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VP Joe Biden Unveils Home Energy Efficiency Program
November 09, 2010 3:45 PM
ABC News' Mary Bruce reports:
The White House announced a new federal program today designed to help Americans make their homes more energy-efficient, which Vice President Joe Biden said it would save consumers money and create jobs.
“We believe that retrofitting homes has the potential to save us billions of dollars. And we believe that these projects that we are announcing today will go a long way toward growing an industry and in the process create good jobs for a very good public purpose,” Biden said at a Middle Class Task Force event at the White House this afternoon, noting that the new initiative could create tens of thousands of jobs.
The Recovery Through Retrofit program will enable homeowners to get low-cost energy audits of their homes and federally insured loans to pay for improvements.
“Look, folks, investing in this stuff is the only way to build an economy capable of not just competing in the 21st century, but actually leading, as we have in the past,” Biden explained. “Making our homes more energy efficient, a major part of this, is a no-brainer. It saves consumers money on their electricity, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, it creates jobs. It's all part of efforts to fundamentally reimagine the American economy by fundamentally changing our approach to energy consumption.”
Biden also said that retrofitting homes is “one of the quickest jolts” to move the country toward energy independence. “It is the low-hanging fruit out there. It doesn't require many significant technological breakthroughs to have gigantic impact on our consumption patterns,” Biden said.
Under the new program, homeowners will receive a “Home Energy Score” that ranks their home’s efficiency on a scale of one to ten and shows how it compares to others in the neighborhood. Trained and certified contractors will then estimate how much money a homeowner could potentially save through upgrades and will recommend improvements.
To pay for retrofitting, consumers will be eligible for up to $25,000 in low-interest, federally insured “PowerSaver” loans. The program also sets new guidelines for contractors that identify the skills needed for workers in the retrofit industry.
Several communities across the country are testing the new energy scoring system this fall before it's rolled out nationally next summer.
“I don't want to oversell this, but this is a significant start,” Biden concluded
The White House announced a new federal program today designed to help Americans make their homes more energy efficient, which Vice President Joe Biden said will save consumers money and create jobs.
“We believe that retrofitting homes has the potential to save us billions of dollars. And we believe that these projects that we are announcing today will go a long way toward growing an industry and in the process creating good jobs for a very good public purpose,” Biden said at a Middle Class Task Force event at the White House this afternoon, noting that the new initiative could create tens of thousands of jobs.
The “Recovery Through Retrofit” program will enable homeowners to get low-cost energy audits of their homes and federally insured loans to pay for improvements.
“Look, folks, investing in this stuff is the only way to build an economy capable of not just competing in the 21st century, but actually leading, as we have in the past,” Biden explained. “Making our homes more energy efficient, a major part of this, is a no-brainer. It saves consumers money on their electricity, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, it creates jobs. It's all part of efforts to fundamentally re-imagine the American economy by fundamentally changing our approach to energy consumption.”
Biden also said that retrofitting homes is “one of the quickest jolts” to move the country toward energy independence. “It is the low-hanging fruit out there. It doesn't require many significant technological breakthroughs to have gigantic impact on our consumption patterns,” Biden said.
Under the new program, homeowners will receive a “Home Energy Score” that ranks their home’s efficiency on a scale of one to 10 and shows how it compares with others in the neighborhood. Trained and certified contractors will then estimate how much money a homeowner could potentially save through upgrades and recommends improvements.
To pay for retrofitting, consumers will be eligible for up to $25,000 in low-interest, federally insured PowerSaver loans. The program also sets new guidelines for contractors that identify the skills needed for workers in the retrofit industry.
Several communities across the country are testing the new energy scoring system this fall before it's rolled out nationally next summer.
“I don't want to oversell this, but this is a significant start,” Biden said.
-Mary Bruce
November 9, 2010
in Joe Biden, Mary Bruce, White House
| Permalink
| Share
| User Comments (32)
ZeroHedge reports that Ken Heeber, has nearly emptied his coffer of Apple stock: Abandon Apple Ship? Ken Heebner Dumps Almost Entire Apple Stake
In a just released 13F filing,
Ken Heebner’s Capital Growth Management has disclosed that he has
reduced his holdings in Apple almost to zero. After holding 1.15 million
AAPL shares as of June 30 (which made him holder #100 in the name
sorted by size), Ken Heebner who is a regular guest on CNBC courtesy of
his bullish tendencies, sold virtually his entire stake, leaving him
with just 111,000 shares.
I’m not going to got through a whole bunch of “I told you so’s”, but
Heebner knows how to count, and probably sees the margin writing on the
wall: A Quick Peek Into the REAL WORLD Logic That Went Into Building the BoomBustBlog Apple Model: It’s Called Compression!!! Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
Add to that the fact that he probably realizes
How Google is Looking to Cut Apple’s Margin and How the
Sell Side of Wall Street Will Enable This Without Sheeple
Investor’s Having a Clue. Of course, like me he may have seen Empirical Evidence of Android Eating Apple! After all, Reggie Middleton Wasn’t the ONLY Openly Apple Bear in the Blogoshpere, Was He?
