You can’t get Russian Vodka in Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, and British Columbia, Canada (CTV News). Putin won’t notice.
Russians are protesting the invasion of Ukraine, across Russia, by the thousands (NY Times). Putin won’t care. There may be too many to put in jail – and anyway, they already are inside the gulag, they are already in jail, a jail called the Russian Federation.
However,
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Tesla, with a market capitalization of $1.137 Trillion at the close of trading on Friday, November 19, 2021, is worth more than GM, Ford, Honda, Toyota, BMW, Daimler Benz, VW COMBINED. 45% more.
Add in the value of Nisan, Hyundai, and Stellantis, which owns Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, and other brands, and Tesla is still worth 25.8 % more than the rest of the major auto companies. See Table 1.
More surprising is that Tesla, is worth 39% more than Exxon Mobil, Shell, Conoco Philips, Chevron Texaco, and BP Amoco combined. See Table 2.
Arguably, Toyota set the stage for energy efficiency with the 1997 launch of the Prius (click here). And Fisker, launched in 2007, could have been Tesla. Coupled with the fact that other car companies are introducing electric vehicles, including the Chevy Bolt, the Ford Mustang Mach-e and the Ford F-150 Lightning, the Fisker Ocean, etc. it is clear that with Tesla, Elon Musk has changed the world.
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With apologies to The Bard,
Bamboo or no bamboo? That is the question. Whether tis logical to plant bamboo across America? For tis an evasive species with no natural predators, or to plant hemp, other grasses, and hardwoods and to do so as a means to natural sustainable carbon sequestration.
To place plants, to literally green the bio-humano-sphere, to create new habitat and pull carbon dioxide out of the air. And how much of the dioxide of carbon can we pull per year?
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If Attila the Hun had a resume it would read, Emperor, King, Chief, and Prince. The resume would probably not describe how after his father’s death, in 418, Attila was sent by his uncle to be a servant in the Roman Court of Emperor Flavius Honorius. That, however, is the back story, as told by Wess Roberts In Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun. (At Strand Books, here) Roberts describes Attila as a visionary, an ambitious, and charismatic leader and a strategic thinker who united the Hunnish tribes into a nation then transformed that nation into an empire. He brought Astrogoths, Alans, and others together with the Huns to try to realize his vision: to conquer Rome. And he came close.
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The Soviet Union did not collapse due to actions President Reagan or the actions of any President of the United States In fact, President Roosevelt, via the Lend Lease Act during WW II, helped the Soviet Union and Great Britain withstand the onslaught of Nazi Germany. It helped win the war. (History.com, OurDocuments.gov, FDRLibrary.org.)
The Soviet Union, according to Mikhail Gorbachev, collapsed after and as a direct result of the meltdown at Chernobyl. Andropov, Gorbachev, and other members of the Central Committee realized that not only could they not hide the truth, but that the Soviet system was failing and doomed to failure. This is discussed in detail at Slate and at Faultlines.
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Napoleon in Russia
On June 24, 1812 Napoleon led his Grand Army, 500,000 strong, across the Neman River into Russia. His goal was to persuade Tzar Alexander I not to trade with Great Britain. The Russian Army retreated before Napoleon’s, leaving a trail of burning farm fields. Napoleon made it to Moscow by mid-September, where he “captured” a deserted and burning city. Napoleon and his army camped out in the smoldering ruins for a month waiting the Tzar to sue for peace. But Alexander never did. Napoleon left Moscow on October 19, 1812, following the Russian army, with the Russian winter closing in. Napoleon’s army encountered the Russian army in the Battle of Maloyaroslavets. The battle was militarily inconclusive, but Napoleon’s army, starving and freezing, began its retreat back to Paris. In its retreat Napoleon’s army withstood attacks by the Russian army, Cossacks, and “peasants.”
