Saturday, January 31, 2009

Residential rental property now approaching good investment criteria

With mortgage interest rates taking a dive again this week, following a 1.5% drop in the cash rate by Allan Bollard, and further OCR cuts and therefore more mortgage cuts coming, the attractiveness of residential housing as an investment for Kiwis is becoming a more realistic and financially viable proposition.

With 5 year mortgages at major banks at 5.95% and falling house prices, realistic yields from rental income, without relying on capital gain could motivate some of us who didn't plunge into rental housing when every man woman and dog was doing not long ago.

Back then of course there was a rush to buy as many houses as ones dopey bank manager would let you have as loans were assessed according on inflated house prices as collateral and little focus was put on real returns.

Strangely enough when the investment case to buy a rental house makes much more financial sense the brakes have been put on by some banks.

The ASB Bank for example (my bank) has raised the amount you must have for a deposit and introduced a curious addition to every term of interest rates-a premium will be paid on mortgages taken out for a rental property.

Anyway, if you can still wangle some money off your bank manager, friend, Dad or sugar daddy you could make the investment purchase that will put you in good stead for a lifetime.

When an investor looks around at the current investment landscape for a good yield one will have to go past term deposits , New Zealand's most preferred investment outside housing, and at a 4% or less yield, after inflation and tax you would be at least 2% in the hole.

The two current most attractive investments for yield are shares, depending on the current profitability of the company and of course rental housing.

Of the two I would at present favour shares but rental housing is starting to look like a good move for all the above reasons and more.


Recent Share Investor Reading

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c Share Investor 2009

Friday, January 30, 2009

US SENATE COMMITTEE: James Hansen’s Former NASA Supervisor Declares Himself a Skeptic - Says Hansen "Embarrassed NASA"

A piece written on US Senate committee of Environment and public works website about the NASA warming scientist James Hansen, one of former Vice President Al Gore’s closest allies in the promotion of man-made global warming fears, is being publicly rebuked by his former supervisor at NASA retired atmospheric scientist Dr. John S. Theon.

Unlike most of the nonsense written about that supports the Global Warming religion, this piece has once again slipped past the moronic mainstream media hacks who lap up Gore and his disciples.

It is rather long but well worth the read.


Says Hansen ‘Embarrassed NASA’ & ‘Was Never Muzzled’ 

Gore Faces More Scientific Blowback  

Also See: Gore’s Inconvenient Astronaut: NASA Moonwalker Defies Gore's Claim That Skeptics Are Akin To Those Who Believe Moon Landing was 'Staged'   

[ See: Senator Inhofe’s YouTube Clip on Hansen’s former supervisor: ]

 

Washington DC: NASA warming scientist James Hansen, one of former Vice President Al Gore’s closest allies in the promotion of man-made global warming fears, is being publicly rebuked by his former supervisor at NASA.

 

Retired senior NASA atmospheric scientist Dr. John S. Theon, the former supervisor of James Hansen, NASA’s vocal man-made global warming fears soothsayer, has now publicly declared himself a skeptic and declared that Hansen “embarrassed NASA” with his alarming climate claims and said Hansen was “was never muzzled.”  Theon joins the rapidly growing ranks of international scientists abandoning the promotion of anthropogenic global warming fears. [See: U.S. Senate Minority Report Update: More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims & See Prominent Scientist Fired By Gore Says Warming Alarm ‘Mistaken’  &  Gore laments global warming efforts: 'I've failed badly' - Washington Post – November 11, 2008  ]

 

 

 

“I appreciate the opportunity to add my name to those who disagree that global warming is man-made,” Theon wrote to the Minority Office at the Environment and Public Works Committee on January 15, 2009. “I was, in effect, Hansen's supervisor because I had to justify his funding, allocate his resources, and evaluate his results. I did not have the authority to give him his annual performance evaluation,Theon, the former Chief of the Climate Processes Research Program at NASA Headquarters and former Chief of the Atmospheric Dynamics & Radiation Branch explained. [Note: Here are the results a Google Scholar search on Theon. - Theon's complete written correspondence to EPW reprinted at the end of this report. ]

 

 