Heebner is not the only one reading BoomBustBlog and/or deciding to leave the Apple cult, as excerpted from the “Peek Into the REAL WORLD Logic” link above:
“The rising popularity of devices
using Google’s Android software may hurt Apple in the long term, said
Michael Obuchowski, chief investment officer of First Empire Asset
Management, which holds Apple shares. “Everyone is closing in and it’s a
huge question of how they are going to respond,” said Obuchowski,
whose firm oversees $4 billion. “I’m really worried about Apple; I’m not convinced that I’m going to hold Apple two years from now.””
“‘Commodity’ Experience
Jobs dismissed the threat of rivals. Apple’s approach of designing the
software and hardware for its devices results in a better user
experience, he said. By contrast, Google gives Android free to handset
makers including Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp., creating a “commodity” experience,
he said. “We are very committed to the integrated approach, no matter
how many times Google tries to characterize it as closed,” Jobs said.
He said Apple is outselling BlackBerry-maker RIM and he doesn’t “see
them catching up with us in the foreseeable future.””
Notice how he failed to say Apple was
outselling Android. This is material, because they were materially
outselling Android 2 and 3 quarters ago. Androids growth rate is simply
phenomenal, and its business model may prove unassailable unless Apple
makes some drastic changes (ex. allowing cloning) – changes that I
doubt management will be willing to make. Jobs also (understandably)
failed to mention that the “commodity’ Androids materially outperform
the iOS products in terms of features and functionality. This is pretty
much in direct contravention to the concept of the term “commodity”,
isn’t it???? I don’t think many Samsung Galaxy S, Droid X or HTC Evo
owners will characterize their devices as “commodities”.
“Munster, who estimated Apple would
sell 11 million iPhones, said last week that supply shortages likely
held back sales of both the smartphone and iPad. The cost of making the
iPhone may be increasing, said Andy Hargreaves, an analyst at Pacific
Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon. The device accounts for 43 percent
of Apple’s revenue [and much more of their profit!!!].
‘‘We saw what we think is a pretty remarkable increase in iPhone
costs,” and that’s fueled concern over margins, Hargreaves said in an
interview with Bloomberg Television.”
Good to know he’s been reading
BoomBustBlog. Remember, supply shortages can very well stem from
competition for suppliers and supplier’s attention. Is it Android
again??? Here’s a hint… Does the sole patent holder and sole
manufacturer of Apple’s branded IPS Retina Screen plan to become one of
the most prolific Android phone vendor’s in the world? If so, where
does that leave Apple? Margin compression!!! Or worse. Read up on your
proprietary Apple content BoombBustBlog subscribers!
“Verizon Phone – Even so, competition
is increasing. The Android operating system was the most popular
smartphone software in the U.S. in the second quarter, according to
Gartner Inc. Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Dell Inc. are among the
companies using Android in tablet computers to rival the iPad.
Hewlett-Packard Co., the largest computer maker, is developing a tablet
computer.
Apple may get a sales boost by expanding the availability of the iPhone
in the U.S. Verizon Wireless may begin selling it in January, two
people familiar with the matter said in June.”
You can bet your left nostril hairs that
the deal Verizon cut is NO WHERE near as sweet as the one AT&T gave
Apple. What does this spell? Margin COMPRESSION in the quest for wider
distribution to prevent Android (to late) from gaining critical mass
and taking over.
There’s just so many reasons for the big Apple dumpt. Of course,
there is no reason to liquidate nearly all of such a large position for
liquidity reasons unless you feel it has run its course, or worse.
Then again… What do I know?
Below is a graph showing the longer term trend of Apple market share
in the smart phone space. It illustrates the explosive growth Apple has
had through its iPhone series, and it also shows some seasonality (ex.
lull before hardware upgrade season, etc.). As you can see, the growth
trend, viewed either directly or as a moving average, shows marked
downward momentum. Of course, it is highly unreasonable to expect a
company to continue to grow at the pace that Apple has, but that is
exactly what many Apple valuation models that I have come across have –
literally hard-coded in. This is folly, in my opinion – particularly
considering the effect of the Android competition that is already
showing up. If you look closely, Apple’s smart phone market share is
already showing NEGATIVE growth!
Since I know that the chart may be a little difficult to read at the
tail end encompassing several years of data, I have taken the liberty
to drill down to the past year to get a closer look. Remember, Android
sales didn’t really get started until 8 months ago, and the big surge
didn’t occur until the Evo/Droid X/Samsung Galaxy series were launched
in June, July and August – most of which is not captured here. The same
is to be said for Apple and the iPhone 4.
