It’s the End of the World as We Know It (With Apologies to R.E.M.)
Much of what’s confounding about our wayward financial markets today can be explained, I think, by reference to the chart below. It plots the price level of the S&P 500 from the early 1960s through today. If you look at the red, upward-sloping line on the chart you’ll see that from late 1974 to late 2007, this trend line captures much of the market’s progress for the 34-year period. Of course, it’s not point-for-point accurate. The market accelerated at a steeper pitch above the trend line in the mid-1980s. The Crash of 1987, however, brought the market right back to …
Dear Reader
Matthew W. Patksy, CFA, CEO As I sit down to write this column having just returned from South Africa, I am reminded of the key reason I entered the field of socially responsible investing over two decades ago. It was (and is) my deep belief that the capital markets could be leveraged for positive social and environmental impact. To that end, it is clear that the international divestment movement had dramatic impact on the South African economy and helped to bring down the government that had developed the system of apartheid. I traveled to South Africa as part of a …
Trillium Calls for Improved Working Conditions in China
Trillium Asset Management Corporation (Trillium) is leading a group of 40 international investors in issuing a public statement condemning abusive workplace conditions in the global electronics supply chain. The lead group of investors, including Trillium, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, Boston Common Asset Management, LLC, As You Sow and Domini Social Investments LLC, are sending a strong message to the electronics manufacturers in their portfolios urging stricter supply chain compliance. The statement, which follows many years of work on human rights in supply chains, was prompted by the recent suicides at the Foxconn Technology Group factories in China which manufacture consumer electronics …
Dear Reader
Cheryl Smith, Ph.D., CFA, President In the mind-numbingly complicated world of 21st century high finance, it’s not always obvious which transactions are unethical versus those which are, if not high-minded, at least legally permissible within a deeply flawed system. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Goldman Sachs with fraud in connection with the creation and sale of a “synthetic synthetic Collateralized Debt Obligation” (SSCDO) allegedly custom designed to allow a favored client, John Paulson, to place a outsized bearish bet against the mortgage market. The alleged fraud is not in the creation of the security but in the …
The One Thing You Can’t Find on Google
Jonas Kron The world will not soon forget the power and significance of Google’s decision this past January to stop censoring search results in China. That bold action will likely be seen as a watershed moment in the history of corporate social responsibility. Google deserves accolades for its environmental and social behavior in many respects. The company ranked first among Fortune magazine’s top places to work in 2007 and 2008, and its charitable arm has taken innumerable important steps towards addressing our economy’s dependence on carbon based fuels. Hence, many people are surprised to learn that the company has completely …
Goodbye to BP
Shelley Alpern BP? We’re out of it. With the benefit of perfect hindsight, I wish we’d sold before the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe; this wasn’t the first lethal BP disaster in recent years. We could also see the company’s commitment to shareholder engagement on environmental, social and governance matters (ESG) slipping as well, but were hoping that the collective efforts of the social investment community could turn that around. We held out hope because BP is still the oil and gas company with the lowest carbon footprint (it was the first to acknowledge the reality of global warming) and maintains a …
Mamma Chia
www.mammachia.com by Chris Lindstrom, an early investor in Mamma Chia When many people hear the word “chia” they think of little ceramic pets that sprout green leafy “hair.” But a growing number of people know it as a miraculous seed that is one of the most nutritious whole foods in the world – and soon, they will know it as a delicious vitality beverage. Mamma Chia is an organic, chia-based food and beverage company based in San Diego, backed by a provisional patent that will be launching its first-to-market chia vitality beverage later this year. Mamma Chia contains hundreds of …
Cummins, Inc.
500 Jackson Street, Box 3005 Columbus, IN 47202 www.cummins.com Cummins Inc. (NYSE – CMI) is the technology leader in the manufacture of diesel, natural gas, and hybrid engines in the U.S., working to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. Cummins has outperformed peers in meeting the demand for lower-emissions engines, which has given the company a strong competitive advantage, as customers replace older vehicles to meet new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines. Cummins’ technological solutions comply with both the stringent U.S. EPA 2010 emission standards and Tier 4 regulations, which take effect in 2011. The latter will require a 90 …
Supreme Court Comes To the Aid of Disenfranchised Corporations
Milton Moskowitz According to Advertising Age, the authoritative source for such statistics, the 10 largest advertisers in the U.S. in 2008 were Procter & Gamble ($4.8 billion), Verizon ($3.7 billion), AT&T ($3 billion), General Motors ($2.9 billion), Johnson & Johnson ($2.5 billion), Unilever ($2.4 billion), Walt Disney ($2.2 billion), Time Warner ($2.2 billion), General Electric ($2 billion), and Sears Holding ($1.8 billion). As astronomical as those figures may seem to you, they mask the discrimination that has prevented these companies from spending even more money to express their opinions. You may be annoyed by the constant interruption of TV programs by …
Citizens United Explained
Jonas Kron “The Court’s blinkered and aphoristic approach to the First Amendment may well promote corporate power at the cost of the individual and collective self-expression the Amendment was meant to serve.” ~Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the minority in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission1 In January, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that the First Amendment protects the use of corporate funds to advocate the election or defeat of a candidate for public office. The 5–4 majority reasoned that because corporations are simply groups of individuals with First Amendment rights, those …
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