Year: 2007

Categories
Fun

Coffee at McDonald and Starbucks

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Last Updated on February 8, 2007 by stlplace

Call it gourmet coffee, premium coffee, or designer coffee, whichever way you want to call it. But I have seen the “Gourmet Coffee” bulletin board put up by McDonald to make fun of Starbucks’ price. I also noticed Starbucks is adding “drive through” windows and open new locations like crazy lately. All these, according to Todd Sullivan’s value play blog, is kind of related…

Separately, a short time ago I heard KFC and McDonald are creating “drive through” stores in China. So are we in “car and caffeine driven society” now?

Categories
China Stocks

Second Look at Huiyuan Juice IPO

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Last Updated on February 7, 2007 by stlplace

I noticed this juice thing is getting popular in China, just like the coffee did in recent years. In summer 2004, when I attended a bunch of formal dinners in Ningbo, juice is an option, as is the wine. Juice is also offered in the airplane. One thing I noticed that the orange juice in China is mostly “from concentrated”, probablly due to cost and taste reasons. So the demand and the growth is there. The problem with the company, from I read from FinanceAsia:

“Among the potential concerns, observers say, is the cost of buying juice concentrates and fruit puree, which increased by more than 50% in the first nine months last year. The company buys about 56% of this raw material from abroad, making it vulnerable to swings in international prices, particularly for oranges.”

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Categories
Business China

Chinese Solar Stocks are Hot

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Last Updated on February 7, 2007 by stlplace

First is the SunTech Power (STP), it came to NYSE a little more than a year ago. The stock almost doubled from its debut. The company is founded by Australian Haigui and based on Wuxi, Jiangsu province. This is the largest Chinese solar panel marker and it’s profitable.

Then comes the Canadian Solar (CSIQ). Don’t know why it’s called Canadian. Maybe founded by Canadian Haigui? Anyway the company is based in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

Just before Xmas 2006 two new players joined the party. Solarfun (SOLF) is based in Qidong, Jiangsu province. The rumor is the founder came from SunTech Power. Trina Solar (TSL), is based in Changzhou, Jiangsu. TSL is hot in last few days (don’t know why, not my specialty).

Last but not least, here comes the JA Solar (JASO). From its prospectus it’s from Hebei. The CEO worked for SunTech Power before founding the company.

Categories
Stocks

Cashback Credit Card is Sweet

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Last Updated on February 7, 2007 by stlplace

But not all of them are equal. I am using the Citibank Dividend and the Discover Cashback card. The Citi card used to give 5% (now 2%) cash back for gas, grocery and 1% for everything else, with an annual limit of $300.

The Discover card is more complicated. It has a “ladder” rate and does 5% promotion every three months. Each year (start from the day card being activated), it gives 0.25% for first $1000, 0.5% for the second $2000, 1% for anything afterwards. Every three months or so, e.g., Jan 1 to March 31, it gives 5% cashback for airlines, trains and buses; and the 5% category could change to restaurant from April to June. Also Discover has more redeem options, in addition to cash, it can be converted to gift cards from various vendors.   

Categories
Business Stocks

Ford Taurus is Back

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Last Updated on February 7, 2007 by stlplace

It’s interesting to hear they decided to bring back the old name, the family sedan saved Ford during its difficult times in 1990s. Ford is in trouble again lately, due to its unattractive products and sky high labor cost. Will this name change save the company? Maybe not. But I think it will help them in some ways.

A little backgound: Ford introduced Ford 500, its new family sedan a while ago, to replace the decade old Taurus. Taurus was a big hit in its early years (1990s), but was increasingly under pressure from CamCord (Toyota Camry and Honda Accord) as it ages. Its brand was more diluted when the rental fleet (Hertz) have all those Taurus.  

Now the key question is: are there any Taurus fans (hint: moms) left?

ford taurus pic

Categories
Business China

Sohu Coming of Age

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Last Updated on February 6, 2007 by stlplace

When I first came to the US in 1997, there is no Chinese web portals. We read Chinese news primarily through BBS. The Chinese language support for the browser was not widely available either. I remember a friend told me something about installing the “Chinese version of DOS” on the PC so that he can read the Chinese. Then comes the RichWin (the Sina), the Sohu and Netease. And the Internet Explorer incorporated the Chinese language support so we don’t need to install NJStar for the PC.

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Categories
Stocks

Turbo Tax Online E-filing

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Last Updated on February 6, 2007 by stlplace

I have used Turbo Tax  online version for years and here are some of the tips.

1) Started early. It’s obvious if you are expecting refund. The eariler you file, the earlier you will get the refund. But even if you are expecting paying more, you can start early and mail the check on April 15 (or whatever the deadline is). Starting earlier means fewer surprises; and it allows rooms for adjustment (such as additional contribution to 401K, IRA to avoid the higher tax bracket).

2) Use the Federal version if you are thrifty. I did use the State filing service couple times. But at one time I was screwed by a mistake and a year later, the state sent a letter saying I need to pay more. This is a mistake I could avoid if I file by paper. In my case the State tax form is fairly straightward. One reason we want to use the Turbo Tax Federal is to let the computer do the add/subtraction, analyze the potential deduction and help planning the future. All these are not as important for the State tax because the tax rate is lower, the tax code is simpler, etc. 

3) Use the E-filing. After filling the forms in the computer, you will have the options to file by mail or by E-filing. E-filing is better because it saves work for us and the goverment, saves the tree, saves the time to get refund…

Last but not least, here is a discount I found for Turbo Tax Online.   

turbo tax picture 

(Update 06Feb07) Here is an interesting article about “whether do tax by yourself or hire an accountant” (from My Money Blog).

Categories
Technology

Phishing Mail Appears from eBay?

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Last Updated on February 5, 2007 by stlplace

This one caught me off the guard. It looks like a normal eBay message. I actually clicked through the link in the email and a few days later I received the real email from eBay says my eBay account is compromised. So I did the demage control thing.

Today I received the same message again. I don’t know whether this is a mistake by eBay or a phishing mail. But from now on I should be real careful about clicking on the links in an email…

Categories
Business China

Another New Oriental?

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Last Updated on February 4, 2007 by stlplace

A few months ago I saw a statement from New Oriental about the “Oriental Standard”. I thought Oriental Standard was some “New Oriental” knockoffs, which also provide English education in China. I was wrong. After a little research, now I believe Mr. Yu Minghong owned the ancester of Oriental Standard (it’s called New Oriental Professional Education Center) before 2006. It’s an IT training and service subsidiary of New Oriental group. In order to prepare the New Oriental IPO in NYSE, that subsidiary was spun off. The Oriental Standard focused more on IT professional service and outsourcing, in addtion to IT training.

Separately, I read Chinese news and it says Oriental Standard raised fund from Doll Capital, the company took 51job to Nasdaq a few years ago. To make things more interesting, it seems Oriental Standard still uses the New Oriental domain name. Oh, well, just like Lenovo still uses the “thinkpad” after they bought the PC/laptop from IBM 🙂

Categories
Fun

Superbowl in Miami

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Last Updated on February 4, 2007 by stlplace

These days Superbowl is the biggest thing for sports fans and american public in general. I believe this is the show with most TV audience in the States. As you may know, people watch superbowl not just for the football. For lots of non football fans, the creative commercials (advertisement) are the main show here. TV finanlly can reclaim its dominance from “Internet advertising” and Google, for a few hours.

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