Click to enlarge to printer size!
Despite increases in both the overall mobile market and more importantly, the smart phone contingent’s penetration of said market:
- Apple’s smart phone shipments are showing a negative growth trend
- and more importantly, Apple’s smart phone market share is
experiencing a very sharp downward trend as shown by both direct
observation and that of the 2 period moving average
I am bullish on certain tech companies, but I am bearish on the US
equity markets in general, as I warned in my latest Google Quarterly
opinion: Google Q3 2010 review for all paying subscribers (click here to subscribe):
eric seiger
Breitbart.tv » ABC <b>News</b>: Obama Strikes Out in Asia
NEWS FLASH!!!! Obama a failure!!!!……..are you kidding me ABC? It's like you Leftist Loons in the Old dying Media just don't matter anymore. Hey ABC…….GO AWAY! MARXIST=DEMOCRATS=TERRORIST All the same. ...
A bad <b>news</b> week for AGW proponents | Watts Up With That?
This is the latest bad news for the company touted by Mr. Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama as one of the green industry's supposed shining lights. – Editorial, The Orange County Register, 11 November 2010 ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/13 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning everyone. NJ Chiefs Fan is having some internet troubles so Arrowheadlines is coming from me today. Enjoy (four hours late)....
eric seiger
« Previous |
Main
| Next »
VP Joe Biden Unveils Home Energy Efficiency Program
November 09, 2010 3:45 PM
ABC News' Mary Bruce reports:
The White House announced a new federal program today designed to help Americans make their homes more energy-efficient, which Vice President Joe Biden said it would save consumers money and create jobs.
“We believe that retrofitting homes has the potential to save us billions of dollars. And we believe that these projects that we are announcing today will go a long way toward growing an industry and in the process create good jobs for a very good public purpose,” Biden said at a Middle Class Task Force event at the White House this afternoon, noting that the new initiative could create tens of thousands of jobs.
The Recovery Through Retrofit program will enable homeowners to get low-cost energy audits of their homes and federally insured loans to pay for improvements.
“Look, folks, investing in this stuff is the only way to build an economy capable of not just competing in the 21st century, but actually leading, as we have in the past,” Biden explained. “Making our homes more energy efficient, a major part of this, is a no-brainer. It saves consumers money on their electricity, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, it creates jobs. It's all part of efforts to fundamentally reimagine the American economy by fundamentally changing our approach to energy consumption.”
Biden also said that retrofitting homes is “one of the quickest jolts” to move the country toward energy independence. “It is the low-hanging fruit out there. It doesn't require many significant technological breakthroughs to have gigantic impact on our consumption patterns,” Biden said.
Under the new program, homeowners will receive a “Home Energy Score” that ranks their home’s efficiency on a scale of one to ten and shows how it compares to others in the neighborhood. Trained and certified contractors will then estimate how much money a homeowner could potentially save through upgrades and will recommend improvements.
To pay for retrofitting, consumers will be eligible for up to $25,000 in low-interest, federally insured “PowerSaver” loans. The program also sets new guidelines for contractors that identify the skills needed for workers in the retrofit industry.
Several communities across the country are testing the new energy scoring system this fall before it's rolled out nationally next summer.
“I don't want to oversell this, but this is a significant start,” Biden concluded
The White House announced a new federal program today designed to help Americans make their homes more energy efficient, which Vice President Joe Biden said will save consumers money and create jobs.
“We believe that retrofitting homes has the potential to save us billions of dollars. And we believe that these projects that we are announcing today will go a long way toward growing an industry and in the process creating good jobs for a very good public purpose,” Biden said at a Middle Class Task Force event at the White House this afternoon, noting that the new initiative could create tens of thousands of jobs.
The “Recovery Through Retrofit” program will enable homeowners to get low-cost energy audits of their homes and federally insured loans to pay for improvements.
“Look, folks, investing in this stuff is the only way to build an economy capable of not just competing in the 21st century, but actually leading, as we have in the past,” Biden explained. “Making our homes more energy efficient, a major part of this, is a no-brainer. It saves consumers money on their electricity, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, it creates jobs. It's all part of efforts to fundamentally re-imagine the American economy by fundamentally changing our approach to energy consumption.”
Biden also said that retrofitting homes is “one of the quickest jolts” to move the country toward energy independence. “It is the low-hanging fruit out there. It doesn't require many significant technological breakthroughs to have gigantic impact on our consumption patterns,” Biden said.
Under the new program, homeowners will receive a “Home Energy Score” that ranks their home’s efficiency on a scale of one to 10 and shows how it compares with others in the neighborhood. Trained and certified contractors will then estimate how much money a homeowner could potentially save through upgrades and recommends improvements.
