Spanish Civil War January 31, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , 1 comment so farYou know how it is. You read a book on a subject, and then something else pops up on a similar theme, and suddenly the topic is everywhere. Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind, set in Barcelona in the forties, was reviewed in this blog almost a year ago. I never did review Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through a Country’s Hidden Past
Over the weekend, I read Winter in Madrid
The book is set at the height of the Blitz in England when a young soldier has been invalided out, and is asked to go to Spain to spy on an old school friend. He is sent to Madrid, and finds himself caught up in the lives of his old friend, another who is thought to have died during the Civil War and the woman who was the girlfriend of the latter, and has now taken up with the former. As he gets to know Madrid, he becomes more aware of the suffering of its people, and his eyes are opened to Britain’s tacit support of the fascist regime.
Unlike Zafon’s book, the city itself does not come through strongly, and the drama centers far more around the way in which the central British characters have their ideas and values challenged. It is not a story with happy endings, but then not many stories from that time were.
Pan’s Labyrinth is set a couple of years later, and is the story of a young girl, played by Ivana Baquero, who goes with her pregnant mother to stay with her mother’s new husband, a Fascist Captain running down the last vestiges of the Spanish resistance movement in rural Spain. Perhaps she encounters a world where she is the princess who must carry out three tasks to prove her right to her heritage, or perhaps she is just escaping from the horrific world around her into fantasy.
This is not by any means a childrens film, and has some extremely unpleasant scenes, including the Captain stitching his own wound. The fantastic world melds seamlessly into the mundane, and sometimes the mundane seems so horribly cruel it might be fantastic.
Like every Spanish novel or film I can remember, and even the English ‘Winter in Madrid’ the movie features a strong Spanish woman, practical though a little in touch with older or darker ideas, with a sense of loyalty that outweighs everything else. In this case, she is Mercedes, played by Maribel Verdu, a servant and sister of one of the rebels, who’s final revenge on the Captain is not physically violent, but is utterly devastating.
Both the book and the film are highly recommended.
Technorati Tags: pans labyrinth, el labertino del fauno, winter in madrid, spain
Acta Nano-Tech January 29, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Investing, Little Green Portfolio , 1 comment so farAnalysing these fuel-cell related companies is proving to be harder than expected. For one thing, its a fairly technical area so I’ve been having to read quite widely to understand what they’re talking about. The book Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: Emerging Technologies and Applications (Sustainable World)
The first of the companies I identified as a possible investment in a posting a couple of weeks ago, Acta Nanotech SpA is an Italian company based in Pisa and specialising in the development of catalysts which aid reactions within the fuel cells. One of the stumbling blocks to cheaper fuel cells is that the most effective catalyst available today is platinum, which is rare and expensive. Acta have just gained a European patent for their ‘Hypermec’ catalyst, which uses base metals rather than platinum. It can also be used with ethanol or ethylene glycol as the fuel, widening the range of uses of the fuel cell.
All this sounds like a good idea, and an interesting one to watch, but it is, as the Investors Chronicle said in their 22 December 2006 edition, ‘too speculative to call’. The companies fortunes rest entirely on this technology, and there is a lot of work taking place in this area. For instance, in a rather earlier stage of development, a recent report in Science suggests that a platinum-nickel alloy may be 90 times more effective than current platinum-carbon alloys.
From a commercial and financial point of view, the company’s long term relationship with Sumitomo Corp suggests at least that someone else has faith in them. At the time of their last interim report, six months ago, they had two years cash cover, so will need to go for further funding fairly soon I suspect.
I rather like the fact that Toby Woolrych, their Chief Operating Officer, will shortly be speaking at a conference on how AIM companies can differentiate themselves by better governance, which at least demonstrates an interest in such matters.
While I can see the potential of technology which enables ethanol-based fuel cells, using fuel that is easier to produce and store than hydrogen or methanol, this stock is too speculative for me. I’ll keep it on the watchlist, and observe with interest.
