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  2. Articles posted by: Rona Fried (Page 2015)

FTSE and Rob Arnott Launch First Fundamental Indexes

FTSE Group (FTSE), the global index provider, and Rob Arnott, Chairman of Research Affiliates and creator of the Research Affiliates Fundamental Index (RAFI) have signed an agreement to work together to introduce fundamental indexes for the USA and international financial markets. Fundamental indexing offers investors the same features as traditional passive capitalized weighted indexing such as: low turnover costs, broad diversification, vast capacity and transparent rules based selection. Most interesting is that RAFI studies indicate that the fundamental indexes have produced consistently higher returns, at modestly lower risk, when compared to cap weighted indexes. Fundamental indexing selects, ranks and weights companies, not by market capitalization, but by financial fundamental measures, such as sales, cash flow, book price and dividends. “CalPERS is intrigued by the concept of fundamental index construction and how this new approach may complement our traditional passive investments in market capitalization weighted benchmarks. We will be examining this innovative idea closely”, a spokesperson from CalPERS Investment Office in Sacramento commented. Matt Clark at South Dakota Investment Council stated “Late last year, we made the inaugural investment in the fundamental indexes approach; we felt that it was and is an important advance in equity management. While we focus on […]

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Wal-Mart Opens First Experimental Supercenter

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) has opened an experimental supercenter store that incorporates environmental features in McKinney, Texas. The supercenter offers the usual line-up of products and will employ about 450 people – what is unusual is, according to the company, “the new experimental store could profoundly change the way the retail industry designs, constructs, and manages facilities as it relates to the environment.” “We see it as a next step in evaluating the impact we leave on the environment as we look toward smart growth and sustainability in the building of our new stores,” said Mike Duke, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores – USA. “This store will contain many of the best resource conservation and sustainable design technologies currently available to minimize the use of energy and natural resources.” The McKinney store will experiment with materials, technology, and processes, which include: * Reducing the amounts of energy and natural resources required to operate and maintain the stores * Reducing the amount of raw materials needed to construct the facility. * Substituting, when appropriate, the amount of renewable materials used to construct and maintain the facility. “We want to make the best use of renewable and alternate […]

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Magnetek Solar Inverters Win Frost & Sullivan 2005 Technology Innovation Award

Magnetek, Inc. (NYSE:MAG) has received Frost & Sullivan’s 2005 “Solar Power Systems Technology Innovation of the Year” Award. A leading supplier of digital power supplies and systems, Magnetek received the Award for its Aurora(TM) solar power inverters, which Frost & Sullivan lauds as “an inverter solution that could revolutionize the solar energy market.” The Frost & Sullivan Award reinforces Magnetek’s growing reputation as an alternative energy innovator. In May, Aurora received the INTEL DESIGN AWARD as one of the five best designs at INTEL 2005, an international electrical engineering, electronics, lighting, industrial automation, security and components show held biennially in Milan, Italy. Designed for residential use, Aurora inverters change the direct current (DC) produced by solar photovoltaic (PV) cells into utility-grade alternating current (AC) and provide the power grid protection required by electric utilities on both sides of the Atlantic. Developed at Magnetek’s European design center near Florence, Italy, the compact units feature the highest power density of any solar power inverters on the market today, and are easy to install anywhere inside or outside the home. A key advantage that Aurora brings to market is its exceptional reliability, based on Magnetek’s extensive experience in designing and building digital power […]

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