Monday, November 26, 2007

Light Fixtures: We told you so (Watch the Politicians!)

One of the guiding principles of this blog is how important it is to know what the politicians are up to. You can make a lot of money with this simple idea.
In "Cap-and-Trade Bill due Soon" we recapitulated some of our thinking:
That's the headline over at the WSJ Energy Roundup. I wish just once they'd screw up and put something like this on the blog:
Polygamous lesbians flee Sharia
Ain't gonna happen though, they're pros.

I know this policy wonk stuff can get boring but there's a reason I put it in the blog; You can make a lot of money if you know what the rules are. I posted the story (pt. 1) about McCormick's reaper to show how a change in the law can make a fortune virtually overnight (after a decade of positioning yourself)
Today MarketWatch reports:
Philips to buy Genlyte for $2.7 billion
Deal to create North America's top lighting manufacturer
Dutch consumer electronics giant Royal Philips Electronics on Monday said it will buy Genlyte Group, a U.S. manufacturer of lighting fixtures, for $2.7 billion in cash, making it the top lighting company in North America.
Philips said the deal will help it speed up the adoption of energy saving and green lighting technology in North America thanks to Genlyte's extensive customer base in the region.
"This deal deepens our contacts to end users ... helping us speed up the market rollout of more energy-efficient lighting and the introduction of new lighting technologies, like solid state lighting," Theo van Deursen, chief executive of Philips Lighting, said in a statement.


For the record we wuz onto this back in July with
Green Business Opportunity

As I sifted through the link-vault last night, I had an "Ah-ha" (and ah-choo) moment while reading this headline: "Two years to change EU light bulbs" from the March 9 Scotsman.

The article goes on to say:

The 490 million citizens of the 27 member states will be expected to switch to energy-efficient bulbs after a summit of EU leaders yesterday told the European Commission to "rapidly submit proposals" to that effect.


There's no way I can compete with the bulb manufacturers but fixtures, that's another story altogether. At least half those bulbs will need new fixtures, for a few reasons (look it up).

Climateer's Fixture King
(made in stinky old Chinese factories of course. A little rehab and I get CDM credits at 25 euros per on top of it, what a great time to be alive!)
That's it for the self-reverential stuff 'til next year.