般的安详。难道他真的走火入魔了?当然不是,现在我们看到了,布什知道的不是我们百姓知道的。他知道金融危机是个有计划地行动,目的就是埋葬欧元和俄国, 然后引诱中国领导人上当性地发放万亿元经济刺激,把中国经济推向极端泡沫的不归路。布什心里有数,未来的人们会理解他对美国帝国地位的贡献,所以自信安详到了出脱的地步。你们理解了吗?
3)表面上看,世界上媒体最流行的语言就是:“美国国力衰退了,中国起来了”,这其实是个错到无法再错的思路。本质确是,美国的国力在表面的“衰退”中,策略性地增强了。为什么?对美国来说,未来真正的威胁不是有没有钱的问题,也不是有没有债务的问题,更不是有没有制造业的问题。真正的关键问题在于2个:A)能源和原材料资源(包括粮食)的全球控制。美国的两次伊拉克战争,阿富汗战争和未来可能以以色列为主的伊朗战争都围绕着能源控制。美国在世界人民在没有真正意识到最大的石油危机很快要到来,而且这意味着国与国生死存亡的危机的时候,先发制人地对这些未来仅存的石油基地布置了军事力量。争取面对能源危机的有利地位。明显地,目前美国基本已完成这个部署,等到伊朗战争完成后,美国和以色列就到达了全球绝对控制能源的垄断地位。中国当然看到了这个方向,过去几年努力地用外汇储备购买别国的油气产业,可惜由于美国为主的阻挠,中国可以买到的产业比较小,对中国这样一个大国不成比例。美国的垄断几乎已经完成,中国可能为时已晚了。B)美元世界储备结算货币的地位。欧元最终不可避免的瓦解,清除了唯一一个可能挑战美元地位的货币,奠定了美元未来50到100年的垄断地位。让世界有回到了30年前的状态,没有一个国家和个人,能够脱离美元。你不选美国,就意味着你的财富不安全。当然现在还没有到那个时候,但2年,3年,5年就到来了。这次欧元危机对美国内部的人来说,可能比二战胜利还意义重大,它奠定了美国未来的帝国地位可能进一步扩张,至少在这个世纪,还是美国的世纪。 你们千万不要被那些噪音所迷惑,什么债务危机,什么出口问题,等等,可能把你搞得人心惶惶。美国领导人和内部计划者根本不担心这些表面问题,他们清楚地知道,美国的命根子只有2条:A)能源的绝对控制(间接关系到粮食的定价和控制) B)美元地位的绝对稳固。
4)去掉了噪音后,我们清楚地看到了美国已经或接近完成了他的命根子问题A和B。中国对美国的“威胁”其实不是关键问题。但到了对付中国的时候了。 美国不是要把中国经济彻底搞垮。绝对不是,而是要进一步融入和控制(经济殖民)中国经济。如何进一步融入中国哪?当然不能在中国人牛气十足的时候,而是要等到中国经济进入脆弱期融入。90年代就是美国和欧洲对中国经济融入和殖民的10年,但没有达到美国的目的,比例还不够。所以现在美国和欧洲利益团体将联合起来对付中国。2010年后的中国将有很大的动荡。房价不一定马上跌下来,但2012年后就可能出事了。目前是预警期。
我的预测:1)这个DECADE(十年)的后半段,中国危机将来临,欧洲瓦解。
2)美国龙头老大地位重新确立。全球资金回流美国。2020年后将进入新的BOOM TIME.
3)不要相信那些无知的“美国债务论”的悲观预测,美国到了美元独大以后,这些都不是问题了。当一个国家自己印自己用的和全世界用的钱的时候,“债务”就是个虚概念。
4) 石油危机可能3,5年就来临。可能对世界某些国家地方相当不利。美国会利用它再次重组利益分配。
5)美国和世界都面临大的通货膨胀。美国的通胀将在可控范围,但中国,俄国,等别的国家就不那么运气了。我以前解释过了,美国的可控通胀就是脱了美元世界货币流通把滥发钱造成的通胀压力让别国稀释掉了

II. 润涛阎: 我的熬鹰经历
http://blog.wenxuecity.com/blogview.php?date=200806&postID=13003
"平原的苍鹰可以活到40岁。到那时它的喙变得又长又弯,翅膀也越加沉重飞翔起来无法自由自在。更要命的是它的爪子老化而无法有效地抓住猎物。而在山区的苍鹰有再生的机会。但要经过一个痛苦更新的过程。它首先要努力地飞到山顶悬崖处,在那里渡过漫长而又痛苦不吃不喝的5个月。先用力将又长又弯的喙击打岩石直到完全脱落,然后等候新的喙长出来;再用长出的新喙将指甲一根一根地拔掉;新指甲长出来后,再将羽毛一片一片地拔掉。待新的羽毛长出后,鹰又可以翱翔于广阔的天空,还可以再活30 年。而平原的苍鹰多数放弃再生的机会而等死了,也有少数远走高飞到高山峻岭去再生的".