investing

WELLESLEY, Mass.--As the person who coined the term "clean tech," Nicholas Parker has been around the industry as long as anybody and he thinks people underestimate the potential of green business.

To most people, green technology means renewable electricity, fuel efficiency, and perhaps water purification technologies. But to Parker, those technologies--most of which focus on addressing climate change--are still just a sliver of the innovation needed to address the world's environmental woes.

"We are going to have to face the fact that climate change is one of several monumental environmental problems our generation will face,&… Read more

Google is joining a $5.75 million investment round in Pixazza, a start-up that hopes to profit by overlaying photos on the Web with links that let people buy the products in the images.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company is now launching the technology for general use by advertisers, Web publishers, and the network of self-appointed but screened specialists who identify the products in the photos, said Chief Executive Bob Lisbonne. The company is starting with the apparel industry but plans to expand to home design and furnishings, travel, electronics, and sports starting later this year, he said.

Lisbonne … Read more

Update at 10:51 a.m. PDT, with analyst comment.

Energy Conversion Devices' shares plummeted 30.3 percent in morning trading on Tuesday, after the solar-equipment maker warned investors that its third-quarter earnings would fall short of earlier projections amid a weakening economic environment.

The company, which issued its warning after the markets closed on Monday, announced that it would cut 70 positions, issue a two-week production stoppage, and consolidate some of its manufacturing facilities. It also erased its third-quarter and fiscal-year forecast, noting that the financial climate had become too murky to predict, sending its stock down as low … Read more

Israeli venture capitalists are expected this year to raise $300 million, setting the stage for a second consecutive year of decline, according to figures released Wednesday by the IVC Research Center.

Israeli venture capital funds are expected this year to post a 62 percent decline over last year, when $793 million was raised.

And should Israeli venture capital funds generate only $300 million, it would put it on par with levels not seen since 2003 to 2004.

Last year, Israeli venture capital funds declined 30 percent over the previous year, when $1.14 billion was raised.

But despite the two … Read more

Even after a massive jolt from the U.S. government for green technologies, investors are tempering their expectations.

Consulting company KPMG on Tuesday is expected to release results of a survey that reflects the conflicted feelings of many venture capitalists.

The societal forces toward clean energy--including energy security and climate change--continue to gain momentum. But the financial crisis has hit the clean-energy industry so hard that even the recently passed stimulus plan cannot completely reverse its course.

"There is no doubt that the green-tech sector remains an attractive investment area, but the lack of available credit and the difficult economic environment … Read more

Investors received another tool Monday designed to track green themes and greenbacks.

Standard & Poor's launched on Monday its S&P U.S. Carbon Efficient Index, designed to measure the performance of large-cap U.S. companies operating with a low carbon emissions footprint.

The index, which currently has 362 companies gleaned from the S&P 500, are selected using calculations from Trucost, an environmental data gathering organization.

David Blitzer, chairman of Standard & Poor's Index Services index committee, said in a statement, "Organizations around the world are paying greater attention to the impact of greenhouse … Read more

PALM DESERT, Calif.--On the day that the Dow sank below 7,000 for the first time since 1997, a panel of venture capitalists told attendees at Demo 2009 what most people already know. This is an extremely challenging environment for raising money.

But challenging doesn't mean impossible. There are still some opportunities for both entrepreneurs and investors.

The panel, which was moderated by Matt Marshall of VentureBeat consisted of Christine Herron of First Round Capital, David Hornik of August Capital, Bryce T. Roberts of O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, and Eric Tilenius of Tilenius Investments.

Tilenius said that "… Read more

Advanced Micro Devices has appointed a new chairman to replace former CEO and Chairman Hector Ruiz, as it closes the deal to spin off its manufacturing operations.

AMD on Monday announced that Bruce Claflin has been appointed chairman of its board of directors. Claflin replaces Ruiz, who retired from AMD's board. Ruiz is now chairman of the board of The Foundry Company--the chip manufacturing concern that was spun off officially on Monday.

Claflin--who has been a member of AMD's board of directors since August 2003--has held senior positions with IBM and Digital Equipment and most recently was CEO … Read more

It's always interesting to note where Bill Gates is putting his money.

Fortunately, his Cascade Investment arm details his largest holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to regulatory filings made on Wednesday, Gates' Cascade Investment arm (along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) now holds, among other things, a 5.2 percent stake in Eastman Kodak.

It's not the first photography-related investment for Gates, who owns stock photography company Corbis.

Barron's reporter Eric Savitz also noted Gates holdings in companies ranging from $1.28 billion worth of Canadian National Railway to $391 million worth … Read more