Foster Wheeler AG (FWLT) said a unit of its Global Power Group recently won a contract from ZE PAK S.A. for the design, supply and erection of a 55 MWe biomass-fired circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) boiler island for the Konin Power Station in Poland.

Foster Wheeler has received a notice to begin work on this contract. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed and the contract value will be included in the company’s orders for the third quarter of 2009. Commercial operation of the new steam generator is scheduled for the first quarter of 2012.

Foster Wheeler will design and supply the steam generator and auxiliary equipment. It will carry out the erection and commissioning of the boiler island. The steam generator will be equipped adequately to burn wood biomass and up to 20% agro biomass. When combined with the CFB’s demonstrated ability to reduce emissions, the fuel

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The EPA recently ruled that too much carbon dioxide is threatening the planet. What this does is make it a lot easier to regulate and tax emitters of this gas.

So here we are in a shaky economy tottering on a ledge and along comes the EPA ready to shove it right off. As The Wall Street Journal reported: “The landmark decision lays the groundwork for federal efforts to cap carbon emissions - at a potential cost of billions of dollars to businesses and government.”

In other words, the war on the so-called greenhouse gases is officially under way - and it is going to be expensive. Each passing month brings us closer to capping, taxing or cutting the gases thought to cause global warming.

I don’t think investors appreciate how far-reaching such efforts could be. And there will be definite winners and losers as a result. Some of these are far from

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* Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN) reported first quarter earnings of 25 cents a share, a 17 cent miss, as revenues declined 34.2% year-over-year to $437 million

* Agrium (NYSE:AGU) reported first-quarter earnings of 4 cents a share, a 20 cent miss, as revenues jumped 58.4% year-over year to $1.75 billion.  The Company said it expects second quarter earnings of $2.00 to $2.40 a share, versus consensus estimates of $2.77

* Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ:FWLT) reported first quarter earnings of 59 cent a share, a 9 cent miss, as revenues declined 29.6% year-over-year to $1.3 billion

* Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) reported earnings of 48 cents a share, beating Street estimates by 20 cents, as revenues plunged 31.8% year-over-year to $2.0 billion

* Genentech (NYSE:DNA) received accelerated FDA approval of its Avastin drug for the treatment of brain cancer patients

Zacks Investment Research

Although the industrial sector had a rough year in 2008, there were some sectors,  like conglomerates, rails, and aerospace and defense sub-sectors, that were able to help boost some of the lagging sub-sectors that relied heavily on residential construction and business spending. The net effect was an out performance in the first three quarters of the year. In Q4 2008 and the beginning of 2009, we’ve seen the performance of the Industrials ETF, the XLI [XLI: 21.11, -0.01 (-0.05%)],  significantly underperform the S&P 500 as the more attractive sub-sectors in 2008 began to plummet based on economic factors such as the expected 2010 defense report for the defense sector, and lower volumes for the railroad companies. Since March 9th, stocks are 18% off their recession lows, and some analysts are even bold enough to predict an earlier-than-expected recovery in the second quarter of this year. Whether or not  this is

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Foster Wheeler (FWLT) is based in Zug, Switzerland, but its operational headquarters are in Clinton, New Jersey. The Company operates through two business groups: the Global Engineering and Construction Group -- or Global E&C Group -- and the Global Power Group.

The global economic boom -- coupled with the attendant demand for oil, gas, petrochemicals and refined products -- that stimulated investment in new and expanded plants over the previous few years has finally come to a screeching halt. In addition, with the now-declining demand for power as well as the drop in the cost of oil and gas, the need for additional solid-fuel industrial boilers is also quite constrained.

Consequently, given that these major uncertainties have seriously intruded into global financial expectations, we have changed our opinion on FWLT to Sell. Our six-month target price is based on current market conditions, which recently have been known to move quickly and

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Wednesday February 4, 2009
Navivest

The stock market opened to the downside, but it looks like we actually have a bullish undertone. So we are looking for an extension of yesterday’s gains.

Yesterday, we recommended that subscribers to our Navivest Equity Trader trading advisory service, buy Foster Wheeler (FWLT). Those shares are up 3% today and we think there are more gains to be had in the stock in the near term. As such, we continue to recommend entry at the current level of $20.40.

Stock Recommendation Foster Wheeler

Tuesday January 20, 2009 Navivest

Following six trading days of declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the index managed a 12.35-point gain on January 15, and then another 68.73 points on the 16th.

While the point gains were nothing to get excited about, they actually bode very well for the stock market near-term, as the Dow actually bounced off the 8,000 level. This is a key psychological level that we do not want to see violated for a sustained period.

Even when stocks fell off a cliff in October last year from a close of 10,813.07 on October 1 to current levels, because of the banking/credit crisis, we closed below 8,000 only four times and that was back in November.

A closing below 8,000 could have raised the possibility of the Dow retest those November lows of around 7,300 in the near-term. Of course, with earnings season upon us, there

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Wednesday January 14, 2009 Navivest

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) has closed lower in each of the last five trading session. We believe that that sets us up for rebound very soon.

Technically, we have violated the 21, 30, and 50-day simple moving averages to the downside, so the charts are telling a bearish story. However, the rate of decline, going back to January 6th, has slowed and now instead of a steep downward slope, it looks like we are consolidating at current levels. We are also looking for an Obama bounce and the new administration takes office in six days.

Wall Street has a tendency to “buy the sizzle and sell the fat,” so if there will be an Obama rally, then it should start happening before he takes office.

On Monday and Tuesday, we recommended that readers of this blog go long infrastructure stocks on the basis of

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