To pay for retrofitting, consumers will be eligible for up to $25,000 in low-interest, federally insured PowerSaver loans. The program also sets new guidelines for contractors that identify the skills needed for workers in the retrofit industry.
Several communities across the country are testing the new energy scoring system this fall before it's rolled out nationally next summer.
“I don't want to oversell this, but this is a significant start,” Biden said.
-Mary Bruce
November 9, 2010
in Joe Biden, Mary Bruce, White House
| Permalink
| Share
| User Comments (32)
ZeroHedge reports that Ken Heeber, has nearly emptied his coffer of Apple stock: Abandon Apple Ship? Ken Heebner Dumps Almost Entire Apple Stake
In a just released 13F filing,
Ken Heebner’s Capital Growth Management has disclosed that he has
reduced his holdings in Apple almost to zero. After holding 1.15 million
AAPL shares as of June 30 (which made him holder #100 in the name
sorted by size), Ken Heebner who is a regular guest on CNBC courtesy of
his bullish tendencies, sold virtually his entire stake, leaving him
with just 111,000 shares.
I’m not going to got through a whole bunch of “I told you so’s”, but
Heebner knows how to count, and probably sees the margin writing on the
wall: A Quick Peek Into the REAL WORLD Logic That Went Into Building the BoomBustBlog Apple Model: It’s Called Compression!!! Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
Add to that the fact that he probably realizes
How Google is Looking to Cut Apple’s Margin and How the
Sell Side of Wall Street Will Enable This Without Sheeple
Investor’s Having a Clue. Of course, like me he may have seen Empirical Evidence of Android Eating Apple! After all, Reggie Middleton Wasn’t the ONLY Openly Apple Bear in the Blogoshpere, Was He?
Heebner is not the only one reading BoomBustBlog and/or deciding to leave the Apple cult, as excerpted from the “Peek Into the REAL WORLD Logic” link above:
“The rising popularity of devices
using Google’s Android software may hurt Apple in the long term, said
Michael Obuchowski, chief investment officer of First Empire Asset
Management, which holds Apple shares. “Everyone is closing in and it’s a
huge question of how they are going to respond,” said Obuchowski,
whose firm oversees $4 billion. “I’m really worried about Apple; I’m not convinced that I’m going to hold Apple two years from now.””
“‘Commodity’ Experience
Jobs dismissed the threat of rivals. Apple’s approach of designing the
software and hardware for its devices results in a better user
experience, he said. By contrast, Google gives Android free to handset
makers including Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp., creating a “commodity” experience,
he said. “We are very committed to the integrated approach, no matter
how many times Google tries to characterize it as closed,” Jobs said.
He said Apple is outselling BlackBerry-maker RIM and he doesn’t “see
them catching up with us in the foreseeable future.””
Notice how he failed to say Apple was
outselling Android. This is material, because they were materially
outselling Android 2 and 3 quarters ago. Androids growth rate is simply
phenomenal, and its business model may prove unassailable unless Apple
makes some drastic changes (ex. allowing cloning) – changes that I
doubt management will be willing to make. Jobs also (understandably)
failed to mention that the “commodity’ Androids materially outperform
the iOS products in terms of features and functionality. This is pretty
much in direct contravention to the concept of the term “commodity”,
isn’t it???? I don’t think many Samsung Galaxy S, Droid X or HTC Evo
owners will characterize their devices as “commodities”.
“Munster, who estimated Apple would
sell 11 million iPhones, said last week that supply shortages likely
held back sales of both the smartphone and iPad. The cost of making the
iPhone may be increasing, said Andy Hargreaves, an analyst at Pacific
Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon. The device accounts for 43 percent
of Apple’s revenue [and much more of their profit!!!].
‘‘We saw what we think is a pretty remarkable increase in iPhone
costs,” and that’s fueled concern over margins, Hargreaves said in an
interview with Bloomberg Television.”
Good to know he’s been reading
BoomBustBlog. Remember, supply shortages can very well stem from
competition for suppliers and supplier’s attention. Is it Android
again??? Here’s a hint… Does the sole patent holder and sole
manufacturer of Apple’s branded IPS Retina Screen plan to become one of
the most prolific Android phone vendor’s in the world? If so, where
does that leave Apple? Margin compression!!! Or worse. Read up on your
proprietary Apple content BoombBustBlog subscribers!
“Verizon Phone – Even so, competition
is increasing. The Android operating system was the most popular
smartphone software in the U.S. in the second quarter, according to
Gartner Inc. Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Dell Inc. are among the
companies using Android in tablet computers to rival the iPad.
Hewlett-Packard Co., the largest computer maker, is developing a tablet
computer.
Apple may get a sales boost by expanding the availability of the iPhone
in the U.S. Verizon Wireless may begin selling it in January, two
people familiar with the matter said in June.”
