Writing

The Airlines’ Captain In Washington

WASHINGTON, D.C.- A former Marine captain who served in Vietnam, James May is no stranger to tough missions. He’s got plenty of them these days as chief executive of the Air Transport Association, the trade group representing the biggest U.S. airlines. Last week, for instance, May was an industry point man in responding to the furor over JetBlue’s passenger-stranding debacle.

But on May’s priorities list, the passenger-rights controversy falls well below another big-ticket item: the reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, whose programs expire next September.

Full story at Forbes.com

Smarter Skies

Beijing has 16 million inhabitants, an economy that grew 12% last year and the 2008 Summer Olympics coming to town. If any city needs to let in more planes, it’s this one.

The Chinese are adding a runway to Asia’s second-busiest airport, but officials there also are hoping new technology will free up more space in the skies. In January the Civil Aviation Administration of China struck a deal with ERA, an Alexandria, Va. company, to install 27 devices, each the size of a minifridge, at Beijing International, and 5 more within a 12-mile radius of the airport. The boxes are packed with sensors that can track planes in flight and on the ground, as well as airport vehicles. More frequent and accurate data on the location of aircraft will let the Beijing airport safely cut the distance between planes as they descend.

Full Story at Forbes.com

The Entrepreneurs’ New Friends

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Not all business folks are worried about the Democratic takeover of Congress. Venture capitalists, for example, are welcoming Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., as the new chairwoman of the House Committee on Small Business.

“We feel she really understands the positive impact of venture-backed companies,” says Emily Mendell, a spokeswoman for the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Full story at Forbes.com

Beltway Bet: FuelCell Energy

WASHINGTON, D.C. -Seven years ago, with California sweating through rolling electricity blackouts, the stock market worked up an appetite for outfits selling new ways of generating power. Shares of FuelCell Energy, a company in that business, spiked to a split-adjusted $54. Their recent price? $7, down 52% from a 52-week high.
Matters of energy and environment have hardly dropped out of the headlines, but the market’s enthusiasm for eco-stocks tends these days more to biofuels and solar power. SunPower, in the latter business, trades just 5% off a 52-week high of $48 and at a relatively rich 13 times its revenues.
For investors looking at long-term energy plays, don’t rule out FuelCell Energy. The federal government certainly hasn’t.

Full story at Forbes.com

Stock Focus: Defense Biz Overvalued?

WASHINGTON, D.C – With President Bush’s fiscal year 2008 budget submitted this morning, our tally of proposed spending on defense and national security for fiscal 2007 through 2009 comes to $793 billion
You can decide whether that big number is reasonable or not. We will note, however, that stocks of the biggest aerospace and defense contractors do not look modestly priced. Full story at Forbes.com

Beltway Bet: MTC Technologies

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Most of the companies on our 2007 Fast Tech list probably wouldn’t tempt a value-minded contrarian. One of the few exceptions is MTC Technologies, a government technology contractor.
Pick your metric. MTC Technologies is now valued under its $402 million in trailing-12-month sales. Its price-to-earnings ratio, based on consensus forecasts for the coming 12 months, is 17, versus an average of 34 for the Fast Tech 25. Among 20 publicly held companies that specialize in providing tech services to the government, the average price-to-book ratio is 3.3. MTC’s book value multiple? 1.9.

Full story at Forbes.com

VC Builds Inside The Beltway

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Two years ago, venture capitalist Hans Kobler and his partners at Digital Power Capital persuaded several smaller-portfolio companies to merge into a Washington-headquartered entity, ICx Technologies, focused on the detection and surveillance markets.
How’s that decision working out? “Terrific,” says Kobler, 41, ICx Technologies’ chief executive officer.

We doubt he’d tell us otherwise. Still, for entrepreneurs and venture investors interested in the homeland security market, ICx Technologies’ approach bears observation.
Full story at Forbes.com

Blowing Up Infrastructure

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, a crowd of 200 business reps and government officials piled into the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Washington headquarters for the organization’s annual State of American Business conference. Thomas Donohue, the Chamber’s chief, ticked off priorities for 2007. His top three: education, energy and improving America’s infrastructure.

On the latter, Donohue admitted at least one challenge. “Many people do not find infrastructure to be one of the more scintillating or sexy topics,” he said.
No, infrastructure is not sexy. But the Chamber hopes to add some sparkle this spring, when it rolls out an infrastructure capacity initiative known as “Rebuilding America.” The effort serves as more evidence, with implications for policy watchers and investors alike, that the building, construction, materials and transportation trades enjoy some of the hardiest support in Washington.
Full story at Forbes.com

New Congress: Investing Pluses and Minuses

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A former Hill staffer armed with a business degree from the University of Chicago, Stuart Sweet makes his living telling Wall Street what’s going on in Washington. With the 110th Congress kicking off this week, we checked in with Sweet, president of D.C.’s Capitol Analysts Network, to get his take on sectors bets for the Beltway-minded investor.

“The volatility of Washington has increased considerably,” says Sweet. “My job has gotten more interesting.”
Broadly speaking, Sweet’s take is that this Congress could prove productive. Reasoning: The Democrats’ need to protect conservative-leaning seats will prevent them from drifting too far left. Republicans, with a nervous eye on 2008, risk being tarred obstructionists if they block too much. Add to the mix President Bush’s likely desire to burnish his legacy, and the stage is set for cutting deals and passing laws.
Full story at Forbes.com