President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team is reportedly putting the finishing touches on an economic recovery plan that could run from $675 billion to $1 trillion, though many experts believe the program will most like range between $700 billion and $800 billion.

Briefings for top congressional Democrats were to start either over the weekend or today (Monday), a senior transition-team official told The Associated Press late last week. President-elect Obama is slated to meet today with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in a Democratic strategy session that is likely to focus on the economic recovery package.

It’s time to look forward, not back. The 111th Congress meets tomorrow (Tuesday), and a comprehensive economic stimulus package is at the top of its agenda.  Hopefully, the lawmakers can put partisan bickering aside (fat chance) and have a bill in place for President-elect Barack

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Geothermal energy is continuing to gain traction as a viable solution to our alternative energy needs. I recently did a a href="http://briskycapital.blogspot.com/2008/12/alternative-energy-look-at-geothermal.html"profile on one of the leaders in the geothermal space, Ormat Technologies /a(a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ora"ORA/a). Here's a roundup of some of the latest geothermal news:br /br /strongSurprising magma find captivates geothermal scientists/strongbr /Three developments in the geothermal world this month have caused more excitement in the field than these rock lovers tend to see in half a year. First up, drilling engineers accidentally tapped into a magma chamber in Hawaii while searching for new geothermal energy sites, a title="geologists" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7780873.stm"geologists/a reported last week. The exceedingly rare discovery occurred in a geothermal field that was under development for power production.br /The magma find provides an unexpected window into the process by which rock from the ocean floor forms into continental rock. Most of Hawaii is made of cooled lava, ...

Earlier this year in May, Hybrid Technologies, Inc. opened a fully-owned subsidiary in India with the purpose of creating greater in-house capabilities for research and development (R&D) as well as utilize the vast knowledge pool of India’s engineers.

Hybrid Technologies, incorporated in Nevada in 2000, is a development-stage technology company that continues to focus its resources and efforts on the development and marketing of lithium-powered vehicles and products used in commercial and residential properties. The company is focused on developing scooters, bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, cars and battery backup for home power systems, hoping to convert all to zero-emission, lithium-powered vehicles and facilities.

In an all-electric car, high-energy-density, lightweight, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are used. The batteries can be charged simply by using household electricity outlets, providing zero-emissions energy. Electric cars are extremely reliable and maintenance free. With no need for oil changes, filter changes, or tune-ups, the lithium powered

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Earlier this year in May, Hybrid Technologies, Inc. opened a fully-owned subsidiary in India with the purpose of creating greater in-house capabilities for research and development (R&D) as well as utilize the vast knowledge pool of India’s engineers.

Hybrid Technologies, incorporated in Nevada in 2000, is a development-stage technology company that continues to focus its resources and efforts on the development and marketing of lithium-powered vehicles and products used in commercial and residential properties. The company directs its attention to developing scooters, bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, cars and battery backup for home power systems, hoping to convert all to zero-emission, lithium-powered vehicles and facilities.

In an all-electric car, high-energy-density, lightweight, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are used. The batteries can be charged simply by using household electricity outlets, providing zero-emissions energy. Electric cars are extremely reliable and maintenance free. There is no need for oil or filter changes, or tuning.

Electric vehicles

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The appetite for “Crystal Ball” predictions seems to be insatiable. Despite the fact that I am consistently wrong on the timing of my predictions, not the direction, I’m good at that, but when it happens, not so good, I have been asked to do another prediction article.

With that in mind, I have decided to give you a feel for what some of the best people I know in the money business are thinking. Not saying, thinking.

I’m not a mind reader, although many of my former clients expected me to be, but I do have a source for great financial information that is virtually untapped.

My home is in a little area of Baltimore near the harbor that is within walking distance of most of the big brokerage and banking businesses in downtown.  As you might expect, we have more than our share of bankers, analysts,

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The global credit bubble imploded in 2008. And now we are seeing extraordinary efforts to re-inflate it. But Byron King says we can’t go back to the old system now. Investors today need to protect their wealth with gold and cash. But long-term investors should base their strategy on the future scarcity of energy and mineral resources.

This from Whiskey & Gunpowder:

Lately I’ve been discussing concept of scarcity in the energy and natural resource sectors. In one recent note, I discussed how the idea of scarcity has transformed from a “geological” basis to an “above ground” basis. In another note I discussed how the financial system of the world has broken down. This breakdown has damaged many a portfolio. But I still believe that an investment focus that is based on future scarcity of energy and mineral resources is basically correct.

In the future there will still be profound restraints on

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Stock market methods have different time frames.  If a method trades on an intra-day basis, the trader can get into the "long run" very quickly.  If the trades are weekly, it takes longer. The long run is elusive.  Since prices are more psychology than value, the definition of the long run depends upon changes in cycles of psychology. This concept is very difficult to grasp.  We all want to render a verdict.  When is the right time? Looking Outside the Box One of our regular themes at "A Dash" is educating investors by getting them to think about something different.  Only then do we bring the point back to investing. This is most easily done with examples where there are frequent predictions and results.  The world of sports provides such an arena for testing. Readers should note our earlier article, Investing is not Gambling.  Having said ...

Alt Energy and Clean Tech Markets 2008 Year in Review and Looking Forward to 2009 Interview with Steve Strasser of Power Efficiency, December 10, 2008Steve Strasser is Chairman and CEO of Power Efficiency (OTCBB:PEFF), a technology company focused on developing energy efficiency solutions for electronic motors for industrial and appliance applications. Aspire: What surprised you about the renewable energy/clean tech markets in 2008? Were there any significant developments (political, technological, consumer-driven and/or industry-driven) that occurred which you werenrsquo;t anticipating? Please briefly explain.nbsp;nbsp; Strasser: I was surprised by the renewal of the tax credits. In addition, there we have a new administration and leadership in Congress that will make a greater effort to promote this industry, and energy efficiency in particular.nbsp;nbsp; What I am seeing with energy efficiency is that people and businesses have always been very interested in energy efficiency but the problem from an economic standpoint for businesses, as new technologies ...

The biggest proposed leveraged buyout in Canadian history has finally come to an end, with telecom giant BCE failing to met the solvency requirements. The collapsed deal, plus problems with a bailout of the auto sector in the United States, put a damper on the big board stocks during Thursday trading on the Canadian markets. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange slumped 2.8%, while the TSX Gold Index gave back 3.4% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 1.12% with the advancing issuers beating out the decliners by a 424 to 416 margin on volume of 238 million shares traded.

Iamgold went shopping and picked up Orezone Resources (AMEX:OZN) in an all stock deal valued at C$139 million. Of interest to Iamgold is the advanced Essakane project in West Africa where full production is expected to begin in 2010. Iamgold ended the day

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President-elect Barack Obama has made no bones about wanting to jump-start the renewable energy markets – pledging $150 billion for the development of biofuels, solar and wind power, other alternative energy sources during his first term.

But what might the new administration mean for more traditional – and more reliable –energy sources?

Oil is always the first energy source to spring to mind. But it’s hardly a solo act – coal and nuclear make up the other two-thirds of the top fuel trio. Coal delivers 50% of U.S. electricity needs, and nuclear power brings another 20% to the table.

The cold truth is that demand for energy of all types – and especially electricity – is going to keep advancing, domestically and worldwide. And developing alternatives to coal and nuclear will take time. For instance, tying wind and solar into the existing power grid will be enormously expensive and is likely

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