Throw in Siemens and you've got a Rip Van Winkle portfolio.
Don't do it though, for right now and the the intermediate future, equities are for trading, copper/iron ore/lithium/rare earth mines are for owning.
If you are interested use the search blog box, keywords ABB and Cisco.
From Bloomberg/BusinessWeek:
Technology companies and established power-systems suppliers are vying for a share of the global electricity-management market
Technology companies from Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) to ABB Ltd. (ABB) are angling for pieces of the smart grid, the next-generation electricity-delivery network designed to monitor consumption better at households and businesses.
San Jose (Calif.)-based Cisco, the largest maker of computer-networking equipment and a producer of energy-monitoring devices, has partnered with meter-maker Itron Inc. (ITRI) for contracts. Zurich-based ABB, the biggest builder of electricity networks, is developing automation devices for power lines.
With $200 billion in global smart-grid investment expected in 2008 to 2015 by the Pike Research group, with almost $53 billion just in the U.S., technology companies have joined established power-systems suppliers as contestants in the power-management market.
Rather than employing a single technology, the smart grid comprises a network of networks that makes possible real-time two-way communication between power providers and users, omnipresent sensing control, and distributed automation throughout the electrical generation network.
The key difference between the current and future grids: decentralized management of electric power. That's essential when demand for electricity surges as a result of increased consumption.
Smart-grid technology will be a key driver of the $750 billion in incremental spending that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) foresees for the global transmission and distribution market over the next 30 years, according to a Sept. 15 research note.....MORE
