HELPFULFACTS.NET

By: Richard Stoyeck-2657 Stock Investing has told us here at StocksAtBottom.com that it has been more than 25 years since Japan’s automotive juggernaut served notice on Detroit that we are going to eat your automotive base for lunch. Each successive year since then, our domestic car manufacturers have given away market share to the Japanese. For General Motors, Ford and then Chrysler before the Daimler merger, the only question was how many car sales are we going to lose this year to the Japanese.

Each of the Big Three must put together 3 to 5 year budgets in order to project their cash flow needs. Ford for the next three years in their budget process is showing continued market share erosion in each of the next three years. It is likely that both General Motors and DaimlerChrysler are acting out the same scenario.

UAW Union Caving to Facts of Life

Jerry Sullivan is the head of the largest UAW car worker’s union at Ford. He has 36 years with Ford, and the last 10 years as head of UAW Local 600. Sullivan is urging his fellow workers to accept the present Ford buy-out agreement which is on the table for Ford workers to consider.

Ford lost almost $13 billion in the last 12 months. The union recognizes that Ford’s back is up against the wall, and it’s time to try to save the company. Ford is reorganizing the way it builds cars, more along the lines of Japanese manufacturing techniques. As an example, many of their employees are now working 4 day shifts of 10 hours. These shifts can include weekends. The workers are agreeing to work at regular wages as opposed to overtime rates.

This summer, the national Union will be negotiating health care benefits among other issues. Right now health care costs are at least 50% higher than overseas employees. It’s very tough for Ford, or anyone for that matter to make up the incremental difference in these costs, and still sell cars at a competitive price in view of world markets. The Japanese operating under a different pricing structure are in a position to simply put more goodies into the cars, and still sell them at a cheaper price than our domestic products, and then there’s the quality issue.

Let’s look at it this way. Our stock research shows that the average car Ford produces compared to Japan has about $2400 of additional profits built into the Japanese car compared to the American produced vehicle. About half of that gap is higher labor costs for the American product, and about half of the labor costs are higher medical care costs for retired automotive workers. The Japanese companies have -0- costs, that’s right, zero associated medical care costs for their RETIRED employees. This is because in Japan those medical care costs are picked up at the national level by the government, who picks up medical costs for all retired people.

General Motors Delays Filing

General Motors like all publicly traded companies must file its annual report with the Securities Exchange Commission on a timely basis. Would you believe that GM has asked the SEC for an extension for its filing to March 16th of this year? GM continues to be unable to act its financial act together. This coupled with an inability to manufacture cars that people want to buy makes the future not altogether too bright for America’s largest car producer.

GM has also expressed an interest in acquiring the Chrysler unit of DaimlerChrysler which is up for sale. This assumes there will be bids for the Chrysler unit. DaimlerChrysler in German has announced that if there are no bids, they will keep the unit, and continue to attempt to turn it around.

It’s seems that GM’s latest problem is their General Motor Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) subsidiary. The financing subsidiary was partially sold to a group of private equity players last April. The problem is when you do such a deal; you have to put in stipulations that everything is beautiful, or just as it should be. Apparently GMAC has quite a few creditors who are what you would call subprime borrowers.

If you have been reading the newspapers lately, subprime is not so prime anymore. With the housing market still on its back, borrowers with less than super credit seem to be in trouble. Translated, that means they are not paying their bills on a timely basis. This entire huge market is called the subprime market. When the economy has something of a downturn historically, these borrowers surface as individuals who just can’t keep up with their debt payments.

A number of companies who have been catering to them, all of a sudden start to take hits. If you are a company doing business with a subprime borrower, you have a certain reserve or cushion built into your numbers for the statistical number of people that you believe will default. It is becoming increasingly apparent in our stock research as stock investors that the subprime companies involved with such borrowers have FRANKLY lost control of their numbers. These companies simply have no idea where their borrowers stand today in their ability to service their debt.

Witness what is happening with Countrywide Financial Corp. which is the largest U.S. home mortgage lender. At the end of 2006, the number of people at least 30 days late is 2.9% of their prime home-equity loans. The number for 2005 was 1.6% and 0.8% for 2004. It is our opinion at StocksAtBottom.com based on stock market information that we use, and stock investing that we do that the subprime industry players RIGHT NOW have no idea where they stand in reference to their loans. The industry is hanging on by their thumbnails hoping that it gets better.

