Green is Good: In Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley companies going green in a big way

Silicon Valley companies are focusing more than ever on climate change, energy and the environment, turning the area into a hub for "clean tech" research.

That's the conclusion of a report released today by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a public policy organization whose members include many of the region's biggest companies.

More than 100 Bay Area companies now concentrate on solar power research, development or installation, according to the report. Venture capitalists are pouring money into clean technology companies, with most of that money - about $1.13 billion in 2005 - going to California companies.......

David R. Baker, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, September 24, 2007

For rest of story go to Link Here

Finally!

Well the Fed finally seems to be listening. The market, myself, anyone who lives in the real world have begged for this cut for many months. The Fed acted boldly after playing it close to the vest, waiting it out, then cutting 50 basis points from the Funds rate today to the cheers of many. I'm terribly relieved that they acted, and I hope they continue to move in the neighborhood of 50-100 more by the end of the year. There is no inflation threat right now, only deflation of many American assets as the demand for money increased and liquidity stalled out. I think Larry Kudlow did an excellent job of calling for the cut, some excerpts from his latest blog postbelow describe the immediate market affects:

Bernanke Gets It Right

Once in a while you get it right. One time in a row.

I talked about this in my last column,

Goldilocks 2.0.

The Bernanke Fed made a good strong move this afternoon. The stock market applauded loudly with a 250-point rise in the Dow. Essentially, the Fed followed Treasury market rates lower. The 4 percent Treasury bill rate had been urging the Fed to make this move.

By itself, this action will not heal the credit markets overnight. But it will help. Lowering the cost of money will -- over time -- raise asset values across-the-board. New cash injections at the new target rate of 4.75 percent will raise the low 2 percent growth of the monetary base in order to accommodate the banking system’s unusually high cash demands.

Adjustable rate mortgage holders will get almost immediate relief.

This is a confidence-inspiring move by the Fed. Lenders will be more apt to lend and investors will be more apt to take risks..........

Link to rest of story at Kudlow's Money Politics Blog

Roll the dice: 25 or 50?

As the Fed prepares to make one if it's most important policy decisions under Bernanke, I'm elated that we are at least seemingly locked into a rate cut which I have been clamoring for months. Unfortuantely, I don't think the Fed will take out the insurance policy necessary by cutting 50 basis points this week. They will again, continue to fall behind the curve of the economic slowdown and most likely take it 25 basis points at a time. This will be a defacto rate increase as the effective Fed Funds rate has been hovering below 5.00% and the market and the economy will be disappointed. We can only hope for more cuts sooner rather than later.......


Economists predict/debate on WSJ economics blog.........

Economists Debate: A Quarter Point or a Half?

This Tuesday, the Fed is expected to lower the target for the federal-funds rate — therate at which banks lend to each other — for the first time in over four years. The key question is how much will the Fed cut? Economists preview the rate decision, and what they expect the Fed statement to say, below.

We look for a 25-basis-point rate cut from the FOMC this Tuesday …, although we believe a larger 50-basis-point cut still carries significant probability. We expect further cuts in the discount rate [currently at 5.75%], possibly of greater magnitude than the drop in the funds rate [currently at 5.25%]. We expect the FOMC statement to emphasize that the downside risks to the growth outlook are the predominant policy concern. – Credit Suisse

While we certainly would not be surprised if the FOMC cut the fed-funds target rate by 50 basis points [by 1/2 percentage point, to 4.75%] next Tuesday, in our view, a 25 basis point cut by a slim margin seems the more likely outcome. Even though the FOMC appears to be trying to move toward greater transparency, we think that this Tuesday’s FOMC statement may be a situation in which the less said, the better. …. The outlook for the economy, the credit markets, and the financial markets is highly uncertain right now. In times of great uncertainty, we think the FOMC generally favors an incremental approach to policy changes. – Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Economic Research

For blog link and further debate click link here

Productivity Strong and Inflation Low

Simply stated - more head room for the Fed to do what it needs to do - cut the Fed Funds Rate................

Productivity Grows at Faster Pace
US Worker Productivity Rebounds Strongly, Wage Pressures Ease Sharply in the Spring

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Worker productivity rebounded, growing at the fastest pace in nearly two years, while wage pressures eased sharply in the spring -- developments that should reduce inflation worries.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, jumped to an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent in the April-June quarter, even better than the 1.8 percent increase that was originally reported.

Wage pressures, as measured by unit labor costs, slowed to an annual growth rate of 1.4 percent, slower than the initial estimate that labor costs were rising at a 2.1 percent rate..................

................The increase in productivity and the reduction in labor costs were better than had been expected, raising hopes that the Federal Reserve will have the leeway to cut interest rates at its next meeting on Sept. 18...........

-By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer

For rest of story link here