finance

In the last eight months, Morris County, N.J., has undergone a significant energy change of which many of its residents are probably not even aware.

The partners involved call it the "Morris Model." It's a new financing model that allows municipalities to partner with solar-energy companies to incorporate solar energy into their energy portfolio for little outlay.

In June the Morris County Improvement Authority (MCIA) announced it was entering into this Morris Model financing plan with Tioga Energy and SunDurance Energy to install about 3-megawatts worth of solar panels by offering up something it already had: … Read more

I'm going to let you all in on a little secret: I love math. It may seem out of character for someone who spends her days manipulating the English language, but there you have it. This is a roundabout way of explaining that I actually enjoy tinkering with budgets, which is why I'm a big fan of the Mint app for Android and iOS.

I know financial software isn't the most titillating subject for most people, but Mint's mobile app is worth a download no matter what your predilections. This handy program lets you track all … Read more

A cyberattack against Canada that tried to access classified government information and forced two key departments to go offline has been traced back to China, according to a story today from CBC News.

Sources told the CBC that the attacks were initially discovered in early January but that it's unknown whether the attackers themselves were in China or just directed their attacks through the country to hide their true source.

Specifically, the attacks reached computer systems at the Canadian government's Finance Department and Treasury Board in an attempt to capture passwords for government databases. In response, the government … Read more

SolarCity said today that it has acquired the residential solar business from GroSolar, giving it presence in four states in the eastern U.S.

Through the move, SolarCity will offer its solar panel leasing program to homeowners in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania starting March 1, said SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive.

Financial terms for the cash deal were not disclosed. GroSolar will continue to operate its distribution business and installation for commercial customers.

The deal adds about 55 people to SolarCity, giving it about 1,100 employees. It now works in 10 states, including California, Arizona, Colorado, and … Read more

For a company with more than $2.3 billion in annual earnings and $9.1 billion in revenue, it has been shockingly fashionable to write off eBay. The common refrain: eBay is losing marketplace share. It's so Web 1.0. And eBay can't hang with Amazon.

However, eBay has quietly been turning around a few analysts on Wall Street and its powwow Wednesday won a few over. Simply put, eBay has some heady goals between now and 2013. Here's the bottom line outlook:

How will eBay get to that revenue goal? PayPal will carry the company.

Read … Read more

When Demand Media holds its initial public offering tomorrow, it'll be the first venture-backed IPO of 2011 and, though relatively small by Wall Street's standards, the most talked-about technology IPO in quite some time. That'll happen in this peculiar era of tech-industry financials, when the the big trend has been to prolong an IPO in favor of less restrictive private-market trading activity.

But that's not what everyone's talking about with Demand--nor is the $179.4 million in revenue it reported in the first nine months of 2010 (an operating loss of $6.4 million), nor … Read more

The high degree of investor interest in shares of hot Silicon Valley companies that aren't yet publicly traded--like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Zynga--may be leading to scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a report late Monday on The New York Times' Dealbook blog.

Companies like SharesPost and SecondMarket offer exchanges for privately traded stock, and there's been no shortage of supply thanks to early employees and investors of companies like Facebook and Twitter who are looking to take some cash off the table. Much of the interest in the exchanges has been … Read more

Demand Media, the syndicated online content company that filed for an IPO in August, has modified its filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission amid reports that the initial public offering has been delayed because of regulators' questions about Demand's accounting practices.

The issue, it appears, is that Demand Media amortizes the expenses of paying its freelance writers, distributing the cost over five years. It's something that the company has attempted to explain further in new additions to its SEC filing.

"Capitalized media content is amortized on a straight-line basis over five years, representing the … Read more

Residential solar installer Sungevity said today it raised $15 million which will allow it to offer its services across the country.

The Oakland, Calif.-based start-up specializes in offering a quote to homeowners for solar photovoltaic systems within 24 hours. Rather than send out a technician, Sungevity employees use satellite imagery to view rooftops, design a system, and generate a quote.

The company also offers a solar leasing program in which people pay a monthly fee, rather than pay the cost of solar panels up front. It's a model developed only a few years ago but which has led … Read more