GMAC is in the same position as the subprime industry, and that is why in our opinion they have asked the SEC for a delayed filing authorization. They are literally trying to figure out where they stand. Assuming the situation is worse than what they told the private equity players who purchased a majority of GMAC last year, GM will be responsible depending upon the covenants in the agreement to ante up additional cash to the buyers.

This is just one more illustration of inept management at General Motors. They are a management team that lets things happen to them. They are in a reactive mode as opposed to being out in front of the problems trying to anticipate, and fix them before they get blown out of proportion. At our firm we have been observers of the American automotive adventure for several decades. We know there are Lee Iacocca type individuals out there that can turn around GM, Ford, and Chrysler. These guys just aren’t in the automobile industry anymore.

By: Makabongwe Maseko

I bet you can’t tell me the detailed meaning of stocks. Well if that’s the case, I have compelled this good stock information list with brief descriptions for you.

Stock Classes

Although common stock usually entitles you to one vote for every share that you own, this is not always the case. Some companies have different “classes” of common stock that vary based on how many votes are attached to them. So, for example, one share of Class A stock in a certain company might give you 10 votes per share, while one share of Class B stock in the same company might only give you one vote per share. And sometimes it is the case that a certain class of common stock will have no voting rights attached to it at all.

So why would some companies choose to do this? Because it’s an easy way for the primary owners of the company (e.g. the founders) to retain a great deal of control over the business. The company will typically issue the class of shares with the fewest number of votes attached to it to the public, while reserving the class with the largest number of votes for the owners. Of course, this isn’t always the best arrangement for the common shareholder, so if voting rights are important to you, you should probably think carefully before buying stock that is split into different classes.

Large Cap, Mid Cap and Small Cap

Stocks can be classified according to the market capitalization of the company. The market capitalization of a company represents the total lilangeni value of the company’s outstanding shares. This is equal to the current market price of its stock multiplied by the number of shares of stock that it has outstanding. That number gives you the market value of the company, which is one measure of the company’s size. Roughly speaking, there are three basic categories of market capitalization: large cap, mid cap, and small cap. The definitions for each of these might vary somewhat depending on whom you’re talking to, but usually they are as follows:
• Large cap: market cap highest valued
• Mid cap: market cap mid range value
• Small cap: market cap lowest value
In general, the larger the cap size, the more established the company and the more stable the price of its stock. Small cap and mid cap companies usually have a higher potential for future growth than large cap companies, but their stock tends to fluctuate more in price.

Sector Stocks

Stocks are often grouped into different sectors depending upon the company’s business. Standard & Poor’s breaks the market into 11 different sectors. Two of these sectors, utilities and consumer staples, are said to be defensive sectors, while the rest tend to be more cyclical in nature. The other nine sectors are: transportation, technology, health care, financial, energy, consumer cyclical, basic materials, capital goods, and communications services. Of course, other groups break up the market into different sector categorizations, and sometimes break them down further into sub-sectors.

Cyclical Stocks

Stocks can be classified according to how they react to business cycles. Cyclical stocks are stocks of companies whose profits move up and down according to the business cycle. Cyclical companies tend to make products or provide services that are in lower demand during downturns in the economy and higher demand during upswings. The automobile, steel, and housing industries are all examples of cyclical businesses.

Defensive Stocks

Defensive stocks are the opposite of cyclical stocks: they tend to do well during poor economic conditions. They are issued by companies whose products and services enjoy a steady demand. Food and utilities stocks are defensive stocks since people typically do not cut back on their food or electricity consumption during a downturn in the economy. But although defensive stocks tend to hold up well during economic downturns, their performance during upswings in the economy tends to be lacklustre compared to that of cyclical stocks.

Tracking Stock

A tracking stock is a type of common stock that is tied to the performance of a specific subsidiary of the company. This means that the dividends and the capital gains for the stock depend upon the subsidiary rather than the company as a whole. Owning a tracking stock does not give the owner voting rights in the corporation, nor do owners of tracking stocks have a legal claim upon the general assets of the corporation. A company will sometimes issue a tracking stock when it has a very successful division that it feels is under appreciated by the market and not fully reflected in the company’s stock price.

The stock categories discussed apply to the two stock fundamental categories, common stock and preferred stock. And is of use no matter how small or big the company maybe and which is very useful information that you may apply on to your business or to expend your stocks knowledge.

By: Jim Pretin

Most people consider penny stocks to be a poor investment. I, on the other hand, think that investing in a penny stock before that company becomes profitable company is the best way to invest, because you can make a lot more money with penny stocks than would ever be possible with blue-chip stocks. I will now outline for you what you need to know about penny stocks and how to find the best one in which to invest.