You can bet your left nostril hairs that
the deal Verizon cut is NO WHERE near as sweet as the one AT&T gave
Apple. What does this spell? Margin COMPRESSION in the quest for wider
distribution to prevent Android (to late) from gaining critical mass
and taking over.
There’s just so many reasons for the big Apple dumpt. Of course,
there is no reason to liquidate nearly all of such a large position for
liquidity reasons unless you feel it has run its course, or worse.
Then again… What do I know?
Below is a graph showing the longer term trend of Apple market share
in the smart phone space. It illustrates the explosive growth Apple has
had through its iPhone series, and it also shows some seasonality (ex.
lull before hardware upgrade season, etc.). As you can see, the growth
trend, viewed either directly or as a moving average, shows marked
downward momentum. Of course, it is highly unreasonable to expect a
company to continue to grow at the pace that Apple has, but that is
exactly what many Apple valuation models that I have come across have –
literally hard-coded in. This is folly, in my opinion – particularly
considering the effect of the Android competition that is already
showing up. If you look closely, Apple’s smart phone market share is
already showing NEGATIVE growth!
Since I know that the chart may be a little difficult to read at the
tail end encompassing several years of data, I have taken the liberty
to drill down to the past year to get a closer look. Remember, Android
sales didn’t really get started until 8 months ago, and the big surge
didn’t occur until the Evo/Droid X/Samsung Galaxy series were launched
in June, July and August – most of which is not captured here. The same
is to be said for Apple and the iPhone 4.
Click to enlarge to printer size!
Despite increases in both the overall mobile market and more importantly, the smart phone contingent’s penetration of said market:
- Apple’s smart phone shipments are showing a negative growth trend
- and more importantly, Apple’s smart phone market share is
experiencing a very sharp downward trend as shown by both direct
observation and that of the 2 period moving average
I am bullish on certain tech companies, but I am bearish on the US
equity markets in general, as I warned in my latest Google Quarterly
opinion: Google Q3 2010 review for all paying subscribers (click here to subscribe):
eric seiger
Breitbart.tv » ABC <b>News</b>: Obama Strikes Out in Asia
NEWS FLASH!!!! Obama a failure!!!!……..are you kidding me ABC? It's like you Leftist Loons in the Old dying Media just don't matter anymore. Hey ABC…….GO AWAY! MARXIST=DEMOCRATS=TERRORIST All the same. ...
A bad <b>news</b> week for AGW proponents | Watts Up With That?
This is the latest bad news for the company touted by Mr. Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama as one of the green industry's supposed shining lights. – Editorial, The Orange County Register, 11 November 2010 ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/13 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning everyone. NJ Chiefs Fan is having some internet troubles so Arrowheadlines is coming from me today. Enjoy (four hours late)....
eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
Breitbart.tv » ABC <b>News</b>: Obama Strikes Out in Asia
NEWS FLASH!!!! Obama a failure!!!!……..are you kidding me ABC? It's like you Leftist Loons in the Old dying Media just don't matter anymore. Hey ABC…….GO AWAY! MARXIST=DEMOCRATS=TERRORIST All the same. ...
A bad <b>news</b> week for AGW proponents | Watts Up With That?
This is the latest bad news for the company touted by Mr. Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama as one of the green industry's supposed shining lights. – Editorial, The Orange County Register, 11 November 2010 ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/13 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning everyone. NJ Chiefs Fan is having some internet troubles so Arrowheadlines is coming from me today. Enjoy (four hours late)....
eric seiger
« Previous |
Main
| Next »
VP Joe Biden Unveils Home Energy Efficiency Program
November 09, 2010 3:45 PM
ABC News' Mary Bruce reports:
The White House announced a new federal program today designed to help Americans make their homes more energy-efficient, which Vice President Joe Biden said it would save consumers money and create jobs.
“We believe that retrofitting homes has the potential to save us billions of dollars. And we believe that these projects that we are announcing today will go a long way toward growing an industry and in the process create good jobs for a very good public purpose,” Biden said at a Middle Class Task Force event at the White House this afternoon, noting that the new initiative could create tens of thousands of jobs.
The Recovery Through Retrofit program will enable homeowners to get low-cost energy audits of their homes and federally insured loans to pay for improvements.
“Look, folks, investing in this stuff is the only way to build an economy capable of not just competing in the 21st century, but actually leading, as we have in the past,” Biden explained. “Making our homes more energy efficient, a major part of this, is a no-brainer. It saves consumers money on their electricity, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, it creates jobs. It's all part of efforts to fundamentally reimagine the American economy by fundamentally changing our approach to energy consumption.”
Biden also said that retrofitting homes is “one of the quickest jolts” to move the country toward energy independence. “It is the low-hanging fruit out there. It doesn't require many significant technological breakthroughs to have gigantic impact on our consumption patterns,” Biden said.