“Hansen was never muzzled even though he violated NASA's official agency position on climate forecasting (i.e., we did not know enough to forecast climate change or mankind's effect on it). Hansen thus embarrassed NASA by coming out with his claims of global warming in 1988 in his testimony before Congress,” Theon wrote.  [Note: NASA scientist James Hansen who runs NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) has created worldwide media frenzy with his dire climate warnings, his call for trials against those who dissent against man-made global warming fear, and his claims that he was allegedly muzzled by the Bush administration despite doing 1,400 on-the-job media interviews - See: Don’t Panic Over Predictions of Climate Doom - Get the Facts on James Hansen  & UK Guardian: NASA scientist calls for putting oil firm chiefs on trial for 'high crimes against humanity' for spreading doubt about man-made global warming – June 23, 2008 &  NYT's Revkin chides Hansen for promoting sea level claims that are at upper boundary of what is 'even physically possible' (Note: Headline re: Revkin and Hansen corrected) ]

 

Theon declared “climate models are useless.” “My own belief concerning anthropogenic climate change is that the models do not realistically simulate the climate system because there are many very important sub-grid scale processes that the models either replicate poorly or completely omit,” Theon explained. “Furthermore, some scientists have manipulated the observed data to justify their model results. In doing so, they neither explain what they have modified in the observations, nor explain how they did it. They have resisted making their work transparent so that it can be replicated independently by other scientists. This is clearly contrary to how science should be done. Thus there is no rational justification for using climate model forecasts to determine public policy,” he added.

 

“As Chief of several of NASA Headquarters’ programs (1982-94), an SES position, I was responsible for all weather and climate research in the entire agency, including the  research work by James Hansen, Roy Spencer, Joanne Simpson, and several hundred other scientists at NASA field centers, in academia, and in the private sector who worked on climate research,” Theon wrote of his career. “This required a thorough understanding of the state of the science. I have kept up with climate science since retiring by reading books and journal articles,” Theon added. (LINK) Theon also co-authored the book Advances in Remote Sensing Retrieval Methods.

 

Hansen 'is a political activist who spreads fear'

 

Award-winning NASA Astronaut and Physicist Walter Cunningham of NASA’s Apollo 7 also recently chastised Hansen. “Hansen is a political activist who spreads fear even when NASA’s own data contradict him,” Cunningham wrote in an essay in the July/August 2008 issue of Launch Magazine. “NASA should be at the forefront in the collection of scientific evidence and debunking the current hysteria over human-caused, or Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW). Unfortunately, it is becoming just another agency caught up in the politics of global warming, or worse, politicized science,” Cunningham wrote.

 

[Note: Theon joins many current and former NASA scientists in dissenting from man-made climate fears. A small sampling includes: Aerospace engineer and physicist Dr. Michael Griffin, the former  top administrator of NASA, Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the world to receive a PhD in meteorology and is formerly of NASA, Geophysicist Dr. Phil Chapman, an astronautical engineer and former NASA astronaut, Award-Winning NASA Astronaut/Geologist and Moonwalker Jack Schmitt, Chemist and Nuclear Engineer Robert DeFayette was formerly with NASA’s Plum Brook Reactor, Hungarian Ferenc Miskolczi, an atmospheric physicist with 30 years of experience and a former researcher with NASA's Ames Research Center, Climatologist Dr. John Christy, Climatologist Dr. Roy W. Spencer, Atmospheric Scientist Ross Hays of NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility]

 

 Gore faces a much different scientific climate in 2009 than the one he faced in 2006 when his film An Inconvenient Truth was released. According to satellite data, the Earth has cooled since Gore’s film was released,  Antarctic sea ice extent has grown to record levels, sea level rise has slowed, ocean temperatures have failed to warm, and more and more scientists have publicly declared their dissent from man-made climate fears as peer-reviewed studies continue to man-made counter warming fears. [See: Peer-Reviewed Study challenges 'notion that human emissions are responsible for global warming' & New Peer-Reviewed Scientific Studies Chill Global Warming Fears ]

“Vice President Gore's and the other promoters of man-made climate fears' endless claims that the 'debate is over' appear to be ignoring scientific reality,” Senator James Inhofe, Ranking Member of the Environment & Public Works Committee.

A U.S. Senate Minority Report released in December 2008 details over 650 international scientists who are dissenting from man-made global warming fears promoted by the UN. Many of the scientists profiled are former UN IPCC scientists and former believers in man-made climate change that have reversed their views in recent years. The report continues to grow almost daily. We have just received a request from an Italian scientist, and a Czech scientist to join the 650 dissenting scientists report. A chemist from the U.S. Naval Academy is about to be added, and more Japanese scientists are dissenting. Finally, many more meteorologists will be added and another former UN IPCC scientist is about to be included. These scientists are openly rebelling against the climate orthodoxy promoted by Gore and the UN IPCC.