Penny stocks are defined differently depending on who you talk to. Stockbrokers define them as any stock that trades below $5 per share. Regulatory agencies sometimes classify them as a stock with a price below $2. But, generally speaking, a penny stock is any low-priced security that trades on one of two exchanges; the Pink Sheets or the OTC Bulletin Board.

The Pink Sheets are an exchange where most startup companies first get listed. There are no listing requirements to be traded on this exchange. A company does not have to have any sales, nor does it have to reveal how many shares outstanding it has to qualify for the Pink Sheets.

The reason why a company tries to get listed on the Pink Sheets, even though their stock will not go up in price because they have no sales to speak of, is because it gives their company more substance and credibility; it is typically easier to attract additional capital, obtain financing, and execute contracts and agreements if a company is publicly traded, even if it is on the Pink Sheets.

Also, it is easier to get transferred from the Pink Sheets to one of the larger exchanges than it is to go from being a private company to hopping directly on to one of the major exchanges, such as the NASDAQ or NYSE. Companies listed on the Pink Sheets trade as ridiculously low as $0.00001 per share, all the way up to $500 per share and sometimes beyond. Foreign companies often have some of their shares sold in the United States by listing them on the Pink Sheets.

The OTC (Over-The-Counter) Bulletin Board is similar to the Pink Sheets. This exchange consists of relatively young companies either with no sales or a small amount of sales. Companies listed on it are sometimes fully reporting (meaning that they reveal how many shares they have outstanding and what their balance sheet looks like). Often, companies go from the Pink Sheets to the Bulletin Board once they are ready to become fully or semi-reporting.

Most publicly traded companies that are now listed on one of the major exchanges (NASADAQ, AMEX, NYSE), at one time or another, were penny stocks listed on the Pink Sheets or Bulletin Board. Rarely does a company go from being private directly to one of the 3 major exchanges. Google is a rare example of a company that was able to do that, because they were so successful so quickly. But, most companies have to pay their dues and edge their way up from the penny stock exchanges to the bigger ones.

So, investing in penny stocks can be an excellent investment because some of these young companies will one day be worth a fortune. The hard part is finding the right company to invest in, because for every successful startup company, there is also one that fails within the first year or two.

To find the right company, there are a few things you need to look for. Number one, you need to do some research and try to find out how many shares the company has in its float. The float is the number of shares that are currently being traded. Companies listed on the Pink Sheets usually do not officially report this number to the public, but with a little research, you can usually find out. It is usually contained in articles written about the company, or in TV or radio interviews with company officials that are sometimes archived on certain websites.

You can also look for the information on message boards or forums where stock traders chat with each other. Simply do a search on Google and read every article ever written about the company, and you will likely find out about their float. This is important because you do not want to invest in a company that already has something like 500 million shares in its float. Companies with this kind of share count are likely having problems moving forward, so they have issued more and more shares to raise money just to stay alive. You want to look for companies that have approximately 5 to 100 million shares in their float.

Other things that you should look for in a new company are barriers to entry, patents, and consumer demand. Here are the questions you need to ask yourself when analyzing the probability that a company will be successful:

1) Barriers to Entry: Are there are obstacles that will make it difficult for the company to sell its products or services?

2) Patents: Is the product that the company is going to sell patented? A patent will prevent other companies from producing the exact same product.

3) Consumer Demand: Will there be a demand for what the company is selling? Sometimes a company has a great new invention or an exciting technology, but if it is not something practical that consumers are going to want or need, then it does not matter how great it is.

Try to set aside some money for investing in penny stocks and start while you are still young. The earlier you get started, the more money you can make in the long run. Just make sure you do your homework before you invest and you should do extremely well.

A bond is a debt obligation or security, where the the holder or buyer expects the holder to repay the principal and interest at maturity (a date in the future). The bond market is a financial market where these bonds are bought and sold. To get an estimate of the size of these debt securities markets you should bear in mind that the international bond market is approximately $45 trillion and the size of U.S. bond market debt is about $25.2 trillion.

How are these markets structured?

Quite different from the stock, futures and options markets, most of the trading volume in bond markets takes place between brokers and large financial institutions in an over-the-counter market. But, a couple of bonds, primarily corporate ones, are listed on exchanges. This is partly due to the differences in bonds.

What are the various types of bond markets?

