Empresa                           Esperado            Anterior
Abbott Laboratories                1.17                     1.06
AirTran Holdings                      0.03                    -1.00
Allegheny Technologies           0.23                     1.15
Boeing Company                     1.36                      0.62
Caterpillar                                0.28                     1.08
CONOCOPHILLIPS                   1.13                     1.28
General Dynamics                    1.57                     1.62
Lam Research                          0.40                    -0.09
LSI Logic                                  0.11                      0.06
Netflix                                      0.45                      0.38
New York Community B.           0.27                     0.30
Praxair                                     1.09                      1.01
QUALCOMM                             0.56                      0.31
Southern Company                  0.30                      0.26
St. Jude Medical                       0.62                      0.60
Sun Microsystems                   -0.02                      0.15
Symantec                                 0.37                      0.42
United Technologies                 1.14                      1.23
Valero Energy                         -0.47                      1.41
WellPoint Health Networks       1.02                      0.65

A tabela abaixo detalha os balanços divulgados, as expectativas de lucro por ação e os resultados auferidos no mesmo período do ano anterior para as companhias que divulgaram seus números na última terça-feira (26).

Empresa                                   Divulgado         Esperado             Anterior
AmerisourceBergen Corporation      0.52                    0.46                     0.73
Baker Hughes                                   0.43                    0.35                     1.41
Cooper Industries                            0.72                    0.67                      0.84
Corning                                            0.44                     0.42                     0.16
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.    0.44                    0.41                    -0.28
EMC                                                  0.33                    0.30                     0.24
FPL Group                                         0.79                    0.76                     0.90
JOHNSON & JOHNSON                     1.02                    0.97                     0.94
Novartis AG                                      1.01                    1.10                     0.66
Nucor                                                0.18                    0.07                     0.34
Peabody Energy                               0.43                    0.29                     1.11
Regions Financing Tr I                     -0.51                   -0.34                   -0.35
Sherwin-Williams Company               0.71                    0.52                     0.50
Stryker                                              0.82                    0.82                     0.74
USX                                                  -1.65                   -1.44                    2.00
Verizon Communications                   0.54                     0.54                    0.61
Weatherford                                     0.02                     0.11                    0.53

As informações acima referem-se ao lucro por ação em dólares.

Fonte: Investor Guide

Twelve major U.S. companies delivered an open letter to the U.S. Senate urging legislators to pass comprehensive climate change legislation that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, drive investment in technological innovation and solutions, and jumpstart a clean energy economy.

In the letter, Bumble Bee Foods, Dell, DuPont, FPL Group, Google, HP, Johnson Johnson, Johnson Diversey, Levi Strauss Co., Nike, PG Corporation and Xanterra Parks and Resorts noted that they have all reformed their business practices in order to curb emissions, which has been good for the climate and business. They are urging Congress to do the same.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) president and CEO Carter Roberts also urges the Senate to pass meaningful climate legislation this year. According to the conservation organization, every region in the U.S. is experiencing significant, adverse impacts from climate change including more severe droughts, floods, heat waves and wildfires. WWF believes these impacts will worsen during the course of the century if action is not taken to slow climate change.

WWF also said passage of U.S. legislation is a key step towards gaining agreement from all nations to reduce global emissions during international climate negotiations set for December in Copenhagen. The organization recently launched a national public awareness campaign to urge voters to contact their Senators in support of the climate legislation.

The campaign officially kicked-off with TV ads debuting in five states that will be key to passage of a climate bill in the U.S. Senate: Alaska, Indiana, Maine, Montana and North Dakota.

Sources: Environmental Leader & WIH Resource Group

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GE, Cisco, Florida Power to create Miami ’smart grid’

Bloomberg April 21, 2009

General Electric Co., Cisco Systems Inc. and FPL Group Inc.’s Florida Power & Light Co. plan to create a “smart grid” system that will help Miami residents conserve electricity and create as many as 1,000 jobs. The proposed project would cost $200-million (U.S.) and the companies will apply for U.S. federal stimulus funding. The Miami program will serve as a model for other cities, the group said yesterday. “Ultimately what ends recessions and moves things forward is when businesses start investing again,” GE chief executive officer Jeffrey Immelt said. “Stimulus can pull this forward dramatically if it’s done effectively.”