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On Dec. 21, 2012, I put $16 Million imaginary dollars into 16 real energy companies; $8.0 in the Sustainable Energy space and $8.0 in the fossil fuel space, $1.0 Million into each. Excluding the value of dividends and transaction costs, but including the bankruptcy or crash of three companies in the sustainable energy space,
As of the close of trading five (5) years later,
In addition,
On Dec. 21, 2012, I put $16 Million imaginary dollars into 16 real energy companies; $8.0 in the Sustainable Energy space and $8.0 in the fossil fuel space, $1.0 Million into each. Excluding the value of dividends and transaction costs, but including the bankruptcy or crash of three companies in the sustainable energy space,
In recent months the Sustainable Energy portfolio has dropped and the Fossil Fuel portfolio has increased. However, this may prove to be a short term correction that has more to do with macro-geopolitical events emanating from Washington, DC than global macroeconomic factors.
As of the close of trading 59 months later,
In Addition
The details are below.
On Dec. 21, 2012, I put $16 Million imaginary dollars into 16 real energy companies; $8.0 in the Sustainable Energy space and $8.0 in the fossil fuel space, $1.0 Million into each. Excluding the value of dividends and transaction costs, but including the bankruptcy or crash of three companies in the sustainable energy space,
As of the close of trading 58 months later,
On Dec. 21, 2012, I put $16 Million imaginary dollars into 16 real energy companies; $8.0 in the Sustainable Energy space and $8.0 in the fossil fuel space, $1.0 Million into each. Excluding the value of dividends and transaction costs, but including the bankruptcy or crash of three companies in the sustainable energy space,
As of the close of trading 57 months later,
As of the close of trading on September 21, 2017:
The Sustainable Energy portfolio includes First Solar (FSLR) and Sunpower Corp. (SPWR) in the solar space, Vestas (VWSYF), a wind company, Next Era Energy (NEE), a utility, Solazyme (SZYM) a biofuel company, Cree (CREE) and Lighting Sciences (LSCG) in the LED space and GT Advanced Tech (GTAT), which in Dec. 2012 made solar ovens for cooking PV wafers.
The fossil fuel companies are the oil companies British Petroleum (BP), Chevron Texaco (CVX), Conoco Phillips (COP), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and RD Shell (RDS.A), the now bankrupt coal company, Peabody Coal, and Haliburton (HAL) and Transocean (RIG), companies in the offshore oil and oil and gas drilling service industries.
The data are summarized beginning in Table 1, below.
| Summary Data | |||||
| Portfolio | 12/21/12 | 09/21/17 | Delta | Delta % | Annualized |
| Sustainable Energy | 8,000,000 | 20,315,038 | 12,315,038 | 153.94% | 32.41% |
| Fossil Fuel | 8,000,000 | 5,845,911 | -2,154,089 | -26.93% | -5.67% |
| DJI | 13,091 | 21,704 | 8,613 | 65.79% | 13.85% |
| S&P 500 | 1,430 | 2,428 | 998 | 69.79% | 14.69% |
| NASDAQ | 3,012 | 5,251 | 2,239 | 74.34% | 15.65% |
| Table 1 | |||||
The stock price data for the Sustainable Energy portfolio are in Table 2, below.
| Sustainable Energy Portfolio – Stock Prices | ||||||
| Item | Company | Symbol | 12/21/12 | 09/21/17 | Delta | Delta % |
| 1 | Cree | CREE | 34.0 | 24.6 | -9.37 | -27.56% |
| 2 | First Solar | FSLR | 31.0 | 48.8 | 17.76 | 57.29% |
| 3 | GT Adv. Tech. | GTAT | 3.0 | 0.0 | -2.98 | -99.33% |
| 4 | Lighting Science | LSCG | 0.8 | 0.0 | -0.73 | -97.19% |
| 5 | Next Era Energy | NEE | 70.0 | 146.8 | 76.78 | 109.69% |
| 6 | Sun Power | SPWR | 5.4 | 7.4 | 1.94 | 35.73% |
| 7 | Solazyme | SZYM | 8.3 | 2.2 | -6.19 | -74.22% |
| 8 | Vestas | VWS | 6.3 | 90.1 | 83.74 | 1327.10% |
| Note that GTATno longer exists | ||||||
| Table 2 | ||||||
The stock price data for the Fossil Fuel Portfolio are in Table 3, below.
