BANGALORE, INDIA--September 15, 2008--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BOM:500103) (BHEL) (New Delhi) is planning to strengthen its position in the locomotive business by setting up a greenfield locomotive manufacturing project. The government-owned BHEL, which is India's largest power equipment manufacturer, has earmarked an initial investment of $225 million in the project. The proposal follows BHEL's decision to bid for a tender floated by Indian Railways for sourcing 660 electric locomotives at an approximate cost of $5.6 billion. BHEL has started discussions with several global locomotive and transportation giants for forming a joint venture. Prospective partners include: Alstom (EPA:ALO), Mitsubishi Corporation (OTC:MSBHY) and Toshiba Corporation (OTC:TOSBF).

Other companies featured: Itochu Corporation (TYO:8001), General Electric (NYSE:GE), Siemens AG (NYSE:SI)

BANGALORE, INDIA--August 12, 2008--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Reliance Infrastructure Limited (BOM:500390) (Mumbai, India) and Shanghai Electric Corporation Limited (Shanghai, China) are in talks over a potential joint venture worth $3 billion. The joint venture is expected to be one of the biggest tie-ups in Asia, involving the manufacture of power plant equipment such as boilers, turbines and generator sets. Among other joint ventures in the power sector is the alliance between Toshiba Corporation (OTC:TOSBF) (Minato, Tokyo) and the O. P. Jindal Group (New Delhi). Established with an initial capital investment of $50 million, the joint venture will design, manufacture, maintain and market mid- to large-size steam turbines and generators. France's Alstom (EPA:ALO) (Paris) also is considering a $500 million joint venture with India's Bharat Forge Limited (BOM:500493) (Pune, Maharashtra).

BANGALORE, INDIA--July 30, 2008--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Indian engineering major Larsen & Toubro (BOM:500510) (L&T) (Mumbai) and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) (Mumbai) are likely to establish a $750 million joint venture to manufacture forgings for nuclear power plants. This month, NPCIL received an in-principal approval from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is also the Minister in Charge for the Department of Atomic Energy, to develop an integrated melting and forging facility in partnership with L&T. Also, with the imminent signing of the much-debated and long-delayed Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, global power majors like Areva (EPA:CEI) (Paris), General Electric (NYSE:GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut) and Toshiba's (OTC:TOSBF) (Minato, Tokyo) Westinghouse Electric Corporation (Monroeville, Pennsylvania) have begun talks with L&T for possible joint ventures to manufacture nuclear power equipment and generate nuclear power.

BANGALORE, INDIA--July 11, 2008--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In order to avoid a repeat fiasco of unattained power targets in the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12), India's Ministry of Power has been scouting for global players to set up manufacturing facilities for boilers, turbines and power generation equipment. The ministry is looking to achieve an addition of 78,577 megawatts (MW) in the period and is taking measures to prevent slippages that have plagued its growth targets during the last three planning periods. Several companies have expressed interest in setting up manufacturing units for power equipment in India, including Toshiba Corporation ( OTC:TOSBF) (Minato, Tokyo), Alstom (EPA:ALO) (Levallois-Perret, France), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) (BOM:500103) (Mumbai), Larsen & Toubro (L&T) (BOM:500510) (Mumbai) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (TYO:7011) (Tokyo, Japan).

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It was received almost as a done deal last Friday when news broke that Samsung Electronics [012450.KS] was considering a purchase of struggling SanDisk Corp. [SNDK]. SanDisk's battered shares rallied...

It's not yet clear how serious the talks are, or whether the two parties involved could overcome substantial antitrust and other regulatory concerns that would likely arise, but just...

Filed under: Marketing and advertising, Best Buy (BBY), Circuit City Stores (CC)

Circuit City Stores Inc. (NYSE: CC) is joining competitor Best Buy Stores, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) in trying to pump up the slumbering Blu-ray disc format by introducing many titles at up to half off. The latest promo puts many Blu-ray movie titles at $14.99, a discount figure of up to 40%. The main reason: Blu-ray movie titles aren't exactly flying off the shelves these days, regardless of the high-definition resolution that fanatics claim make movies way more enjoyable.