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association(SIFMA) classifies the bond market into the following categories:

1) Corporate

In simple terms, corporate debt securities are IOU’s issued by corporations so that they can use this cash to support their day-to-day operations and generate greater profits in the future. All sorts of corporations issue corportate debt. These could range from industrial, financial companies to service-related ones.

2) Government and Agency

As the name suggests, government and agency debt is issued by different government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). These entities have been created by Congress to fund loans at affordable rates to certain kinds of borrowers (such as students, farmers and homeowners). GSEs mostly rely on debt financing for their daily operations. Some examples of GSEs in this regard - Fannie Mae, Sallie Mae, Federal Farm Credit System Banks etc.

3) Municipal

Municipal securities are debt securities issued by counties, cities, states, and other governmental entities to raise money to build/maintain infrastructure such as highways, schools, hospitals, and drainage systems. This is perhaps the the state and local governments in the United States finance their cash flow requirements. One great appeal of investing in municipal bonds is that the interest on these securities is exempt from the federal income taxes.

4) Mortgage Backed Securities and Asset-Backed Securities

Financial institutions issue mortgage debt securities to those interested in ownership of mortgage loans. These are loans that are used to finance the borrower’s purchase of homes or other real estate. As the underlying loans (mortgages) are being paid off, the investors receive interest payments in addition to their principal being paid off.

Some examples of agencies that issue these debt securities are - Ginnie Mae (Government National Mortgage Association), Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation).

Asset-backed securities (ABS) are similar in mortgage securities in that they represent an interest in a variety of assets such as auto loans, auto leases, home equity loans, or credit card receivables. The investors in these debt securities receive interest payments in addition to their principal as the underlying loan is being paid off.

In summary, you have learnt what bond markets are, the different types of bond markets and the different players in these markets.

By: Jim Pretin

Most people consider penny stocks to be a poor investment. I, on the other hand, think that investing in a penny stock before that company becomes profitable company is the best way to invest, because you can make a lot more money with penny stocks than would ever be possible with blue-chip stocks. I will now outline for you what you need to know about penny stocks and how to find the best one in which to invest.

Penny stocks are defined differently depending on who you talk to. Stockbrokers define them as any stock that trades below $5 per share. Regulatory agencies sometimes classify them as a stock with a price below $2. But, generally speaking, a penny stock is any low-priced security that trades on one of two exchanges; the Pink Sheets or the OTC Bulletin Board.

The Pink Sheets are an exchange where most startup companies first get listed. There are no listing requirements to be traded on this exchange. A company does not have to have any sales, nor does it have to reveal how many shares outstanding it has to qualify for the Pink Sheets.

The reason why a company tries to get listed on the Pink Sheets, even though their stock will not go up in price because they have no sales to speak of, is because it gives their company more substance and credibility; it is typically easier to attract additional capital, obtain financing, and execute contracts and agreements if a company is publicly traded, even if it is on the Pink Sheets.

Also, it is easier to get transferred from the Pink Sheets to one of the larger exchanges than it is to go from being a private company to hopping directly on to one of the major exchanges, such as the NASDAQ or NYSE. Companies listed on the Pink Sheets trade as ridiculously low as $0.00001 per share, all the way up to $500 per share and sometimes beyond. Foreign companies often have some of their shares sold in the United States by listing them on the Pink Sheets.

The OTC (Over-The-Counter) Bulletin Board is similar to the Pink Sheets. This exchange consists of relatively young companies either with no sales or a small amount of sales. Companies listed on it are sometimes fully reporting (meaning that they reveal how many shares they have outstanding and what their balance sheet looks like). Often, companies go from the Pink Sheets to the Bulletin Board once they are ready to become fully or semi-reporting.

Most publicly traded companies that are now listed on one of the major exchanges (NASADAQ, AMEX, NYSE), at one time or another, were penny stocks listed on the Pink Sheets or Bulletin Board. Rarely does a company go from being private directly to one of the 3 major exchanges. Google is a rare example of a company that was able to do that, because they were so successful so quickly. But, most companies have to pay their dues and edge their way up from the penny stock exchanges to the bigger ones.

So, investing in penny stocks can be an excellent investment because some of these young companies will one day be worth a fortune. The hard part is finding the right company to invest in, because for every successful startup company, there is also one that fails within the first year or two.

To find the right company, there are a few things you need to look for. Number one, you need to do some research and try to find out how many shares the company has in its float. The float is the number of shares that are currently being traded. Companies listed on the Pink Sheets usually do not officially report this number to the public, but with a little research, you can usually find out. It is usually contained in articles written about the company, or in TV or radio interviews with company officials that are sometimes archived on certain websites.

You can also look for the information on message boards or forums where stock traders chat with each other. Simply do a search on Google and read every article ever written about the company, and you will likely find out about their float. This is important because you do not want to invest in a company that already has something like 500 million shares in its float. Companies with this kind of share count are likely having problems moving forward, so they have issued more and more shares to raise money just to stay alive. You want to look for companies that have approximately 5 to 100 million shares in their float.

Other things that you should look for in a new company are barriers to entry, patents, and consumer demand. Here are the questions you need to ask yourself when analyzing the probability that a company will be successful:

1) Barriers to Entry: Are there are obstacles that will make it difficult for the company to sell its products or services?

2) Patents: Is the product that the company is going to sell patented? A patent will prevent other companies from producing the exact same product.

3) Consumer Demand: Will there be a demand for what the company is selling? Sometimes a company has a great new invention or an exciting technology, but if it is not something practical that consumers are going to want or need, then it does not matter how great it is.

Try to set aside some money for investing in penny stocks and start while you are still young. The earlier you get started, the more money you can make in the long run. Just make sure you do your homework before you invest and you should do extremely well.

01 NTES 57%
02 CMED 56%
03 NINE 51%
04 TBV 48%
05 ACTS 44%
06 FMCN 39%
07 BIDU 36%
08 CEO 35%
09 SNDA 34%
10 JRJC 33%
11 NCTY 32%
12 CTRP 31%
13 BBC 27%
14 GRRF 26%
15 PTR 26%
16 KONG 26%
17 MR 26%
18 AOB 25%
19 NWD 24%
20 ACH 23%
21 CHL 23%
22 TOMO 23%
23 TSTC 23%
24 YZC 21%
25 SSRX 21%
26 SOHU 20%
27 EDU 19%
28 SOLF 19%
29 SINA 19%
30 GSH 19%
31 STP 18%
32 CHA 16%
33 JOBS 16%
34 CN 15%
35 HNP 15%
36 XING 15%
37 FFHL 14%
38 EFUT 14%
39 GSOL 14%
40 CBAK 13%
41 TSL 12%
42 VIMC 11%
43 HRAY 11%
44 LFC 11%
45 COGO 10%
46 JST 10%
47 CAAS 10%
48 HMIN 10%
49 LTON 10%
50 PACT 6%
51 CHINA 6%
52 CHU 6%
53 JASO 6%
54 SNP 5%
55 ASIA 5%
56 SHI 0%
57 CYD -1%
58 SMI -3%
59 ZNH -4%
60 LONG -4%
61 CEA -5%
62 CSIQ -7%
63 CNTF -13%
64 CBA -13%
65 UTSI -20%
66 SVA -23%
67 MPEL -125%
68 CTDC -152%

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 3.9 percent to 2,881.07, while the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 3.8 percent to 736.81.

The Shanghai index’s 8.84 percent plunge yesterday wiped out US$107.8 billion from a stock market that has doubled in the past year.

“Confidence is regaining now after the rumors that hit the market yesterday,” said Lu Yizhen, who helps manage about US$640 million at Citic-Prudential Fund Management Co in Shanghai.

“For the long-term, China’s stocks still point to an upside
trend,” Liu said.

Ranking, Ticker, YTD Performance (as of 02/23/2007):
1 TSL 140%
2 CBA 64%
3 JRJC 58%
4 CEA 58%
5 XING 48%
6 SVA 42%
7 SOLF 33%
8 CYD 31%
9 EDU 28%
10 FMCN 26%
11 SINA 25%
12 TBV 25%
13 YZC 25%
14 HMIN 23%
15 ZNH 19%
16 MR 18%
17 CSIQ 18%
18 STP 16%
19 CHL 15%
20 UTSI 15%
21 SNDA 15%
22 NCTY 14%
23 NTES 14%
24 ACH 13%
25 SMI 12%
26 TSTC 11%
27 CHINA 10%
28 ASIA 9%
29 AOB 5%
30 SHI 5%
31 JOBS 4%
32 HNP 4%
33 HRAY 2%
34 SOHU 2%
35 NINE 1%
36 LONG 0%
37 PACT 0%
38 CTRP -1%
39 BIDU -2%
40 CMED -3%
41 NWD -3%
42 GSH -4%
43 GSOL -6%
44 CN -7%
45 ACTS -8%
46 EFUT -8%
47 CNTF -8%
48 SNP -8%
49 LTON -8%
50 KONG -9%
51 COGO -10%
52 CHU -11%
53 CHA -12%
54 CEO -12%
55 MPEL -13%
56 JST -14%
57 LFC -14%
58 PTR -14%
59 BBC -15%
60 TOMO -15%
61 CAAS -20%
62 GRRF -26%
63 VIMC -28%
64 FFHL -31%
65 CBAK -36%
66 CTDC -44%

Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet’s investment arm, disclosed recently it owns 2.3 Billion shares of PetroChina (PTR) or 1.3% of the company.

I wonder what “investors” opinions of their situation is. PTR looks like a pretty solid company, known as the “ExxonMobil” of China. Purely financial standpoint, China will increase their intake of oil gradually year over year as industrialization continues to boom. If BH invests in it, chances are good they have looked at the numbers and see a great deal of long term potential in the company. Wouldn’t hurt to buy into it now? Current price is 120.52.

Negative press has come across recently from humanitarians against such a venture because of the interest PTR has in Sudan. Because of this, Berkshire Hathaway released a statement with the following commentary from their website:

Commentary as to Berkshire’s holdings in
PetroChina Company Limited
We have received several communications from the media, shareholders, and others questioning Berkshire’s investment in PetroChina because of the atrocities that are occurring in Sudan. Berkshire agrees that conditions in that country are deplorable and sympathizes with people who want to remedy them. We believe, however, that they are wrong in both their analyses of PetroChina’s connection to these conditions and their belief that our divesting our PetroChina holdings would in any way have a beneficial effect on Sudanese behavior.
To begin with, we have seen no records, including the various materials we have received from pro-divestment groups, that indicate PetroChina has operations in Sudan. The controlling shareholder of PetroChina, CNPC, does do business in Sudan. CNPC is 100% owned by the Chinese government, and its activities may logically be attributed to the government of China itself. But the Chinese government’s activities can neither be attributed to PetroChina nor the other major Chinese companies the government controls (also through 100%-owned entities), such as China Mobile, China Life and China Telecom. Subsidiaries have no ability to control the policies of their parent.
To understand that truth, simply look at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Both are creations of the U.S. Government and indeed are commonly labeled Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE). Five directors of each company are appointed by the President, and both are overseen by a special governmental entity, OFHEO.
Does the United States government shape and in certain matters control the activities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Unquestionably. Are Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae responsible for the activities of the U.S. government? Absolutely not.
Furthermore, if a shareholder such as Berkshire disagrees with the activities of an investee – and we emphasize again that PetroChina, to our knowledge, has no operations in Sudan – is divesting the proper course for Berkshire? We do not believe that Berkshire should automatically divest shares of an investee because it disagrees with a specific activity of that investee.
Finally, in the proposition that China should “withdraw” its investment from Sudan, there is the “be careful what you wish for” problem. As we understand the matter, the Chinese government, through its 100% ownership of CNPC, owns a 40% interest in a Sudan venture whose primary assets consist of oil in the ground as well as fixed assets that transport and refine the oil. These are not assets that can be taken out of Sudan. In other words, China cannot take its share of the oil, the refinery or the pipeline and go home.
Rather, the only feasible divestment plan for CNPC would be to sell its 40% interest in the venture, almost certainly at a bargain price and almost certainly to the Sudanese government. After such a transaction, the Sudanese government would be better off financially, with its oil revenue substantially increased. Since oil is a fungible product, Sudanese output would be sold in world markets just as oil from Iraq was sold under Saddam Hussein, and just as oil is now sold by Iran. Proponents of the Chinese government’s divesting should ask the most important question in economics, “And then what?”

Warren Buffett, based on SEC filings, bought 1 Million shares of UNG on Feb 15th through Berkshire Hathaway.

UNH had slid from 63 to the 40’s amid options backdating and eventually led to the ouster of their CEO. Since then the stock has climbed back to the 50’s, closing at 53.06 on Feb 23rd.

Many analysts feel it is still a undervalued company with plenty of cash flow.

Melissa Mullikin of Piper Jaffray (it did banking for UNH), who rates it “outperform,” says the company “continues to be a strong cash-flow generator.” In 2006 it had $6.5 billion in adjusted operating cash flow, more than 1.5 times net income, she says. For 2007, Mulliken sees profits of $3.40 a share on revenues of $78 billion; for 2008, she expects $3.87 on $85.8 billion.