China Goes Green, Dumps Hummer

by The Investment U Research Team

In what may be one of the sickest cases of irony we’ve seen this year, China has decided to block Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co from buying General Motor’s (OTC: GMGMQ) Hummer brand for – wait for it – environmental concerns.

We’ll give you time to stop laughing.

We know. It’s pretty much what we thought. China has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the most polluted nations in the world. It’s cities round out the worst of the worst lists.

But apparently there is a strong push inside the great wall to at least appear like they’re doing something. They’ve cut back the construction on a number of projects like the Xiaonanhai dam and the Yunnan

...

Goldman Sachs now forecasts that the China economy will overtake the US as the world’s largest economy by 2027.  Several emerging market countries are predicted by Goldman to overtake key developed market countries in the not too distant future.

They predict near term-growth for China at 8.3% in 2009 and 10.5% in 2010, compared to the world economy at -1.1% for 2009 and 3.3% for 2010.

Ranking countries by projected GDP for 2027, Goldman sees:

China United States EU-5 India Japan Germany Russia UK Brazil France

By 2050, Goldman sees this ranking:

China United States India EU-5 Brazil Russia UK Japan France Germany

The World Bank president says that China is the force that is stabilizing the world economy and may be the force to pull the world out of its slump, while acknowledging the fragile nature of the world situation and its vulnerability to new shocks.

We have consistently suggested that investors consider higher emerging markets equity exposures than are typically recommended.

Generally, we suggest that wherever you are in the allocation spectrum between equities,

...

The markets were off today as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was the only major index to be in the black, up 0.15% to a level of 8,763.13.  The NASDAQ was down 0.03% closing at 1849.42 while the S&P 500 was down 0.25% ending at 940.09.  The 10-year once again saw price down ending with a yield of 3.83%.  A dollar gained strength today resulting with gold falling, settling at $962.60, and weaker demand saw crude prices fall to $68.44 a barrel. 

General Motors announced preliminary plans to sell its Saturn unit to Penske Automotive Group [PAG: 14.65, +0.05 (+0.34%)] which would put Penske in charge of Saturn’s parts, distribution, service, brands, and trademarks.  Mr. Roger Penske did not say how much the deal would be worth, but he said that the deal would allow for Saturn to retain 13,000 jobs in the corporation and the 350 dealerships.  The sale

...

Taking Bets on Hummer’s Buyer

by The Investment U Research Team

We’ve quite a little pool in the office going over who the undisclosed buyer is for General Motors (NYSE: GM) Hummer brand. GM announced yesterday that it had a laundry list of buyers who were lining up for Saturn – they’re also looking to unload the Saab and Pontiac brands.

The joke around here is that it’ll have to be a buyer from an oil rich nation considering the gas mileage of a Hummer. But it will most likely be a foreign buyer, with private funds. Like Dubai World or from the Asian rim nations. Another possibility is a buyer from India.

But its purchase makes sense on other levels of course. Hummer is very popular overseas, and like many popular iconic brands, its popularity

...