| Fossil Fuel Portfolio – Stock Prices | ||||||
| Item | Company | Symbol | 12/21/12 | 09/21/17 | Delta | Delta % |
| 1 | BP | BP | 42.1 | 37.7 | -4.42 | -10.49% |
| 2 | Chevron Texaco | CVX | 109.7 | 116.5 | 6.76 | 6.16% |
| 3 | Conoco Philips | COP | 58.6 | 48.7 | -9.91 | -16.91% |
| 4 | Exxon Mobil | XOM | 87.2 | 79.9 | -7.34 | -8.41% |
| 5 | Royal Dutch Shell | RDS.A | 69.3 | 59.0 | -10.28 | -14.84% |
| 6 | Haliburton | HAL | 34.7 | 37.9 | 3.19 | 9.19% |
| 7 | Transocean | RIG | 45.6 | 9.1 | -36.56 | -80.11% |
| 8 | Peabody Coal | BTU | 395.3 | 0.0 | -395.25 | -100.00% |
| Table 3 | ||||||
The valuation data for the Sustainable Energy Portfolio are in Table 4, below.
| Sustainable Energy Portfolio – Valuation | ||||||
| Value | Delta | |||||
| Item | Company | Symbol | 12/21/12 | 09/21/17 | Delta | Delta % |
| 1 | Cree | CREE | 1,000 | 724 | -276 | -27.56% |
| 2 | First Solar | FSLR | 1,000 | 1,573 | 573 | 57.29% |
| 3 | GT Adv. Tech. | GTAT | 1,000 | 7 | -993 | -99.33% |
| 4 | Lighting Science | LSCG | 1,000 | 28 | -972 | -97.19% |
| 5 | Next Era Energy | NEE | 1,000 | 2,097 | 1,097 | 109.69% |
| 6 | Sun Power | SPWR | 1,000 | 1,357 | 357 | 35.73% |
| 7 | Solazyme | SZYM | 1,000 | 258 | -742 | -74.22% |
| 8 | Vestas | VWS | 1,000 | 14,271 | 13,271 | 1327.10% |
| total | 8,000 | 20,315 | 12,315 | 153.94% | ||
| Values in thousands. | ||||||
| Table 4 | ||||||
The valuation data for the Fossil Fuel Portfolio are in Table 5, below.
| Fossil Fuel Portfolio – Valuations | ||||||
| Value | Delta | |||||
| Item | Company | Symbol | 12/21/12 | 09/21/17 | Amount | Per Cent |
| 1 | BP | BP | 1,000 | 895 | -105 | -10.49% |
| 2 | Chevron Texaco | CVX | 1,000 | 1,062 | 62 | 6.16% |
| 3 | Conoco Philips | COP | 1,000 | 831 | -169 | -16.91% |
| 4 | Exxon Mobil | XOM | 1,000 | 916 | -84 | -8.41% |
| 5 | Royal Dutch Shell | RDS.A | 1,000 | 852 | -148 | -14.84% |
| 6 | Haliburton | HAL | 1,000 | 1,092 | 92 | 9.19% |
| 7 | Transocean | RIG | 1,000 | 199 | -801 | -80.11% |
| 8 | Peabody Coal | BTU | 1,000 | 0 | -1000 | -100.00% |
| total | 8,000 | 5,846 | -2154 | -26.93% | ||
| Values in thousands. | ||||||
| Table 5 | ||||||
The market capitalization data for the Sustainable Energy Portfolio are in Table 6.
