There are a small number of petroleum producers that are beginning to look at renewable energy/biofuels as a way of both committing to environmentalism but also as a hedge against a changing economic and political landscape. The company that is most visible in this regard has been BP [Ticker: BP]. BP has built quite a profile for themselves as a greener, if not totally green company. While some have called what is being done by the company as “greenwashing” most analysts paint a different picture.

HEK is a Spac. What is a Spac you ask?

You can think of a SPAC as a kind of reverse IPO. The SPAC raises money to go public first, then looks for a private company to buy – usually in the high-tech sector. Here’s how a deal with a SPAC might work: a group of investors wants to buy a company that makes space widgets. They don’t know what company, just that it has to be in the new space widget market. The investors go to an investment bank that has been raising funds from the public for the SPAC’s management team. The investment bank takes a fee (often around 10%), and the management goes out looking for companies over the next two years. If things go well, management buys a company with cash and/or shares, takes 20% of the profits that are (hopefully) generated, and the shareholders get ownership in a new company. From Investopedia.com

HEK had been searching for just such a business since it went public this past year.

Only last week, Heckmann Corp (HEK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) became the first SPAC to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), moving over from the American Stock Exchange, and may be blazing a trail for other companies planning on buying assets in China.

Heckmann said it would use about $170 million of the money it raised during its initial public offering in November to buy a Chinese bottled water company for $625 million, paying the rest in common stock to the Chinese company’s shareholders.

Heckmann shares have risen 19 percent since going public.

Developments in China and the United States are helping Heckmann and other companies focusing on China.

Chinese companies are finding it more and more difficult to list on the domestic exchanges amid tightening regulations, even as listing-hungry U.S. exchanges begin to embrace SPACs. LINK

Now with the business settled on and the listing on the NYSE heavy buying commenced in blocks that are characteristic of institutional buying. This type of buying often signals a ton of due dilligence by funds and the like and bodes well for the future of the share price.

The rumbling got louder Friday and the deal some say is now imminent;

In a bid to fend off Microsoft’s takeover bid, search engine provider Yahoo! is closing in on a deal with AOL, according to sources.

Confirming a Wall Street Journal story, one insider told Reuters that under the terms of such a deal, Yahoo! would receive a cash investment from AOL’s parent company Time Warner in exchange for a 20 per cent stake in the combined business.

The agreement, which would exclude AOL’s dial-up internet access business, would reportedly value AOL at around $10 billion.

According to the source, Yahoo! would use the money provided by AOL to buy back millions of its own shares to boost its holdings and raise its stock prices.

Meanwhile, Greg Sterling, an analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, stated that, were AOL and Yahoo! to combine, they may choose to make their instant messaging programs interoperable, USA Today reports. LINK

We had misgivings about this back on March 14, when we reflected on the fact that AOL would present more of a drag on YHOO than add any value.

So here is my prediction, if YHOO and AOL join it will result in a sum that is worth much less than the value of its parts. This will be the time when smart investors will look for the entry point. Devalued the company created Frankenstein like from YHOO and AOL will be much more attractive to MSFT, even after being spurned. To make the deal stick with the U.S.G. they will have to spin off AOL, hopefully in an eighties style parting out and selling off of pieces (did I mention I don’t like AOL even in its weakened and benign state – probably even less because of it.) The result will be what should have happened in the first place, a much stronger MSFT with the addition of YHOO. For YHOO the only thing to do is wait.

I stick by my prediction, AOL was a drag on Time Warner and it is going to do the same to YHOO. Now the latest rumblings on the MSFT side is that News Corp. is looking to join their side in a possible takeover bid. News Corp. has been steadily gaining ground in its knowledge base relating to making money with online content and would make a very good partner for MSFT in such a deal. News Corp. will also bring The Wall Street Journal, adding value to the already popular “Finance” offerings at yahoo.com. To say nothing of all of the tabloid content and MySpace value that News Corp. can also bring to the table.

YHOO longs should hold their breath because they are in for a bumpy ride. Best case scenario they bypass the AOL portion of this process, but I doubt they will. Fortunately though YHOO longs have some company execs on their side;

Kara Swisher called up a half-dozen of her senior Yahoo (YHOO) sources and asked them what they thought of Yahoo’s new merge-with-AOL-to-escape-Microsoft-plan (MSFT). In short? They hate it. Unfortunately, they’re too scared to tell Jerry:

Kara: Yahoos “consider the Time Warner property slow-moving, weak in technology and saddled with a largely dispirited staff.”

Senior Yahoo 1: “We have enough problems without getting theirs, which are much worse. No one here, except Jerry and the board, has any enthusiasm for it.”

Senior Yahoo 2: “I cannot believe they would put our amazing assets with those who we don’t really respect, for the most part, and think that’s okay.”

Senior Yahoo 3: “Look, Microsoft would not be my first choice [as a merger partner] either. But AOL is not even my third.” LINK

Too bad they are a bit too cowardly to do anything about it.

There are a host of variables that go into a successful trading decision. Variables can take many forms; of course the big ones that are causing the bear market in equities currently are the credit crunch, rising oil and inflationary fears. These though are just a few of the forces that one should pay attention to when developing a trading strategy and risking hard won cash on a position.

With Vested: The Daily Tape, we will discuss all aspects of the process that goes into the choices we make that lead to a successful trade. Strategies based on how one reads indicators that telegraph where a given issue is headed. Our opinion is that everything sector and class is fair game whether it is a Large Cap Mining Company, a particularly hot ETF or an appealing startup, that while risky, might have a world beating idea and team to realize its potential.

Why did we call the blog Vested: The Daily Tape? First let’s look at what it means.

According to Investorpedia.com, a vested interest is,

“A financial or personal stake one entity has in an asset, security, or transaction.”

We want our readers to take a stake in Vested: The Daily Tape. Whether it’s calling us on something you see differently, give us credit when its due and offer up your own ideas so that we can share the collected wisdom.

Investorpedia.com says this in regard to the Consolidated Tape, which is of course the tape we refer to in the name,

“An electronic system that continuously reports data on the sales volume and price of exchange traded securities.”

This portion of the name alludes to our interest in bringing you timely information to inform your strategic process. Together they add up to a perspective that we believe will be of great value to those who follow…

Vested: The Daily Tape.