Under the new program, homeowners will receive a “Home Energy Score” that ranks their home’s efficiency on a scale of one to ten and shows how it compares to others in the neighborhood. Trained and certified contractors will then estimate how much money a homeowner could potentially save through upgrades and will recommend improvements.
To pay for retrofitting, consumers will be eligible for up to $25,000 in low-interest, federally insured “PowerSaver” loans. The program also sets new guidelines for contractors that identify the skills needed for workers in the retrofit industry.
Several communities across the country are testing the new energy scoring system this fall before it's rolled out nationally next summer.
“I don't want to oversell this, but this is a significant start,” Biden concluded
The White House announced a new federal program today designed to help Americans make their homes more energy efficient, which Vice President Joe Biden said will save consumers money and create jobs.
“We believe that retrofitting homes has the potential to save us billions of dollars. And we believe that these projects that we are announcing today will go a long way toward growing an industry and in the process creating good jobs for a very good public purpose,” Biden said at a Middle Class Task Force event at the White House this afternoon, noting that the new initiative could create tens of thousands of jobs.
The “Recovery Through Retrofit” program will enable homeowners to get low-cost energy audits of their homes and federally insured loans to pay for improvements.
“Look, folks, investing in this stuff is the only way to build an economy capable of not just competing in the 21st century, but actually leading, as we have in the past,” Biden explained. “Making our homes more energy efficient, a major part of this, is a no-brainer. It saves consumers money on their electricity, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, it creates jobs. It's all part of efforts to fundamentally re-imagine the American economy by fundamentally changing our approach to energy consumption.”
Biden also said that retrofitting homes is “one of the quickest jolts” to move the country toward energy independence. “It is the low-hanging fruit out there. It doesn't require many significant technological breakthroughs to have gigantic impact on our consumption patterns,” Biden said.
Under the new program, homeowners will receive a “Home Energy Score” that ranks their home’s efficiency on a scale of one to 10 and shows how it compares with others in the neighborhood. Trained and certified contractors will then estimate how much money a homeowner could potentially save through upgrades and recommends improvements.
To pay for retrofitting, consumers will be eligible for up to $25,000 in low-interest, federally insured PowerSaver loans. The program also sets new guidelines for contractors that identify the skills needed for workers in the retrofit industry.
Several communities across the country are testing the new energy scoring system this fall before it's rolled out nationally next summer.
“I don't want to oversell this, but this is a significant start,” Biden said.
-Mary Bruce
November 9, 2010
in Joe Biden, Mary Bruce, White House
| Permalink
| Share
| User Comments (32)
ZeroHedge reports that Ken Heeber, has nearly emptied his coffer of Apple stock: Abandon Apple Ship? Ken Heebner Dumps Almost Entire Apple Stake
In a just released 13F filing,
Ken Heebner’s Capital Growth Management has disclosed that he has
reduced his holdings in Apple almost to zero. After holding 1.15 million
AAPL shares as of June 30 (which made him holder #100 in the name
sorted by size), Ken Heebner who is a regular guest on CNBC courtesy of
his bullish tendencies, sold virtually his entire stake, leaving him
with just 111,000 shares.
I’m not going to got through a whole bunch of “I told you so’s”, but
Heebner knows how to count, and probably sees the margin writing on the
wall: A Quick Peek Into the REAL WORLD Logic That Went Into Building the BoomBustBlog Apple Model: It’s Called Compression!!! Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
Add to that the fact that he probably realizes
How Google is Looking to Cut Apple’s Margin and How the
Sell Side of Wall Street Will Enable This Without Sheeple
Investor’s Having a Clue. Of course, like me he may have seen Empirical Evidence of Android Eating Apple! After all, Reggie Middleton Wasn’t the ONLY Openly Apple Bear in the Blogoshpere, Was He?
Heebner is not the only one reading BoomBustBlog and/or deciding to leave the Apple cult, as excerpted from the “Peek Into the REAL WORLD Logic” link above:
“The rising popularity of devices
using Google’s Android software may hurt Apple in the long term, said
Michael Obuchowski, chief investment officer of First Empire Asset
Management, which holds Apple shares. “Everyone is closing in and it’s a
huge question of how they are going to respond,” said Obuchowski,
whose firm oversees $4 billion. “I’m really worried about Apple; I’m not convinced that I’m going to hold Apple two years from now.””
“‘Commodity’ Experience
Jobs dismissed the threat of rivals. Apple’s approach of designing the
software and hardware for its devices results in a better user
experience, he said. By contrast, Google gives Android free to handset
makers including Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp., creating a “commodity” experience,
he said. “We are very committed to the integrated approach, no matter
how many times Google tries to characterize it as closed,” Jobs said.
