By Andrew Jack

Goldman Sachs is in talks to provide hundreds of millions of dollars of funding to a large pharmaceutical company, in the first evidence of a new business model for the sector that will see financing shifted away from funding companies and towards targeted co-development of specific medicines.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC, a subsidiary of Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: RODM - News), today announced it has hired Dr. Simos Simeonidis as a Director and Senior Biotechnology Analyst who will cover the small and mid-cap biotechnology and specialty pharmaceuticals sector.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC, a subsidiary of Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: RODM - News), today announced that former President Bill Clinton will present the keynote address at Rodman’s Annual Global Investment Conference. on Monday, November 10, 2008. The Conference will be held at the New York Palace Hotel on November 10-12. Following President Clinton’s address, more than 550 companies from across the globe will present to more than 1,000 registered institutional investors. The conference will feature tracks devoted to Healthcare; Steel, Metals & Mining; Energy; Asia and Global Growth; and special purpose acquisition companies.

By Felix Salmon, portfolio.com

Should Lehman Have Been Rescued?

I have to get on plane to Chicago, so don't expect much more here any time soon. In the meantime, here's an IM I just had with John Carney of Clusterstock about whether Treasury was right to let Lehman fail.

I thought it was the right decision at the time, but with hindsight I think it was clearly a mistake. Even Hank Paulson seems to think that it would have been a good idea to rescue Lehman, if only he'd been capable of doing so. But Carney still thinks that letting Lehman fail was the right thing to do.

By Gill Eapen, decisionoptions.blogspot.com

Predictions with power and magic
The number of experts who are able to predict the stock market’s every move has been puzzling. I have been watching the business news TV with great interest in a desperate attempt to learn how the experts are able to predict market moves. There appears to be some common themes in these predictions. For example consider the following predictions:

Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: RODM - News), today announced that its subsidiary, Rodman & Renshaw, LLC has maintained its leading position in PIPE transaction deal volume for the first three quarters of 2008, gaining the top position in PlacementTracker’s PIPE Market League Tables, published by Sagient Research Systems. During the first nine months of 2008 Rodman completed 38 transactions raising a total of $503 million. Rodman was also the number one ranked PIPE advisor by deal volume for all of 2007.

It's interesting how just a few years ago the investor relations industry was using faxes, email and phone calls to get company news and information out to the street.

Most of this effort and attention never reached its intended audience. The Web has changed all that, and it is now the ultimate tool for communication. Most people do their research on the internet now, and they come to you. The days of blasting unwanted information are gone.

It's Tangible, Not Tangential

By Nick Hodge

Many people are under the misguided preconception that green is a ghost—an unattainable ideal that can be discussed and wished for, but never actually executed.

They're wrong. Really wrong.

Government-Guaranteed Energy Profits

I've been saying this day would come.

I called for it back in February. Again in March. Once more in July. And twice again this month.

Late yesterday, it finally happened.

After eight failed attempts so far this year, members of the Senate extended renewable energy tax credits for the wind and solar industries.

Tons of Cash from Tons of Trash

In the fight for energy independence all options are on the table.

Nowhere is that more evident than in San Antonio, Texas, where officials have unveiled a plan that will make it the first U.S. city to harvest methane gas from human waste on a commercial scale and turn it into clean-burning fuel.

According to Steve Clouse, COO of the city's water system, "More than 90 percent of materials flushed down the toilets and sinks of San Antonio will be recycled."

The Dow's taken a 2% hit in the past five days. Now what?

By now you know that only two of the five major Wall Street investment banks are still in existence.

Bear Stearns made its exit a few months back. And this week we saw 94-year old Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) got swallowed up by Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) while Lehman's (NYSE: LEH) financial state was so repulsive even the U.S. government wasn't willing to help them out.

By Nick Hodge

Going over the numbers from the last few days, it's easy to become a bit manic. Even the best solar stocks have taken about a 10% hit over the last four trading days.

We've been talking about cellulosic ethanol as a way of investing in renewable fuels for over a year now.

By now, anyone who follows the ethanol industry even semi-closely knows that cellulosic ethanol is the future of renewable transportation fuels.

But for all the talk and ballyhoo, a commercial plant has yet to be opened here in the U.S., though there are at least two under construction. Many claim to be the first, but here's what I found.

The first was announced in November 2006, is being built by the Broin Companies in Iowa, and will produce 125-million gallons per year (GPY) from corn fiber and corn stover.

Global Life Sciences Conference

Grand Hyatt New York
Park Avenue at Grand Central
New York City

We are pleased to announce the Global Life Sciences Conference scheduled on Monday, September 22 through Thursday, September 25, 2008.

Playing Energy Tax Legislation for Solar Stock Profits

By Nick Hodge

The buzz surrounding the extension of federal investment and production tax credits has reached a fever pitch.

And that's good news for your portfolio.

If you're not familiar with the situation, here's a one-sentence rundown:

A Snapshot of the Global Wind Industry

I've discussed wind energy in these pages many times before, but the conversation seems to have always turned to a discussion of wind turbine stocks.

Today, I want to take a step back, look at the industry as a whole, and focus more broadly on wind energy companies.

The Wind Energy Industry

First, let's get a quick rundown of the growth of the domestic and international wind markets out of the way.

By: Chris O'Brien, mercurynews.com news service

MANY BLAME SARBANES-OXLEY ACT, BUT THEY'RE WRONG
Sarbanes-Oxley turned 6 on July 30 and I didn't get invited to a single Silicon Valley party.

There are a few possible reasons: Either I'm a total loser and nobody loves me (possible); my Evite account is screwed up (less likely); or because the corporate reform measure remains widely vilified throughout Silicon Valley.

"There's really nothing illegal about it" is a phrase often heard in descriptions of the practice of shorting, or short-selling, which are essentially bets that a stock price will decline. But after some market watchers accused short-sellers of unfairly depressing the stock prices of several key financial institutions, the Securities and Exchange Commission imposed new rules. Wharton finance professors Marshall Blume and Franklin Allen suggest the impact will be minimal.
IDEA will ensure that both the SEC and the investors who rely upon the financial reporting the agency demands are ready for the new world of financial disclosure that will soon arrive when financial information is presented in interactive data format. The SEC has formally proposed requiring U.S. companies to provide financial information using interactive data beginning as early as next year, and separately has proposed requiring mutual funds to submit their public filings using interactive data.

How to Never Pay a Water Bill Again

The other day I was chatting with my father about the current happenings in my hometown of Elkton, Maryland.

And, as with other similar conversations I've had with him, I couldn't help but notice the parallels between what's going on in Podunk and how I see the broader markets playing out.

Essentially, what I heard from my dad—and later validated with my own research—is a confirmation of the things I've been saying about the water industry for over a year now.

Here's an excerpt from a water investments report I wrote back in June of 2007:

To date, water and sewer bills, taxes, and private business foot the cost for most of the funds needed to build, operate, and maintain water and wastewater systems.

But those sources alone are not meeting the total current amount needed, let alone the increase that will be needed in coming years.

To meet future funding requirements, private firms in the industry will have to play a key role. The pressure of a competitive market, coupled with the introduction of new technology, will help ease the pain of an emerging funding gap.