“I believe that real change is happening.  The U.S. electrical grid may become reliable with actions like the ones we are seeing from GE, Google and this admisistration.  See: Executive Order 13423.”  Gary Rayward, Enparcomm

Florida has moved one step closer to building a brand-new city centered around the use of clean technology, with real estate developer Kitson & Partners saying today that it’s signed a deal with Florida Power & Light for the construction of a 75-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant. According to Kitson & Partners spokeswoman Lisa Hall, the city that will be known as Babcock Ranch won’t actually be getting its power directly from the solar plant, but since it’s expected to use less power than the plant will generate, it will supposedly be carbon-neutral.

The plant will be plugged into the grid, as will the city, which will be an overall cleantech showcase, with energy-efficient buildings, roof-mounted solar panels, a smart grid and more.

A spokeswoman for Florida Power & Light, part of the FPL Group (s FPL), told us that the utility will own the solar plant. It’s expected to cost $300 million to build, and according to Kitson, if the project gets approval from the state, construction could get under way later this year. Construction of the city center itself is expected to start by mid-2010, and possibly work on the first residential and commercial buildings as well.

It’s a good sign that FPL has come on board for the solar power plant, because without some significant support — such as an oil-rich emirate in the case of  Abu Dhabi’s planned Masdar City — the idea of a cleantech city comes off as very pie-in-the-sky. Kitson also received a $750 million funding commitment from Chicago’s Evergreen Real Estate Partners last September for residential and commercial real estate developments in Florida. But potential challenges remain, among them the realities of today’s real estate market, and the economy in general, which could make it hard to get anchor tenants for the commercial buildings — or people willing to pay a premium for the energy-efficient homes.

The proposed 17,000-acre city won’t be as big as Masdar, but the Babcock Ranch, set to be constructed near Fort Myers, will sport some of the same innovations, and an equally big budget. In addition to the solar power plant, Babcock Ranch will have electric car chargers, green roofs, and a natural storm water system.

According to the project’s web site, filter marshes, similar to natural wetlands, will clean the storm water and also slow the flow of surface water, reducing impacts downstream. The plans also call for Babcock City to use harvested rainwater, and to re-use treated water for irrigation. Under a deal with the state, more than half of Babcock Ranch will be permanently protected as greenways and open space. The entire project is expected to be complete in 2019.

Rendering of the planned city courtesy of Kitson & Partners.

FPL Group (s FPL) has given its energy generation business a flashy new name, changing it from FPL Energy to NextEra Energy Resources. FPL, based in Juno Beach, Fla. said the new name better reflects the unit, which it said is the largest producer of wind and solar energy in North America.

The business, which also has natural-gas, nuclear and hydro power plants under its belt, operates more than 6.3 gigawatts of wind generation, along with 310 megawatts of solar thermal.

In better economic times, a name change could start the rumor mill going about possible bigger changes in the works, like FPL possibly spinning off its renewable energy arm. But more likely FPL is just putting its clean energy face forward, especially in light of the upcoming administration’s call for more clean technology in the U.S.

“There’s long been speculation of whether or not FPL Energy was going to be spun off,” said Tyler Tringas, a wind analyst at New Energy Finance, but he said that kind of move is unlikely in this current financial climate.

“The market conditions right now are pretty terrible for doing any kind of separate IPOs,” he said. “Also, in general, the valuations that the public markets are getting for comparable wind generators, like Iberdrola and Energias de Portugal, their renewable units, are just quite low.”

As for whether the new name could set the stage for an outright sale of the unit, that’s even more unlikely. “FPL is one of the stronger players in the U.S. renewables market at the moment,” said Tringas. “It’s much more likely that they would be the ones making acquisitions.”

Sometimes a name is just a name. But FPL, which stands for Florida Power & Light, probably also realized that there really shouldn’t be an “F” in FPL Energy at all. Of all the 63 wind farms and seven solar thermal facilities — and even including the natural gas, nuclear, and hydro plants — not one of them is actually in Florida.