The prestigious International Geological Congress, dubbed the geologists' equivalent of the Olympic Games, was held in Norway in August 2008 and prominently featured the voices of scientists skeptical of man-made global warming fears. Reports from the conference found that Skeptical scientists overwhelmed the meeting, with  '2/3 of presenters and question-askers hostile to, even dismissive of, the UN IPCC' ( See full reports here & here ]  In addition, a 2008 canvass of more than 51,000 Canadian scientists revealed 68% disagree that global warming science is “settled.”   A November 25, 2008, article in Politico noted that a “growing accumulation” of science is challenging warming fears, and added that the “science behind global warming may still be too shaky to warrant cap-and-trade legislation.”  More evidence that the global warming fear machine is breaking down. Russian scientists “rejected the very idea that carbon dioxide may be responsible for global warming”. An American Physical Society editor conceded that a “considerable presence” of scientific skeptics exists.  An International team of scientists countered the UN IPCC, declaring: “Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate”.  India Issued a report challenging global warming fears.  International Scientists demanded the UN IPCC “be called to account and cease its deceptive practices.”  

The scientists and peer-reviewed studies countering climate claims are the key reason that the U.S. public has grown ever more skeptical of man-made climate doom predictions. [See: Global warming ranks dead last, 20 out of 20 in new Pew survey. Pew Survey  & Survey finds majority of U.S. Voters - '51% — now believe that humans are not the predominant cause of climate change' - January 20, 2009 - Rasmussen Reports ]  

 

 The chorus of skeptical scientific voices grow louder in 2008 as a steady stream of peer-reviewed studies, analyses, real world data and inconvenient developments challenged the UN’s and former Vice President Al Gore's claims that the "science is settled" and there is a "consensus."

On a range of issues, 2008 proved to be challenging for the promoters of man-made climate fears.  Promoters of anthropogenic warming fears endured the following: Global temperatures failing to warm; Peer-reviewed studies predicting a continued lack of warminga failed attempt to revive the discredited “Hockey Stick”; inconvenient developments and studies regarding rising CO2; the Spotless Sun; Clouds; Antarctica; the Arctic; Greenland’s ice; Mount Kilimanjaro; Global sea ice; Causes of Hurricanes; Extreme Storms; Extinctions; Floods; Droughts; Ocean Acidification; Polar Bears; Extreme weather deaths; Frogs; lack of atmospheric dust; Malaria; the failure of oceans to warm and rise as predicted.    

Theon’s complete written correspondence to EPW reprinted below:  

-----Original Message-----
From: Jtheon [mailto:jtheon@XXXXXXX]
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 10:05 PM
To: Morano, Marc (EPW)

Subject: Climate models are useless 

Marc, First, I sent several e-mails to you with an error in the address and they have been returned to me. So I'm resending them in one combined e-mail. 

Yes, one could say that I was, in effect, Hansen’s supervisor because I had to justify his funding, allocate his resources, and evaluate his results. I did not have the authority to give him his annual performance evaluation. He was never muzzled even though he violated NASA’s official agency position on climate forecasting (i.e., we did not know enough to forecast climate change or mankind's effect on it). He thus embarrassed NASA by coming out with his claims of global warming in 1988 in his testimony before Congress. 

My own belief concerning anthropogenic climate change is that the models do not realistically simulate the climate system because there are many very important sub-grid scale processes that the models either replicate poorly or completely omit. Furthermore, some scientists have manipulated the observed data to justify their model results. In doing so, they neither explain what they have modified in the observations, nor explain how they did it. They have resisted making their work transparent so that it can be replicated independently by other scientists. This is clearly contrary to how science should be done. Thus there is no rational justification for using climate model forecasts to determine public policy. 

With best wishes, John 

# #  

From: Jtheon [mailto:jtheon@XXXXXX]
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 12:50 PM
To: Morano, Marc (EPW)

Subject: Re: Nice seeing you

Marc, Indeed, it was a pleasure to see you again. I appreciate the opportunity to add my name to those who disagree that Global Warming is man made.  A brief bio follows. Use as much or as little of it as you wish. 

