(Source: Peter Campbell) The election campaign is now at end game. This election was Labor's to lose rather than Abbott's to win, and it looks like Labor may have just about blown it.  The basic problem with playing politics is that a clear majority of people don't

08/20/2010 - Siemens recently announced it will build a wind turbine blade factory in Ontario to help meet the demand for wind turbines purchased under a new agreement with Samsung C&T and Pattern Energy...

08/20/2010 - Cogentrix Energy recently announced that it has finalized a contract with Public Service Company of Colorado, an Xcel Energy company, for what the companies expect to be the largest concentrating photovoltaic project in the world...

(Source: Environmental Expert News & Press Releases) GUELPH, ON, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - BIOREM Inc. (TSX-V: BRM) ("Biorem" or "the Company") today announced its results for the three-month period ended June 30, 2010. Biorem's complete 2010 second quarter financial statements and MD&A have

(Source: Environmental Expert News & Press Releases) MILTON, N.Y., Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sono-Tek Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: SOTK) held its Annual Shareholders Meeting on August 19, 2010 in Milton, New York. The results of Fiscal Year 2010, which ended on February 28, 2010, were

(Source: Earth2Tech) August is turning out to be a critical month for concentrating solar thermal developers.  The California Energy Commission’s siting committee has issued recommendations for not one, but three projects over the past week, for a whopping total of 1.6

(Source: TreeHugger) photos: Atlantis Resources Corp. There are some big tidal turbines out there, but none so massive as the one pictured above: The Atlantis Resources AK1000, just unveiled in Scotland and due to be installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in

(Source: National Biodiesel News - References: AutoblogGreen) Biobased solvent could help clean up Gulf, without damaging marshes or wildlife.

(Source: BusinessGreen) BusinessGreen.com Staff, BusinessGreen, Thursday 12 August 2010 at 00:15:00 Turbine deployed at military school near Dover The first wind turbine to be installed on Ministry of Defence (MoD) land was unveiled this week in a move that observers hope

(Source: BusinessGreen) BusinessGreen.com Staff, BusinessGreen, Thursday 12 August 2010 at 00:15:00 Work on cutting-edge solar farm expected to get underway early next year as Xcel Energy agrees power purchasing deal Plans for the world's largest concentrated solar

(Source: Technology Review) A technology coming to Chrysler vehicles can improve the fuel economy of standard gasoline engines by 25 percent.

(Source: North American Windpower) Preliminary engineering work is underway at the Corus Redcar site in the U.K. to develop a new facility to produce steel foundation [...]

(Source: WorldChanging) Transit Score heat maps for Boston, MA; San Francisco, CA; and Seattle, WA (via Transit Score) Earlier this year, Alex Steffen wrote about how important walkability is for bright green cities and how the existing measurement tools are limited

(Source: Barrons) NetApp (NTAP) shares sold off in late trading Wednesday despite reporting what CFO Steve Gomo asserted was a “rock solid quarter” for the fiscal Q1 ended July 31, with revenues and profits that modestly beat Street expectations. The

(Source: CNET News.com) Worldwide PC processor shipments and revenues rose more than usual in the second quarter compared with the first quarter of 2010, according to IDC.

(Source: Reuters: Business News) SYDNEY (Reuters) - BHP Billiton is focusing on getting regulatory approval for its $39 billion hostile bid for Potash Corp before trying in earnest to win over the Canadian company's shareholders, a source said on Thursday.

(Source: Environment Blog) KIA POP Concept car is all ready to pop out at Paris Auto Show this year. Developed by Kia Motors South Korea’s second largest automobile manufacturer, POP instantly becomes an eye candy owing to its’ fairly odd but cute shape. The car has an

(Source: Earth2Tech) General Motors’ long-awaited S-1 filing today spotlights the automaker’s work on the upcoming Chevy Volt, its OnStar communication system and its partnership with Google as evidence of its commitment to launching competitive next-generation

(Source: Environment Blog) Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have prepared a model to assess which types of power plants are likely to generate the electricity used by PHEVs in different regions of the United States. The model was

John Petersen

I love IPO registration statements because they have to provide full and fair disclosure of all material facts and forward-looking statements must "bespeak caution." The following quote from the risk factors section on page 19 of the prospectus included in the Form S-1 Registration Statement that NewGM filed yesterday says everything you need to know about the Volt and the other plug-in vehicles that currently reign as media darlings.

"In some cases, the technologies that we plan to employ, such as hydrogen fuel cells and advanced battery technology, are not yet commercially practical and depend on significant future technological advances by us and by suppliers. For example, we have announced that we intend to produce by November 2010 the Chevrolet Volt, an electric car, which requires battery technology that has not yet proven to be commercially viable. There can be no assurance that these advances will occur in a timely or feasible way, that the funds that we have budgeted for these purposes will be adequate, or that we will be able to establish our right to these technologies. However, our competitors and others are pursuing similar technologies and other competing technologies, in some cases with more money available, and there can be no assurance that they will not acquire similar or superior technologies sooner than we do or on an exclusive basis or at a significant price advantage."

While I don't hold myself out as being qualified to analyze GM's business there were a couple of line items on its balance sheet that concern me. At December 31, 2008, OldGM had $91.0 billion in total assets, including $46.7 billion in non-current assets. At December 31, 2009, NewGM had $136.3 billion in assets, including $77.0 billion in non-current assets. When I went through and did a line by line comparison the major changes boiled down to three line items that were insignificant on OldGM's balance sheet but massive on NewGM's balance sheet.

• NewGM reflects $30.7 billion of goodwill where OldGM didn't have any;
• NewGM reflects $14.5 billion of intangible assets where OldGM only had $0.3 billion; and
• NewGM reflects $22.0 billion of stockholders' equity where OldGM had an $85.1 billion deficit.

I don't claim to be an expert in fresh-start accounting or the incredibly complex valuation estimates that generally accepted accounting principles require in a bankruptcy reorganization, but it strikes me as more than passing strange that a bankruptcy could create $45 billion in intangible asset values and stockholders' equity that didn't exist before OldGM failed.

Disclosure: None.