He said Apple is outselling BlackBerry-maker RIM and he doesn’t “see
them catching up with us in the foreseeable future.””
Notice how he failed to say Apple was
outselling Android. This is material, because they were materially
outselling Android 2 and 3 quarters ago. Androids growth rate is simply
phenomenal, and its business model may prove unassailable unless Apple
makes some drastic changes (ex. allowing cloning) – changes that I
doubt management will be willing to make. Jobs also (understandably)
failed to mention that the “commodity’ Androids materially outperform
the iOS products in terms of features and functionality. This is pretty
much in direct contravention to the concept of the term “commodity”,
isn’t it???? I don’t think many Samsung Galaxy S, Droid X or HTC Evo
owners will characterize their devices as “commodities”.
“Munster, who estimated Apple would
sell 11 million iPhones, said last week that supply shortages likely
held back sales of both the smartphone and iPad. The cost of making the
iPhone may be increasing, said Andy Hargreaves, an analyst at Pacific
Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon. The device accounts for 43 percent
of Apple’s revenue [and much more of their profit!!!].
‘‘We saw what we think is a pretty remarkable increase in iPhone
costs,” and that’s fueled concern over margins, Hargreaves said in an
interview with Bloomberg Television.”
Good to know he’s been reading
BoomBustBlog. Remember, supply shortages can very well stem from
competition for suppliers and supplier’s attention. Is it Android
again??? Here’s a hint… Does the sole patent holder and sole
manufacturer of Apple’s branded IPS Retina Screen plan to become one of
the most prolific Android phone vendor’s in the world? If so, where
does that leave Apple? Margin compression!!! Or worse. Read up on your
proprietary Apple content BoombBustBlog subscribers!
“Verizon Phone – Even so, competition
is increasing. The Android operating system was the most popular
smartphone software in the U.S. in the second quarter, according to
Gartner Inc. Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Dell Inc. are among the
companies using Android in tablet computers to rival the iPad.
Hewlett-Packard Co., the largest computer maker, is developing a tablet
computer.
Apple may get a sales boost by expanding the availability of the iPhone
in the U.S. Verizon Wireless may begin selling it in January, two
people familiar with the matter said in June.”
You can bet your left nostril hairs that
the deal Verizon cut is NO WHERE near as sweet as the one AT&T gave
Apple. What does this spell? Margin COMPRESSION in the quest for wider
distribution to prevent Android (to late) from gaining critical mass
and taking over.
There’s just so many reasons for the big Apple dumpt. Of course,
there is no reason to liquidate nearly all of such a large position for
liquidity reasons unless you feel it has run its course, or worse.
Then again… What do I know?
Below is a graph showing the longer term trend of Apple market share
in the smart phone space. It illustrates the explosive growth Apple has
had through its iPhone series, and it also shows some seasonality (ex.
lull before hardware upgrade season, etc.). As you can see, the growth
trend, viewed either directly or as a moving average, shows marked
downward momentum. Of course, it is highly unreasonable to expect a
company to continue to grow at the pace that Apple has, but that is
exactly what many Apple valuation models that I have come across have –
literally hard-coded in. This is folly, in my opinion – particularly
considering the effect of the Android competition that is already
showing up. If you look closely, Apple’s smart phone market share is
already showing NEGATIVE growth!
Since I know that the chart may be a little difficult to read at the
tail end encompassing several years of data, I have taken the liberty
to drill down to the past year to get a closer look. Remember, Android
sales didn’t really get started until 8 months ago, and the big surge
didn’t occur until the Evo/Droid X/Samsung Galaxy series were launched
in June, July and August – most of which is not captured here. The same
is to be said for Apple and the iPhone 4.
Click to enlarge to printer size!
Despite increases in both the overall mobile market and more importantly, the smart phone contingent’s penetration of said market:
- Apple’s smart phone shipments are showing a negative growth trend
- and more importantly, Apple’s smart phone market share is
experiencing a very sharp downward trend as shown by both direct
observation and that of the 2 period moving average
I am bullish on certain tech companies, but I am bearish on the US
equity markets in general, as I warned in my latest Google Quarterly
opinion: Google Q3 2010 review for all paying subscribers (click here to subscribe):
eric seiger
eric seiger
Breitbart.tv » ABC <b>News</b>: Obama Strikes Out in Asia
NEWS FLASH!!!! Obama a failure!!!!……..are you kidding me ABC? It's like you Leftist Loons in the Old dying Media just don't matter anymore. Hey ABC…….GO AWAY! MARXIST=DEMOCRATS=TERRORIST All the same. ...
A bad <b>news</b> week for AGW proponents | Watts Up With That?