| Sustainable Energy Portfolio | |||||
| Market Capitalization (Billions) | |||||
| Item | Company | 12/21/12 | 09/21/17 | Delta | Delta % |
| 1 | Cree | 3.90 | 2.41 | -1.49 | -38.21% |
| 2 | First Solar | 2.69 | 5.09 | 2.4 | 89.22% |
| 3 | GT Adv. Tech. | 0.36 | 0.00 | -0.35 | -98.88% |
| 4 | Lighting Science | 0.15 | 0.00 | -0.15 | -100.00% |
| 5 | Next Era Energy | 29.60 | 68.87 | 39.27 | 132.67% |
| 6 | Sun Power | 0.88 | 1.03 | 0.15 | 17.33% |
| 7 | Solazyme | 0.52 | 0.18 | -0.34 | -64.72% |
| 8 | Vestas | 1.48 | 19.48 | 18 | 1216.22% |
| total | 39.58 | 97.07 | 57.49 | 145.26% | |
| Table 6 | |||||
The market capitalization data for the Fossil Fuel Portfolio are in Table 7.
| Fossil Fuel Portfolio – Market Capitalization | |||||
| Market Capitalization (Billions) | |||||
| Item | Company | 12/21/12 | 09/21/17 | Delta | Delta % |
| 1 | BP | 133.8 | 124.11 | -9.69 | -7.24% |
| 2 | Chevron Texaco | 214.7 | 220.71 | 6.01 | 2.80% |
| 3 | Conoco Philips | 71.2 | 59.26 | -11.94 | -16.77% |
| 4 | Exxon Mobil | 397.7 | 338.50 | -59.2 | -14.89% |
| 5 | Royal Dutch Shell | 216.8 | 245.19 | 28.39 | 13.10% |
| 6 | Haliburton | 32.2 | 37.90 | 5.7 | 17.70% |
| 7 | Transocean | 16.4 | 3.55 | -12.85 | -78.35% |
| 8 | Peabody Coal | 6.37 | 0.00 | -6.37 | -100.00% |
| total | 1089.2 | 1029.22 | -59.95 | -5.50% | |
| Table 7 | |||||
The market capitalization data for the Big Oil portion of the Fossil Fuel Portfolio are in Table 8.
| Big Oil Portfolio – Market Capitalization | |||||
| Market Capitalization (Billions) | |||||
| Item | Company | 12/21/12 | 09/21/17 | Delta | Delta % |
| 1 | BP | 133.8 | 124.1 | -9.69 | -7.24% |
| 2 | Chevron Texaco | 214.7 | 220.7 | 6.01 | 2.80% |
| 3 | Conoco Philips | 71.2 | 59.3 | -11.94 | -16.77% |
| 4 | Exxon Mobil | 397.7 | 338.5 | -59.2 | -14.89% |
| 5 | Royal Dutch Shell | 216.8 | 245.2 | 28.39 | 13.10% |
| total | 1034.2 | 987.8 | -46.43 | -4.49% | |
| Table 8 | |||||
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Posts in this series:
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A co-founder of Popular Logistics, I hold an MBA in “Managing for Sustainability” from Marlboro College and a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology from the City University of New York College of Staten Island. Available as a speaker and consultant, I can be reached at “Popular Logistics . com” as “L Furman.”
On Dec. 21, 2012, I put $16 Million imaginary dollars into 16 real energy companies; $1.0 Million into each of eight sustainable energy companies and $1.0 Million into each of eight fossil fuel companies. Excluding the value of dividends and transaction costs, but including the bankruptcy or crash of various companies, as of the close of trading 55 months later,
On Dec. 21, 2012, I put $16 Million imaginary dollars in equal imaginary investments in 16 real energy companies; $8.0 in the Sustainable Energy space and $8.0 in the fossil fuel space. Excluding the value of dividends and transaction costs, but including the bankruptcy or crash of three companies in the sustainable energy space,
As of the close of trading on March 21, 2017:
As of the close of trading on February 21, 2016:
In Comparison:
Back in December, 2012 I started this experiment in sustainable investing. I took $16 million imaginary dollars and invested them, in imaginary $1.0 Million chunks, in 8 sustainable energy companies and 8 fossil fuel companies. The results are:
As of the close of trading on December 21, 2016: