Jun 30, 2009

China and India - a comparison and impacts

Our children should be getting a little nervous.
These two countries will only increase their influence on world economics in the future.
An additional fact is Chindia's dependency on coal. If coal ran out, the world would not be able to support Chindia's need for oil (increased by 7% from 2000 to 2008). Due to this dependency, Chindia will significantly increase CO2 emissions by 2025.

Here are ten 2007 details from several sources, including the U.S. Census Department, the CIA Factbook, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the Economist Intelligence Unit and others:

1. China produces 3 times the electricity of India; more than 4 times the oil; and more than 1.5 times the natural gas.

2. On the consumption side, China consumes more than twice the oil of India and almost 1.5 times the natural gas.

3. China’s share of global oil consumption was 9% versus 3% by India.

4. The Chinese GDP expressed in US dollars is three times the Indian GDP ($2.5 trillion versus $0.8 trillion).

5. China has received more than 10 times the total foreign direct investment as India ($700 billion versus $68 billion). China has made direct investments abroad that are more than 3 times that of India ($67 billion versus $21 billion).

6. The market capitalization of the 10 largest companies today in China is $1.8 trillion, whereas the market capitalization of the 10 largest companies in India is only $0.5 trillion.

7. India’s population is smaller than China’s, but is growing more rapidly. In 1995, China had nearly 33% more people. By 2005, China had less than 20% more people. By 2025, their populations will be about equal. After that, India will have a larger population.

8. China has a 40% lower infant mortality rate than India, and a longer life expectancy.

9. Literacy is dramatically different. Only 61% of Indians over the age of 15 can read and write, while nearly 91% of Chinese over 15 can read and write. The development and therefore economic value of women is higher in China where 86.5% are literate, whereas in India only 47.8% of women are literate.

10. India has the fourth largest coal reserves in the world, while China has the world’s largest hydropower potential.


Through the first 8 years of the 21st century, Chinese and Indian oil import demand (according to the IEA) increased at an annual average close to 400 000 barrels per day each year, raising their 'call on world exports' from near zero to about 7% of total. We can compare this with the approx. 26% of world export supply taken by the USA, and another 26% taken by the EU-27 countries, or the 11% of world oil exports taken by Japan.
Chindia oil import demand is modest not only because of poverty, but also due to King Coal. Combined coal and lignite burning of China and India was about 2.6 Bn tons in 2008, near 40% of world coal and lignite output, and growing fast. Without this massive, and massively polluting coal burn Chindia 'call' on world oil exports would, of course, be much higher - and would also be completely impossible to service and supply.

The impact of China is increasing

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We all knew China would increase their demands for oil.
As the USA is doing, so now is China - stockpiling (hoarding?) oil at lower prices ... which helps drive up the price.
If you check my May 30th item, it indicated $77/barrel in one year. This has now increased to $81 and it won't stop there.

Get ready for increased gas and air flight prices ... coming soon!

p.s. It may be time for a hybrid, if considering a new car.

Time to get back into selected stocks and RRSPs?

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For us more cautious investors, it may be time ot get back into RRSPs and stocks.
As this article (today's Star June 30th) indicates, investors are tired of holding back and want to get in before prices climb higher.
Energy and financial stocks appear to be the magnets at this time. See my other item added today on oil demand in China.
All indicators support this as a blip in the markets and much more time will be required to come out of the recession. It is a time to be very cautious and, if buying into energy high investments, be sure to watch carefully. Having said this, it does appear unlikely that major energy stocks (oil and natural gas) will decrease in value in the future ... demand will only increase (see China oil item in this blog).

Jun 25, 2009

yellow headlights?

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Canadian Tire has the solution, if your headlight covers are starting to fade.
I tried it and it works very well.
Saves quite a bit of money in replacement cost.

Jun 23, 2009

Trust Google to come up with something like this for free.
It is very simple and all you do is dial 1-800-466-4411.
I entered it as a speed-dial number in my cell phone.
Just respond to the prompts: say where you are, and what you are looking for.
I have used it and it is very easy and quick ... and free.

Jun 14, 2009

all building should have white roofs

I have always wondered why our roofs used black shingles, as they significantly increased the heat within our homes in summer. White shingles always seemed better.
It won't help reduce CO2 in the atmosphere but will reduce heat build-up in the atmosphere.
Our earth is a closed system with only sunlight able to enter and leave. If we find ways to reflect the sun's energy rather than absorb it, it might help provide time to "figure out ways to limit greenhouse-gas emissions or remove the gases from the atmosphere".

The USA Energy Star site has more details and a roofing calculator which i used to see the difference between black shingles and white shingles with reflective coating. There are real savings each year (as well as, I suspect, longer shingle life).

There appears to be good development underway by Dow Chemical to develop a solar panel roofing tile. If these tiles do not cause home heat retention, we might turn a negative into a real positive!

"Necessity is the mother of invention" used to be a standard saying.

Now, it may be more appropriate to say "people will force beneficial innovation", as hybrid cars would not be here if the public hadn't demanded, Kyoto wouldn't be in place if people hadn't demanded (or if Harper had his way), plastic shopping bags and water bottles wouldn't be on the way out, etc.

We always must remain cognizant that big business will only develop reasonably priced environmentally friendly consumables if buyers demand them.

Jun 11, 2009

touch-screen programmable thermostat


Power Stream is now offering to pay you $25 to have them install this new thermostat.
Unfortunately, it doesn't apply to us who had them install the previous model (no touch-screen).

We have had it installed all last year and didn't notice anything different.

This model allows you to program it from the Internet (as with the previous model) which allows you to set it while traveling.

Read the details and if you haven't taken advantage to-date, call 1-866323-0206 to set an install date.

Jun 5, 2009

Support for CEO pay structure change

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Well, I guess there weren't only a few of us wondering how stupid Board of Directors (and shareholders) can be when it comes to defining CEO pay structures.

This article in the Star today (June 5th), by Roger Martin, supports the need for more realistic approaches - pay for performance (IBMers, sound familiar?) - and that should be solely real market performance (such as market share, profit, book equity return.
In my opinion, revenue growth is questionable unless tied directly to profit.
Any company should be cognisant how it looks if it is failing and their CEO is making a killing.

The bottom line should be:
1. low base salary
2. bonuses completely tied to the above business measures (by outside accounting firm only)
3. no revenue/profit - zero bonus compensation.

Jun 1, 2009

Canada's Internet Services are Poor


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In the Star June 1, 2009, Canada was compared with 29 other countries on Internet quality.
Canada did very poorly:

14th - monthly subscription price
24th - Internet speed
30th - price and speed combined
28th - price per megabyte

Only 4 countries (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Belgium) have data transfer caps.

I just checked with Rogers and they increased their 2nd tier service (7MB speed with 60GB data transfer) to 10MB speed with 95GB storage. In my case, it came with a $20/mo reduction in cost (from $55/mo to $35/mo) ... without advising me. Quite a surprise!

Bell has a comparable up-to-10MB service at $43/mo with 100GB data transfer cap.

While I am surprised on Canada's low world-wide ranking, I am pleased with the very recent reductions in cost from Rogers.