John Lounsbury's  Instablog

Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture (here) has this telling chart (courtesy of Ron Griess of The Chart Store)

 

Single family housing starts dropped unexpectedly in October to 529,000 from 592,000 in September.  Permits issued in October was also down to 552,000, which was 4.0% below September.  Two factors contributed:  (1) seasonally these numbers are declining this time of year and (2) uncertainty about the housing tax credit held down builders' commitments.

However, when one looks at the big picture (courtesy of Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture - here), we can see that the latest numbers fit the recent historical pattern.



Optimists will hang their hat on the slight decrease in the 12-month average slope and the fact that the monthly curve has broken above the 12-month average.  Pessimists will point out that seasonal factors should cause both to drop again.  Realists will wait and see.

Read the news release from Realtor.org (here).

There is an interesting graphic at The New York Times (here) comparing the U.S. with China in 2000 and again in 2009.

Hat ti[ to Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture (here).

Barry Rithotz at The Big Picture (here) has the following table.  I present it without commentary because I think it speaks for itself.

Tuesday, by executive order, the Obama administration formed a task force to investigate fraud in the financial crisis.  See Zachary A. Goldfarb's article in The Washington Post (here).

The name of the entity is the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.

Shouldn't the name be the Financial Anti-Fraud Enforcement Task Force?

Two days ago it was solar power panels. (See here.)  Today A-Power Energy Generation Systems (Nasdaq: APWR), a Chinese wind turbine maker, announced (see New York Times article by Kate Galbraith here) plans to start construction of a wind turbine production plant somewhere in the U.S. next year.

A-Power has signed an agreement with private equity firm US-REG (U.S. Renewable Energy Group) to locate a site for the new plant and to participate in the development and construction of the facility.  Initially the plant is expected to to be 320,000 square feet and produce 1,100 megawatts of wind energy turbines annually.  This is enough to power 330,000 homes. The facility is expected to employ approximately 1,000 American workers. The announced plan calls for many of the key wind turbine components to be sourced from U.S. manufacturers, further expanding the number of jobs created in the United States.  Of course, new construction will also produce jobs of a less permanent nature. 

"The decision to construct this wind energy facility in the United States is the direct result of America's commitment to renewable energy and the strength and skill of the American workforce," said Cappy McGarr, US-REG Managing Partner. "This project expects to create thousands of American jobs..."

A-Power is the turbine supplier for a planned wind farm in Texas that will cover approximately 36,000 acres.  The wind farm will cost about $1.5 billion, with a capacity of 600 MW.  This project will use about 50% of one year's production from the proposed plant.  US-REG is also co-developer, along with China's Shenyang Power Group (SPG), of the wind farm.  A-Power is a shareholder in SPG. 

About 85% of the components of the wind turbines will be sourced in the U.S.  The nacelles (high value gearboxes) will be sourced in China, but assembled in the U.S.  To further complicate the internationalization of these projects, A-Power has a Joint Venture partnership with GE Drivetrain Technologies (GE) to produce wind turbine gearboxes (nacelles) in Shenyang.

It is likely that political pressure has accelerated these moves to more U.S. manufacture.  The Texas project had been criticized by Sen. Charles Schumer (D, New York) because it appeared to be proceeding with imported turbines.  According to the New York Times article, Schumer has welcomed the new announcement.  

Source and quotes: PR Newswire here.