AUDUSD stays in a upward price channel on 4-hour chart, and remains in uptrend from 0.9861. Initial support is at the lower line of the channel, as long as the channel support holds, the price action from 1.0385 is treated as consolidation of uptrend, and another rise towards 1.0600 is still possible. Key support is at 1.0145, only break below this level will indicate that the uptrend has completed at 1.0385 already, then the following downward movement could bring price back to 0.9800 zone.
As we start a new year, consider the miserable plight of the average Pakistani electricity consumer.
With about 50 per cent less electricity generation capability than the actual demand, Pakistan’s National Grid is facing more than a 5,000-megawatt shortfall in power generation, leading to blackouts in both urban and rural areas of the country. Due to unscheduled shortages by the National Power Control Center, urban areas are facing unscheduled minimum 8-hour power blackouts each day, while in rural areas the blackouts can last as long as 14 hours.
The situation is equally miserable in the country’s compressed natural gas (CNG) sector, which is now facing three days per week suspension of gas deliveries, the country’s textile sector -four days a week, while the gas supply to non-textile industry has been suspended for indefinite period.
Scrambling to exploit virtually any indigenous sources of energy, officials in the capital Islamabad are now pinning their hopes on the Thar Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) pilot project, situated in the Tharparkar desert in Sindh eastern Pakistan.
Underground coal gasification converts coal to gas while still in the coal seam, where injection wells are drilled and used to supply the oxidants to ignite and fuel the underground combustion process, with separate production wells used to bring the product gas to surface. The high pressure combustion is conducted at temperatures of 1,290-1,650 degrees Fahrenheit, but can reach up to 2,730 degrees Fahrenheit. The process produces carbon monoxide and dioxide, hydrogen and methane.
Boosters of the Thar UCG project note that Block Number 5 of Thar Coal Project contains 1.4 billion tons of low-grade lignite coal reserves. Overall the coal reserves at Thar are estimated at 175 billion tons of lignite coal.
Advantages claimed for the Thar UCG project include the fact that, as the coal is burnt 600 feet under the ground, threat of environmental pollution is minimized. In addition, as the coal is processed in situ rather than being dug out and brought to the earth’s surface to be burnt to generate electricity, UCG will minimize electricity generating costs, projected to be $0.04538 to $0.05673 per kilowatt hour, as opposed to current costs at $0.11345 to $0.13614 per kilowatt hour.
And all that is required to make this energy miracle happen is for the federal government to provide an additional $100 million in funding to generate electricity from the project as soon as possible, which will then reportedly allow the Thar UCG project to supply 100 megawatts of electricity annually to the national power grid by December 2013. According to Dr. Muhammad Saleem, director of the Thar UCG project, only $9.1 million has been spent on the Thar’s UCG development so far.
Science and Technology Planning Commission member Samar Mubarakmand said that Pakistan’s coal reserves are sufficient to provide electricity to the nation for more than 30 years.
But the Thar UCG project has its critics. A number of professional chemical engineers and petrochemical experts, speaking on condition of anonymity, have collectively voiced their concerns, particularly about the non-technical specialist management of the project, noting, “The huge energy and petrochemical potential of Thar is wholly dependent on the success of its pilot project and if the non-technical management of this plan does not remove the project’s flaws, the country would ultimately be deprived of these huge underground assets forever. You can imagine what can happen if any pilot project fails solely due to a lack of knowledge and expertise …
usually, every oil and gas company first does rigorous tests on oil and gas wells to determine the composition of the gas and oil and then build the multi-million dollar facility. This is the very first step but in the UCG project the team does not know anything about the composition of the gas and yet they want to build a facility. They are only spending lot of money…”.
Visionary project for Pakistan’s energy future or enterprise doomed to failure by inept crony management? Pakistani electricity customers will remain figuratively and literally in the dark until these questions are definitely answered.
By. John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com
AK Steel (AKS) was upgraded today by Credit Suisse (CS) from neutral to outperform with a $12 price target, as raw material prices have declined, and better market demand for products should bolster margins. Shares are higher by eight percent.
Five Reasons Ford’s (NYSE: F) Shares Are Poised to Jump
by Mike Kapsch, Investment U Research
Wednesday, January 11, 2011
Last week, I wrote about the “connected car” making its debut at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Today, Ford’s CEO Alan Mulally will give his keynote speech at CES touting the automaker’s future innovations to the standard automobile. Those in attendance will hear about the coming introduction of heart monitoring systems in your steering wheel, the emergence of vehicle-to-vehicle communication, getting instant weather and traffic updates on your dashboard, as well as a slew of other technologies that’ll soon dramatically improve the everyday driving experience.
But for Ford this is just the beginning. And its shares could see a jolt over the next several months. Here are five good reasons why…
1. Ford’s expanding into Silicon Valley: Ford introduced its communications system – Sync – four years ago, which uses Bluetooth to connect cell phones and MP3 players to Ford’s cars. But now the firm has an even bigger vision with the connected car. And it’s no pipedream…
The company is about to open its first research lab in Silicon Valley in just the next few months. As Fox News reports, “The lab will work on ways to integrate phones and personal devices into cars, as well as safety systems that alert drivers when they’re approaching another vehicle.