Technorati Tags: Acta SpA, fuel cells
Straight down again January 27, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Little Green Portfolio , add a commentThe star of the Little Green Portfolio, Straight plc (STT), has dropped again, down to 231 at close of business yesterday, from a high last June of 314. It’s not obvious to me why this is, except that its on very low volumes so it may just be that there’s not much happening.
Full year results were announced about a week ago, as broadly in line with expectations and another new deal to provide the Waste Resources Action Group with about £2.6M work of home composting bins. It doesn’t look like a company facing any trouble, so I’m thinking about topping up.
Technorati Tags: straight plc
Sunday lunch January 20, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Cafes & Restaurants, London , 4 commentsOne of my favourite British institutions is the idea of Sunday lunch. Start at about two in the afternoon, languidly while the rest of the away over a roast, some good wine and conversation before going home to sleep it off and contemplate the week ahead. Perfection.
If you live in the megalopolis its unlikely to be a family affair, and small flats filled with busy lives mean cooking for hoards is definitely an operation to be out-sourced. Why slave over a hot oven when there are so many fabulous pubs so very close?
Over the last wee while, a small group of friends has taken to gathering in a suitable gastro-pub every few weeks. We’re evenly distributed around the edges of zone 1 (Somers Town,
Lambeth, Bayswater, Canada Water) so the centre works for everyone. So far, we’ve tried the Norfolk Arms and the Marquis of Cornwallis in Bloomsbury, as well as the White Hart down in Kennington. We’ve twice tried to get a table at the Anchor & Hope by Waterloo, but they’re either always booked or their Sunday lunch is a figment of Dom’s fantasy.
The Norfolk Arms is a clear winner for me. Spanish tapas to start, followed by organic lamb roast, with sherry and a good rioja thrown in is an excellent mix. The tumblers and teatowel napkins are quirky but better than you’d get at my place.
The Marquis of Cornwallis has only just reopened, and is more traditional, but very comfortable and laid back.
At the White Hart, the rare roast beef was an exceptional treat, and went well with a little too much of the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.
All of these places share good food with a friendly pub ambience where its okay to stay as long as you like. The wine lists are better than ordinary pubs, there are newspapers available and they’re hardly the same beastie as the blokish place across the road from me. They are cafes but this is Britain so we call them pubs.
Technorati Tags: norfolk arms, sunday lunch
Renewable Energy Holdings news January 15, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Investing, Little Green Portfolio , add a commentBuried deep in a trade journal, there is a little more detail of the success of the CETO trial carried out in Australia. The CETO device, which is one of Renewable Energy Holdings main strands of potential business, sits on the ocean floor and forces water through a narrow pipe to drive a turbine on shore.
Its not clear what impact this would have on the seabed environment, but there would certainly be no greenhouse gas emissions from operation (though probably some during production). Any power installation has some impact on the surrounding area so, provided care was taken, this seems a good, low-impact idea.
Trials continue this year, with likely commercialisation in 2010, making this a long term play. It is tempting to buy more now, at about 35p, given that the technology is increasingly proven but the price is almost at an alltime low.
Technorati Tags: Renewable Energy Holdings, CETO, wave power
Fuel Cell Companies January 10, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Investing, Little Green Portfolio , add a commentI found a list of LSE-listed companies with an interest in Fuel Cells on Fuel Cell Today website, so took a quick look through to see what would be worth reviewing in more depth.
Bear in mind that I’m looking at investing in environmentally-friendly, small green stocks, so I’ve eliminated bigger engineering firms, and also those which have an obvious bent towards the military. As with any technology, there are always likely to be military applications, and military funding, but its not something I’m interested in.