John S. Theon Education: B.S. Aero. Engr. (1953-57); Aerodynamicist, Douglas Aircraft Co. (1957-58); As USAF Reserve Officer (1958-60),B.S. Meteorology (1959); Served as Weather Officer 1959-60; M.S, Meteorology (1960-62); NASA Research Scientist, Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (1962-74); Head Meteorology Branch, GSFC (1974-76); Asst. Chief, Lab. for Atmos. Sciences, GSFC (1977-78);  Program Scientist, NASA Global Weather Research Program, NASA Hq. (1978-82); Chief, Atmospheric Dynamics & Radiation Branch NASA Hq., (1982-91); Ph.D.,  Engr. Science & Mech.: course of study and dissertation in atmos. science (1983-85); Chief, Atmospheric Dynamics, Radiation, & Hydrology Branch, NASA Hq. (1991-93); Chief, Climate Processes Research Program, NASA Hq. (1993-94); Senior Scientist, Mission to Planet Earth Office, NASA Hq. (1994-95); Science Consultant, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (1995-99); Science Consultant  Orbital Sciences Corp. (1996-97) and NASA Jet Propulsion Lab., (1997-99).      

As Chief of several NASA Hq. Programs (1982-94), an SES position, I was responsible for all weather and climate research in the entire agency, including the  research work by James Hansen, Roy Spencer, Joanne Simpson, and several hundred other scientists at NASA field centers, in academia, and in the private sector who worked on climate research. This required a thorough understanding of the state of the science. I have kept up with climate  science since retiring by reading books and journal articles. I hope that this is helpful.   

Best wishes, John   

# # #   

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c Political Animal 2009

Time to ditch tunnel now that Aunt Helen is gone

So the last piece of roading-the Waterview connection and interchange- in the jigsaw puzzle that is the Auckland Motorway system has been stalled because of cost.

Rightly so.

The new National Party have sent back the plans to the drawing board because of the bloated cost foisted on the project by the previous Labour Party Government.

Specifically it is one person -Helen Clark- that has held up the finishing of the motorway for many years and now that she is gone the final impediment to it has fallen.

The motorway runs through Mt Albert where she is the MP.

You see building a tunnel is not the only option for the small stretch of road which is just under 4km, projected to cost almost NZ$3 billion and not future proofed because it is only 4 lanes wide in total.

A 6 lane option that cuts through the suburbs, as it does across all the other working-class suburbs before it gets to the rather posh(in places) Mt Albert would be far cheaper and more future proofed for expansion.

Lets hope Transport Minister Steven Joyce does the right thing and recommends a lovely ribbon of tarmac right past (preferably through)Helen's house.

If it is good enough for Phil Goff's Mt Roskll it is good enough for the toffs in Mt Albert.

Lets get building!


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c Political Animal 2009

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Will the speed of 2008 crash be met with a speedy recovery?

I was reading this article yesterday about Citibank, by Alice Schroeder, the author of the latest Warren Buffett biography, The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life, and it got me thinking about the break neck speed in which the crash of the credit market led to a plunge in global stockmarkets, a collapse of the banking system in the US, Europe and other countries and then a massive banking rescue package-that didn't achieve its purpose, a global recession and then more recently a huge "stimulus" package pushed by Obama's democrats.

To be sure, you could see a "market correction" coming from a few years ago but the sheer pace of the economic structural collapse over the last 4 months or so has taken many peoples breath away and there will be more financial heartbreak to come.

The piece in Schroeder's article that really got my wheels turning was her retelling of a story about a man who wanted to withdraw $50,000.00 in cash from his local Citibank one Saturday morning, in November 2008. The fuss and flap that this caused the teller and the bank manager and then the queue of people in the bank paying closer attention as voices started getting raised because this chap was getting the run around.

“I want my fifty thousand dollars,” the man said to the teller. The subtlest nerve-twitch crossed her face, but she kept her gaze steady. "I'll have to call my manager," she said. Anyone who has seen "It’s a Wonderful Life" knows: That’s the wrong answer. “I want my money,” said the customer, in a voice audible throughout the lobby. “I don’t want your check!” Tiny gasps from the line. Somebody had said it aloud – Citi’s check might bounce...

It was a run on the bank!

On the Sunday the Treasury Department pulled a rescue plan out of the hat that stopped the run on banks when they opened Monday, that would have been reminiscent of the 1930s.

The world knew about the run the following day.

When we compare the 1929 crash to 2008, the speed of the 1929 one took longer to play out than the current one and it spread quicker around the globe because of global communications and media saturation.