This is the latest bad news for the company touted by Mr. Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama as one of the green industry's supposed shining lights. – Editorial, The Orange County Register, 11 November 2010 ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/13 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning everyone. NJ Chiefs Fan is having some internet troubles so Arrowheadlines is coming from me today. Enjoy (four hours late)....
eric seiger
eric seiger
Breitbart.tv » ABC <b>News</b>: Obama Strikes Out in Asia
NEWS FLASH!!!! Obama a failure!!!!……..are you kidding me ABC? It's like you Leftist Loons in the Old dying Media just don't matter anymore. Hey ABC…….GO AWAY! MARXIST=DEMOCRATS=TERRORIST All the same. ...
A bad <b>news</b> week for AGW proponents | Watts Up With That?
This is the latest bad news for the company touted by Mr. Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama as one of the green industry's supposed shining lights. – Editorial, The Orange County Register, 11 November 2010 ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/13 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning everyone. NJ Chiefs Fan is having some internet troubles so Arrowheadlines is coming from me today. Enjoy (four hours late)....
eric seiger
Breitbart.tv » ABC <b>News</b>: Obama Strikes Out in Asia
NEWS FLASH!!!! Obama a failure!!!!……..are you kidding me ABC? It's like you Leftist Loons in the Old dying Media just don't matter anymore. Hey ABC…….GO AWAY! MARXIST=DEMOCRATS=TERRORIST All the same. ...
A bad <b>news</b> week for AGW proponents | Watts Up With That?
This is the latest bad news for the company touted by Mr. Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama as one of the green industry's supposed shining lights. – Editorial, The Orange County Register, 11 November 2010 ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/13 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning everyone. NJ Chiefs Fan is having some internet troubles so Arrowheadlines is coming from me today. Enjoy (four hours late)....
eric seiger
Breitbart.tv » ABC <b>News</b>: Obama Strikes Out in Asia
NEWS FLASH!!!! Obama a failure!!!!……..are you kidding me ABC? It's like you Leftist Loons in the Old dying Media just don't matter anymore. Hey ABC…….GO AWAY! MARXIST=DEMOCRATS=TERRORIST All the same. ...
A bad <b>news</b> week for AGW proponents | Watts Up With That?
This is the latest bad news for the company touted by Mr. Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama as one of the green industry's supposed shining lights. – Editorial, The Orange County Register, 11 November 2010 ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/13 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning everyone. NJ Chiefs Fan is having some internet troubles so Arrowheadlines is coming from me today. Enjoy (four hours late)....
eric seiger eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
Breitbart.tv » ABC <b>News</b>: Obama Strikes Out in Asia
NEWS FLASH!!!! Obama a failure!!!!……..are you kidding me ABC? It's like you Leftist Loons in the Old dying Media just don't matter anymore. Hey ABC…….GO AWAY! MARXIST=DEMOCRATS=TERRORIST All the same. ...
A bad <b>news</b> week for AGW proponents | Watts Up With That?
This is the latest bad news for the company touted by Mr. Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama as one of the green industry's supposed shining lights. – Editorial, The Orange County Register, 11 November 2010 ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/13 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning everyone. NJ Chiefs Fan is having some internet troubles so Arrowheadlines is coming from me today. Enjoy (four hours late)....
If you are a Photoshop fanatic and you want to make some extra money there are some great ways that you can work at home and make money online. There are numerous websites that allow you to place bids on jobs that you perform at home. Some of these sites will actually pay you to alter photos with Photoshop for a living.
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eric seiger
Breitbart.tv » ABC <b>News</b>: Obama Strikes Out in Asia
NEWS FLASH!!!! Obama a failure!!!!……..are you kidding me ABC? It's like you Leftist Loons in the Old dying Media just don't matter anymore. Hey ABC…….GO AWAY! MARXIST=DEMOCRATS=TERRORIST All the same. ...
A bad <b>news</b> week for AGW proponents | Watts Up With That?
This is the latest bad news for the company touted by Mr. Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama as one of the green industry's supposed shining lights. – Editorial, The Orange County Register, 11 November 2010 ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/13 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning everyone. NJ Chiefs Fan is having some internet troubles so Arrowheadlines is coming from me today. Enjoy (four hours late)....
eric seiger
Breitbart.tv » ABC <b>News</b>: Obama Strikes Out in Asia
NEWS FLASH!!!! Obama a failure!!!!……..are you kidding me ABC? It's like you Leftist Loons in the Old dying Media just don't matter anymore. Hey ABC…….GO AWAY! MARXIST=DEMOCRATS=TERRORIST All the same. ...
A bad <b>news</b> week for AGW proponents | Watts Up With That?
This is the latest bad news for the company touted by Mr. Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama as one of the green industry's supposed shining lights. – Editorial, The Orange County Register, 11 November 2010 ...
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/13 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning everyone. NJ Chiefs Fan is having some internet troubles so Arrowheadlines is coming from me today. Enjoy (four hours late)....
eric seiger
