“Around the globe, wind-generating capacity has been expanding at a rapid 30% clip in recent years,” notes value investor Nathan Slaughter.

The editor of Half-Priced Stocks looks at industrial products firm Trinity Industries, adding, “Its most promising division is the production of structural wind towers.” Here’s the latest “deep-discount’ buy.

“Led by states such as Texas and California, wind farms around the country will generate almost 50 billion kilowatt hours of electricity this year. Of course, the U.S. is still playing catch-up with many other regions.

“In fact, countries such as Spain, Portugal and Denmark all rely on wind farms for as much as one-quarter of their total power needs.

“Across Europe, wind turbines will account for roughly one-third of all new generating capacity installed over the next few years and could provide electricity for 90 million people by 2010.

“The outlook is even brighter in many booming, energy-hungry Asian markets. In China, installed wind

While we expect Mylan Inc.’s (MYL) acquisition of Merck Generics to contribute to long-term growth, near-term execution risks remain. Mylan announced certain strategic initiatives which should help drive long-term growth. We view these initiatives as steps in the right direction. But the management also stated that they expect 2008-2010 EPS to be negatively impacted by a slower-than-expected new product launch.

The company adjusted EPS guidance for 2008-2010 based on higher expenses, reduced opportunities from patent challenges and the potential sale of its specialty business. We believe that the new guidance should be achievable and we have updated our model based on the guidance. The company expects to conclude the sale of its specialty business later this year - we have removed contributions from this segment from the fourth quarter onwards. We maintain a Hold rating on the stock.

The Merck Generics acquisition will allow Mylan to expand its footprints in

American Medical Systems Holdings, Inc. (AMMD) reported second-quarter revenue at the top of its prior guidance. EPS met the top range of guidance when excluding the royalty payment and normalizing for changes in interest expense. After adjusting for these factors, EPS still exceeded the analyst consensus.

Strong performance is attributed to solid expense management as a result of the numerous cost saving initiatives, legacy MenÂ’s health products. Laser Therapy continues to be weak, declining 11 percent in the quarter. WomenÂ’s health continues to underperform expectations although incontinence revenues were strong with MiniArc driving growth.

New products like Miniaturo could stimulate the female continence business, but we believe the growth trend is still soft. The Miniaturo product carries the CE mark approval in Europe for urinary dysfunction. American Medical has developed a comprehensive plan to receive the Food and Drug AdministrationÂ’s approval and expects marketing the product late 2010.

The management

Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (TKC) missed our estimates in terms of revenue and earnings for first quarter of 2008 although we were delighted to see operating expenses being much lower than our estimates.

The stock is trading at 8.3x our newly-lowered 2008 EPADS estimate and 6.4x our new 2009 EPADS estimate, which represents a hefty discount to the average of European wireless carriers. While the company’s growth prospects are solid, more so due to award of 3G license to its 100% subsidiary Kibris Mobile Telekomunikasyon Ltd. Sti (KKTCell) and we have adjusted our 2008 revenue estimates slightly downwards along with our earnings estimates.

The company’s expansion in other regions has led to an increased debt level. However, the economic stability in Turkey has become more uncertain as the country is in skirmishes with the Iraqi border, upsetting the US and Europe and the expected high level of inflation in

Satcon Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: SATC), a leading provider of utility scale distributed power solutions for the renewable energy market, recently announced its financial results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2008. The company’s shares declined earlier this week after the announcement of a net loss of $8 million, or $0.18 per share, compared with a net loss of $3.7 million, or $0.09 per share, for the second quarter of 2007. Analysts estimated a new loss of $0.07 per share for the second quarter of 2008.

During the second quarter, revenue increased 45 percent to $16.9 million, up from $11.7 million in the second quarter one-year earlier. According to Steve Rhoades, the president and chief executive officer of Satcon Technology Corporation, the company posted a net loss for the quarter due to a number of factors, including the restructuring of operations. Despite the loss for the quarter, cash used

Energy and Capital
“Is the world suddenly losing its appetite for oil and natural gas? No, demand is still higher than ever before. Although the rate of growth is slowing somewhat due to record prices, demand in Asia and the Middle East is still red-hot and will continue to outweigh declining demand in the US and Europe…So what’s the deal?

The recovery of the dollar, however illusory, is the main factor taking down the price of gold, oil and other commodities. As I have said here more than once, the daily news about oil inventories, demand levels, even pipeline attacks isn’t nearly as important as the valuation of the dollar. (And no, it’s still not because of the evil speculators.)…

The reason is simply that when traders have lost confidence in the stock market, they fly to the safety of commodities, energy and gold. When confidence returns, they fly right …

Just before the closing bell, SkyPostal Networks, Inc. announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2008. Sales for the 6 months ended June 30, 2008 totaled $4,532,113, which is a 16.5% increase over the same 6-month period ended the previous year. The company also reported that total tonnage handled increased 20% for the 6 months ended June 30, 2008 compared to the same period ended June 30, 2007.

Gross margins were 17.2% in the first half of this year, compared to 23.9% in 2007. “As with all international mail operators, the high fuel surcharges imposed by the airlines during the second quarter could not be immediately passed along to our contracted mail clients. With the increase in fuel surcharges upwards of 30%, we are exploring ways to recover some of these incredibly high surcharges which have been unprecedented in our industry,” commented Albert P. Hernandez, SkyPostal’s

Biogen Idec, Inc. (BIIB) posted solid results in the first half of 2008, driven by solid sales of both multiple sclerosis drugs Avonex and Tysabri. Yet, just when things were looking solid from a fundamental standpoint, two cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) popped up in Europe. 

As a result, we have adjusted down our Tysabri over the next several quarters by approximately 15 percent.  Visibility is low, and fears of more PML cases to come are creating significant angst.

Yet, Tysabri PML aside, Biogen's pipeline may be the best in biotech. The name would truly be an excellent take-out candidate for a large-cap pharma name. That is, if the Tysabri-PML risk can be quantified. Or, if the stock gets so cheap that even with the Tysabri-PML risk, it's worth a takeout.

The near $20 point drop in stock price has created an attractive long-term entry price. Unfortunately, however, over the

Just a heads up that I will be traveling virtually non-stop for the next month, including visits to three different continents taking me everywhere from Costa Rica to Switzerland to Thailand.I can't guarantee that I will always have access to a solid Internet connection, but I will be doing my best to bring you updates from my stops ... including photos of anything interesting I see along the way -- whether investment related or not.It will be great to see exactly what's happening around the world right now ... whether Europe really is slowing down ... how quickly Asia is still growing ... and whether or not Latin America's roads are improving as much as people say they are.All in all, it's going to be a real adventure, and I want you along for the ride. So stay tuned!   

Growers Direct Coffee, Inc. (GWDC.OB) is a leading worldwide distributor and marketer of whole green-bean coffee produced in Papua New Guinea, Jamaica, and Ethiopia. The company sells its coffee beans directly to coffee roaster retailers, commercial roasters, coffee brokers, and gourmet roasters and retailers. The company offers its products throughout the US, Canada, and Europe.

The recent rise in the stock price of Growers Direct Coffee can be attributed to recent management changes made at the company. In late July, the former CEO Terry Klassen resigned. The company had not been able to secure additional funding to execute their business plan. Lenders had cited the company’s “overzealous use of funds.”

Subsequently, Growers Direct Coffee announced a new management team. Mr. JD Douthitt became Chairman of the Board, Mr. Nepal Muhuri became interim CFO, Mr. Paul Khahshouri became interim CEO, and Mr. Mick Rynning became a new director of the company. The