The consequences of the collapse though will play out over years, and in that respect 1929 is no different to 2008.

This got me thinking even more.

If the speed of the collapse and reaction to it is so much quicker than previous financial calamities, then perhaps the recovery will come much quicker than the 20 or so years it took American to dig its way out of the 1929 crash?

To be sure, the stimulus of WW2 was the principle catalyst for America's 1950's recovery but governments around the world are busy getting their own stimulus packages together and while I don't have complete faith in Government its gotta have some positive stimulus, right?

A silver lining in every cloud and all that sort of baloney.

Don't get me wrong, I haven't turned into a Pollyanna-ish angel with blinkered eyes and my head up my lowest orifice. The recovery will be hard, it will take time and we are all going to have to save instead of spend for the next generation, and hopefully beyond, to get ourselves out of the bog.

The debt incurred for taxpayers worldwide via the massive corporate bailouts is going to be a rather big millstone.

The recovery of the global economy however maybe sooner than we think.

Fingers crossed.


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c Share Investor 2009

Monday, January 26, 2009

When will The Warehouse bidders make their move?

The length of time that has passed between The Warehouse Group [WHS.NZ] deciding to drop their "Extra" format stores-the impediment that the Commerce Commission most recently successfully argued in the Court of Appeal was the reason the company couldn't be sold to its two current suitors-doesn't look encouraging for any positive outcome anytime soon.

Just when are they going to make a move?

In January, The Australian reported that both The Warehouse' suitors were "still considering" a purchase of the company .

There are a few reasons why Foodstuffs and Woolworths Australia [WOW.ASX] The Warehouse' two suitors, might be delaying or reconsidering a move.

1. the current uncertain economic climate might make a bid less attractive. I would argue that any bidder might be able to turn this to their advantage though by being able to bid lower.

2. capital maybe harder to obtain in order to make a bid.

3. both suitors could be waiting for a decision in the Supreme Court where Woolworths has sought leave to apply to have the Appeal Court decision quashed

4. Waiting for a response from the Commerce Commission to The Warehouse decision to dump their "extra" format stores.

5. A new proposal from founder and majority shareholder Stephen Tindall to take the business private.

The biggest impediment to a quicker sale process is The Commerce Commission's Paula Rebstock and her failure to make a ruling post the Warehouse ditching their Extra format stores in October 2008.

The Extra format stores were the main impediment, from the Commission's point of view, for denying the sale of The Warehouse and now that they have gone a positive announcement in The Warehouse favour on this matter would let the bidding process begin.


Disclosure: I own WHS shares



The Warehouse Group @ Share Investor

Long vs Short: The Warehouse Group
Warehouse bidders ready to lay money down
The Warehouse set to cut lose "extra" impediment
The Warehouse sale could hinge on "Extra" decision
The case for The Warehouse without a buyer
Foodstuffs take their foot off the gas
Woolworths seek leave to appeal to Supreme Court
Warehouse appeal decision imminent
Warehouse decision a loser for all
Warehouse Court of appeal decision in Commerce Commission's favour
MARKETWATCH: The Warehouse
The Warehouse takeover saga continues
Why did you buy that stock? [The Warehouse]
History of Warehouse takeover players suggest a long winding road
Court of Appeal delays Warehouse bid
The Warehouse set for turbulent 2008
The Warehouse Court of Appeal case lay in "Extras" hands
WHS Court of Appeal case could be dismissed next week
Commerce Commission impacts on the Warehouse bottom line
The Warehouse in play
Outcomes of Commerce Commission decision
The fight for control begins soon

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c Share Investor 2009

Sunday, January 25, 2009

The "New" Money Manager's Investment Vehicle still tainted by its past

Even though Money Managers-the former pyramid scheme seller or what the yanks call a Ponzi Scheme-headed by Doug Somers-Edgar (pictured inset), is trying to turn over a new leaf and reinvent itself the First Step trustee Edward Russell is still talking bullshit:

"While some of the shortfall is sadly an uncontrollable inevitability in the current economic climate, where we have seen and have experienced a period of unprecedented wealth destruction across all investment sectors...