The lab will also solicit and test applications from independent programmers. One app… can find an open parking space and reserve it. Another would improve weather reporting by transmitting signals when a car’s rain-sensing wipers are triggered.”
The bottom line: These services could end up generating billions of dollars for Ford and its affiliates each year as it finds ways to integrate new technologies into its automobiles. Just think, GM’s (NYSE: GM) OnStar was a $4-billion revenue boost for the company roughly 10 years ago.
2. Ford is set to claim the first plug-in hybrid with 100 mpg: Oil prices could easily skyrocket this year. Gas prices would certainly follow suit if it happens. And the average car on the road is already over 10 years old.
The point is… it only makes sense the next car consumers look to buy will likely be one that can get much further using less gasoline.
At the Detroit auto show yesterday, Ford revealed its 2013 plug-in hybrid Fusion, which will trump every other liquid-powered vehicle in terms of gas efficiency.
The current Fusion is already the most popular car built by an American automaker, with sales totaling 248,067 in 2011. Incentives like 100 miles per gallon and new gadgets will only likely push sales higher.
3. CEO Alan Mulally is a true American businessman: When the financial crisis struck in 2008, Ford lost $14.8 billion, the most in its 108-year history. It also burned through 61% of its cash reserves, $21.2 billion.
Yet somehow, Mulally led Ford through the financial crisis without needing a single bailout from the U.S. government. And by 2011, The New York Times reported the company announced it would pay bonuses of $5,000 and more to its hourly workers.
Even more, over the past year, Mulally helped boost the company’s return on equity up 317%. And generally, the higher the return on equity, the more efficient a company is at generating profits with the money it gets from investors. That’s a very positive sign for the months ahead.
4. Auto sales are picking up steam: It’s no secret the financial crisis hit the auto manufacturing industry very hard. In fact, the entire global economy is still feeling its effects. Yet the auto industry is starting to rebound. December sales rose 10% signifying a stronger year ahead.
And while they wouldn’t give specifics, both Ford and GM’s CEO have hinted that sales have continued surging so far this month.
5. Ford’s shares appear to be at a discount: Despite all the good news just mentioned, Ford’s shares were clobbered last year… down 39% in 2011.
Yet while that news is likely enough to scare away most investors, company executives say Ford’s shares are way oversold. They’re even putting their money where their mouth is to prove it.
Over the past six months, insiders at Ford have purchased 118,000 shares worth just under $1.4 million at the current share price.
There’s no telling how the markets will treat the auto industry or Ford in 2012, but these five factors seem to point to success in the near future.
Good Investing,
Mike Kapsch
Article by Investment U
Gladstone Capital Corporation (GLAD) announced today that it is maintaining its monthly dividend of 7 cents per share. The Company has paid 102 consecutive monthly cash distributions on its common stock and this month’s distribution is payable on January 31 to shareholders on record as of January 23.
Francesca’s (NASDAQ:FRAN) raised its fourth quarter EPS and sales guidance to above consensus estimates Tuesday, saying it now sees EPS of $0.16 – $0.17 vs. its prior guidance of $0.14 – $0.15 on estimates of $0.15.Revenue guidance for the quarter is now a range of $58.5 million – $59.5 million, vs. its prior guidance of $55.5 million – $55.6 million, vs. consensus estimates of $55.6 million.Francesca’s will release full results on March 13th.
Bargain hunters are wise to pay careful attention to insider buying, because although there are many various reasons for an insider to sell a stock, presumably the only reason they would use their hard-earned cash to make a purchase, is that they expect to make money. Today we look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.
WellPoint (NYSE:WLP) reaffirmed its 2011 adjusted EPS outlook Tuesday of $6.90 – $7.00, vs. consensus estimates of $7.06 while speaking to analysts.The company reports earnings on January 25th and will provide an outlook for 2012 then.The stock is up 7.4% year-to-date, while the S&P Managed Health Care Index is up 23%.WellPoint (NYSE:WLP) has potential upside of 20.4% based on a current price of $71.18 and an average consensus analyst price target of $85.67.
Juniper (NASDAQ:JNPR) shares fell 3.6% in after market hours yesterday after it warned it sees Q4 EPS of $0.26 – $0.28 on revenues of $1.1 – $1.2 billion, vs. consensus estimates of $0.34 and $1.19 billion.Juniper attributed the warning to weak service provider demand, specifying the weakness to domestic use.Juniper Networks (NASDAQ:JNPR) has potential upside of 13.4% based on a current price of $21.53 and an average consensus analyst price target of $24.42.
In trading on Wednesday, general contractors & builders shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 3.1%. Leading the group were shares of KB Home (KBH), up about 9.6% and shares of Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV) up about 7.8% on the day.