Last week, I wrote about Best Buy's Blu-ray disc player price drop from $399.99 to $349.99, which was a complete non-event. The hardware manufacturers must _MUST_ get Blu-ray hardware players down to under $200 or Blu-ray will never become mainstream. Of course, the manufacturers and retailers are trying to milk the early period with profits, which is a standard exercise. Promoting Blu-ray movie titles to $15 (and even $20) is a great way to drum up interest in the format. Circuit City's move here, while great, still won't make up for the fact that the hardware is still too expensive for mass appeal.

Toshiba (OTC: TOSBF), the company that lost out in the high-definition disc format war to Sony Corp.'s (NYSE: SNE) Blu-ray, even rolled out a new upconverting standard DVD player so that consumers could watch existing DVDs in near-HD format if they didn't want to invest in Blu-ray's expensive hardware prices just yet. So far, the retailers championing the Blu-ray format are promoting the format well, but it will need much more before becoming a mass format like DVD has become. Is standard DVD good enough for you? Sound off in comments below and let me know.

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Submitted By Optiondragon [More...]

Filed under: Television, Next big thing, Sony Corp ADR (SNE), Japan, Technology

Panasonic, the main American subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.(NYSE: MC) is getting serious about its bet on the next generation of televisions. Panasonic is going with what's known as OEL (organic electroluminescent) or OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) TVs. They're vastly thinner---less than a quarter of an inch---and are supposed to faster, sharper and use less energy. ( Some have disputed the last point.) But they could wear out quicker than other TVs, and by organic they just mean carbon based.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) already has the lead in the a OLED TV market. But Sony's TV is only 11 inches and it costs $2,500. They plan to release a 27-inch version "fairly soon," according to this blog dedicated to OLED. Matsushita---which is changing its name to Panasonic come fall---is planning a 37-inch screen for around $1,400, according to Reuters, which was picking the story up from the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun. But that's still years away.

Toshiba ( TOSBF) is also working on one, but suffered some delays. Samsung just announced they were investing $530 million in OLED production. There have been plenty of delays in this OLED technology-- almost as many as there have been with the rival technology SED (surface-conduction electron-emitter display). Toshiba and Canon (NYSE: CAJ)is the big backers of SED TVs. After years of delays the battle for the next, thinnest TV is heating up.

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Companies featured in this segment: Calpine Corporation (NYSE:CPN), Pacific Ethanol Incorporated (NASDAQ:PEIX), Pursuit Dynamics plc (LON:PDX), BP (NYSE:BP), Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR), Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ:FWLT), Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN), Toshiba Corporation (OTC:TOSBF), O. P. Jindal Group, Alstom (EPA:ALO), Bharat Forge Limited (BOM:500493)

Companies featured in this segment: Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS-A), Dominion Resources Incorporated (NYSE:D), Fluor Enterprises (NYSE:FLR), SNC-Lavalin (TSE:SNC), General Electric (NYSE:GE), Siemens (NYSE:SI), Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ:FWLT), Mitsubishi (TYO:8058), Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE:PBR), Astra Holding USA Incorporated, Larsen & Toubro (BOM:500510), General Electric (NYSE:GE), Toshiba (OTC:TOSBF), Shell (NYSE:RDS-A)

Companies featured in this segment: Brookfield Asset Management Incorporated (NYSE:BAM), General Electric (NYSE:GE), Toshiba Corporation (OTC:TOSBF), Alstom (EPA:ALO), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BOM:500103), Larsen & Toubro (BOM:500510), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (TYO:7011), Total SA (NYSE: TOT), Lukoil (NASDAQ: LUKOY), NASDAQ OMX Group Incorporated (NASDAQ:NDAQ), Tata Power (BOM:500400) Reliance Energy Limited (BOM:500325) of Mumbai, Lanco Infratech Limited (BOM: 532778), Infrastructure Development Finance Company (BOM:532659)

Andrea Kramer takes a look at news on the Street before the market open.

Investtalk Talking Points: "Will a New Fund Manager Cost You?"
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