Next step is to have a good look at the ones in green below.
| Company Name | Symbol | Investment Candidate? |
| Acta | ACTA | Yes |
| BP | BP | No, too big |
| Ceramic Fuel Cells | CFU | Yes |
| Ceres | CWR | Yes |
| CMR Fuel Cells | CMR | Yes |
| DaimlerChrysler | DCX | No, too big |
| Johnson Matthey | JMAT | No, too big |
| ITM | ITM | No - clearly marketing to the military. If you’ve got the bandwidth though, check out the video - its amazing how much the guy can bend and twist their fuel cell stack |
| Oxford Catalysts | OCG | Yes |
Polyfuel |
PYF | Yes |
Proton Power |
PPS | Yes - though website very uninformative |
| Protonex | PTX | No - clearly marketing to the military |
| Rolls Royce | RR | No, too big |
| Samsung | SMSN | No, too big |
| Shell | RDSA | No, too big |
| Siemens | SIE | No, too big |
| United Technologies | UTC | No, too big |
| Voller | VLR | Yes |
Pension time again January 8, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Investing, Little Green Portfolio , add a commentIts about time I put some more money into my pension scheme, I think. Over the last year, my SIPP hasn’t really made any money, mostly due to one bad share, Renewable Energy Holdings, which I clearly should have ditched when it first started to slide. Having said that, the other shares in the little green portfolio have been very up and down, and are now about neutral, so I am going to hang onto it.
The start of the portfolio is Straight PLC, which took advantage of the water restrictions last summer to go as high as 314p in July, although its fallen to about 260p now. I’m still well in profit there.
Novera Energy hovers around 60p, which is the breakeven mark for me, and has just acquired the stake held by Macquarie Bank in a joint venture between itself and Macquarie. A good 2007 looks hopeful. The other stock, TEG Environmental, is also about breakeven at 82p, and has had some good orders over the last year.
With the exception of Straight, all these companies suffered quite badly from the correction last May, and its likely that falling oil prices will make REH and Novera look at little less attractive.
I’ve learned a couple of things. When I bought it, REH was heading into a clear high. That probably wasn’t a smart time to buy. These small shares can be very volatile, and sink into the doldrums when there’s no news, so waiting until times are quieter would be a good idea. I’m still happy with the buy and hold strategy though, and am sure that there’s a long term future for alternative energy and environmentally friendly stocks.
This time, I’m looking to buy 3 stocks in equal-value batches. I’m going to look at the fuel cells market, particularly Ceres and Ceramic Fuel Cells. Ceres share price has just gone through the roof, from 30p to 47p since the beginning of December, so I might give that one time to stabilise.
So, a few tasks:
General review of the fuel cells market
Are there any other companies in this area that are listed on the LSE
Research the companies
Go back to my original criteria, and select
I’m also reading Volker Quaschning’s book, Understanding Renewable Energy Systems
Crash of light, crush of crowd January 1, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : London , 1 comment so farAfter a meal at Tas in Great Russell St we made our way down through the growing crowds to Waterloo Bridge, to see the fireworks. The Thames was lit up to rival Oxford St, lights on the buildings, pictures of people beamed onto Shell House, and the London Eye a blaze of iridescent blue, pink, yellow, green. From Waterloo Bridge we had a side view, of a tall, thin tower of light. From Charing Cross down to Millbank, it would have been full on magnificence.
The crowds grew and grew as we waited on a very mild, dry evening for the countdown. Big Ben in the distance, and a more easily read clock on Shell House, gave the countdown.
And then the fireworks started. Bursts of star shells, colour, light everywhere. At one stage, the narrow pink light-sabre of the london eye was bathed in golden fairy dust, like being in the centre of a crowded galaxy.
It finished, and we turned to go home realising the real impact of a bridge that wide leading into narrow city streets jampacked with people. The police were playing turnstiles at the Strand end, standing to stop people going through, and then turning back to back to let some out. It took half an hour in a human gridlock to get out. Fortunately, the crowd was in that passive, happy, mildly befuddled mood that seems to be the way for these situations and so no problems.
Abandoning my outer zone friends to the joys of the Picadilly Line, I walked home.
Happy New Year!
