Just a quick summary of what is in this week's Barron's and the Economist - note this isn't a full review since I opt out of articles that don't drive an investment opportunity:
Barron's Focus this week is on cars
- Luxury Car Makers Set to Boom. Pointing to rise in wealth in BRIC nations, aging of North American baby boomers this article highlights that
- Tesela - Electric Car. A raving review of the hot electric car with a high price tag ($120K with options) with a waiting list that includes a number of stars (George Clooney, Arnold Schwarchenegger)
- BMW Goes Green. An update on the firm's move to get more environmentally friendly on the engine front. The article covers the upside of being more green, the challenges (in ensuring its autos remain high on the performance front) and the downside (the impact of high R&D on margins and net profit).
- Peer to Peer Lending. Covers the peer to peer lending business model by profiling Lending Club a Facebook style site that covers the opportunity to invest locally.
- The World Economy An update on the impact of the 50 basis point rate cut from the US Federal Reserve and the impact of the liquidity issues at Northern Rock in the U.K. Questions are now rising after the euphoric response to the Fed's quick surprise 50bps cut.
- Smoking in Asia. A male driven habit with half of the world's loss to smoking driven cancer hit from Asia. A vicious cycle with all Asian governments dependent on tobacco taxes which fund ~10% of government revenues - taxes are low. Points to switching tobacco farms to oils which have strong value. Definitely an interesting article in terms of looking at the opportunity in Asian tobacco.