And:

Trying to put a brave face on the losses, Russell said: "This is nothing anyone here is expecting any recognition for, but the high proportion of capital returned to date does underline the correctness of the swift action we took with the First Step Trusts to close them early and liquidate in a controlled and managed fashion. "The effort in this has been huge and the result, despite the losses, has been significantly better for investors than if early action had not been taken." Stuff.co.nz, Jan 23, 2009

Now call me a thicko if you like but should investors have been told when initially putting their hard earned into Money Manager's First Step scheme that it was not only going towards lending for vehicles but the vehicle used (pun intended) to lend that money to punters was siphoned through a related party, Club Finance, where Doug Somers-Edgar was a director?

Of course they should have, because the vehicle financing business is very risky and it didn't fit the risk profile that First Step investors were informed about.

The extent of the "distancing" of the "new" Money Managers from Somers-Edgar is a little hazy.

Back in February 2008 the Sunday Star Times reported that the company was being sold to the Chief Executive at that time, Alasdair Scott, its franchisees, and NZ Funds Management, owned by Somers-Edgar business associates Gerald Siddall and Russell Tills.

At that point the majority ownership still lay in Somers-Edgars hands through trusts directly involved with him and his wife.

There was to be be an announcement regarding ownership but nowhere can it be found, either on the Internet or the Money Managers website.

When the new Chief Executive, Derek Young, was questioned in December about Somers-Edgar's current involvement in Money Managers readers got this answer:

Has Somers-Edgar entirely exited the business?

Yes... almost, is the answer, but his shadow is long. He still owns Heritage, a trustee company which administers the family trusts of thousands of Money Managers' clients. But that is a transitional arrangement, and it will change, Young says. Stuff.co.nz, December 21, 2008

This is pertinent to the issue of First Step and a number of other Doug Somers-Edgar owned related parties because they are being wound up, investors have lost their money and Doug is running for the hills with it because he is selling up!

How clever.

So the issue over his current involvement in Money Managers is unclear as is the outcome for investors in its various related parties.

What is clear however is that the "New-Improved" version of Money Managers still cannot be fully trusted.

Many of the same people still work there, as franchisees and in management, either directly, through trusts or related parties.

Current Chief Executive, Derek Young seems like a thoroughly appropriate person to be heading up a change of direction for Money Managers but you cannot expect an ailing leopard to change its spots overnight when there is a shadow of a hyena lurking in the background.

Come clean Dougy.

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c Share Investor 2009

Friday, January 23, 2009

MarketWatch: Contact Energy

The slump in the Contact Energy [CEN] share price on Tuesday due to a 23% profit downgrade is really of little concern to the long-term investor already owning shares in the company.

It does provide an opportunity for those of us who would like to buy Contact shares though !

The downgrade had nothing at all to do with the global recession but was due mainly to bad luck, government red-tape and a gas shortage.

That doesn't mean the end of the world though.

Contact Energy still makes alot of money and will continue to do so long into the future and is a monopoly in various areas of its business

In fact it has been one of the better performers, profit and share price wise than any other stock listed on the NZX and it will do well during the recession.

The downgrade simply made the company a more attractive buy on Tuesday because the share price dropped by 10%.

The share price closed today at NZ$6.76, 16c up on yesterday's close and around 10% less than a week ago.


At a 52 week low of $6.29 this makes Contact Energy an essential on anyone's watchlist at the current share value.

Buy on weakness for a good long-term return.


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c Share Investor 2009

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Cancelling gab-fests sends a good message

The fuss made by Annette King today by trying to score meaningless political points over Tony Ryall for putting the kibosh on yet another expensive taxpayer funded talk fest, again shows why Annie and her free spending ilk lost the last election.

This is the second expensive meaningless talk fest to be stubbed out by National since November 2008.

Labour just don't get it.

We need to tighten our belts and every dollar counts, especially in these uncertain economic times.

The message that National are sending is that your hard earned money is important to us and we will not waste it on pointy headed useless bureaucrats.

These free spenders of taxpayer money from the Labour Party just don't care.

The money saved from cancelling just these two pointless talk fests-that rarely achieve anything except get clipboard toting bureaucrats drunk and randy on our money- would be enough to create the salaries for 6-7 well paid jobs.

Really Anette, isn't that what we really need right now.


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c Political Animal 2009


FULL-LENGTH VIDEO & TRANSCRIPT: President Barack Obama's 2009 Inaugural Address



Barack Obama's FULL Inaugural Speech












President Obama being sworn in





The full Inaugural Address and swearing in videos are above and the full transcript of the Address is below.






The full transcript of President Obama's Inaugural Speech.

My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction. 

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.



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As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

  This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people: "Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive ... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations. 



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