BusinessWeek interviewed eight corporate execs about the their thoughts on the economy. It’s really interesting to hear their perspectives. Here are excerpts from their comments:

• FRED SMITH, FedEx: It is by far the worst I’ve seen in the 35 years I’ve been in business… The only good thing is that if anything turns this around, it’ll be pretty quick, since inventories are at such incredibly low levels. But I’d be very surprised if anything started to turn around before the middle of next year.
• ROBERT NARDELLI, Chrysler: …our 6.5% unemployment rate… could go to 10%-plus. Even with aggressive resizing, we can’t keep up with it because we haven’t seen the bottom.
• RALPH DE LA TORRE, Caritas Christi Health Care: We live and die on the tax-free bond market, and right now we’re dying… I think there’s going to be a pretty substantial consolidation in health care. As many as 20% of hospitals could close. There’s going to be no capital spending for at least the next year or two.
• MILES WHITE, Abbott Laboratories: If you’re on a drug that’s reasonably discretionary, you might cut back as a patient. But if you’re on a drug for a chronic problem, you’re not cutting back… I wouldn’t call [our situation] severe.
• LEWIS HAY, FPL Group: Probably 25% of our customers are past due. Normally, it’s more like 15%… With such a shortage of access to capital, how are we going to get all these alternative energy projects going?
• DENNIS DAMMERMAN, former GE vice-chairman:  And while I don’t agree with much of what Barack Obama wants to do, I think that for a great chunk of our consuming public, he has improved that confidence. I hope this enthusiasm doesn’t die.
• TIMOTHY MANGANELLO, BorgWarner: We’re preparing for nothing good until mid-2010… it’s possible it won’t improve by then… the cost structure in the U.S. has to improve. Health-care costs are too high. Tort reform is too difficult. And business taxes are too high.
• FRED HASSAN, Schering-Plough: The key is inflation. If inflation stays under control and confidence returns, we’ll come back early. If inflation starts to roar in mid-2009 and thereafter, we have a problem. It might start to look like the mid-1970s.

My take: Overall, this doesn’t sound too encouraging for 2009. The only positive notes are that inventories are already pretty low and that President-Elect Obama may be able to bolster consumer confidence.

I’m hopeful that Obama will remain as inspirational and as non-partisan as he appeared to be during his acceptance speech.  I’ve also posted a couple of pieces of advice to the new administration: Appoint a Citizen Experience Officer and Revive “Brand USA.” 

For senior executives, I think the basic decision remains: Are you going to manage your way through the recession or lead your company out of it?

 The bottom line: I’ll keep offering advice on how to manage in a recession.

This the Global 100 list of Most Sustainable Companies in the world for 2008. For a full description of methodology, explanation of rankings and to know more about the companies and their activities, go to www.global100.org

Les conseillers financiers connaissaient déjà la famille Vengrowth. Ils offrent depuis des années des fonds de capital de risque. À Vengrowth s’est ajouté Criterion qui proposent un fonds liés aux infrastructure de l’eau et un fonds mondial d’énergie propre, le Criterion Global Clean Energy. Il n’a pas encore un an mais déjà les résultats sont prometteurs.

Depuis août 2007, le fonds de catégorie U (non couvert par les fluctuations des devises) a progressé de 9,8%. Étonnamment si vous aviez choisi de vous protéger contre les effets des taux de change, la performance aura été de seulement de 2,7% dans la version F. C’est tout de même une belle performance, car à l’exception du fonds Acuity environnement sain (10% sur 1 an), les gros fonds éthiques et environnementaux ont tous connu des résultats décevants sur 1 an.

Criterion Blobal Clean Energy mise entre autres sur l’énergie éolienne, solaire, géothermique, l’énergie de vagues, l’hydro-électricité, Les piles à combustible… et quelques autres secteurs en développement. Les titres vedettes sont Vestas, Gamesa, FPL Group, Williams Cos, Wacker chemical, Itron inc, Memc electronic material, BG Group, El Paso group et Energias del Portugal.