Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Warren Buffett's Green China Play

According to a report featured in the excellent blog Ecostocks.com (http://www.emailwire.com/release/19947-Warren-Buffett-Invests-into-Electric-Car-Manufacturer.html), Warren Buffett just pumped about $230 million into a Chinese car-battery company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The company, BYD Company Limited, also trades over the counter (OTC: BYDDF) so you may be able to buy it through your broker. Volume here is pretty light, at about 15,000 shares a day, although with a $1 billion-plus market capitalization, this is no nanocap.

Buffett's Mid-American Energy Holdings Company plans to buy 225 million shares (no word as to the price, although the stock is trading around $1.90 on the bulletin board).

MarketWatch has a good story on this, too:

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/berkshire-powers-electric-cars-buy/story.aspx?guid=%7BA0737406%2D0BEC%2D4527%2D84CB%2D8EEA08BD1792%7D

The company makes high-tech lithium-ion batteries and other technologies with the main application being electric cars. Being in the Chinese market (the fastest-expanding auto market in the world) could be what gives this company the edge over its U.S.-based competitors.

We'll put BYDDF on our watch list. But I would not recommend jumping into the OTC shares. Yes, they might triple in value over the next six months. But they might go to zero, too. If anything, we'd recommend the Honk Kong shares, which you should be able to buy through your broker as well.

Good day,

James

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